Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Segregation in a sexually dimorphic mammal: a mixed-effects modelling analysis of diving behaviour in southern elephant seals

Sexual segregation in habitat use occurs in a number of animal species, including south- ern elephant seals, where differences in migration localities and dive behaviour between sexes have been recorded. Due to the extreme sexual size dimorphism exhibited by southern elephant seals, it is unclear whether observed differences in dive behaviour are due to increased physiological capacity of males, compared to females, or differences in activity budgets and foraging behaviour. Here we use a mixed-effects modelling approach to investigate the effects of sex, size, age and individual vari- ation on a number of dive parameters measured on southern elephant seals from Marion Island. Although individual variation accounted for substantial portions of total model variance for many response variables, differences in maximum and targeted dive depths were always influenced by sex, and only partly by body length. Conversely, dive durations were always influenced by body length, while sex was not identified as a significant influence. These results support hypotheses that physiological capability associated with body size is a limiting factor on dive durations. However, dif- ferences in vertical depth use appear to be the result of differences in forage selection between sexes, rather than a by-product of the size dimorphism displayed by this species. This provides further sup- port for resource partitioning and possible avoidance of inter-sexual competition in southern ele- phant seals.
Effect of Water Temperature on Masculinization and Growth of Nile Tilapia Fish

The main aim of this work is to study the effect of water temperature on masculinization, growth and survival of Nile tilapia. To achieve that two experiments were carried out to study the effect of water temperatures (25°C, 30°C and 35°C) and periods of time (1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks) on the male ratio, mortality rate and weight of Nile tilapia fry in the first experiment. While the second experiment aimed to evaluate the growth and survival rate of sex reversed tilapia fry which obtained from the first experiment. The obtained results indicated that the male ratio and mortality rate increased with increasing the water temperature and period of time rearing. The highest value of male ratio and mortality rate (91.50% and 17.13%) was obtained at 35°C water temperature and four weeks of rearing. The weight of Nile tilapia fry significantly increased from 0.16 to 1.51 g, 0.30 to 2.67 g and 0.27 to 2.05 g at 25°C, 30°C and 35°C, respectively after 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of rearing. The Nile tilapia fry previously treated by water temperature and period of time rearing increased each of body weight, weight gain and specific growth rate, while the feed conversion ratio decreased with increasing the water temperature and period of time rearing.
Two evolved supernova remnants with newly identified Fe-rich cores in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Aims. We present a multi-wavelength analysis of the evolved supernova remnants MCSNR J0506-7025 and MCSNR J0527-7104 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Methods. We used data from XMM-Newton, the Australian Telescope Compact Array, and the Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey to study their broadband emission and used Spitzer and HI data to gain a picture of their environments. We performed a multi-wavelength morphological study and detailed radio and X-ray spectral analyses to determine their physical characteristics. Results. Both remnants were found to have bright X-ray cores, dominated by Fe L-shell emission, consistent with reverse shock heated ejecta with determined Fe masses in agreement with Type Ia explosion yields. A soft X-ray shell, consistent with swept-up interstellar medium, was observed in MCSNR J0506-7025, suggestive of a remnant in the Sedov phase. Using the spectral fit results and the Sedov self-similar solution, we estimated the age of MCSNR J0506-7025 to be ~16-28 kyr, with an initial explosion energy of (0.07-0.84)x10^51 erg. A soft shell was absent in MCSNR J0527-7104, with only ejecta emission visible in an extremely elongated morphology extending beyond the optical shell. We suggest that the blast wave has broken out into a low density cavity, allowing the shock heated ejecta to escape. We found that the radio spectral index of MCSNR J0506-7025 is consistent with the standard ~0.5 for SNRs. Radio polarisation at 6 cm indicates a higher degree of polarisation along the western front and at the eastern knot, with a mean fractional polarisation across the remnant of P~(20 \pm 6)%. Conclusions. The detection of Fe-rich ejecta in the remnants suggests that both resulted from Type Ia explosions. The newly identified Fe-rich cores in MCSNR J0506-7025 and MCSNR J0527-7104 makes them members of the expanding class of evolved Fe-rich remnants in the Magellanic Clouds.
Building and Sustaining International Business Networks in the Baltic Sea Region. A Comparison of Small and Medium-sized Exporters from Emerging and Mature European Markets

This paper focuses on the internationalization of s mall- and medium sized enterprises from a business marketing point of view. The building and sustainment of international business networks is studied in the Baltic Sea Region involv ing exporters from both mature and emerging markets. The paper reports on research conducted be tween 2004 and 2007 with researchers participating from eight countries in this region. The study encompasses eight exporters and their importers. The research contributes to internationa l process theory by developing the network aspect of the entry node, the entry process, and th e entry mode. One major result is that the exporter’s entry process changes character so that the exporter participates in three major types of networks. Initially, there is the exposure network consisting of many weak information and social ties. This social network is closing in the formati on network, where the ties are becoming stronger and social trust develops. In the sustenance networ k, relationships become more permanent and integrated into the firms regular business. The org anization-based network takes over, becoming a precedent to the social network. The entry mode var ies over the entry process, being a result of what kind of hub that the exporter uses during the different networks.
van der Waals Interactions and Hadron Resonance Gas: Role of resonance widths modeling on conserved charges fluctuations

The quantum van der Waals (QvdW) extension of the ideal hadron resonance gas (HRG) model which includes the attractive and repulsive interactions between baryons – the QvdW-HRG model – is applied to study the behavior of the baryon number related susceptibilities in the crossover temperature region. Inclusion of the QvdW interactions leads to a qualitatively different behavior of susceptibilities, in many cases resembling lattice QCD simulations. It is shown that for some observables, in particular for χ BQ 11 / χ B 2 , effects of the QvdW interactions essentially cancel out. It is found that the inclusion of the finite resonance widths leads to an improved description of χ B 2 , but it also leads to a worse description of χ BQ 11 / χ B 2 , as compared to the lattice data. On the other hand, inclusion of the extra, unconfirmed baryons into the hadron list leads to a simultaneous improvement in the description of both observables.
Interactive comment on “Role of dust alkalinity in acid mobilization of iron” by A. Ito and Y. Feng

Response: In our model, sulfate aerosols are treated in the 5 size bins (<0.05 μm, 0.05–0.63 μm, 0.63–1.25 μm, 1.25–2.5 μm, 2.5–10 μm in radius) and particles in the first two size bins have diameters < 1.25 microns. But other aerosols including mineral dust are treated in 4 size bins (0.–0.63 μm, 0.63–1.25 μm, 1.25–2.5 μm, 2.5–10 μm in radius) in the model. For them, diameter < 1.25 micron only includes the size bin 1.
Access to Satellite Image Metadata on the Grid

The UNOSAT project is a United Nations programme that provides, among other services, satellite imagery to the international humanitarian community in case of natural disasters. UNOSAT has peaks of usage during catastrophes, when big quantities of computing power to process images are required, in addition to the storage space normally needed to stock the satellite images it owns. A solution to these necessities is offered by Computing Grids, distributed systems that can provide dynamic access to large amounts of computing and storage resources. This thesis is part of an ongoing effort to provide a UNOSAT service to deliver processed satellite images to field workers using technology and resources of the EGEE Grid. It covers the analysis of the requirements, design and validation of a metadata catalogue to access satellite image metadata on the Grid. This metadata catalogue has been used with two prototype services that I have developed, one to study the usage of the metadata by the users through a web-page, the other to study the access to the catalogue from mobile devices, and it is included in the UNOSAT web portal, which is a first implementation of a Grid service for UNOSAT, resulting from a collaboration between UNOSAT, NICE srl. from Italy and CERN.
Analysis of Retailer Pricing in the Presence of Coupons: An Examination of Breakfast Cereal Industry

A coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a direct financial discount when purchasing a specific product, or a total amount of goods in a certain store. Coupons are usually issued by manufacturers of packaged goods or by retailers, to be used as a part of sales promotions. As coupons are extensively adopted to enhance consumer demand and to compete for market share, they draw considerable in the food marketing and industrial organization literature. The objective of this study is to examine how coupons impact retailers’ pricing decisions. Specifically, this study explores how retailer pricing and couponing change based on competitor’s coupon issuance; and whether different types of coupons (manufacturer verses retailer) have different impacts on retailer’s pricing. Breakfast cereals are heavily purchased. The substantial diversity of cereal products makes it easy to compare prices across stores, and lead to intense price competitions. Regional markets may adopt various mechanisms to attract consumers and maximize own profits; instead, they may also observe others’ behaviors and make decisions of achieving a joint profit. Hence, firms’ profit maximization procedures are analyzed under two scenarios: non-cooperative, and cooperative. The data employed in this study are taken from the 2006-2008 ACNielsen Homescan data. We focus on the market of New York because coupons are mostly redeemed in this market. Economic theory indicates that prices and coupon levels influence each other. To account for the bidirectional causality between coupon values and prices, the determinants of prices and coupon values are simultaneously identified by a two-equation, fixed-effects, and panel-data system. The problem of endogeneity arises due to data availability and exclusion variables are included. Estimation results indicate that a retailer will decrease the cereal price by 6.685 cents if its competitor increases the retailer coupon by 1 cent. This suggests that because both cereal prices and retailer coupon values are close across stores, consumers may be better off comparing prices between stores if there are retailer coupons available in the market. The positive relation between own and cross retailer coupon values suggests that retailers compete over cereals, and they may also cooperatively decide prices and coupon values.
Numerical studies of bandwidth of parallel-plate cut-off realised by a bed of nails, corrugations and mushroom-type electromagnetic bandgap for use in gap waveguides

Recently it has been shown that so-called gap waveguides can be generated in the gap between parallel metal plates. The gap waveguides are formed by metal ridges or strips along which local waves propagate, and parallel plate modes are prohibited from propagating by providing one of the surfaces with a texture that generates an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) or an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) surface on both sides of the ridges or strips. The bandwidth of the gap waveguide is determined by the cut-off bandwidth of a parallel-plate waveguide where one surface has such a texture (and no ridges or strips). This paper studies the bandwidths (or stop bands) of such parallel-plate cut-offs when the AMC or EBG is realised by a metal pin surface, corrugations or a mushroom surface. It is shown that cut-off bandwidths of up to 4:1 are potentially available, and thereby similar bandwidths should be achievable also for gap waveguides.
NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MAGNUS EFFECT ON DIMPLED SPHERES

Direct numerical simulations of spinning dimpled spheres at three distinct flow regimes, subcritical, critical, and supercritical, are reported. A highly efficient, structured, and finite-difference solver in cylindrical coordinates is utilized, together with an embedded boundary formulation to impose the proper boundary conditions on the solid surface. The results exhibit all the qualitative flow features that are unique in each regime, namely the drag crisis and the alternation of the Magnus effect. In the critical regime, and for a certain range of rotation rates and Reynolds numbers, a negative lift force is produced. For all cases we provide quantitative evidence and analysis of the detailed mechanics of separation and its impact on the aerodynamic force generation.
Glycyrrhiza uralensis ( licorice ) extracts increase cell proliferation and bone marker enzyme alkaline phosphatase activity in osteoblastic MC 3 T 3E 1 cells *

Purpose: The Glycyrrhiza uralensis species (Leguminosae) as a medicinal biocompound, and one of its root components, isoliquritigenin (ISL), which is a flavonoid, has been reported to have anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. However, its function in bone formation has not been studied yet. In this study, we tested the effect of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (ErLR) and baked Glycyrrhiza uralensis (EdLR) extracts on osteoblast proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and bone-related gene expression in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. Methods: MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured in various levels of ErLR (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 μg/mL), EdLR (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 μg/mL), or ISL (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 μM) in time sequences (1, 5, and 20 days). Also, isoliquritigenin (ISL) was tested for comparison to those two biocompound extracts. Results: MTT assay results showed that all three compounds (ErLR, EdLR, and ISL) increased osteoblastic-cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner for one day. In addition, both ErLR and EdLR compounds elevated the osteoblast proliferation for 5 or 20 days. Extracellular ALP activity was also increased as ErLR, EdLR, and ISL concentration increased at 20 days, which implies the positive effect of Glycyrrhiza species on osteoblast mineralization. The bone-related marker mRNAs were upregulated in the ErLR-treated osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells for 20 days. Bone-specific transcription factor Runx2 gene expression was also elevated in the ErLRand EdLR-treated osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells for 20 days. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that Glycyrrhiza uralensis extracts may be useful for preventing osteoporosis by increasing cell proliferation, ALP activity, and bone-marker gene expression in osteoblastic cells.
Species Richness And Diversity of Sea Birds And Shore Birds of Red Sea Region In Massawa, Eritrea, North East Africa

Large number of birds are found in Red Sea region since there was no potential predators found in that region and hence the birds were selected it as a feeding and breeding ground for the sea and shore birds. The research site was around 0.05 sq.kms and it constitute about 50% of the island with mangrove cover and this also added for it for a nestling of their off-springs. The island with rich of Avicenna marina as a mangrove forests will cover most for shelter and breeding to these birds either migratory or resident birds and will act as symbiotic relationship with the birds. And from November to February during the survey 27 of sea and 11 of the shore birds were recorded. Shannon Wiener's index and Simpson's index for calculating the Diversity and Species Richness were used to represent the data. As per the results and the calculated data the richness and the diversity of the area of the birds were less than 1 and hence less diversity and abundance of the species.
Quality of Health Economic Evaluation in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review in Vietnam

Background: At present, economic evaluation studies are pivotal in decisions on apportion of resources in health care. Vietnam is a country undergoing a healthcare reform requiring health economic information. This study is designed as a systematic review to explore the trend and situation of economic evaluation studies in Vietnam. In order to aid the development of this study, databases of numerous sources, namely PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library. Results: From 1356 records found, twenty-three articles met selection criteria. Average number of articles by years is 0-5 papers except in 2012 (7 papers). There is 95.7 percent used cost effectiveness analysis, only one study conducted cost benefit analysis. Out of these studies, the number of articles was mentioned in prevention interventions (11), diagnostic procedures (3), curative procedures (7), and services delivery (2). Eleven studies did not report clearly the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and also 11 publications did not disclose funding sources. Conclusions: This review shows clearly the current situation and an urgent need for an increase of both quality and quantity of health economic studies in Vietnam. Basically, national methodological guidelines for conducting and reporting economic evaluation in Vietnam should be developed as soon as possible.
THE ATTITUDES OF NCE STUDENTS TOWARDS USE OF INTERNET AT USCOEGA

This research work examines the attitudes of Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) students towards use of InternetatUmar Sulaiman College of Education Gashua (USCOEGA) in the year 20010/11 academic session. In this connection therefore, the study aims at studying the effect of certain variables such as gender, computer/Internet experiences and Internet perception on learning process at different schools and levels in the college. A survey was carried out with a sample of 240 students from various schools and levels in the USCOEGA. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the students sample. Surprisingly, the result revealed a limited awareness about the important and the usage of Internet among NCE students and the NCE students learning has no relationship with the usage of Internet. However it was shown that gender has no significant effect towards Internet usage. Furthermore, the study also vindicated that the token amount being paid for the Internet services stops most students from using Internet; in addition to that, contradicted findings were also discovered as a result of falsification of information by some students: conclusively, some list of recommendations were given base on the findings.
Cyber Physical Energy Systems Modules for Power Sharing Controllers in Inverter Based Microgrids

The Microgrids (MGs) are an effective way to deal with the smart grid challenges, including service continuity in the event of a grid interruption, and renewable energy integration. The MGs are compounded by multiple distributed generators (DGs), and the main control goals are load demand sharing and voltage and frequency stability. Important research has been reported to cope with the implementation challenges of the MGs including the power sharing control problem, where the use of cybernetic components such as virtual components, and communication systems is a common characteristic. The use of these cybernetic components to control complex physical systems generates new modeling challenges in order to achieve an adequate balance between complexity and accuracy in the MG model. The standardization problem of the cyber-physical MG models is addressed in this work, using a cyber-physical energy systems (CPES) modeling methodology to build integrated modules, and define the communication architectures that each power sharing control strategy requires in an AC-MG. Based on these modules, the control designer can identify the signals and components that eventually require a time delay analysis, communication requirements evaluation, and cyber-attacks’ prevention strategies. Similarly, the modules of each strategy allow for analyzing the potential advantages and drawbacks of each power sharing control technique from a cyber physical perspective.
Critical Views of 8th Grade Students toward Statistical Data in Newspaper Articles: Analysis in Light of Statistical Literacy.

AbstractUnderstanding and interpreting biased data, decision-making in accordance with the data, and critically evaluating situations involving data are among the fundamental skills necessary in the modern world. To develop these required skills, emphasis on statistical literacy in school mathematics has been gradually increased in recent years. The critical views of 8th graders with respect to statistical data presented in several newspaper articles were investigated from various aspects through this descriptive study. The study was conducted in a middle school with 9 students at the 8th grade level. The statistical data included in news articles selected from different national newspapers published in Turkey were used to collect the data. Through clinical interviews, the evaluations of the students were determined from the aspects of consistency, sample, data collection, data analysis, data presentation, and data support; the reasoning behind the students’ evaluations was also discussed. As a result, it.
HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF A DCT BASED WATERMARKING

In this memory a steganographic method for image protection on social network is developed. The method hides additional information such as a logo or serial number. Uploading the images on the social network has induced image degradation on the original images. Based on the analysis of this attack a method is developed based on the discrete cosine transform DCT where additional information is hidden by modifying the coefficients in the cosine domain. The coefficient is chosen after thorough analysis based on Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) and bit error rate (BER). It is concluded that the coefficients representing middle range of frequencies in the cosine domain is best suited for modifications. The reason for this is that the modification of these frequencies does not degrade the picture enough for a human eye to see it but are still able to withstand various types of image attacks such as scaling, rotation, cropping and JPEG compression. The method was evaluated and it has shown that bit error rate (BER) for different attacks was below 1%. The method is implemented on 4 different hardware platforms using OpenCL and then tested for performance in speed and complexity of the implementation. Acceleration was based on creating a kernels for most time consuming functions DCT and iDCT.