Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of marine-subsidized predators on lemming-plant oscillations

Questions: Assuming that arctic lemming oscillations are generated by interactions between lemmings and depletable plants, how should these oscillations change in response to varying densities of marine-subsidized predators and differences in the production of herbaceous forage? Are the patterns thus generated consistent with existing data? Features of the model: Rosenzweig-type predator–prey model, with lemmings interacting with depletable plants and herbaceous plants. The impact of marine-subsidized predators is included as an extra mortality factor, influencing lemmings in summer. Ranges of parameters: We set the carrying capacity of depletable plants at 2000 kg · ha −1 . We used carrying capacities for herbaceous plants of 1000 kg · ha −1 (grassland/meadow) and 100 kg · ha −1 (heath). In the absence of predation, we assume that the population growth rate of lemmings in summer is zero when their foraging rate is 44% of the saturation rate. In subsequent simulations, we successively increased the foraging rate required for a zero population growth rate to simulate the impact of a successively larger pool of marinesubsidized predators. Predictions: On grassland/meadow tundra, increasing intensity of summer predation reduces the amplitude and period of lemming and plant oscillations and increases the minimum and average density of lemmings and depletable plants. The predicted predator–lemming relationship is thus mutualistic rather than exploitative. In heath-type tundra, the predicted positive impact of summer predation on lemmings is even stronger because, without intense summer predation, the predicted oscillations are violent enough to lead to local extinctions. In tundra areas with such dynamics, natural selection should favour lemmings that react to high population densities by emigrating.
Role of Inflammation in Obesity and Diabetes

In this advanced world, one of the major health problems the world facing is obesity. This is a worldwide problem which can lead to the occurrence of many serious illnesses like diabetes and heart diseases. It is now crystal clear that obesity not only perturbs lipid and glucose homeostasis but also it damages the pathways of the body. As the excess adiposity can integrate many pathways it will result in immune responses in the body like inflammation. The need to understand how the body react to such alterations in its metabolic functions, resulting in chronic autoimmune diseases like diabetes is very important. A deep and clear understanding of these responses is important to fully aware and treating chronic metabolic diseases.
To Improve the Probability of Detection in Spectrum Sensing by Using Equal Gain Combining Technique

Development of smart spectrum sensing techniques is the most important task in the design of a cognitive radio system, which uses the available spectrum efficiently. The Energy Detection (ED) and covariance absolute value (CAV) methods do not require any information about the signals, channel, and noise power. So these techniques are known as blind spectrum sensing techniques. This paper mainly focusing on equal gain combining technique. This technique was applied on both Energy Detection (ED) and covariance absolute value (CAV). By using this technique at low Signal to noise ratio (SNR) this system can improve the probability of detection.
MAFMA: multi‐attribute failure mode analysis

The aim of this paper is to develop a new tool for reliability and failure mode analysis by integrating the conventional aspects of the popular failure mode and criticality analysis (FMECA) procedure with economic considerations. Here FMECA is approached as a multi‐criteria decision making technique which integrates four different factors: chance of failure, chance of non‐detection, severity, and expected cost. To aid the analyst to formulate an efficient and effective priority ranking of the possible causes of failure, the analytic hierarchy process technique is adopted. With this technique, factors and alternative causes of failure are arranged in a hierarchic structure and evaluated only through the use of a series of pairwise judgements. With this new approach to failure investigation, the critical FMECA problem concerning the (direct) evaluation of failure factors is also by‐passed. The principles of the theory and an actual application in an Italian refrigerator manufacturing company are reported in the paper.
The Contributions of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises to Economic Growth: A Cross-Sectional study of Zebilla in the Bawku West District of Northern Ghana.

The mainstay of developing economies is the informal sector. In Ghana, most employment opportunities are largely hinged on the private sector. The contribution of this sector to Ghana’s economic growth through job creation cannot be underestimated. Globally, SMEs are noted for empowering citizens and economic growth of countries in Asia, Europe and North America. Though successive Ghanaian governments after independence in 1957 have made strenuous efforts towards reducing poverty and accelerating economic growth through formulating policies that favor SMEs, there is still a lag in knowledge regarding the presence of SMEs and level of development in rural settings in Northern Ghana. The study sought to find out if the presence of SMEs could be linked to rapid infrastructural development, whether significant number of people is gainfully employed in the sector, and if SMEs have attracted the needed financial institutions through increased in credit facilities. By extension we also explored inherent challenges confronting SMEs and provided recommendations for entrepreneurs and policy makers to improve the sector in Ghana. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design and data was collected between April and August, 2013. Simple random sampling was used to select One hundred and sixty (160) SMEs respondents at 92% confidence interval (C.I) at 0.08 error margin. To achieve the set objective, the study employed both primary (questionnaires and observation) and secondary (documented evidence, internets materials etc) data collection techniques. The study revealed that SMEs do not play significant role in employing youth in the District though most SMEs rely on free family labour to minimize cost. Some infrastructural development like roads constructions could not be associated with the presence of SMEs. 15% of respondents attributed SMEs presence to housing and electricity extension to selected areas. Onion cultivation dominated other crops production in the area and generated appreciable profits. Limited access to credit, Infrastructural development deficits such as decent roads, Onions storage facilities and irrigation dams for all year round cultivation were among key challenges outline as hindering SMEs development in the area. It is recommended that, entrepreneurs should be encouraged to form cooperatives to enable them access bank credits since most financial institutions hold the view that, group lending minimizes the risk of loan default. Also, occasional capacity training sessions should be organized for SMEs on basic records keeping and entrepreneurial management skills. Keywords: SMEs contribution, Onion cultivation, Dawadawa / Shea butter extraction, Zebilla, Bawku.
Information Aspect of Human Resources Management Business Process Improvement

Human resources (capital) management (HRM) inside large systems is very complex and demanding, to achieve successful accomplishment high quality information support is necessary. There are many cases where human resources management process is not conducted in a satisfactory way. Key decisions usually come late, very often because of impossibility to consider a problem in its entirety. The cause of it usually lies in weakness and understatement of the human resources management itself and in this connection data management is not given adequate consideration. Data originating from inside and outside sources within IS are not integrated in a way which will provide an optimal use. In this connection, this paper examines possibilities to improve the entire human resources management process through the integration of respective data. Data warehousing (DW) possibilities and position within the integral business intelligence (BI) concept are noted as a first step towards its realization. In Chapter 1 and 2 necessity to improve and promote permanently the quality of human resources management process is considered ; the main features of the process are given as well. Chapter 3 deals with Business Process Improvement (BPI) as a systematic approach with a view to achieve significant business process change ; its connection with data aspect of IS is given too. According to the research of this paper, HRM BPI is achieved by the data integration within existing information system. DW model intended for HRM has been elaborated as a solution which will improve the process itself. The position and the role of DW within entire BI organization concept has been established as well. Chapter 5 explains the benefits achieved by this research.
A Hybrid Digital Watermarking Approach Using Wavelets and LSB

The present paper proposed a novel approach called Wavelet based Least Significant Bit Watermarking (WLSBWM) for high authentication, security and copyright protection. Alphabet Pattern (AP) approach is used to generate shuffled image in the first stage and Pell’s Cat Map (PCM) is used for providing more security and strong protection from attacks. PCM applied on each 5×5 sub images. A wavelet concept is used to reduce the dimensionality of the image until it equals to the size of the watermark image. Discrete Cosign Transform is applied in the first stage; later N level Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is applied for reducing up to the size of the watermark image. The water mark image is inserted in LH n Sub band of the wavelet image using LSB concept. Simulation results show that the proposed technique produces better PSNR and similarity measure. The experimental results indicate that the present approach is more reliable and secure efficient.The robustness of the proposed scheme is evaluated against various image-processing attacks.
A Method for Composing Ad-hoc Following Networks on Twitter for Sharing Information among Event Participants

Twitter is one of the most popular micro blog services in the world. It has a large number of users and posts. One of the reasons why so many people uses Twitter is that they can use it easily and can obtain many kinds of information in real time. On Twitter, information is delivered via following networks. The following networks on Twitter are static and have to be specified manually by each user, so a user cannot share information that he/she wants if that was out of his/her following networks. On the other hand, it often happens that users want information about an event such as festival or sport game when they are attending it. In this paper, we propose a method for composing ad-hoc following networks automatically among users who are attending the same event for sharing information about it.
Vesicles as a Tool for Enhanced Topical Drug Delivery

Designing of a drug in the vesicular system has brought a new life to the old pre-existing drug and thus has improved its therapeutic efficacy by controlling and sustaining the actions. As skin is one of the crucial and important organs of the human body, delivering the drug across it requires an effective development in the field of research. Topical drug delivery system is specifically designed with the objective to accomplish the delivery of therapeutically active drugs across the skin. Vesicular carriers are one of the recently invented carriers. Liposomes, niosomes, transfersomes, and ethosomes constitute the major part of these vesicles that have been sufficiently employed for the treatment of variety of topical skin diseases. In the past few years, various research reports on the development of topical carrier systems showed that these carriers have emerged as a novel vesicular carrier. The present review focuses on the topical delivery via these vesicles, emphasizing on various aspects of all these carriers.
Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. Entomocidus HD9 Cry1Ba4 insecticidal crystal protein: In-silico mutation, cloning, expression, mutation and domain I functional study

The 3D structure of the insecticidal protein Cry1Ba4 produced by B. thuringiensis subsp. Entomocidus HD-9 was determined using homology modelling. From the model built, we have been able to identify the possible sites for structure modification by site-directed mutagenesis. The mutation was introduced at the conserved region of Î±-helix 7 by substituting the hydrophobic motif that comprises alanine 216, leucine 217 and phenylalanine 218 with arginine. Wild and mutant Cry1Ba4 genes were cloned into pET200/D-TOPO and expressed in the expression host. The result suggests that mutant Cry1Ba4 protein was less toxic to the larvae Plutella xylostella compared to the wild-type. In conclusion, alteration in the structure of Domain I had left an impact on the toxicity of Cry1Ba4 against P. xylostella.
Training school teachers to the use of ICT - a preliminary study on motivation and attitude to innovation

As part of an innovation project for the public schools of an Italian municipality, the whole body of teachers was enrolled in a training course on the use of ICT in didactic. Before the training, data on ICT expertise, attitude towards teaching and attitude towards training on the use of ICT were collected, to identify factors facilitating and preventing a successful exit of the training, in order to better customize it. A total of 456 questionnaires were analyzed. The interviewed showed an average level of ICT competence, but relevant gaps on some useful teaching tool. Teachers expressed a good inclination towards the more creative aspects of their profession, an element evaluated as congruent with the adoption of more student-centered pedagogical practice, but conflicting attitudes were expressed on the whole idea of entering a training process. Results suggest that an effective training program needs to address the change of pedagogical approach adopted from the teachers, the use of online communication tools and spaces as well as educational apps and tool and the reinforcement of a virtuous circle of feedback reception from the students that contribute to motivate the teachers actively involved in the process of
Phytoplankton sinking rate dynamics in the southern Benguela upwelling system

Sinking rates of phytoplankton assemblages with &verse and variable taxonomic composition, growing under a variety of environmental conditions, were measured In St. Helena Bay (S. Africa) using the homogenous sample method SETCOL. These measurements and flux estimates from sediment trap recovenes enabled the role of sinking phytoplankton in the flux of organic material from the euphotic zone to b e determined. Sinking rates were found to be influenced by the duration of the settling experiments. Chlorophyll a sinking rates ranged from 0 to 0.91 m d-' but were poorly correlated to phytoplankton carbon sinking rates which ranged from 0 to 0.78 m d-' Sinking rates of phytoplankton populations were significantly correlated not to any of the environmental parameters measured but to taxonomic properties of the assemblages, which were in turn governed by prevailing environmental conditions. Phytoplankton carbon flux estimates, made from both the SETCOL measurements and the sediment trap recovenes, were in general agreement and did not exceed 6.1 % of primary production. Losses from the euphohc zone during the study period resulting from the sinking of intact phytoplankton were therefore of limited importance to the time-dependent changes of phytoplankton biomass. Phytoplankton sinking was, however, considered to have an impact on phytoplankton composition due to the variable sinking rates of the different assemblage components.
Comparison of clinical data based on limits of agreement

Summary Two different medical measurement methods, which usually do not produce exactly the same results, are used to analyse the serum levels of folic acid in a blood sample. We assess the (dis)agreement of the available data in order to replace the old method (the reference method, which involves a lot of human intervention) with the new one (which uses mostly machines), without causing problems in clinical interpretation. The 95% limits of agreement are estimated, before and after a logarithmic transformation, and an appropriate use of regression and a nonparametric approach are also considered. The application of these different statistical techniques is very useful and easily interpreted by medical researchers, but the results obtained do not provide confidence that the new method can be used in place of the old one for clinical purposes.
Integrated optics ring-resonator chemical sensor with polymer transduction layer

An integrated optics chemical sensor based on a ring resonator with an ethyl cellulose polymer coating has been demonstrated. The measured sensitivity to isopropanol in air is 50 ppm—the level immediately useful for health-related air quality monitoring. The resonator was fabricated using SiO2 and SixNy materials. The signal readout is based on tracking the wavelength of a resonance peak. The resonator layout optimisation for sensing applications is discussed.
The Sensitivity of Model Results to Specification of Network-Based Level of Service Attributes: An Application of a Mixed Logit Model to Trave Mode Choice

The need for travel demand models is growing worldwide. Obtaining reasonably accurate level of service (LOS) attributes of different travel modes such as travel time and cost representing the performance of transportation system is not a trivial task, especially in growing cities of developing countries. This study investigates the sensitivity of results of a travel mode choice model to different specifications of network-based LOS attributes using a mixed logit model. The study also looks at the possibilities of correcting some of the inaccuracies in network-based LOS attributes. Further, the study also explores the effects of different specifications of LOS data on implied values of time and aggregation forecasting. The findings indicate that the implied values of time are very sensitive to specification of data and model implying that utmost care must be taken if the purpose of the model is to estimate values of time. Models estimated on all specifications of LOS-data perform well in prediction, likely suggesting that the extra expense on developing a more detailed and accurate network models so as to derive more precise LOS attributes is unnecessary for impact analyses of some policies.
Design And Collaborative Learning In Lasers And Photonics Courses

The growth of photonics technology (light emission and detection technology) continues at a terrific rate and is expected to be as high as 20% this year. At the same time, this increase in market demand for photonics equipment leads to a demand for skilled workers with hands-on experience. However, traditionally, Lasers and Opto-electronics have been taught as theoretical courses with very little applied work included. Here, recent efforts in converting the Photonics courses (Introduction to Lasers and Consumer Optoelectronics) at the State University of New York at Buffalo to include high design content will be presented. Specifically, a cost effective (only changes teaching style) collaborative active-learning environment, similar to a research environment, to stimulate student interest was implemented. This learning environment incorporates cooperative learning, experience-based hands-on learning, and the application of information technologies. In the first semester Introduction to Lasers course, students are required to design a laser system given a gain medium. The second semester course, Consumer Optoelectronics, offered in the spring, requires the design and implementation of an optical system that can replace current electronic systems. Moreover, these courses were designed to train engineers for entry into industry by emphasizing group efforts, active learning, and gender and race friendly learning styles. From the first two offerings of these courses using this style, it is clear that the students learned the material, enjoyed the course, and were enthusiastic about future optical design courses. Here, the qualitative assessment of, and some example design projects from, Introduction to Lasers and Consumer Optoelectronics, will be presented. Furthermore, a quantitative assessment of the methodology will be presented.
Cholesterol in Egg and Cardiovascular Disease: No More Panic-An Overview

Egg is a balanced food containing high quality prot ein, minerals and vitamins. It is also a rich source of dietary chole sterol and because of its high cholesterol content, there has always been a c ontroversy regarding its association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or co ronary heart disease (CHD). Though eggs are important sources of cholesterol, data available on the effects of egg consumption on the risk of CVD a nd mortality are inconsistent. Therefore, the review was conducted t o depict, role of egg consumption in cardiovascular disease.
Biosurfactant production from pseudomonas strains isolated in rhizospheric soils from semi-arid area of Bahia, Brazil

The aim of this study was to select biosurfactant-producing bacterial strains from soils of plants in the semi-arid region of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The mineral salt medium (MSM) was used as base medium, changes being made in the glucose concentration, temperature, and pH during the optimization process. Two biosurfactant-producing bacterial strains were isolated from the soil of Actinocephalus sp. and belonged to the genus Pseudomonas . The emulsification indexes of these strains rose until 58%. They reduced surface and interfacial tensions of culture medium and crude oil to less than 33 mN/m and 3 mN/m, respectively. This study represented an unprecedented discovery of surfactant activity of the bacterial strains isolated from rhizospheric soils of plants from Northeast Brazilian semi-arid region.
HARLEQUIN DUCK RECOVERY FROM THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL: A POPULATION GENETICS PERSPECTIVE

Concerns about Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) population recov- ery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill led biologists to ask whether birds located in different molting and wintering areas belong to genetically distinct and, thus, demographically in- dependent populations. Owing to the lack of direct observations of movements among ma- rine areas, three classes of genetic markers that differed in mode of inheritance were used to evaluate the degree of genetic differentiation among wintering areas within Prince Wil- liam Sound (PWS) and the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Archipelago (APKA). We could not reject the null hypothesis that the wintering aggregations within each region are composed of a single genetically panmictic population. Differences in genotype frequencies among wintering locations within PWS and APKA were low and nonsignificant for all three classes of markers. Furthermore, we saw no evidence for deviations in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or gametic disequilibrium between loci within a winter collection site as would be expected if these locales were composed of individuals from reproductively isolated (and genetically distinct) breeding locales. Finally, no evidence for significant structuring was noted between PWS and APKA. Lack of spatial genetic structuring could be due to the cumulative effects of low levels of gene flow over long time periods, low levels of gene flow by immature birds moving between marine habitats, or to episodic dispersal caused by habitat alteration (e.g.