Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial Distribution of Vascular Epiphytes (including Hemiepiphytes) in a Lowland Amazonian Rain Forest (Surumoni Crane Plot) of Southern Venezuela1

The mobile crane of the Surumoni project allowed for the first time ever a complete inventory and spatial description of the epiphytic vegetation of a tropical lowland rain forest plot (1.5 ha), at La Esmeralda on the upper Orinoco River, Venezuela. A total of 778 individual vascular epiphytes of 53 species was found, dominated by 19 orchid species and 14 species of Araceae. Fifty percent of all individual plants were obligate ant-garden epiphytes. The distribution of epiphytes was highly clumped and not random. The clumped occurrence of holoepiphytes (complete life cycle on host tree) was the consequence of the rarity of suitable phorophytes (host trees; e.g., size and age) in the plot and the preference of ants for gaps where most of the ant-garden epiphytes were found. In comparison, hemiepiphytes were distributed more evenly because of greater independence from tree suitability. The dispersal modes of epiphytes did not explain their distribution patterns. There was no consistent difference in distribution between anemochorous and zoochorous epiphytes, presumably because availability of suitable substrate is the more important factor for epiphyte establishment and growth. Whereas the vertical distribution of epiphytes could be attributed largely to deterministic factors such as physiological adaptation and requirements, horizontal distribution appeared to be governed by suitable substrate, which in turn seemed to be governed by stochastic gap formation.
Dung Beetle Communities and Seed Dispersal in Primary Forest and Disturbed Land in Amazonia1

ABSTRACT Seeds from tropical fruiting trees ingested and defecated on the soil surface by primary dispersers (such as primates) are vulnerable to destruction from rodents, insects, and fungi. Burial by dung beetles as an incidental result of their feeding and nesting activities often provides these seeds with refugia from attack. To examine the effect of habitat disturbance on the dung beetle communities involved in this process, I surveyed dung beetles at three sites in the Amazon basin, in the states of Pará, Amazonas, and Rondônia, Brazil. Through principal component analysis on measurements of size and behavioral characters of beetles, I determined the relative quality of beetle species as seed dispersers (dispersal defined as horizontal or vertical movement of seeds) and ranked them into seed dispersal guilds. I used correspondence analysis to examine in what habitats (primary forest or varying degrees of disturbed habitat) these guilds were abundant. Most guilds decreased with increasing habitat disturbance, but one guild made up of large nocturnal burrowers (primarily Dichotomius) became more abundant with increasing disturbance (up to the level of highest disturbance surveyed), at which point all dung beetle species became scarce. Clear-cuts had lower species richness, lower abundance, and lower biomass than forested areas. These results imply that clear-cutting is detrimental to all seed dispersal dynamics in tropical rain forests, but that some levels of disturbance allow enough disperser activity to preserve this ecosystem function.
Seedling Mortality in Hawaiian Rain Forest: The Role of Small-Scale Physical Disturbance1

Abstract Most montane rain forests on the island of Hawaii consist of a closed canopy formed by Cibotium spp. tree ferns beneath an open canopy of emergent Metrosideros polymorpha trees. We used artificial seedlings to assess the extent to which physical disturbance caused by the senescing fronds of tree ferns and the activities of feral pigs might limit tree regeneration. Artificial seedlings were established terrestrially (N = 300) or epiphytically (N = 300) on tree fern stems. Half of the seedlings on each substrate were in an exclosure lacking feral pigs and half were in forest with pigs present. After one year, the percentage of seedlings damaged was significantly greater among terrestrial seedlings (25.7%) than epiphytic seedlings (11.3%). Significantly more terrestrial seedlings were damaged in the presence of pigs (31.3%) than in the absence of pigs (20.0%). Senescing fronds of tree ferns were responsible for 60.3 percent of the damaged seedlings. Physical disturbance is potentially a major cause of seedling mortality and may reduce the expected half-life of a seedling cohort to less than two years.
Winds under the Rain Forest Canopy: The Aerodynamic Environment of Gliding Tree Frogs1

Abstract Movement of air under the canopy of a forest affects the gliding of animals such as frogs, snakes, geckos, and squirrels; the dispersal of pollen, seeds, and spores; as well as convective transport of heat and carbon dioxide. Wind speed profiles were measured under the canopy of a lowland rain forest during the morning, afternoon, and night at three sites in Costa Rica to determine the aerodynamic environment in which tree frogs maneuver while gliding. During the course of a day, average and maximum wind speeds were highest in the morning and midday, and lowest at night. Wind speeds under the canopy were highest near the top of the canopy and were lowest near the canopy floor in the morning and afternoon, and exhibited little variation with respect to height at night. Turbulence intensity (a common measure of gustiness) was constant (ca 1) for all times of day, heights in the canopy, and sites, but the absolute magnitudes of wind gust speeds were higher during the day than at night. Power spectral densities revealed that most of the variation in wind speeds occurred at frequencies that could potentially affect the gliding of tree frogs. Tree frogs (and many other gliding animals), however, glide at night and thereby avoid the higher wind speeds that occur by day. Computer simulations of the dynamic motions of frogs while gliding revealed that the night levels of wind gusts have little effect on the direction of gliding of tree frogs.
THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE INTRINSIC N v NARROW ABSORPTION LINE SYSTEMS OF THREE QUASARS

We employ detailed photoionization models to infer the physical conditions of intrinsic narrow absorption line systems found in high-resolution spectra of three quasars at z = 2.6–3.0. We focus on a family of intrinsic absorbers characterized by N v lines that are strong relative to the Lyα lines. The inferred physical conditions are similar for the three intrinsic N v absorbers, with metallicities greater than 10 times the solar value (assuming a solar abundance pattern), and with high ionization parameters (log U ∼ 0). Thus, we conclude that the unusual strength of the N v lines results from a combination of partial coverage, a high ionization state, and high metallicity. We consider whether dilution of the absorption lines by flux from the broad emission line region can lead us to overestimate the metallicities and we find that this is an unlikely possibility. The high abundances that we infer are not surprising in the context of scenarios in which metal enrichment takes place very early on in massive galaxies. We estimate that the mass outflow rate in the absorbing gas (which is likely to have a filamentary structure) is less than a few under the most optimistic assumptions, although it may be embedded in a much hotter, more massive outflow.
Adoption of Decision Deferring Techniques in Plan-driven Software Projects

Today, a trend towards agile software development approaches can be observed caused by shortened product lifecycles and the striving to optimize time to market. As a consequence, traditional plan-driven approaches are more and more forced to take a back seat in development processes producing products for rapidly changing markets. This thesis discusses the idea of deferring design decisions in plan-driven software development approaches and advocates the adoption of techniques supporting such concepts. At this, an experiment is conducted taking a journey as metaphor for a software development project. The results of it essentially corroborate the thesis that software projects can benefit from the use of design decision deferring techniques. In addition to that, it fortifies the assumption that such techniques reduce the amount of project plan adjustments in case of conflicts caused by unforeseen events.
Gradient descent Sarsa(λ) algorithm based on the adaptive potential function shaping reward mechanism

In the reinforcement leaning tasks with continuous state spaces,the algorithms are usually facing the problems of ill initial performance and low convergence speed.In order to solve these problems,the potential function shaping reward mechanism was proposed to improve the reinforcement learning algorithms.This mechanism propagates model knowledge to the learner adaptively in the form of the additional reward signal,so that the initial performance and convergence speed could be improved effectively.In view of the good performance and existing problems of the radial basis function(RBF) network,the adaptive normalized RBF(ANRBF) network was put forward to use as a potential function to generate the shaping rewards.A gradient descent(GD) algorithm named ANRBF-GD-Sarsa(λ) was proposed based on the ANRBF network.The convergence of ANRBF-GD-Sarsa(λ) algorithm was analyzed theoretically.Extensive experiments are conducted to show the good initial performance and high convergence speed of the proposed algorithm.
VECTOR REPETITION AND MODIFICATION FOR PEAK POWER REDUCTION IN VLSI TESTING

Excessive peak power dissipation during testing can result in reduced reliability and yield loss due to power and/or thermal constraint violation. In this paper we propose a novel peak power dissipation reduction method based on test vector ordering with vector repetition and vector modification. Experimental results validate that the proposed method achieves favourable peak power dissipation reductions with respect to the test sequence produced by the test vector ordering with vector repetition technique proposed a few years ago.
The Causal Relationship of Parenting Styles and Insecure Attachment Style with Addiction Potential under the Mediating Role of Personality Traits and Identity Styles in University Students

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the causal relationship of parenting styles and insecure attachment style with addiction potential under the mediating role of personality traits and identity styles in students of Shahid Chamran University. Method: This was a correlational study where 178 participants were selected by multistage random sampling method. Iranian addiction potential scale, Parenting Styles Scale, Insecure Attachment Style Scale (ambivalent/anxiety and avoidance), NEO Personality Inventory (neuroticism and openness to experience), and Identity Style Scale (diffusion and premature identity) constituted the data collection tools in this study. Results: The proposed model was tested using path analysis. To test the indirect correlates, Bootstrap test was used. The results indicated that the proposed model was well fitted with the data. Specifically, the results showed that permissive and authoritarian parenting styles and insecure attachment style had a significant direct effect and an indirect effect through neuroticism, openness, diffusion identity, and premature identity on addiction potential. Conclusion: It was concluded that both proximal factors (personality traits) and distal factors (identity and parenting styles) should be considered for the control and treatment of addiction.
Ethical and normative issues in shared augmented reality

Novel technologies enable new forms of human interaction, often challenging existing norms of social behavior. We describe our initial findings on normative tensions and ambiguities emerging when the participants interact in shared augmented reality social spaces and propose future research directions. In particular, our analysis revealed users’ concerns over the preservation of their selfand social identity, as well as concerns related to personal space and the sense of psychological ownership over one’s body and belongings when interacting in social augmented reality environments. In addition, we demonstrate that users develop increased feeling of relatedness and psychological ownership to the virtual artefacts in an AR environment compared to a conventional virtual environment. This finding highlights the importance of the “real” physical layer in shaping users’ perceptions and outlines possible ethical issues that may arise in the design of AR experiences. Our findings point to the need for regulation and design of control mechanisms of shared AR technology and spaces.
Impact of salinity on the performance and microbial community of anaerobic ammonia oxidation ( Anammox ) using 16 S rRNA High-throughput Sequencing technology

Salinity is a key environmental factor for the successful application of anammox technology in wastewater treatment, because it impacts the activity and the community structure of anammox bacteria. In this study, the changes in activity and population shifts of an anammox system response to the elevated salt stress (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 g NaCl/L) were studied. The results show that the anammox reactor performed effectively even at 30 g NaCl/L salinity after an appropriate acclimatization. The nitrogen removal rate maintained at 0.28 g N Ld with the nitrogen removal efficiency of 76%, though the high environmental salinity might inhibit the anammox growth in the long-term operation. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing results revealed that Ca. Brocadia, Ca. Jettenia and Ca. Kuenenia were the dominant anammox bacteria at all salinities. Ca. Brocadia and Ca. Jettenia were quite sensitive to salinity, and 5 g NaCl/L dosing could cause a sharp decline in their abundance. Nevertheless, these three anammox genus finally survived in the system with a steady specific anammox activity of 0.13 g N g VSSd. Specially, a novel cluster, Brocadiaceae_unclassified, which possibly belongs to anammox bacteria, became the dominant genus at the salinity over 20 g NaCl/L and likely contributed partially to the nitrogen removals. Our findings elucidated the inherent link between community dynamics and anammox system performance and stability under salty environment, and proved that anammox technologies can be an effective technology for treatment of saline ammonia-rich wastewater.
Ways to Learn a Therapist’s Patient-specific Intervention: Robotics-vs Telerobotics-mediated Hands-on Teaching

Due to the limitations of therapists time and healthcare resources to cover the increasing demand for rehabilitation services, robot-assisted rehabilitation is becoming an appealing, powerful and economical solution. In our previous research, a solution that combines Learning from Demonstration (LfD) and robotic rehabilitation to save the therapists time and reduce the therapy costs was proposed. In this paper we compare two modalities, Robot-and Telerobotic-Mediated Kinesthetic Teaching (RMKT and TMKT), for implementing LfD in robotic rehabilitation. Our results show that behaviors demonstrated in both modalities are able to be imitated accurately, but demonstrations in TMKT have less repeatability.
An Evaluation Study of Different White Rot Fungi for Degradation of Pine Needles under Solid State Fermentation

Nowadays, the fossil fuel shortage and environmental pollution are two main challenges, which need to be addressed by our society (Sharma and Sharma, 2018). The growing populations, rapid increase in industrialization, modernization of agricultural, house hold practices as well as transportation have tremendous impact on our environment and this also increased the demand for energy especially for liquid fuel. Production of fuels, especially bio-ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass, holds remarkable potential to meet the current energy demand as well as to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for a sustainable clean environment (Sharma et al., 2019). The lignocellulosic biomass comprises of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin which have the great potential for the production of industrially important enzymes cellulase and xylanases under solid sate fermentation (Sharma and Sharma, 2017 a). Among International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 06 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
An Automated Input Data Management Approach for Discrete Event Simulation Application in Slip-from Operations

Slipforming operation’s linearity is a source of planning complications, and operation is usually subjected to bottlenecks at any point, so careful planning is required in order to achieve success. On the other hand, Discreteevent simulation concepts can be applied to simulate and analyze construction operations and to efficiently support construction scheduling. Nevertheless, preparation of input data for construction simulation is very challenging, time consuming and human prone-error source. Therefore, to enhance the benefits of using DES in construction scheduling, this study proposes an integrated module to establish a framework for automating the generation of time schedules and decision support for Slipform construction projects, particularly through the project feasibility study phase by using data exchange between project data stored in an Intermediate database, DES and Scheduling software. Using the stored information, proposed system creates construction tasks attribute [e.g. activities durations, material quantities and resources amount], then DES uses all the given information to create a proposal for the construction schedule automatically. This research is considered a demonstration of a flexible Slipform project modeling, rapid scenario-based planning and schedule generation approach that may be of interest to both practitioners and researchers.
Willy : A Sokoban Solving Agent

Sokoban is a classical, widely acclaimed, logic computer puzzle game. Despite it’s simple set of rules the complexity of its mazes is overwhelming. This paper describes Willy, our first attempt to solve Sokoban puzzles, and our study of the underlying implementation difficulties of a Sokoban search agent: the very large search space and the state transitions that create unsolvable situations. Willy uses a search algorithm, IDA* and a good heuristic, Minmatching and then uses techniques to reduce the search space: removal of unsafe positions from the map, hash tables to prevent loops, macro moves to merge together multiple states into a single state and finally relevance cuts to attempt to make only relevant moves.
The Partial Mental State Inducer : Learning Intuition with Few Training Examples and K-line Theory

In this paper, we explain the Partial Mental State Inducer (PMSI), which models how humans can learn intuition for problem solving. We believe that this is the first model that unifies theories of K-lines, human inner language, human problem solving, and neural reinforcement learning. The result is human-like learning in a training environment that is too data-starved for traditional reinforcement learning to be successful. We present experiments in three distinct problem domains (natural language queries, equation solving, and robot planning) with only 20 training problems in each domain. A typical deep Q-network setup often does not test better than a random agent on average, whereas PMSI can learn how to perform at a level that is close to optimal.
Time Variation in the News-Returns Relationship

The well-documented underreaction of stock prices to news exhibits substantial time variation, and comoves with institutional capital and trading motives. We show that higher risk-bearing capacity of financial intermediaries and lower passive ownership of stocks increase price underreaction. Changing informativeness of news, measured by entropy, explains a portion of the time variation in underreaction. But the effect of institutional trading motives remains large relative to variation in news informativeness. Controlling for institutional trading motives, as measured by short interest or share ownership, stock prices overreact to news.
Zusammenfassung: Geomorphologische Hazards entlang des Karakorum Highway: Khunjerab Paß bis zum Gilgit River, nördlichstes Pakistan Der Karakorum Highway quert einen der in raschester tcktonischer Hebung begriffenen Gebirgszüge der Erde. Durch das Zusammentreffen von Erdbeben, Glazialerosion, Fluß

Zusammenfassung: Geomorphologische Hazards entlang des Karakorum Highway: Khunjerab Paß bis zum Gilgit River, nördlichstes Pakistan Der Karakorum Highway quert einen der in raschester tcktonischer Hebung begriffenen Gebirgszüge der Erde. Durch das Zusammentreffen von Erdbeben, Glazialerosion, Flußcintiefung, Periglazialwirkung und einer unvorherschbaren Einwirkung der Monsunregen wird eine Region sehr hoher dynamischer Aktivität geschaffen. Seit seiner Fertigstellung unterlag der Karakorum Highway Störungen und Unterbrechungen durch Steinschlag, Felsund Schuttrutschungcn, Schuttund Schlammströme, trockene Feinmaterialströme, plötzliche Überschwemmungen durch Wasser und Wildbachschottcr sowie einer Untergrabung der Straßenbasis durch Materialfortführung, Einsinken und Frosthebung. Die Straßenoberfläche wird regelmäßig durch die Einwirkung von Steinschlag, Überschwemmungen und Frostsprengung beschädigt. Durch Kartierungen im Gelände und gravimetrische Verfahren wurden Rutschungen und Schuttströme erfaßt. Eine systematische Hazard-Untersuchung ist für den über 200 km langen Straßenabschnitt vom Khunjerab Paß (pakistanisch-chinesische Grenze) bis Gilgit fertiggestellt worden. Bedrohungen größeren Ausmaßes erwachsen durch fast beständige Massenbewegungen an übersteilten Böschungen aus unverfestigtem spätglazialen Moränenmaterial sowie durch die Schmelzwasserströme einiger großer Gletscher. Die häufigsten Hazards kommen durch das Wachstum von Schwemmund Murfächern zustande, zusammen mit Abrutschungen von Sturzhalden.
AN ENHANCE CNN-RNN MODEL FOR PREDICTING FUNCTIONAL NON-CODING VARIANTS

In the era of big data, deep learning has advanced rapidly particularly in the field of computational biology and bioinformatics. In comparison to conventional analysis strategies, deep learning method performs accurate structure prediction because it can handle high coverage biological data such as DNA sequence and RNA measurement using high-level features. However, predicting functions of non-coding DNA sequence using deep learning method have not been widely used and require further study. The purpose of this study is to develop a new algorithm to predict the function of non-coding DNA sequence using deep learning approach. We propose an enhanced CNN-RNN model to predict the function of non-coding DNA sequence. In this model, we train an algorithm to automatically find the optimal initial weight and hyperparameter to increase prediction accuracy which outperforms other prediction models.
Survey of the Relationship between Social Capital and Urban Management (Case Study: Zanjan City in Iran)

The main aim of this paper is studying the significant relationship between social capital and urban management in the city of Zanjan in Iran. Accordingly, partial objectives subordinated to the main purpose of this study are investigating the significant relationship between trust and urban management and also between collaboration and cooperation and urban management. From the perspective of the research methodology, this research is quantitative. In order to test the research hypotheses in addition to reliability and validity tests, spearman and Kendall’s tau bivariate correlation are applied with the help of SPSS and LISREL. For data gathering, simple random sampling method is used. The statistical society is Zanjan’s citizens and the sample size is 200. The results show that there is the significant relationship between social capital and urban management; there is the significant relationship between trust and urban management; there is the significant relationship between collaboration and cooperation and urban management; there is the significant relationship between trust and collaboration and cooperation.