No longer based on photographs alone: refuting the validity of golden-crowned langur Presbytis johnaspinalli Nardelli 2015 (Mammalia, Primates, Cercopithecidae)

Increasingly, new species are being described without there being a name-bearing type specimen. In 2015, a new species of primate was described, the golden-crowned langur Presbytis johnaspinalli Nardelli, 2015 on the basis of five photographs that were posted on the Internet in 2009. After publication, the validity of the species was questioned as it was suggested that the animals were partially and selectively bleached ebony langurs Trachypithecus auratus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812). Since the whereabouts of the animals were unknown, it was difficult to see how this matter could be resolved and the current taxonomic status of P. johnaspinalli remains unclear. I present new information about the fate of the individual animals in the photographs and their species identification. In 2009, thirteen of the langurs on which Nardelli based his description were brought to a rescue centre where, after about three months, they regained their normal black colouration confirming the bleaching hypothesis. Eight of the langurs were released in a forest and two were monitored for two months in 2014. The description of their behaviour, photographs and analysis of their cytochrome b genes confirms them as ebony langurs. There is no evidence to support the notion that the golden-crowned langur represents intermediates between melanistic and erythristic ebony langurs, nor that it represents a new species. As such, Presbytis johnaspinalli Nardelli, 2015 is a junior synonym of Trachyptihecus auratus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812). This case underscores the importance of assembling a sufficiently varied amount of data prior to describing new species and studying the actual type specimens.

EFEKTIFITAS PENGEMBANGAN PERANGKAT PEMBELAJARAN IPA BERBASIS MODEL PROBLEM BASED INSTRUCTION TERINTEGRASI PENDIDIKAN KARAKTER UNTUK SISWA SEKOLAH DASAR

This research was conducted based on the development of learning tools that encourage students’ creativity and skills in solving problems and motivating students to more active in the learning process. Besides that, it needed to develop students’ character values in the learning process. The development of learning tools based on integrated character education through a problem-based learning model can give solutions to this problem. The purpose of this research is to development of science learning tools for force materials based on integrated character education problem-based learning (PBI) model. This research is R & D and uses the plomp model. The Plomp model consists of the preliminary, prototyping phase, and assessment phase. The initial research phase needs analysis and contexts, literature review, and development design theory. The result of practical test based on teacher demonstrated that the score was 92.5% with the actual type. The result of students by using science learning tools shown that the cognitive category was 66%, assessment of affective nature was 72%, and the assessment of psychomotor was 95%. Based on the three types above, the average of students’ outcomes was 77.6% with the current category.

Selectorate’s information and dictator’s accountability

In this paper, we study the evolution of accountability in autocracies and the consequent progressive economic and political mismanagement in terms of information changes. It is often held to be true that better information means greater accountability. On the contrary, we show that in dictatorships, better information might imply worse choices by a dictator. The basic idea is that the reputation mechanism underlying accountability only works if there is enough noise surrounding the dictator’s possible type. As the selectorate’s information about the dictator’s actual type increases over time, the incentives for the dictator to behave correctly vanish.

The Role of Attenuation and Land Management in Small Catchments to Remove Sediment and Phosphorus: A Modelling Study of Mitigation Options and Impacts

It is well known that soil, hillslopes, and watercourses in small catchments possess a degree of natural attenuation that affects both the shape of the outlet hydrograph and the transport of nutrients and sediments. The widespread adoption of Natural Based Solutions (NBS) practices in the headwaters of these catchments is expected to add additional attenuation primarily through increasing the amount of new storage available to accommodate flood flows. The actual type of NBS features used to add storage could include swales, ditches, and small ponds (acting as sediment traps). Here, recent data collected from monitored features (from the Demonstration Test Catchments project in the Newby Beck catchment (Eden) in northwest England) were used to provide first estimates of the percentages of the suspended sediment (SS) and total phosphorus (TP) loads that could be trapped by additional features. The Catchment Runoff Attenuation Flux Tool (CRAFT) was then used to model this catchment (Newby Beck) to investigate whether adding additional attenuation, along with the ability to trap and retain SS (and attached P), will have any effect on the flood peak and associated peak concentrations of SS and TP. The modelling tested the hypothesis that increasing the amount of new storage (thus adding attenuation capacity) in the catchment will have a beneficial effect. The model results implied that a small decrease of the order of 5–10% in the peak concentrations of SS and TP was observable after adding 2000 m3 to 8000 m3 of additional storage to the catchment.

Australian Longhorn Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Volume 2

Longhorn Beetles — Cerambycidae are one of the most easily recognised groups of beetles, a family that worldwide encompasses over 33 000 species in 5200 genera. With over 1400 species classified in 300 genera, this is the sixth largest among 117 beetle families in Australia. These beetles often attack and kill living forest or orchard trees and develop in construction timber (like the European House borer, introduced to WA), causing serious damage. Virtually all Cerambycidae feed on living or dead plant tissues and play a significant role in all terrestrial environments where plants are found. Larvae often utilise damaged or dead trees for their development, and through feeding on rotten wood form an important element of the saproxylic fauna, speeding energy circulation in these habitats. Many species are listed as quarantine pests because of their destructive role to the timber industry. This second of three volumes on Australian Longhorn Beetles covers the taxonomy of genera of the Cerambycinae, with comments on natural history and morphology. One hundred and forty-two Cerambycinae genera are diagnosed and described, an illustrated key to their identification is provided, and images illustrate representatives of genera and of actual type specimens. A full listing of all Australian species with synonymies and bibliographic citations is also included. Recipient of a 2017 Whitley Awards Certificate of Commendation for Taxonomic Zoology

Analysis of school furniture used in computer classrooms

With the respect to the fast development of new computer technologies, it is unconditionally necessary that school furniture reflected this trend and adapted to it. Our use of computer technologies and utilities in teaching is increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to improve school desks so that they would be fit for new computer technology. Creation of a compact set of information relative to the issue concerned, which would comprise of needs and requirements for individual pieces of furniture, represented an important step undertaken. The goal was to assess current conditions of school furniture used in computer classrooms. The analysis aims to stipulate requirements related to the actual type of furniture, in which many influencing factors are taken into consideration. History of school furniture is interesting as well. A survey on the state of school furniture intended for computer classrooms is the main output. The analysis presents foundations for development of closely specialized furniture.

Naturally occurring gestures in a human–robot teaching scenario

This paper describes our general framework for the investigation of how human gestures can be used to facilitate the interaction and communication between humans and robots. Two studies were carried out to reveal which “naturally occurring” gestures can be observed in a scenario where users had to explain to a robot how to perform a home task. Both studies followed a within-subjects design: participants had to demonstrate how to lay a table to a robot using two different methods — utilizing only gestures or gestures and speech. The first study enabled the validation of the COGNIRON coding scheme for human gestures in Human–Robot Interaction (HRI). Based on the data collected in both studies, an annotated video corpus was produced and characteristics such as frequency and duration of the different gestural classes have been gathered to help capture requirements for the designers of HRI systems. The results from the first study regarding the frequencies of the gestural types suggest an interaction between the order of presentation of the two methods and the actual type of gestures produced. However, the analysis of the speech produced along with the gestures did not reveal differences due to ordering of the experimental conditions. The second study expands the issues addressed by the first study: we aimed at extending the role of the interaction partner (the robot) by introducing some positive acknowledgement of the participants’ activity. The results show no significant differences in the distribution of gestures (frequency and duration) between the two explanation methods, in contrast to the previous study. Implications for HRI are discussed focusing on issues relevant for the design of the robot’s communication skills to support the interaction loop with humans in home scenarios.

NORMAL ALGEBRAIC SURFACES WITH TRIVIAL TWO OR FOUR TIMES OF THE CANONICAL DIVISOR

We prove that upto isomorphisms there are exactly, three rational log Enriques surface of index four and Type A17, and three rational log Enriques surfaces of index two and actual Type A17 + A1.

Simple F Tests for Main Effects and Interactions in 2 × 2 × k Contingency Tables

A method of controlling for the effects of a nuisance variable in testing the significance of treatment effects on a discrete binary response is described. Proportions of “success” responses in two treatment groups are standardized relative to an estimate of the sampling variance at each level of the concomitant variable, and an unweighted-means analysis of variance is used to test the main effect for treatments and the interaction of treatments × levels. Exact calculations and Monte Carlo results are presented which show the proposed F tests to have actual Type I error probabilities that are closer to the nominal alpha level than is true for alternative tests. The actual Type I error rates are less seriously affected by differences in marginal probabilities of “success” and “failure” responses than is true for other tests, and in the face of small cell frequencies the standardized-means analysis of variance appears to have substantially greater power than the other tests most commonly used with 2 × 2 × k contingency tables.