Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi‐scale habitat selection of key frugivores predicts large‐seeded tree recruitment in tropical forest restoration

Large-seeded, animal-dispersed (LSAD) trees include some of the most valuable and threatened species in the tropics, but they are chronically underrepresented in regenerating forests. Toucans disperse many LSAD species, so attracting toucans to regenerating forests should help re-establish more diverse tree communities. We ask: (1) What constitutes suitable toucan habitat in premontane southern Costa Rica? (2) How much do small-scale restoration strategies influence toucan visitation compared to landscape-scale habitat suitability outside of restoration sites? (3) How well does toucan visitation predict the richness of LSAD tree species recruiting into regenerating forests? We combined habitat suitability models with long-term toucan observations and comprehensive tree recruitment surveys to assess these questions in a multi-site forest restoration experiment. Restoration treatments included tree plantations, natural regeneration, and applied nucleation. Habitat suitability obtained by modeling for three sympatric toucan species was predicted by elevation and the extent and age of landscape forest cover. Within suitable landscapes, toucans visited areas restored via tree planting ≥5 yr sooner and ≥29 more often than plots restored via natural regeneration. Tree plantations in suitable toucan habitat at the landscape scale had LSAD tree recruitment communities that were 2–39 richer in species than plantations in poor toucan habitat, and 71% (15/21) of all recruiting LSAD tree species were found only in plantations where landscape habitat was suitable for the largest toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus. Results support a multi-spatial-scale model for predicting toucan-mediated dispersal of LSAD trees. Tree planting increases toucan visitation and LSAD tree recruitment, but only within landscapes that represent suitable toucan habitat. More broadly, habitat suitability modeling for key seed dispersers can help prioritize restoration actions within heterogenous landscapes.
Inter- and Intra-Individual Variation in the Behavior of Feed Intake on Nutrient Availability in Early Lactating Dairy Cows

Simple Summary The problem of nutrient and energy deficiency and the associated risk of disease in fresh dairy cows has been known for many years. Previous approaches to reducing the risk have been almost exclusively on a herd basis approach but have so far not been sufficiently effective. The present study revealed large variation between individual animals during the first weeks after calving, particularly with respect to dry matter intake (DMI). In addition to the large variation in intake behavior, feed intake and nutrient digestibility, interactions between parameters refute the traditional feeding regimes, based on the mean requirement values at herd level. Inter-individual variation indicates that each animal follows an individual strategy in optimizing DMI. Only if constant access to the feed bunk and balanced diets are made possible, all animals can follow their individual strategy, maximize individual DMI and come closer to the goal of an adequate supply. As there is only a low risk for excessive DMI during early lactation, feeding regimes should not be oriented towards the assumed average level of feed intake but towards the animals with a low level of dry matter intake. Otherwise, it will not be possible to improve the nutrient supply for all animals. Abstract Since energetic deficits in dairy cows can only be reduced at an animal level, the objective of the present study was to determine the extent of variation in intake behavior within and between animals during early lactation, to explore the magnitude of interactions between feed intake, intake behavior and nutrient digestibility, and to identify levers for maximizing feed intake at the individual animal level. Feeding behavior, intake and nutrient digestibility of 28 German Holstein dairy cows, fed TMR with 7.0 MJ NEL, were studied between the 2nd and 15th week after calving. Dry matter intake was assessed daily and nutrient digestibility weekly, with iNDF240 as an intrinsic marker. Results showed high intra- and inter-individual variation in intake behavior parameters with coefficients of variation (CV) up to 0.58 in meal frequency. Nutrient digestibility varied only slightly with CV values up to 0.10 in crude protein. Milk yield, meal frequency, feeding time, feeding rate and meal size had significant positive effects on DMI (p < 0.01). To achieve long-term improvements in feed intake, it is important to optimize feed intake and feeding behavior of individual animals by improving feeding conditions and develop technical tools to identify animals with insufficient feed intake.
Aplicaciones de inteligencia artificial para la clasificación automatizada de propósitos comunicativos en informes de ingeniería

The task of recognizing the discursive patterns that enable the members of an academic discursive community to achieve the communicative purposes of the academic disciplinary genres is relevant for the processes of incorporation of new members through academic literacy processes. Research on academic genres has focused on expert genres and, to a lesser extent, on genres produced by university students, especially in engineering. The analysis of discursive genre patterns and artificial intelligence (AI), through Natural Language Processing (NLP) have had a complementary development, thanks to both automated classification algorithms and the increased availability of large amounts of textual data, which has enabled the classification of academic discursive genres. The aim of this paper is to automate classification of macromoves (MM) of the meso-genre report of practical experience in engineering. For this purpose, seven traditional classification algorithms, the deep learning model for Spanish called BETO and their corresponding configurations were considered. Among the findings, the best overall performance of SVM_lineal stands out. Also, SVM_linear, BETO and KNN are more effective for the classification of moves in different MMs. These results suggest that the combination of algorithms would be a useful procedure to better classify the macro-purposes of this meso-genre. It is planned to evaluate these algorithms in a tool for genre-based feedback of written production.
Dynamical Symmetries of the 2D Newtonian Free Fall Problem Revisited

Among the few exactly solvable problems in theoretical physics, the 2D (two-dimensional) Newtonian free fall problem in Euclidean space is perhaps the least known as compared to the harmonic oscillator or the Kepler–Coulomb problems. The aim of this article is to revisit this problem at the classical level as well as the quantum level, with a focus on its dynamical symmetries. We show how these dynamical symmetries arise as a special limit of the dynamical symmetries of the Kepler–Coulomb problem, and how a connection to the quartic anharmonic oscillator problem, a long-standing unsolved problem in quantum mechanics, can be established. To this end, we construct the Hilbert space of states with free boundary conditions as a space of square integrable functions that have a special functional integral representation. In this functional space, the free fall dynamical symmetry algebra is shown to be isomorphic to the so-called Klink’s algebra of the quantum quartic anharmonic oscillator problem. Furthermore, this connection entails a remarkable integral identity for the quantum quartic anharmonic oscillator eigenfunctions, which implies that these eigenfunctions are in fact zonal functions of an underlying symmetry group representation. Thus, an appropriate representation theory for the 2D Newtonian free fall quantum symmetry group may potentially open the way to exactly solving the difficult quantization problem of the quartic anharmonic oscillator. Finally, the initial value problem of the acoustic Klein–Gordon equation for wave propagation in a sound duct with a varying circular section is solved as an illustration of the techniques developed here.
Two Obstacle Factors for Technological Standardization: The Viewpoint of Technological Frame

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), which is an architecture in which devices supplied by various firms and services operated by distributed organizations exchange data, has been adopted in an increasing number of situations. While there are cases in which a small number of limited organizations collaborate on certain ecosystems based on proprietary specifications, the development of open standards is increasingly important for building scalable ecosystems because of the introduction of the concepts of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. Under these circumstances, there are two types of barriers to standardization. One barrier is the lack of shared frames for architectural design. The other barrier is the lack of awareness of the need for scalability. In this paper, we analyze the factors underlying these two barriers and discuss the path towards breakthroughs.
Autism interest intensity in early childhood associates with executive functioning but not reward sensitivity or anxiety symptoms

Several theories have been proposed to explain the presentation of intense interests in autism, including theories based on altered executive functioning, imbalanced reward sensitivity, and mitigating anxiety. These theories have yet to be examined in early childhood, yet knowledge of how intense interests emerge could provide insight into how best to manage intensity and support the many benefits of personal interests. Parents of 33 autistic and 42 non-autistic comparison children aged 3–6 years completed questionnaires to assess attention shifting and inhibitory control, responsiveness to rewards, and anxiety symptoms. Each behavior domain was examined for associations with parent-reported interest intensity. In autistic and comparison children, attention shifting was associated with interest intensity, where children with more difficulties showed more intense interests. In autistic children only, inhibitory control of attention also associated with interest intensity, where children with greater difficulties showed more intense interests. Reward and anxiety symptoms did not associate with interest intensity in either group, or across the sample. These findings suggest that, in early childhood, the presentation of intense interests is related to executive functioning regardless of diagnostic group. Helping children develop executive functioning skills may therefore be useful to assist with managing interest intensity in early childhood. Lay abstract Personal interests in autism are a source of joy, pride, and assist with the formation of social relationships. However, highly intense engagement can also interfere with other activities including activities of daily living. Theories have suggested that intense interests relate to executive functioning, reward sensitivity, and anxiety symptoms; but none of these theories have been tested in early childhood. Understanding which behavioral traits relate to intense interests in early childhood could help understand how intense interests may emerge, while also providing clues for how to manage interest intensity and best promote the many benefits of personal interests. We recruited families with autistic and non-autistic children aged 3–6 years. Parents completed questionnaires to assess children’s interest diversity and intensity, executive functioning, reward sensitivity, and anxiety symptoms. We found that for autistic and non-autistic children, greater difficulty shifting attention between activities related to more intense interests. In autistic children only, difficulty with inhibitory control of attention also related to more intense interests. However, reward sensitivity and anxiety symptoms did not relate to interest intensity. Based on these observations, assisting young children with developing executive functioning skills could help with mediating the interference of interests in daily life to ultimately promote the many benefits of personal interests.
A Fast method to predict the Voltage Droop for Fully Integrated Voltage Regulators in Microprocessors

Modern high performance server microprocessors processors have built-in Fully Integrated Voltage Regulators (FIVR) to generate the on-chip power domains. FIVR is designed using on-Die power MOSFETs, package inductors, on-Die capacitors, and feedback control circuits. High di/dt events on the output of FIVR domains lead to large voltage droops which affect the circuit performance. This voltage droop needs to be modelled accurately and minimized in the design stage. Frequency domain-based analysis is typically followed in industry to optimize the design parameters such as the Gain margin, Phase margin, and the unity gain bandwidth of the feedback loop. However, it is difficult to predict the time-domain parameters such as the voltage droop and the peak time using the frequency domain methods. In this paper, a fast method is proposed to predict the voltage droop for FIVRs in time domain using analytical methods. The proposed method helps to easily do a sensitivity study of the different control variables on the voltage droop and reduces the time needed for optimal design.
What happens after a sellout: The effect of founder involvement and operational independence on post-acquisition customer support

ABSTRACT In the fashion industry, digital startups referred to as direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are growing in number and popularity. Select successful ones have sold their businesses to a big company for growth. While it is a sound strategy from an operational standpoint, this strategy’s potential tradeoffs from the branding perspective received less attention. This study examined the effects of two management decisions related to acquisitions (founder involvement and operational independence) on the customer expectations toward products, which in turn was expected to influence purchase intentions. Also examined was the moderating effect of perceived fit between the acquired and acquiring companies. An online survey was conducted with 255 participants recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk. This study employed a scenario-based approach in which the participants read a mock newspaper article about a large retail company’s acquisition of a digital fashion startup. The results showed that operational independence, rather than founder involvement, plays a key role in positively influencing the customer expectations toward post-acquisition product offerings. Perceived fit weakened the positive effect of operational independence on product expectations. Academic and practical implications are offered.
The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission: An Early Assessment

The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, established in December 2005, was designed to strengthen efforts to consolidate peace in countries emerging from civil war. It has three broad aims: first, to bring coherence to the activities of peacebuilding actors around a shared strategy; second, to marshal resources and commitments in support of this strategic vision; and third, to enhance decision-making processes relevant to conflict-affected countries across UN bodies and the international financial institutions. Two years into the life of the Commission, this article assesses its performance in these three areas and argues that progress has been limited by three main factors: the Commission's lack of clarity on the nature of a peacebuilding strategy; its vague interpretation of the mandate to marshal resources; and ongoing tensions between intergovernmental organs for influence over the Commission. There is evidence that the Commission is developing institutional momentum and learning important lessons from its first cases, but it will need to capitalise on them rapidly to achieve worthwhile results.
A new approach for digital calibration of timing-mismatch in four-channels time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters

In this paper employing fractional delay filter in farrow structure and a time delay block a new approach for digital calibration is described that corrects the timing mismatch between four interleaved channels. Fractional delay filter is a good candidate for bandlimited interpolation between samples and farrow structure filter is an efficient way to implement interpolation filter in which Lagrange polynomial approximation method is used for arbitrary sample rate change. In this work, the proposed method is employed for a four-channel ADC and can be applied for an arbitrary number of parallel channels. Simulation results show that after 40 ksamples, the mismatch error converges in detector and spurious components are suppressed after calibration by more than 40 dB.
ANALYSIS OF FREIGHT VESSEL ARRIVAL DISTRIBUTION ON THE GRAND CANAL, CHINA

In recent years, China has expanded locks on the Grand Canal by adding a new chamber in parallel to existing ones, aiming to expand the lock capacity and reduce delays. As a fundamental parameter of traffic status related with lock capacity and delay, the arrival distribution at locks must be studied. In this paper, an analysis of the freight vessel arrival distribution is carried out using probability statistics method based on the data observed at Shiqiao lock on the Grand Canal. Poisson and normal distributions are chosen to fit the observed arrival distribution and justified by the chi-square goodness of fit test. The result shows that independent upward arrivals per day can be described by a normal distribution rather than Poisson, and the interdependence downward arrivals per day may not consistently match a certain standard distribution. It is important for the understanding the traffic flow and the planning and design of a new navigational lock on the Grand Canal.
Retrofit of flat panel color displays in the F-16A/B

Replacement of the Radar Electro-Optical (REO) Display Set, including its monochrome cathode ray tubes in the F-16A/B, with color active matrix liquid crystal displays presents many opportunities to improve the information presentation to the pilot and the pilot's interaction with the avionics system. The author presents the process followed by Battelle under the US Air Force Material Command's Design Engineering Program to develop the display formats and pilot-computer interface with the improved REO Display Set. While the general guideline for computer-generated images is no more than five to seven colored elements at a time, the system being designed for the F-16A/B provides many more colors for reasons of realism in future images to be displayed in combat and transport aircraft. The system provides for technology insertion and growth due to its use of an open system architecture implementation of a multiprocessing capability. While the initial software will implement the F-16A/B REO systems' symbology, the capability is provided to generate realistic images that will aid pilots in performance of their missions. <<ETX>>
An improved sensorless driving method of switched reluctance motors using impressed voltage pulse

We propose an improved sensorless drive method of switched reluctance motors (SRM) using impressed voltage pulses. Some drawbacks of the method using impressed voltage pulse at unenergized phases to detect the inductance characteristic have been improved The proposed method has the features: only one unenergized phase has been injected with impressed voltage pulse, that simplifies both hardware and control algorithm, and a new idea to determine the injection timing for impressed voltage pulse has been introduced, that mostly eliminates the negative torques caused by some residual currents. Because the proposed method is very simple, instead of an expensive DSP, the entire experimental system has been implemented in an analog and digital circuit-FPGA (field programmable gate array).
A study to evaluate the occurrence of trochlear calcification

Background: To study the prevalence of trochlear calcification in orbit. Material and methods: Computed tomography scan reports of 220 patients was collected retrospectively for the presence of trochlear calcification. Data were categorised according to their age, sex and specific personal history and history of systemic illness or ocular disease. Result: Out of 220 scans collected, only 37 (16%) patients showed trochlear calcification. The males showed more predominance in comparison to the females. The maximum number had a history of ocular trauma while very few had specific ocular complaints like thyroid disease, vascular malformation. No specific association was seen with age or systemic illness like diabetes mellitus, hypertension. Conclusion: Trochlear calcification is a benign condition with a typical location and morphology and can be inadvertently diagnosed as a foreign body or as an indication of underlying medical pathology.
Performance of innovative materials as recruitment substrates for coral restoration

Artificial reefs and, more recently, ecoengineering are frequently advocated as possible tools to counteract the loss of tropical coral reefs worldwide. Despite increasing availability of novel materials, there is limited understanding of how different materials and their physical and chemical properties can influence coral recruitment success and early benthic community development. This study investigated the efficacy of several innovative materials as recruitment substrates for corals and other sessile benthic communities. Stacks of vertically oriented tiles made of eight innovative materials and two common (control) materials were deployed for 6 months during major coral spawning events on the forereef of Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Tiles were separated from their neighbors by 15 mm to mimic cryptic habitats that are sheltered from predation and typically favored by coral recruits. Six innovative materials, including 3D printed concrete, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with chitosan coating, fiberglass polymer, and flax‐based polylactic acid, produced similar coral recruitment to control materials (Portland concrete and PVC). Two materials (porous concrete and ceramic foam) produced lower recruitment. Porous concrete was characterized by a high abundance of non‐coralline encrusting red algae, which negatively correlated with coral recruitment, while ceramic foam was prone to erosion. The results suggest the structural micro‐complexity and durability of an artificial material and the composition of the benthic communities colonizing it can strongly influence coral recruitment. This study highlights several innovative materials as suitable recruitment substrates for coral restoration and provides a better understanding of the properties of artificial materials that are critical for coral recruitment success.