A NEW SPECIES OF BEGONIA (BEGONIACEAE) FROM SUMBAWA, LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS, INDONESIA

GIRMANSYAH, D. 2016. A new species of Begonia (Begoniaceae) from Sumbawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. Reinwardtia 15(2): 115 – 118. — A new species of Begonia L. (Begoniaceae), Begonia semongkatensis Girm., is described from Sumbawa Island, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. The species belongs to Begonia section Reichenheimia. An illustration, identification key and distribution maps are provided

The burden of diabetes mellitus during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries : a systematic review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improving peer review with ACORN : Ant Colony Optimization algorithm for Reviewer\u27s Network

Peer review, our current system for determining which papers to accept and which to reject by journals and conferences, has limitations that impair the quality of scientific communication. Under the current system, reviewers have only a limited amount of time to devote to evaluating papers and each paper receives an equal amount of attention regardless of how good the paper is. We propose to implement a new system for conference peer review based on ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms. In our model, each reviewer has a set of ants that goes out and finds articles. The reviewer assesses the paper that the ant brings according to the criteria specified by the conference organizers and the ant deposits pheromone that is proportional to the quality of the review. Each subsequent ant then samples the pheromones and probabilistically selects the next article based on the strength of the pheromones. We used an agent-based model to determine if an ACO-based paper selection system will direct reviewers attention to the best articles and if the average quality of papers increases with each round of reviews. We also conducted an experiment in conjunction with the 2011 UNM Computer Science Graduate Student Association conference and compared the results with our simulation. To assess the usefulness of our approach, we compared our algorithm to a greedy algorithm that always takes the best un-reviewed paper and a latent factor analysis recommender-based system. We found that the ACO-based algorithm was better than either of the greedy or recommender algorithms at directing users\u27 attention to the better papers

Effects of density on lek-site selection by Black Grouse <i>Tetrao tetrix</i> in the Alps

Capsule: The Black Grouse is a primarily lekking species, but low population density and lack of suitable habitat can lead to the establishment of non-lekking populations. Aims: To understand if differences in density could be related to differences in the lekking system, if there were differences in lek-site selection, and if there was a direct effect of habitat on the lek size. Methods: We compared lek sizes between two Black Grouse populations with different male population densities as estimated by distance sampling. We considered land-cover categories, landscape metrics and orographic variables and computed the Ivlev’s Electivity Index to evaluate habitat selection of males in the two study areas. A general linear model was used to assess the relationship between lek size and habitat variables. Results: We could not demonstrate the direct effect of density on the displaying behaviour but we found strongly different patterns of lek-site selection and different effects of habitat on lek size according to the population density. Conclusions: We concluded that habitat normally considered as high quality and habitat complexity may play different roles in selection by solitary versus lekking males when different population densities are considered

Diet and foraging ecology of the Hoopoe Upupa epops in a Mediterranean area of Central Italy

During the breeding season, the Hoopoe Upupa epops inhabits traditional and diversified rural habi- tats with high availability of bare ground and short grass areas where it forages. Only a few studies addressed the breeding diet of this species. Most of them were conducted in the intensively cultivated plains of southern Switzerland, where Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa represents the most common prey. In contrast, limited information is available for Mediterranean habitats. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the foraging behaviour of the species in a Mediterranean heterogeneous agricultural area in Central Italy during the 2020-2021 breeding seasons. 1123 prey items brought to the nest by adults were identified using camera traps positioned near four natural nests. Insect larvae constitute 84% of the diet, of which 61% are represented by Cicada orni nymphs. The importance of cicadas in the Hoopoe diet has been never described in the literature before. C. orni seems to substitute G. gryllotalpa in the more arid and hard soil of Mediterranean areas. The observed provisioning rate to clutches showed a maximum daily mean of over 14 prey per hour. To investigate Hoopoe foraging micro- habitat selection, six different microhabitat variables were measured at 64 1 m2 plots located at an equal num- ber of foraging and random control points, by using a grid of 100 squares (10x10 cm each). Habitat selection analysis indicates that short herbaceous sward and low herbaceous cover are the fundamental factors driving foraging microhabitat selection. Our study contributed to enhancing the limited knowledge of the Hoopoe diet and foraging ecology in Mediterranean habitats and demonstrates, for the first time, the importance of Cicada orni nymphs in the diet of the species in this biogeographical region

Exploiting microvariation: How to make the best of your incomplete data

n this article we discuss the use of big corpuses or databases as a first step for qualitative analysis of linguistic data. We concentrate on ASIt, the Syntactic Atlas of Italy, and take into consideration the different types of dialectal data that can be collected from similar corpora and databases. We analyze all the methodological problems derived from the necessary compromise between the strict requirements imposed by a scientific inquiry and the management of big amounts of data. As a possible solution, we propose that the type of variation is per se a tool to derive meaningful generalizations. To implement this idea, we examine three different types of variation patterns that can be used in the study of morpho-syntax: the geographical distribution of properties (and their total or partial overlapping, or complementary distribution), the so-called leopard spots variation, and the lexical variation index, which can be used to determine the internal complexity of functional items