Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mating in the cold. Prolonged sperm storage provides opportunities for forced copulation by male bats during winter

In a wide range of heterothermic mammals, hibernation interrupts the reproductive cycle by forcing reproductive delays. In hibernating bats with delayed fertilization, an opportunity for sperm competition is enhanced by extending a time-window between copulations and fertilization. In order to achieve greater fertilization success, males are expected to show adaptations for sperm competition by increasing their opportunities for mating over an extended period. We aimed to clarify the physiological and behavioral characteristics of male bats experiencing increased risks of sperm competition. We investigated the characteristics of the reproductive cycle of the little horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus cornutus), and examined whether males retain reproductive physiology related to sexual behavior, and attempt to copulate with females even during the hibernation period. Field observations and histological examinations of the reproductive cycle confirmed that females, having mated in the autumn, store spermatozoa in the uterus during hibernation and give birth in the early summer to just one offspring per year, thus males face a low certainty of successful fertilization. Although their testes regressed rapidly and their testosterone levels were lower during winter than in autumn, males stored motile spermatozoa in their cauda epididymides from autumn throughout the winter. During hibernation, we found that males occasionally aroused from torpor and attempted to mate forcibly with torpid females. Forced copulations appear to increase a male’s chances of obtaining a mate while avoiding pre-copulatory female choice. Epididymal sperm storage could be advantageous for males in allowing them to extend their potential mating period even though their testes have regressed. We also found that some hibernating nulliparous females were ready for fertilization in spring after hibernation, whereas few parous females appeared in the same roost. In contrast to males, forced copulations would be maladaptive for females because they cannot opt for higher-quality males while in torpor. Females that have experienced sexual coercion when young may subsequently avoid hibernacula where adult males are present.
An estimating parameter of nonparametric regression model based on smoothing techniques

This paper studies the estimating parameter of a nonparametric regression model that consists of the function of independent variables and observation of dependent variables. The smoothing spline, penalized spline, and B-spline methods in a class of smoothing techniques are considered for estimating the unknown parameter on nonparametric regression model. These methods use a smoothing parameter to control the smoothing performance on data set by using a cross-validation method. We also compare these methods by fitting a nonparametric regression model on simulation data and real data. The nonlinear model is a simulation data which is generated in two different models in terms of mathematical function based on statistical distribution. According to the results, the smoothing spline, the penalized spline, and the B-spline methods have a good performance to fit nonlinear data by considering the hypothesis testing of biased estimator. However the penalized spline method shows the minimum mean square errors on two models. As real data, we use the data from a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) experiment that contained the range distance travelled before the light as an independent variable and the logarithm of the ratio of received light from two laser sources as a dependent variable. From the mean square errors of fitting data, the penalized spline again shows the minimum values.
Neolucia bollami Eastwood, Braby & Graham, sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): speciation of a new allochronic cryptic butterfly from south-western Western Australia

ABSTRACT South-western Western Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot renowned for exceptional diversity of plants and animals. The evolutionary processes that have generated this high biodiversity are not always clear, particularly for invertebrates, yet the area supports a very large number of endemic species that have diversified in situ. We use an integrative taxonomic approach based on adult and immature morphology, ecology, behaviour and molecular data to investigate the taxonomic status of a sympatric but seasonally isolated form (Neolucia agricola occidens Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914 form ‘Julimar’) of the polyommatine butterfly Neolucia agricola (Westwood, 1851) in south-western Western Australia. Our molecular dataset comprised 112 samples representing all Neolucia Waterhouse & Turner, 1905 species (100 COI 5′ sequences, 658 bp, plus 12 COI 3′, tRNA Leu, COII and EF1-α sequences, 3303 bp). Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of the combined dataset recovered form ‘Julimar’ and N. agricola as reciprocally monophyletic, with a mean uncorrected ‘p’ pairwise divergence of 5.77% for the ‘barcode’ region of COI. Based on this and other evidence we recognise form ‘Julimar’ as a new species, Neolucia bollami Eastwood, Braby & Graham, sp. nov., sister to N. agricola and endemic to south-western Western Australia. As a result of these findings, we evaluated the evolutionary history of the two Neolucia species in WA and the processes that may have contributed to the diversification in sympatry or allopatry. We conclude that the multiple effect traits associated with a host shift, including host fidelity and temporal divergence, played an important role in the diversification process and in maintaining the reproductive integrity of the nascent allochronic species. ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:53D9AD14-9694-4B5E-889C-A8D533E7F57D
Regional Income Differences and their Evolution after EU Accession. The Evidence from Visegrad Countries

The aim of this paper is to determine the regional convergence process in Visegrad (V4) economies after their accession to the EU at the NUTS3 level. The study uses kernel density estimation for 114 regions in V4 countries. The research period covered the years 2004-2015. The results show that all V4 economies except for Hungary reduced the distance to the EU-28 average over the period considered. The external convergence process was accompanied by an increase in income inequalities at the regional level. In all the countries, the estimated distributions of regional income were bimodal, with the clearly marked second mode related to the capital region. The obtained research results should be an indication of economic decisions in the context of regional (also known as cohesion) policy and economic competitiveness. This paper contributes to the existing literature in three ways. First, the study was conducted at the NUTS3 level, which is currently the lowest possible level of disaggregation. Second, the analysis covered both the period before and after the global financial crisis. Third, the results of the internal convergence study are not biased by the method used, as this method has already been tested in previous research for a group of large European economies.
Analysis of students’ perceptions on the Freedom of Learning - Independent Campus (MBKM) program at Chemistry study program of Ma Chung University

Considering that Indonesian education has gone through such a long journey from 1922 to 2022 now, it is necessary to have an educational program that is able to meet the demands of workers' needs in this era of globalization. In the end, the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology designed an education policy system in the realm of higher education, namely "Freedom of Learning - Independent Campus", as an accurate strategy for optimizing academics in today's Indonesia. In this study, a survey was aimed at 40 undergraduate students of the Chemistry Study Program at Ma Chung University. Data analysis were made by quantitative approach of the nine questions succcessfully answered by students who filled out questionnaires in the online multiple choice questionnaire with a dependency test by nonparametric statistical methods. As a result, the majority of students of the Chemistry Study Program were quite enthusiastic about this new educational policy, although it was necessary to optimize all internal strategies of the study program curriculum, so that it could be in accordance with the activities designed in the "Freedom of Learning - Independent Campus" Program.
Sustainable sharia company ecosystem: Independent commissioner and audit committee on Islamic social reporting

Purpose – Disclosure of information is crucial for company values and minimizing conflicts resulting from knowledge asymmetry, especially in social aspects. Stakeholders require information reporting that is transparent, accountable, responsible, and exhaustive. In this study, the independent variables are independent commissioners and audit committees, and the dependent variable is Islamic social reporting. The size of the company served as the control variable for this study.Methodology – The population in this study used sharia companies registered in the Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) for the period 2016-2022. This study used the purposive sampling method and selected 13 companies from a total of 30 companies with data collection twice a year. The analysis technique used is multiple linear regression with SPSSv22 software.Findings – The results of this study show that independent commissioners and audit committees do not affect Islamic social reporting.Implications – This study aims to determine the influence of independent commissioners and audit committees on Islamic social reporting.Originality – This study has originality in the form of Islamic Social Reporting (ISR) proxy variables, which combines the ISR disclosure index designed by Haniffa and Cooke (2002) and Othman and Thani (2010). There are 48 ISR disclosure items divided into six themes. In addition, in this study, there is a control variable, namely the size of the company used to improve the accuracy of the research
FOREST HARVEST EQUIPMENT MOVEMENT AND SEDIMENT DELIVERY TO STREAMS

OF THESIS FOREST HARVEST EQUIPMENT MOVEMENT AND SEDIMENT DELIVERY TO STREAMS Streamside management zones (SMZs) have become important management techniques to prevent the introduction of sediment to stream networks. This study examined the current Kentucky best management practice (BMP) guidelines for SMZs by outfitting mobile forest harvest equipment with global positioning system (GPS) receivers, enabling modeling of equipment traffic and spatial analysis of stream sediment delivery. Three SMZ configurations were implemented during commercial timber harvest, along with four different techniques of crossing ephemeral channels, in order to determine where and why sediment was introduced to the stream network. Results indicate that increasing the SMZ buffer width leads to decreased sediment delivery, and that requiring an SMZ buffer with some canopy retention on ephemeral channels will lead to improvements in stream water quality. Care should be taken in the placement and construction of water control measures for skid trail retirement, and improved stream channel crossings such as bridges and pipe culverts should be required to improve water quality over unimproved fords. A northeasterly aspect of harvested areas was shown to be related to increased sediment delivery to streams, while surface roughness downslope from the skid trail system was shown to decrease sediment delivery.
PRO-YOLOv4-tiny: towards more balance between accuracy and speed in the detection of small targets in remotely sensed images

ABSTRACT Aiming at the problem of low accuracy of small target detection in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) aerial remote sensing images and limited computing resources of UAV platform, this paper proposes a novel real-time detection algorithm for aerial remote sensing images. Firstly, the Spatial Pyramid Pooling-Fast (SPPF) is used to fuse the global and local features in different receptive fields. Second, we propose the Drone-captured Path Aggregation Network (CPAN) to enrich the semantic features of small targets while keeping the model lightweight. CPAN adds a new detection layer and uses the fusion of deep and shallow feature information to enhance the detection of small targets. At the same time, it uses depthwise separable convolution (DSC) to reduce the number of parameters. Then, Coordinate Attention (CA) is used to capture the cross-channel information with direction-aware and position-aware information. Finally, Decoupled-Head is introduced to make the detection of classification and coordinate regression more robust. We evaluate our model based on the aerial remote sensing dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed method provides a better balance between accuracy and speed than other lightweight networks.
Ramsey chains in graphs

Let G be a graph with a red-blue coloring c of the edges of G . A Ramsey chain in G with respect to c is a sequence G 1 , G 2 , . , G k of pairwise edge-disjoint subgraphs of G such that each subgraph G i ( 1 ≤ i ≤ k ) is monochromatic of size i and G i is isomorphic to a subgraph of G i +1 ( 1 ≤ i ≤ k − 1 ). The Ramsey index AR c ( G ) of G with respect to c is the maximum length of a Ramsey chain in G with respect to c . The Ramsey index AR ( G ) of G is the minimum value of AR c ( G ) among all red-blue colorings c of G . A Ramsey chain with respect to c is maximal if it cannot be extended to one of greater length. The lower Ramsey index AR − c ( G ) of G with respect to c is the minimum length of a maximal Ramsey chain in G with respect to c . The lower Ramsey index AR − ( G ) of G is the minimum value of AR − c ( G ) among all red-blue colorings c of G . Ramsey chains and maximal Ramsey chains are investigated for stars, matchings, and cycles. It is shown that (1) for every two integers p and q with 2 ≤ p < q , there exists a graph with a red-blue coloring possessing a maximal Ramsey chain of length p and a maximum Ramsey chain of length q and (2) for every positive integer k , there exists a graph with a red-blue coloring possessing at least k maximal Ramsey chains of distinct lengths with prescribed conditions. A conjecture and additional results are also presented.
Human Oral Mucosa as a Potentially Effective Source of Neural Crest Stem Cells for Clinical Practice

We report in this study on the isolation and expansion of neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) from the epithelium of oral mucosa (OM) using reagents that are GMP-certified and FDA-approved for clinical use. Characterization analysis showed that the levels of keratins K2, K6C, K4, K13, K31, and K15—specific to OM epithelial cells—were significantly lower in the experimental NCSCs. While SOX10 was decreased with no statistically significant difference, the earliest neural crest specifier genes SNAI1/2, Ap2a, Ap2c, SOX9, SOX30, Pax3, and Twist1 showed a trend in increased expression in NCSCs. In addition, proteins of Oct4, Nestin and Noth1 were found to be greatly expressed, confirming NCSC multipotency. In conclusion, our study showed that the epithelium of OM contains NCSCs that can be isolated and expanded with clinical-grade reagents to supply the demand for multipotent cells required for clinical applications in regenerative medicine. Supported by Emmaus Medical Inc.
Changes and resistance in family farming systems facing the agricultural intensification model in emerging countries. The example of Paraná State in Brazil

During the period 1950-2000, the agricultural development model which is based on changes in technological improvement and commodities allowed a significant increase in global agricultural production. Beginning in the 70's, this model was consolidated in South American emerging countries as a result of the combination of government policies and strategies of large private groups. It has raised questions about the environmental and socio-economic consequences, particularly when adopted in family farming systems. The authors found changes and resistance in agrarian structures, farming systems and demographic aspects related to the dissemination of this model and their adoption by the farmers. The study was conducted in the state of Parana - Brazil in two areas representing the history of rural diversity on the technical, socio- economic and human development dimensions. The work was based on the analysis of statistical data of the agricultural census (1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1996 and 2006), on the demographic census (1970, 1980, 1991, 2000 and 2010) and on the agricultural official database of the State of Parana Agricultural Agency (1970-2012). The data were compared between the two areas and analyzed in alignment with the St ate of Parana standards. The data exhibit a decrease in the numbers of farms and of the rural population, with a focus on the significant departure of young people and of women especially. The results also s how a big reduction in the numbers of the middle- size farms, caused by land concentration and proliferation of extra- small farms in the suburbs of the cities. They also demonstrate the expansion of soybeans crops in both regions, however with differentiated modalities of insertion in the farming systems, and finally the recent survival of family farming systems despite the severe changes observed in the period. (Resume d'auteur)
Benefits of Fiber-Enriched Foods on Satiety and Parameters of Human Well-Being in Adults with and without Cardiometabolic Risk

Consumption of fiber-rich foods is linked to beneficial effects on chronic diseases and gut health, while implications towards improving satiety and parameters of well-being remain unclear. A randomized placebo-controlled intervention study was conducted to compare the effects of fiber-enriched foods to their non-enriched counterparts in adults over a 12-week period on selected clinical parameters—satiety, quality of life, body sensation, and life satisfaction—subjective health status, and importance of diet for well-being. Quality of life (QOL) differed significantly between intervention and control groups at baseline, throughout, and at the end of the study. No effects on satiety, satisfaction with life, or the importance of diet for well-being could be shown between groups. With higher fiber intake, body sensation ratings increased. A higher BMI was significantly associated with lower-body sensation, subjective health status and quality of life. Fiber-enriched foods do not seem to affect feeling of satiety or parameters of well-being. Larger samples and additional methods are necessary to fully explore the effect of increased fiber intake on patient-related outcomes in more detail.
TEKTONIK SESAR BARIBIS DAERAH MAJALENGKA JAWA BARAT

Sesar Baribis yang merupakan salah satu sesar naik utama yang berkembang di Jawa Barat, pertama kali diperkenalkan oleh van Benmelen (1949), dengan mengambil nama perbukitan Baribis di daerah Kadipaten, Majalengka, Jawa Barat. Struktur sesar tersebut dapat diamati jejak-jejaknya sepanjang kurang lebih 70 km, mulai dari Subang hingga ke daerah perbukitan Baribis, sebelah barat Gunung Ciremai (Bemmelen, 1949). Peneliti lain yang pernah membahas Sesar Baribis adalah Martodjojo (1984) dan Simandjuntak (1994), yang masing-masing memberikan kesimpulan yang berbeda baik tektonik regional yang melatarbelakangi pembentukan Sesar Baribis maupun jalur sesarnya. Martodjojo (1984) menyatakan bahwa jalur Sesar Baribis di bagian timur (Daerah Kadipaten) berbelok ke arah tenggara dan menerus hingga tenggara (Gambar 1.1), sedangkan menurut Simandjuntak (1994), jalur Sesar Baribis menerus ke arah timur hingga ke Nusatenggara Barat (Gambar 1.2). Jalur Sesar Baribis yang terakhir ini selanjutnya dinamakan sebagai Baribis-Kendeng Thrust (Simandjuntak, 1994). Di beberapa tempat, jalur Baribis-Kendeng Thrust dipotong oleh sesar mendatar Citanduy, Cimandiri dan sesar-sesar mendatar lainnya (Simandjuntak, 1994). Adanya sesar mendatar yang memotong Sesar Baribis, mengakibatkan secara lokal terjadi perubahan jalur sesar , seperti yang dijumpai di daerah Kadipaten, dimana jalur Sesar Baribis berbelok ke arah tenggara (Simandjuntak, 1997, komunikasi lisan).
Direct Ion Wind Gyroscope

The direct ion wind gyroscope is a new concept in rotation measurement. Built around a pin-to-mesh ion wind generator, corona discharge around a pin anode ionizes air, which is then driven to a mesh at ground potential by the electric field generated from the discharge voltage. The ground potential mesh is divided into two electrically isolated sections, each of which independently measures electrical current from the ion flow. When rotating, this ionized air flow is deflected by the Coriolis effect. The difference between the electrical current to each half of the divided mesh depends on the magnitude of the deflection and, therefore, the rotation. This is a simplifying improvement on the existing ion wind jet flow gyroscopes, as it uses a single ion wind generator both to create the jet flow and to detect its deflection, leading to significant improvements in robustness and power consumption. This article includes a theoretical justification of the principles of the design, the results of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model showing the flow within the device, and experimental results from a functional direct ion wind gyroscope prototype built to prove the concept.
Designing deep CNN models based on sparse coding for aerial imagery: a deep-features reduction approach

ABSTRACT Traditional methods focus on low-level handcrafted features representations and it is difficult to design a comprehensive classification algorithm for remote sensing scene classification problems. Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have obtained remarkable performance outcomes, setting several remote sensing benchmarks. Furthermore, direct applications of UAV remote sensing images that use deep convolutional networks are extremely challenging given high input data dimensionality with relatively small amounts of available labelled data. We, therefore, propose a CNN approach to scene classification that architecturally incorporates sparse coding (SC) technique for dimension reduction to minimize overfitting. Outcomes were compared with principal component analysis (PCA) and global average pooling (GAP) alternatives that use fully connected layer(s) in pre-trained CNN architecture(s) to minimize overfitting. SC was used to encode deep features extracted from the last convolutional layer of pre-trained CNN models by using different features maps in which deep features had been converted into low-dimensional SC features. These same sparse-coded features were concatenated by means of different pooling techniques to obtain global image features for scene classification. The proposed algorithm outperformed current state-of-the-art algorithms based on handcrafted features. When using our own UAV-based dataset and existing datasets, it was also exceptionally efficient computationally when learning data representations, producing a 93.64% accuracy rate.