73 research outputs found
Colonial wintering of Long-eared owl (Asio otus) in Botoșani County (N-E Romania)
No full textThis study explores the phenological aspects and distribution of long-eared owl (Asio otus) colonies in Botoșani county, N-E Romania. The anthropogenic impact was also evaluated and analyzed and the microhabitat where the colonies are located. Data was collected between November 2018 and February 2019. 9 settlements in Botoșani county, including the municipality of Botoșani, were investigated. Data about temperature, the size of the colony, the tree species where the colony is located and anthropogenic impact, were collected. 9 colonies were identified with a total of 340 individuals. Two short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) were identified in one of the colonies. The maximum number (51) of specimens is reached in the months of January and February, and the minimum number (30) in the months of November and December. It has been observed that when the temperatures tend to fall, the size of the colonies register significant growth. The preferred species of trees are gymnosperms (69%), the owls were found on angiosperms as well (31%). The preference for the coniferous species increases along with the drop in temperatures and the increase in rainfall or snowfall, as these types of trees offer better protection against the weather conditions. We noticed that the anthropogenic factor has a significant influence on the colonies of Asio otus, so we wanted to grade it with the help of a scale from 1 to 7. Grade 1 was given in only one locality (Știubieni), grade 2 was registered in 4 points (Dorohoi, Avrămeni, Botoșani, and Roma), grade 3 is found only in Bucecea, Corlăteni registers a grade of 4, while in Dobârceni the registered value is 5, grade 6 is met only in Săveni. Grade 7 represented the stage in which there is a decrease in the population of Asio otus, or the death of individuals for various reasons, a situation that has not been encountered.
Halici et Stermin (PDF
Evolutionism and creationism in the social mentality – a study case in the Romanian population
No full textDue to the dynamic of our ever-evolving society, basically, population is now divided in two categories: one with conservative values (religion) and the other one focused on exploring the unknown (science). The aim of our study is to analyze the proportion of the two types of perspectives in the Romanian social mentality and to evaluate the participants’ attitude towards science or religion subjects. In the period between November 2016 and March 2017, questionnaires have been distributed to 400 people from Cluj-Napoca (N-W Romania) and Petroșani (S-W Romania). The questionnaire consisted of a field which evaluates personal data and a second part of 21 questions. Some of the most important results of the study included: 56% of those are religious, 71% believe in God, 55% believe that a supernatural force controls the universe, 44% consider it necessary to teach evolution in schools and 57% consider it necessary to teach religion in schools. The percentages for conservative values (religion) is 56% and those who are focused on exploring the unknown (science) is 29%.
Szekely et Stermin (PDF
The relation between natural and sexual selection – study case on the phenotypic characteristics that influence mate choice in a North-West Romanian human population
No full textThe force of sexual selection acts upon the mating process of all beings, this great force is influenced by different factors as phenotypic characteristics. Related to mate choice, in humans, recent studies have shown that, along with eye color, hair color is considered a relevant physical trait (Frost, 2006). Thereby, the purpose of this study is to reveal how these two factors influence mate choice by analyzing the hair color preference of a small population from Romania. Additionally, we explore how different types of selection influence each other and assume that both contribute in choosing a partner. In order to obtain basic data, a socio-demographic survey was addressed to adult male and female individuals. Based on their answers, disregarding the gender, a considerable number of individuals are brown-haired, as we expected from this area of the globe. Among the results obtained, the following considerations are worth mentioning: the most common hair color in Romania is brown, individuals with this trait are considered the most attractive for the opposite sex and parents’ hair color represents a predictor for future partners. These preferences are both in concordance and in contrast with natural selection. However, much more research is needed, approaching other areas such as genetics and forensics to determine how all these mechanisms, as well as others, affect the process of mating.
Popa-Cordun et Stermin (PDF
Neighbours vs. strangers discrimination in Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)
No full textWater Rail (Rallus aquaticus) manifest strongly intra- and interspecific aggressivity. In our study we test the Water Rail’s reaction to the calls of conspecifics neighbours and strangers, to conclude if they express the “neighbour-stranger discrimination” (NSD) and / or “the dear enemy effect” (DEE) behaviour as evolutionary attributes that would reduce the energy consumption. Ten points located 100 m apart inside the Sic Reedbeds wetland were selected. In each point the acoustic reactions to spontaneous and playback of territorial Water Rail’s call were counted for three days (18, 19 and 20 April 2011), between 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.. A statistically significant difference was found between the number of songs recorded after spontaneous activity and the number of calls recorded after playback. The results argues the hypothesis that individuals of this species recognize their neighbours and react less aggressively towards them. Moreover, our findings indicated that response to neighbours’ calls follows a constant trajectory during the first or second half of the minute while the reaction towards foreigners is significantly losing intensity during the second half of the minute. The results suggest that the NSD and DEE are expressed in the Water Rail behaviour.
Stermin et al (PDF
New cases of facultative interspecific brood parasitism in Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) and Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)
No full textMany hypotheses try to explain the evolution and possible relations between obligate and facultative brood parasitism in birds. To explore this, a large number of observations and data are needed. Our understanding based on the observations of facultative parasitic species published in the literature is less clear compared to the obligate parasitic species. This communication is about three cases of facultative interspecific brood parasitism. Two nests of Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) parasite by Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) and one nest of Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) parasite by Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus). These observations are significant as long as interspecific brood parasitism was frequently described in Gruiformes (Rallidae) but has rarely observed within Charadriiformes
Ecoexistentialism in Caspar David Friedrich Works: An Analysis from the Perspective of Recent Cognitive Science Discoveries
No full textWith this paper, I propose an interpretation of Caspar David Friedrich’s works on the 250th anniversary of his birth. Known as a romantic painter, Friedrich explored and cultivated our deep relationship with nature through his art. From the perspective of recent discoveries in the cognitive sciences, I will analyse the ingenuity of the techniques by which, using the vast and open landscape, but also the characters represented with their backs, the artist creates the right context in which the viewer has the feeling of dissolving his self in nature, the experience of identification with the elements around and above all, the living of the present sensation, through the cleavage of the self and the activation of the experiential self. In the works of Caspar David Friedrich, I identify aspects related to existentialism and, above all, a prefiguration of immersive art that generates such existential experiences about nature
Constructing and Evaluating Complex Event-based Datasets for Increasing Performance of Instance Segmentation Models
No full textEvent-based cameras represent a new alternative to traditional frame based sensors, with advantages in lower output bandwidth, lower latency and higher dynamic range, thanks to their independent, asynchronous pixels. These advantages prompted the development of computer vision methods on event data in the last decade, however event-based datasets are still in early stages in terms of size and complexity compared to normal datasets (e.g. ImageNet). This paper explores event data augmentation by superimposing two existing event datasets (N-MNIST and N-Caltech101) and by adding uniform noise. It shows that training an instance segmentation model on noisy datasets does not improve its performance, but the amount and type of noise added in the background decreases the performance of such model.CSE3000 Research ProjectComputer Science and Engineerin
What is for dinner? Qualitative and quantitative data regarding small mammal species identified in pellets of long-eared owl (Asio otus) from Cluj-Napoca
No full textAnalysis of pellets provides information on the prey distribution, abundance, behavior and trophic relationships between Strigiformes and small mammals. By analyzing the skulls from long-eared owl (Asio otus) pellets, collected from a colony located in the Mercur Park, in Cluj- Napoca, Romania, we aimed to identify the small mammal species and to compare the results with available ones from another study conducted 2 years ago in the same area. During 7 collecting campaigns (November 2018 to March 2019) in 538 pellets a total of 1290 skulls were identified. Over the study period, the colony increased from 10 to 40 birds. Six species of small mammals were identified: the field striped mouse (Apodemus agrarius), the yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), the European water vole (Arvicola terrestris), the field vole (Microtus agrestis) and the common vole (Microtus arvalis). Compared with the previously study, a new species was identified: the yellow-necked mouse and another one was missing: the bank vole (Myodes glareolus).
Neaca et al (PDF)
Article history: Received 19 October 2020; Revised 23 November 2020; Accepted 5 November 2021; Available online 30 December 2021
O alianță literară. de la critica biografică la întoarcerea autorului
No full textIn the milieu of interwar Romanian modernism, Șerban Cioculescu showed a particular interest in the making of literary biographies, which in the post-war decades resulted in a self-styled version of biographical criticism. This article follows the avatars of a heated debate developed in 1970-‘80s around the life and works of writer Mateiu I. Caragiale, involving, on the one hand, Alexandru George, Alexandru Paleologu, and N. Steinhardt, and on the other, Șerban Cioculescu and Eugen Simion. While the former group claims a textual hermeneutics devoid of biographical speculation, the latter supports the revival of biography-based analysis. Eugen Simion finds in Șerban Cioculescu’s approach a valuable ally, while preparing his book Întoarcerea autorului (The Return of the Author, 1981), to defy the mainstream anti-biographical orientation of Romanian criticism, and re[1]introduce, in the spirit of French theory (like Jean Starobinski or Serge Doubrovsky’s), the figure of the author in text interpretation
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