Estimating the Carrying Capacity for Habitat of Urial Wild Sheep (\u3cem\u3eOvis orientalis)\u3c/em\u3e in Tandoureh National Park, Iran

In an attempt to estimate forage production and carrying capacity of wild ungulates in Tandoureh National Park of Iran, the Babanestan grassland was selected, as the typical habitat of about 200 Urial wild sheep. In order to estimate the carrying capacity of this habitat for foraging of Urial wild sheep, this habitat with an area of 132 hectares was classified as low flat (LF), high flat (HF), north aspect (NA), and south aspect (SA). Then, to estimate forage production, clipping method of comparative yield was used. In each land form, standing crop yield of five reference plots of 1-m2 were searched, digitally photographed, and ranked from 1 to 5. Finally, three replications of each ranked plots were clipped and weighed. The dependent clipped plots were regressed on the independent reference plots. In each land form, based on the reference plots, 20 additional sample plots were only ranked. The 20 ranked data were corrected for green and dry weights, by using regression analysis. The average dry matter of LF, HF, NA and, SA were 2511 11821, 816, and 555 Kg/ha, respectively. The estimated total dry matter for the study area was 135211 Kg. Thus, the Babanestan may support a population size of 285 Urial wild sheep which only 70 percent of study is under grazing by Urial wild sheep. As a conclusion, management (arrangement and supplying) of the water resources in the Babanestan habitat, as one of the most habitat elements that affecting the distribution and population dynamics, may enhance the population of Urial wild sheep in Tandoureh National Park

Exploring the impacts of using Geogebra software on secondary school students’ misconceptions in trigonometric functions

Background and Objectives: Previous studies in Iran have explored the impact of using technology on improving students’ mathematical understanding. However, no study was conducted in relation to the impact of using technology on students’ mathematical misconceptions. This study explored the impact of using software in developing students’ misconceptions. In detail, the impact of using GeoGebra software on secondary school students’ misconceptions related to concepts such as angle scale, trigonometric angles, periodicity, minimum and maximum of trigonometric functions were explored using a two-tier diagnostic test. One of the novelties of this study is the use of a two-tier diagnostic test to explore misconceptions resulting from using the software. Methods: The statistical population of this study comprises all grade 11 students of Golbahar and Golmakan in the academic year 2015-2016. Three classes were chosen from two different schools in these cities, one was considered as the control group (40 students) and the other two classes were considered as the experimental group (26 students). The instruments were a pre-test and a post-test (two-tier diagnostic test).‎ Four categories of misconceptions were identified based on the relevant literature and students’ responses to the pre-test. Finally, these misconceptions were analyzed by the chi-square test. Findings: The findings showed that Geogebra software helped students in the experimental group enormously in understanding concepts such as periodicity‎, ‎identifying minimum and maximum of trigonometric functions‎, ‎and prevented developing misconceptions related to them. Analyzing students’ responses in the control group that received traditional teaching showed that several students did not able to calculate the periodicity of trigonometric functions. This difficulty observed both when students calculated the periodicity from the graphs and also when calculated the periodicity from the algebraic form of trigonometric functions. The strength of using the software includes observing many trigonometric graphs in the software environment, the ability to place trigonometric functions with different input on a coordinate axis and comparing them, and the manipulations performed by the students themselves on trigonometric graphs. These strengths prevented students from developing misconceptions about the concepts of frequency and minimum and maximum values. However, in relation to trigonometric angles‎, ‎using the software caused developing more misconceptions for the test group, and had no significant impact on preventing misconceptions in relation to the scale of angle‎. It seems due to the nature of the angle scale, in which the conversion from radians to degrees (or vice versa) is done by a series of mathematical operations, using Geogebra could not impact students’ misconceptions in this matter. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that teachers should be very cautious in selecting and using teaching aids in the classroom to prevent developing mathematical misconceptions associated with using the teaching aids. Therefore, we recommend mathematics education researchers and mathematics curriculum planners to conduct several studies on different softwares frequently used in mathematics classes, determine the pros and cons of these tools, and share their results with mathematics teachers. Sharing these results will help mathematics teachers to adapt their teaching accordingly based on the findings of these studies.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Erratum: Comparison of purgative manna drop and phototherapy with phototherapy treatment of neonatal jaundice: A randomized double-blind clinical trial (Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives (2019) 10:3 (152-157) DOI: 10.24171/j.phrp.2019.10.3.06)

The Name and affiliation of the third author, Neda Rahimi, Pediatric Department, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran, were incorrect. The corrected name and affiliation are as follows: Neda Rahimian, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran The authors apologize for the error. © 2020 Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved

Generative BIM workspace for AEC conceptual design automation: prototype development

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management on 10/07/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-04-2020-0256 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Purpose: The integration and automation of the whole design and implementation process have become a pivotal factor in construction projects. Problems of process integration, particularly at the conceptual design stage, often manifest through a number of significant areas, from design representation, cognition and translation to process fragmentation and loss of design integrity. Whilst building information modelling (BIM) applications can be used to support design automation, particularly through the modelling, amendment and management stages, they do not explicitly provide whole design integration. This is a significant challenge. However, advances in generative design now offer significant potential for enhancing the design experience to mitigate this challenge. Design/methodology/approach: The approach outlined in this paper specifically addresses BIM deficiencies at the conceptual design stage, where the core drivers and indicators of BIM and generative design are identified and mapped into a generative BIM (G-BIM) framework and subsequently embedded into a G-BIM prototype. This actively engages generative design methods into a single dynamic BIM environment to support the early conceptual design process. The developed prototype followed the CIFE “horseshoe” methodology of aligning theoretical research with scientific methods to procure architecture, construction and engineering (AEC)-based solutions. This G-BIM prototype was also tested and validated through a focus group workshop engaging five AEC domain experts. Findings: The G-BIM prototype presents a valuable set of rubrics to support the conceptual design stage using generative design. It benefits from the advanced features of BIM tools in relation to illustration and collaboration (coupled with BIM's parametric change management features). Research limitations/implications: This prototype has been evaluated through multiple projects and scenarios. However, additional test data is needed to further improve system veracity using conventional and non-standard real-life design settings (and contexts). This will be reported in later works. Originality/value: Originality and value rest with addressing the shortcomings of previous research on automation during the design process. It also addresses novel computational issues relating to the implementation of generative design systems, where, for example, instead of engaging static and formal description of the domain concepts, G-BIM actively enhances the applicability of BIM during the early design stages to generate optimised (and more purposeful) design solutions.Published versio

On the Feasibility of Malware Authorship Attribution

There are many occasions in which the security community is interested to discover the authorship of malware binaries, either for digital forensics analysis of malware corpora or for thwarting live threats of malware invasion. Such a discovery of authorship might be possible due to stylistic features inherent to software codes written by human programmers. Existing studies of authorship attribution of general purpose software mainly focus on source code, which is typically based on the style of programs and environment. However, those features critically depend on the availability of the program source code, which is usually not the case when dealing with malware binaries. Such program binaries often do not retain many semantic or stylistic features due to the compilation process. Therefore, authorship attribution in the domain of malware binaries based on features and styles that will survive the compilation process is challenging. This paper provides the state of the art in this literature. Further, we analyze the features involved in those techniques. By using a case study, we identify features that can survive the compilation process. Finally, we analyze existing works on binary authorship attribution and study their applicability to real malware binaries.Comment: FPS 201

Low-power clock distribution networks for 3-D ICs

Designing a low power clock network in synchronous circuits is an important task. This requirement is stricter for 3-D circuits due to the increased power densities. Resonant clock networks are considered efficient low-power alternatives to conventional clock distribution schemes. These networks utilize additional inductive circuits to reduce the power consumption while delivering a full swing clock signal to the sink nodes. Test is another complex task for 3-D ICs, where pre-bond test is a prerequisite. This paper, consequently, introduces a design methodology for resonant 3-D clock networks that lowers the power of the clock networks while supporting pre-bond test. Several 3-D clock network topologies are explored in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology. Simulation results indicate 43% reduction in the power consumed by the resonant 3-D clock network as compared to a conventional buffered clock network. By properly distributing the inductance within the layers of the 3-D stack, resonance is ensured both in pre-bond test and normal operation. The important aspects of this approach are introduced in this paper

A Low-Overhead Method for Pre-bond Test of Resonant 3-D Clock Distribution Networks

Designing a low power clock network in synchronous circuits is an important task. This requirement is stricter for 3-D circuits due to the increased power densities. Resonant clock networks are considered efficient low power alternatives to con- ventional clock distribution schemes. These networks utilize ad- ditional inductive circuits to reduce power while delivering a full swing clock signal to the sink nodes. Test is another complex task for 3-D ICs, where pre-bond test is a prerequisite. Contactless test has been considered as an alternative for conventional test methods. This paper, consequently, introduces a design method- ology for resonant 3-D clock networks that supports wireless pre- bond testing through the use of inductive links. By employing the inductors comprising the LC tanks of the resonant clock net- works as the receiver circuit for the links, the need for additional circuits and/or interconnect resources during pre-bond test is essentially eliminated. The proposed technique produces low power and pre-bond testable 3-D clock distribution networks. Simulation results indicate 98.5% and 99% decrease in the area overhead and power consumed by the contactless testing method as compared to existing methods

DNA Suspension Arrays: Silencing Discrete Artifacts for High-Sensitivity Applications

Detection of low frequency single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has important implications in early screening for tumorgenesis, genetic disorders and pathogen drug resistance. Nucleic acid arrays are a powerful tool for genome-scale SNP analysis, but detection of low-frequency SNPs in a mixed population on an array is problematic. We demonstrate a model assay for HIV-1 drug resistance mutations, wherein ligase discrimination products are collected on a suspension array. In developing this system, we discovered that signal from multiple polymorphisms was obscured by two discrete hybridization artifacts. Specifically: 1) tethering of unligated probes on the template DNA elicited false signal and 2) unpredictable probe secondary structures impaired probe capture and suppressed legitimate signal from the array. Two sets of oligonucleotides were used to disrupt these structures; one to displace unligated reporter labels from the bead-bound species and another to occupy sequences which interfered with array hybridization. This artifact silencing system resulted in a mean 21-fold increased sensitivity for 29 minority variants of 17 codons in our model assay for mutations most commonly associated with HIV-1 drug resistance. Furthermore, since the artifacts we characterized are not unique to our system, their specific inhibition might improve the quality of data from solid-state microarrays as well as from the growing number of multiple analyte suspension arrays relying on sequence-specific nucleic acid target capture