Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do extra‐pair paternities provide genetic benefits for female blue tits Parus caeruleus?

A large body of theories on extra-pair paternity (EPP) in birds has proposed four main ‘‘genetic’’ hypotheses to explain this behaviour: the ‘‘good genes’’ hypothesis, the genetic diversity hypothesis, the genetic compatibility hypothesis and the fertility insurance hypothesis. Empirical tests have been scarce, mainly because high sample sizes are difficult to collect. We have tested these hypotheses in three Mediterranean populations of blue tits Parus caeruleus in which 50 � /68% of the broods contained extra-pair young. Results showed that the distribution of extra-pair young among broods was not random, and that survival to fledging of extra-pair young was higher than that of their within-pair sibs. These results support the idea of genetic effects benefiting extra-pair young. However, comparison of cuckolded and cuckolding males showed no significant difference in their body size, age, survival or relatedness with their paired females, and offspring morphometrics did not differ between extra-pair and within-pair young. We conclude that none of the genetic hypotheses can explain fully the high level of extra-pair paternity, at least in our populations of Mediterranean blue tits. We suggest that direct ecological benefits of EPP for females should be tested more often in correlative as well as experimental approaches.
Low Reynolds Number Flow Dynamics and Control of a Pitching Airfoil with Elastically Mounted Flap Actuator Final Report

Direct numerical simulations were performed to study the effect of an elastically mounted leading and trailing edge flap on the unsteady flow over a flat, thin airfoil at Reynolds number of 14700 based on the chord length. The goal is to investigate potential benefits of flowinduced passive actuation of the leading or trailing edge to the lift and drag characteristics of MAV foils. The flap, attached with a torsion spring at one-third the chord length, is modeled as a spring-mounted compound pendulum. It may undergo flow induced rotation resulting in dynamic variations in the effective angle of attack as well as the airfoil shape. Firstly, the second-order, fictitious domain based finite volume approach by Apte et al. (J. Comp. Phys. 2009) was extended to model this fluid-structure interaction problem on a fixed, Cartesian mesh. Verification studies were conducted on a canonical test case of a spring-mounted cylinder to show good predictive capability. Secondly, for the leading edge actuator, computations were performed at 20◦ angle of attack and varying the spring parameters. A lock-in region leading to limit cycle oscillations of the leading edge flap was obtained that resulted in improvements to lift-to-drag ratios. Finally, flow over a plunging airfoil (representative of flapping wing flight), at reduced frequency of 5.71 (10 Hz) and 5◦ angle of attack was investigated with and without the flapping actuator near the trailing edge. It was found that, spring natural frequencies higher than the plunging frequency result in the flap actuation leading to net increase in thrust. This preliminary work suggests that a simple flap actuator may be used to provide passive (or active) control for better performance of MAVs. The summer research at AFRL’s computational sciences division has resulted in several opportunities for future collaborations with AFRL scientists and researchers. At Oregon State, new projects for senior students are initiated to build and modify the existing physical setup and measure lift and drag coefficients. A test rig for wind-tunnel experiments with simultaneous plunging of the airfoil and flapping of the airfoil together with torsionspring mounted leading or trailing edge is being built. The work is also being presented at American Physical Society’s November Meeting (Baltimore) and will be submitted to the AIAA fluid dynamics conference.
Phocas: dimensional Byzantine-resilient stochastic gradient descent

We propose a novel robust aggregation rule for distributed synchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent~(SGD) under a general Byzantine failure model. The attackers can arbitrarily manipulate the data transferred between the servers and the workers in the parameter server~(PS) architecture. We prove the Byzantine resilience of the proposed aggregation rules. Empirical analysis shows that the proposed techniques outperform current approaches for realistic use cases and Byzantine attack scenarios.
Optimizing Selection of Training Samples for Robotics Learning Problems

It is desirable to carry out learning tasks on the real robots, but at the same time learning on robots is costly as too many trials can cause wear and tear. Therefore, it is of value to reduce the number of training samples that are taken for a learning task. An efficient solution to this problem would be useful for reducing the cost of learning tasks such as motion prediction for a kick or walk. Since for this project I needed to be able to evaluate the efficiency of the solutions, I tried to select test domains where a lot of experiments can be performed. The developed solutions are tested for function approximation and for predicting the outcome of a kick in UT’s 3D simulation league software.
Short article: The flexibility of context-specific control: Evidence for context-driven generalization of item-specific control settings

In two experiments we address an ongoing debate concerning the processes driving context-driven modulations to the Stroop effect (Crump, Gong, & Milliken, 2006). In particular, we demonstrate that context-driven processes can modulate the size of the Stroop effect for frequency-unbiased item types. We also clarify the role of item frequency in producing context-driven modulations to the Stroop effect. Taken together, our results provide unambiguous support for the claim that contextual processing can impart fast and flexible control over the operation of selective attention processes during online performance.
Effect of feeding polyphenols on Campylobacter counts in broilers

Effect of feeding polyphenols on Campylobacter counts in broilers P. Vazquez, C. Millán, F.J. García-Peña, M.J. Cubero, J. Sánchez Imasde Agroalimentaria, S.L. , Spain Laboratorio Central de Veterinaria de Algete, Spain Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, Spain *Corresponding author. Email: jsanchezlaguna@e-imasde.com Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of a blend of polyphenols (P; 90% gallic acid, catechin and epicatechin) on Campylobacter counts in broilers. There were three treatments (T1: Non infected, T2: Infected and T3: Infected + P). Polyphenols were applied either to the whole experimental period (1-42 d, P at 238 ppm; Exp. 1) or exclusively in the finisher diets (21-41 d, P at 159 ppm; Exp. 2). Birds from T2 and T3 were infected at 14 d with 100 μl of a solution containing 10 CFU/ml of C. jejuni strains (ST-21 and ST-45). Ten broilers per treatment were euthanized and caecum removed for Campylobacter enumeration at 7, 21 and 28 d after inoculation. In Exp. 1, P supplementation significantly decreased log CFU/g of Campylobacter at 7 d (7.13 vs 7.84 log10; P = 0.0391), 21 d (7.25 vs 8.11 log10; P = 0.0316) and 28 d post-infection (6.80 vs 7.6 log10, P = 0.0353). However in Exp. 2, P supplementation only a numerical decrease of Campylobacter infection at 35 and 42 d was observed, but differences were not significant. It is concluded that supplementation of broiler diets with a blend of polyphenols decrease Campylobacter colonization in broilers. However more research is needed regarding dosage and supplementing period.
The Distributive , Graded , Metric Lattice of EL Concept Descriptions

For the description logic EL, we consider the neighborhood relation which is induced by the subsumption order, and we show that the lattice of EL concept descriptions is distributive, modular, graded, and metric. In particular, this implies the existence of a rank function as well as the existence of a distance function.
Three‐dimensional displacements of a large volcano flank movement during the May 2010 eruptions at Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala

Although massive flank failure is fairly common in the evolution of volcanoes, measurements of flank movement indicative of instability are rare. Here 3‐D displacements from airborne radar amplitude images derived using an amplitude image pixel offset tracking technique show that the west and southwest flanks of Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala experienced large (~4 m), discrete landsliding that was ultimately aborted. Pixel offset tracking improved measurement recovery by nearly 50% over classic interferometric synthetic aperture radar techniques, providing unique measurements at the event. The 3‐D displacement field shows that the flank moved coherently downslope along a complex failure surface involving both rotational and along‐slope movement. Notably, the lack of continuous movement of the slide in the years leading up to the event emphasizes that active movement should not always be expected at volcanoes for which triggering factors (e.g., magmatic intrusions and eruptions) could precipitate sudden major flank instability.
Dual Band Dual Polarized Microstrip Patch Anetenna

This paper represents the design of single feed, dual band microstrip antenna showing dual polarized behavior of radiations for the wireless environment. Proposed antenna has been designed for 5 to 5.8 GHz frequency having dimensions of 35.8mm X 39.72mm X 1.6mm, which results in dual band operations including (5.02GHz5.19GHz) and (5.51GHz5.71GHz) WLAN band.Truncating the patch has been carried out to achieve the elliptical polarizations (EP) with the same geometry.Within two bands, WLAN band has made to operate in elliptically polarized characteristics, with axial ratio 6db at 5.61GHz, giving orthogonal E-field distributions for both bands. The single feed EP geometry accomplishes the advantages of simplicity and simple structure when it is used for MIMO (Multiple-InputMultiple-Output) applications and WLAN application.The simulation were carried out using HFSS and hardware testing was done on VNA. Keywords—dual band , polarization , Truncated micro strip patch antenna.
Matching of Ontology Graphs Using Expectation-Maximization

We present a new method for mapping ontology schemas that address similar domains. The problem of ontology matching is crucial since we are witnessing a decentralized development and publication of ontological data. We formulate the problem of inferring a match between two ontologies as a maximum likelihood problem, and solve it using the technique of expectation-maximization (EM). Specifically, we adopt directed graphs as our model for ontology schemas and use a generalized version of EM to arrive at a map between the nodes of the graphs. We exploit the structural, lexical and instance similarity between the graphs, and differ from the previous approaches in the way we utilize them to arrive at, a possibly inexact, match. Inexact matching is the process of finding a best possible match between the two graphs when exact matching is not possible or is computationally difficult. In order to scale the method to large ontologies, we identify the computational bottlenecks and adapt the generalized EM by using a memory bounded partitioning scheme. We provide comparative experimental results in support of our method on two well-known ontology alignment benchmarks and discuss their implications.
Risk Sensitive Portfolio Optimization in a Jump Diffusion Model with Regimes

This article studies a portfolio optimization problem, without any consumption and transaction cost, where the market consisting of several stocks is modeled by a multi-dimensional jump diffusion process with age-dependent semi-Markov modulated coefficients. We study risk sensitive portfolio optimization on the finite time horizon. We study the problem by using a probabilistic approach to establish the existence and uniqueness of the classical solution to the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. We also implement a numerical scheme to investigate the behavior of solutions for different values of the initial portfolio wealth, the maturity and the risk of aversion parameter.
Long-Range Interactions and Network Synchronization

The dynamical behavior of networked complex systems is shaped not only by the direct links among the units, but also by the long-range interactions occurring through the many existing paths connecting the network nodes. In this work, we study how synchronization dynamics is influenced by these long-range interactions, formulating a model of coupled oscillators that incorporates this type of interactions through the use of d-path Laplacian matrices. We study synchronizability of these networks by the analysis of the Laplacian spectra, both theoretically and numerically, for real-world networks and artificial models. Our analysis reveals that in all networks long-range interactions improve network synchronizability with an impact that depends on the original structure, for instance, it is greater for graphs having a larger diameter. We also investigate the effects of edge removal in graphs with long-range interactions and, as a major result, find that the removal process becomes more critical, since the lon.
Limit theorems for random polytopes with vertices on convex surfaces

Abstract We consider the random polytope Kn, defined as the convex hull of n points chosen independently and uniformly at random on the boundary of a smooth convex body in ℝd. We present both lower and upper variance bounds, a strong law of large numbers, and a central limit theorem for the intrinsic volumes of Kn. A normal approximation bound from Stein's method and estimates for surface bodies are among the tools involved.
A new credit card fraud detecting method based on behavior certificate

Along with the popularization of electronic commerce (e-commerce), the problem of credit card fraud become more and more serious. Therefore, the study on fraud detection is interesting and important. Extracting the cardholder's historical transaction patterns is an important way of detecting fraud. In this paper we proposes a new credit card fraud detection system (FDS) based on behavior certificate (BC) which reflects cardholders' transaction habits. In our method, the correlation between behavior features and some special cases such as festival and weekend are considered into BC. First, we extract a set of behavior features from each cardholder's transaction records. Then we construct her/his BC based on these behavior features. Finally, we compute the risk degree for each cardholder's incoming transaction based on her/his BC. If the degree is higher than a threshold, it is considered as a fraud. Our experiment shows the effectiveness of our method.
Microstructure and Capacitance of the Electrical Double Layers at the Interface of Ionic Liquids and Planar Electrodes

We report on the molecular dynamics simulations of the electrical double layers (EDLs) at the interface of ionic liquids [BMIM][NO3] and planar electrodes. Simulations confirm that a Helmholtz-like interfacial counterion layer exists when the electrode charge density is negative or strongly positive, but the counterion layer is not well-defined when the electrode charge density is weakly positive. The thickness of the EDL, as inferred from how deep the charge separation and orientational ordering of the ions penetrate into the bulk ILs, is about 1.1 nm. The liquid nature of the IL and the short-range ion−electrode and ion−ion interactions are found to significantly affect the structure of the EDL, particularly at low electrode charge densities. Charge delocalization of the ions is found to affect the mean force experienced by the ions and, thus, can play an important role in shaping the EDL structure. The differential capacitance of the EDLs is found to be nearly constant under negative electrode polariza.
EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE, RELATIVE HUMIDITY, FASTING AND FEEDING ON THE BODY TEMPERATURE OF LAYING HENS

Summary The separate effects of air temperature, relative humidity, fasting and heat increment of food utilization on the body temperature of laying hens were studied. Hens acclimatized to 35OC showed a smaller diurnal variation in body temperature than hens at 20°C and the variation was further decreased when relative humidity was increased from a range of 20-357~ to constant 45%. The effect of daytime activity (diurnal variation) was greater than that of fasting and heat increment of food utilization.
Global distribution of upper tropospheric formic acid from the ACE-FTS

We present the first near global upper tropospheric distribution of formic acid (HCOOH) observed from space using solar occultation measurements from the Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) on board the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite. Using a new set of spectroscopic line parameters recently published for formic acid by Vander Auwera et al. (2007) and Perrin and Vander Auwera (2007), we have retrieved the concentrations of HCOOH between 5 km and the tropopause for ACE-FTS observations from February 2004 to September 2007. We observe a significant seasonal dependence for the HCOOH concentrations related to vegetation growth and biomass burning. We estimate an emission ratio of 0.0051±0.0015 for HCOOH relative to CO for tropical South American fires using a selected set of data for September 2004. Results from the balloon-borne MkIV Fourier transform spectrometer are also presented and compared with the ACE measurements.
Chemical Composition and Insecticidal Activity of Essential Oil of Artemisia frigida Willd (Compositae) against Two Grain Storage Insects

Purpose : To investigate the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of the essential oil of the aerial parts of Artemisia frigida against maize weevils ( Sitophilus zeamais ) and booklice ( Liposcelis bostrychophila )D Methods : Steam distillation of A. frigida aerial parts was carried out in a Clavenger apparatus to extract its volatile oil content. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analyses (HP-5MS column) of the essential oil were performed and its contact toxicity was determined using topical application and filter paper impregnation technique while its fumigant toxicity was evaluated using sealed-space method. Results : A total of 32 components of the essential oil were identified. The principal compounds were cis-ρ-menth-2-en-1-ol (20.8%), 1,8-cineole (12.0%), borneol (10.2%), lavandulol (9.3%), camphor (6.9%), and bicyclogermacrene (5.5%). The oil exhibited contact toxicity against adult S. zeamais and L. bostrychophila with LC 50 value of 17.97 µg/adult and 254.38 µg/cm2, respectively. The essential oils also possessed fumigant toxicity against S. zeamais and L. bostrychophila with LC 50 value of 69.46 mg/L and 1.25 mg/L air. Conclusion : The study indicates that the essential oil of A. frigida has a potential to be developed to a natural fumigant/insecticide for the control of grain storage insects. Keywords : Artemisia frigida, Sitophilus zeamais, Liposcelis bostrychophila, Insecticidal activity, Essential oil, Cis-ρ-Menth-2-en-1-ol; 1,8-Cineole
Review on Energy Aware Virtual Machines Consolidation in Data Centers of Cloud

the numbers of datacenters are increasing with the use of cloud services. Datacenters are actually hazardous to the environment because of high energy usage and increase in carbon emission. Energy efficiency in datacenters is major issue in cloud computing, it will lead to improve physical infrastructure of modern datacenters through energy management and resource utilization. It is quint essential to reduce energy in delivery of computing resources and utilization of resources to serve application workload. Dynamic virtual machine consolidation is effective way to reduce energy consumption and better utilization of resources. The VM consolidation ensures that computing resources are efficiently utilized to serve applications workload so as to minimize energy consumption while maintaining the required QoS. VM consolidation determines in four sub problem like host overload/ under load detection, VM selection, VM placement to reduce overall energy consumption.
DiazaCon reduces black-tailed prairie dog reproduction in Colorado

Abstract Context. Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomus ludovicianus) often come into conflict with humans in urban natural areas adjacent to private property by destroying plants and denuding the landscape. There is a diversity of attitudes related to urban prairie dog management in Colorado and interest in non-lethal methods is increasing. Therefore, the development of non-lethal methods that allow the existence of prairie dogs and mitigate damage related to population density is needed. Aims. The efficacy of DiazaCon (20,25-diazacholesterol dihydrochloride, a cholesterol analogue) as an oral contraceptive bait for reducing reproduction in black-tailed prairie dogs was tested. Persistence of DiazaCon in black-tailed prairie dogs 11 months after initial application was also determined. Methods. Prairie dogs were baited with DiazaCon-coated rolled oats or control bait for 10 days over a 20-day period in November 2007 on one control and one treatment site. Sites were randomly assigned to a treatment group. Visual counts were used 8 months post-treatment (June/July 2008) to determine pup : adult ratios on both sites. Prairie dogs on both sites were trapped 11 months post-treatment (September/October 2008) to gather mass and age data to assess juvenile : adult ratios and to collect blood samples for determination of serum cholesterol and desmosterol concentrations. Key results. DiazaCon treatment reduced the number of pups per adult by 95.5% when compared with the control site in June/July 2008 (0.09 ± 0.02, n = 10, number of observation days) versus 2.0 ± 0.2 (n = 10). Free serum cholesterol levels in treated animals (370.7 µg mL–1) were lower than control animal levels (411.6 µg mL–1, P < 0.015), while treated desmosterol levels (14.5 µg mL–1) were higher than controls (0.35 µg mL–1, P < 0.02) 11 months after ingestion of DiazaCon bait. However, these differences would likely not have been sufficient to prevent successful breeding in the upcoming breeding season. Conclusions. DiazaCon is an effective contraceptive in black-tailed prairie dogs. It is probably reversible and will likely affect breeding success for only one breeding season. DiazaCon may provide an additional tool to help manage urban populations of prairie dogs in locations where lethal control is unacceptable. Implications. The need for further research into secondary hazards to non-target animals, such as predators, is discussed. Recommendations for field application are also discussed.