Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cadmium tolerance and enrichment characteristics of Eulaliopsis binata

A pot experiment was conducted to study the cadmium (Cd) tolerance and enrichment characteristics of Eulaliopsis binata. Applying low concentration Cd (5 mg x kg(-1)) could boost the growth and physiological vigor of E. binata, with the twelve indexes such as biomass and net photosynthetic rate, etc. increased by 1.0% -15.5%, compared with CK; while applying high concentration Cd (> 5 mg x kg(-1)) had negative effects on the growth of E. binata. Even though the E. binata still finished its physiological circle under the application of 100 mg Cd x kg(-1), the biomass and net photosynthetic rate were decreased by 27.0% and 25.6%, respectively, in comparison with CK. The Cd content in the organs of E. binata increased greatly with increasing concentration of applied Cd. The Cd content in roots was from 350 mg x kg(-1) to 500 mg x kg(-1), and that in stems and leaves was from 15 mg x kg(-1) to 35 mg x kg(-1). When the concentration of applied Cd was < 50 mg x kg(-1), the Cd uptake by E. binata increased with increasing concentration of applied Cd. The Cd content in stems and leaves amounted 15.7% - 38.4% of the total uptake, and the ratio of the Cd content in stems and leaves to that in roots was up to 0.62. All the results indicated that E. binata had stronger capability in tolerating, enriching, and transporting Cd, being a potential Cd hyperaccumulator.
Eco-Evolutionary Feedbacks Predict the Time Course of Rapid Life-History Evolution

Organisms can change their environment and in doing so change the selection they experience and how they evolve. Population density is one potential mediator of such interactions because high population densities can impact the ecosystem and reduce resource availability. At present, such interactions are best known from theory and laboratory experiments. Here we quantify the importance of such interactions in nature by transplanting guppies from a stream where they co-occur with predators into tributaries that previously lacked both guppies and predators. If guppies evolve solely because of the immediate reduction in mortality rate, the strength of selection and rate of evolution should be greatest at the outset and then decline as the population adapts to its new environment. If indirect effects caused by the increase in guppy population density in the absence of predation prevail, then there should be a lag in guppy evolution because time is required for them to modify their environment. The duration of this lag is predicted to be associated with the environmental modification caused by guppies. We observed a lag in life-history evolution associated with increases in population density and altered ecology. How guppies evolved matched predictions derived from evolutionary theory that incorporates such density effects.
Developing the role of PCR for detection and characterisation of helicobacters in human infection

This study aimed to explore and develop the role of PCR in the investigation of human Helicobacter infections. Overall performance of PCR assays (both conventional and real-time) was influenced by certain key factors, notably specimen transport conditions, DNA extraction methods, primers, and inherent target sequence variation. PCR-based detection and characterisation of non-viable H. pylori in gastric biopsies demonstrated the benefit of this approach as an alternative to culture, while the design and application of the first PCR test to detect both H. pylori and 'H. heilmannii'-like organisms (HHLOs) showed a higher rate of HHLO infection (2.3 %) than had been reported previously. The potential of PCR for further strain characterisation was demonstrated by determining clarithromycin susceptibility direct from gastric biopsy by a real-time PCR (LightCycler) assay for mutation detection. Development of an analogous test for metronidazole appears less feasible, as examination of a unique strain set suggested that, contrary to earlier reports, genetic mutations in rdxA and frxA may not be the principal resistance mechanism. Additionally, development of a novel multiplex PCR assay to determine vacA genotypes direct from gastric biopsies provided a useful tool to facilitate surveillance and confirmed that the s 1ml genotype is a common feature of peptic ulcer disease-associated isolates. Application of three novel LightCycler PCR assays to detect cagA tyrosine phosphorylation motifs (TPMs) demonstrated that TPM A was common in South East England. No significant associations were observed between disease status and cagA TPM. Extension of the PCR-based approach for non-invasive detection of H. pylori from stool specimens showed that it was less sensitive and less specific than stool antigen testing. Nevertheless, development of real-time nested PCRs that performed identically to conventional assays demonstrated the potential for next-day diagnosis from stools and offered the possibility of future screening of larger populations. Application of PCR to investigate extra-gastric chronic inflammatory conditions provided the first evidence of H. pylori DNA in the human bladder, although its significance as a causal factor in human disease remains unclear. The study provides new evidence to support wider use of conventional and real-time PCR-based assays as powerful tools for future investigation of gastric and extra-gastric Helicobacter infections.
Pertumbuhan Sengon dan Produksi Padi Gogo pada Taraf Pemupukan P yang Berbeda dalam Sistem Agroforestri

Agroforestry of upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) and sengon tree (Paraserianthes falcataria) could increase the growth of sengon trees; however, it would also increase the percentage of empty grain due to shade from the tree. Fertilization with P is expected to increase plant height, grain weight and weight of straw of upland rice and growth of sengon tree. The aim of this research is to analyze the growth and production of sengon and upland rice with agroforestry and P fertilizer application. Application in cultivation of upland rice using split-split plot design. The main plot is agroforestry and monoculture, subplot of Sintanur and Situ Bagendit varieties and split-split plot of P fertilization consisting of 4 levels, namely: P 0 = 0 g / plant, P50 = 3 g / plant, P100 = 6 g / plant and P150 = 9 g / plant. The application of P fertilizer showed that P 100% had high production on Sintanur varieties with monoculture. Agroforestry system can increase the growth of sengon plants.Keywords: agroforestry, P fertilizer, sengon, upland rice.
A behavioural investigation of the function of glycoprotein fucosylation in learning and memory in the day-old domestic chicken.

page 10 Chapter 1. General Introduction Part 1. The significance of behavioural psychology to the study of memory. page 12 Part 2. Models of learning. page 15 Part 3. Learning and memory in birds. page 25 Part 4. The ethology of learning in the young chick. page 41 Part 5. Glycoproteins and memory. page 48 Chapter 2. Developing and testing a serial colour-discrimination passive avoidance task. page 58 Experiment 2.1. Testing a serial colour-discrimination passive avoidance paradigm. page 60 Experiment 2.2. A behavioural dose-response study of 2-Deoxy galactose. page 69 Experiment 2.3. Testing 2-Deoxy galactose as an amnestic agent in the serial colour-discrimination task. page 74
Determination of Some Pomological Features of Bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Native to Sarıkamış (Kars), Turkey

Bu calismanin amaci, Turkiye’nin Dogu Anadolu Bolgesindeki Kars-Sarikamis ormanlarinda yetisen coban uzumu meyvelerinin bazi fiziksel ve kimyasal ozelliklerinin belirlenmesidir. Bu amacla meyve agirligi, genisligi, uzunlugu, pH, titre edilebilir asit miktari, suda cozunebilir kuru madde miktari, tat, aroma, L, a ve b degerleri, 20 farkli bitkiden elde edilen 20’ser adet meyvede, 4’er tekerrurlu olarak yapilmistir. Sonuclar ortalama degerler uzerinden yorumlanmistir. Meyve genisligi, uzunlugu, agirligi, pH, titre edilebilir asit miktari, suda cozunebilir kuru madde miktari, tat, aroma ile L*, a* ve b* renk degerleri sirasiyla: 9.12 mm, 8.02 mm, 5.08 g, 2.22, 2.70%, 7.41 %, 2.95, 3.00, 14.884, 1.72 ve 0.065 olarak bulunmustur. Sozu gecen bu parametrelerin araliklari ise sirasiyla: 7.55-10.37 mm, 6.95-9.80 mm, 3.00-7.00 g, 2.04-2.60, 2.40-3.00 %, 6.00-8.50 %, 2.00-4.00, 13.24-16.30, 1.004-3.04 ve -1.98-3.87’dir (Aroma icin aralik deger tespit edilmemistir). Elde edilen bu sonuclar, Sarikamis bolgesinde yetisen coban uzumlerinin bazi fiziksel ve kimyasal ozelliklerinin belirlenmesi acisindan bir on calisma niteligindedir. Turkiye florasi hakkinda bilgi edinmek ve islah amacli kullanimlar icin coban uzumlerinin fiziksel ve kimyasal ozellikleri uzerine daha kapsamli arastirmalar yapilmalidir.
Recruitment limitation and competent settlement of sesarmid crab larvae within East African mangrove forests

The functioning of many ecosystems is highly dependent on their faunal communities, dominated by brachyuran crabs. Key to the maintenance of crab populations are the factors that influence their recruitment into the system, particularly the settlement of their megalopae. While spawning is normally highly synchronised, settlement is often not, implying temporal disruption between spawning and settlement. We examined the roles of several key factors (vegetation type, day/night cycle, and lunar phase) on settlement, testing for generality by working in mangroves at 2 sites in Kenya and South Africa. At each site, larval settlement was quantified using artificial collectors placed in 2 vegetation zones for 12 h periods throughout the part of the neap-spring tidal cycle when tide was sufficient to cover the collectors. This continued for 6 mo in Kenya and 11 mo in South Africa, giving the first long-term settlement dataset for east African mangroves. Moon phase proved to have a major role in megalopal settlement, which demonstrated a high degree of spatial specificity. Settlement was correlated across species with tidal amplitude on both short (monthly) and long time scales and focussed on the vegetation zones occupied by conspecific adults. As the distribution of mangrove species is tightly related to local hydrology, this implies a feedback situation with the conservation of mangroves requiring the maintenance of patterns of water flow within the system to support both the vegetation and the associated fauna.
Optimization of culture conditions for thermostable chitinase production by Paenibacillus sp. D1

A hyper-chitinase producing isolate Paenibacillus sp. D1 was obtained from common effluent treatment plant of seafood industries at Veraval (Gujarat, India). The isolate exhibited chitinase production over a wide temperature (25 - 45°C) and pH (6 - 9) range with maxima at 30°C in medium with initial pH 7.0. The crude chitinase had activity in broad pH (4 - 10) and temperature (30 - 60°C) range with optima at pH 5.0 and 50°C, respectively. The enzyme was highly thermostable with t1/2 of 36 to 60 h at 40 and 45°C. Crab shell chitin, urea and K2HPO4were identified as best carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous sources influencing chitinase production by Paenibacillus sp. D1. Addition of tween 80 and FeCl3 enhanced the chitinase production by 1.44 and 1.33 fold, respectively. Identification of essential nutrients affecting chitinase production by Paenibacillus sp. D1 would help to formulate a suitable medium for its production. Moreover, low cost chitin from crab shells can be used as carbon source for thermostable chitinase production by the isolate for industrial and agricultural applications. Key words: Paenibacillus, optimization, thermostable, chitinase.
Virulence Phenotypes on Chili Pepper for Phytophthora capsici Isolates from Michoac (cid:1) an, Mexico

Phytophthora blight of vegetables caused by Phytophthora capsici causes signiﬁcant economic losses in production of Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae crops in Mexico. The development of universal resistant chili pepper cultivars is challenging due to the diverse virulence phenotypes produced by P . capsici . The objective of the study was to characterize the diversity of phenotypic interactions for P . capsici isolates recovered from production ﬁelds in Michoac (cid:1) an, Mexico, to facilitate the development of resistant cultivars. Virulence phenotypes were characterized for 12 isolates of P . capsici using 26 Capsicum annuum New Mexico Recombinant Inbred Lines (NMRILs) in greenhouse conditions. Criollo de Morelos CM-334 and California Wonder were used as resistant and susceptible controls, respectively. Seedlings at the four to eight true leaf stage were inoculated with 10,000 zoospores per seedling and disease severity was evaluated at 20 days post-inoculation. Two of the P. capsici isolates did not infect any pepper host even though the isolate was less than a year old. The 10 virulent isolates were designated in 10 virulence phenotypes. The information generated by this study is of utmost importance for efforts of producing resistant cultivars speciﬁc
Complexity related to behavior of stability in mdoeled coastal zone ecosystems

Based on four published mass-balanced ecosystem models from coastal zones, we studied the relationships of stability to some characteristics in ecosystems. Three attributes of stability, persistence, magnitude of changes in biomass and resilience, were analyzed using the ecopath and ecosim software. For each published model, five versions were obtained by randomly modifying connectance to change complexity. Simulation experiments were performed over 60 years and then stability attributes quantified. We found complexity was not closely related to stability. A high number of pools made the system less resilient, and a high connectance made them more resilient and more persistent. Our results suggest that ecosystems with generalist feeding species, without a preferred prey, have increased recovery time and more obvious disturbances. No clear effect was found when different trophic levels were disturbed in an ecosystem.
In vitro antioxidant and anticholinesterase activities and in vivo toxicological assessment (Zebrafish embryo model) of ethanolic extracts of Capsicum chinense Jacq.

The ripe and dried fruits of organic pepper Capsicum chinense Jacq. , obtained during planting, cultivation and harvesting, were subjected to solid-liquid extraction using a Soxhlet apparatus with hexane to remove non-polar compounds, and then with ethanol to remove the target compounds. The ethanolic extracts were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) determining the composition of capsaicin (74.1%), dyhidrocapsaicin (8.9%), docosenamide (11.7%), ethyl linoleate (3.2%) and ethyl palmitate (2.1%). Three different bio-screenings: (1) the Trolox® equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC); (2) the inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and; (3) the embryo toxicity and the induction of phenotypic changes in the Zebrafish model were used. It was found that the ethanol extracts possess antioxidant activity (TAA 1800 ± 91 mmol Trolox®/kg extract) and AChE inhibition (IC50 18.8 ± 0.5 µg/ml), as well as a moderate toxicity in zebrafish embryos (LC50 39.7 ± 2.1 µg/ml), and good dual activity that make them extremely important not only for nutrition, but also as pharmacological substrates. Key words: Capsicum chinense, capsaicinoid, acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, Trolox® equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), zebrafish, developmental toxicity.
Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi (Glomus mossae) and Compost on Early Growth Performance of Parkia biglobosa

One of the biggest challenges to sustainable global food security is the need to find suitable replacements for inorganic fertilizer. This is because inorganic fertilizers production consumes an increasing proportion of the global energy budget and the supply of key raw materials, primarily phosphorus is becoming more limited. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi, AMF (Glomus mossae) and compost on soil properties and early growth response of Parkia biglobosa. The experiment was set up at the screen house of the Department of Bioscience, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. The experimental design was a 2 x 5 factorial, laid in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replicates. The treatments used were compost at five (5) levels: 10t/ha, 20t/ha, 30t/ha, 40t/ha, no amendments; and two (2) levels of AMF inoculation (with and without). Data on plant height, number of leaves, collar diameter and dry matter yields were generated and subjected to analysis of variance, and significant means were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at 5% level of significance. The result shows that mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased (p< 0.05) plant height, stem diameter and leave numbers when compared with the non-mycorrhizal plants. There was no variation in number of leaves and height among the inoculated treatments as compared with the un-inoculated treatments which are significantly different from each other at -AMF 0 and –AMF 10 respectively. Interaction of AMF and compost at 40 t ha-1 had the highest plant height with a value of 35.06 cm. Application of 40 t ha-1 of compost with inoculation significantly increased (p< 0.05) the root dry matter yields while no significant differences were observed in leaves and stem dry matter yield for both inoculated and un-inoculated. The analysis of the soil before and after the experiments could also be comparable to one another as no variation was observed. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that AMF can successfully be inoculated into compost amended soil to improve the performance of Parkia biglobosa.
A Ternary Solution for Independent Acoustic Impedance and Speed of Sound Matching to Biological Tissues

In applications requiring a liquid which is acoustically well matched to biological tissues, it is often difficult to find a material which is matched well in terms of both the acoustic impedance and speed of sound propagation in it; changing one parameter invariably affects the other. A three component liquid system is described, which allows independent adjustment of these two acoustic parameters over a wide range. This range encompasses the soft tissues of the body. Results of parameter measurements are presented in the form which allows simple determination of the mixture required to match any combination of acoustic impedance and speed of sound propagation over a given range.
A Comparative Study of Requests amongst Second Language Speakers of English

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to identify the importance of the contemporary library services in the modern use of indigenous knowledge system in order to determine how it can best be managed in order to contribute progressively to the society. The importance of libraries in preserving and disseminating the indigenous knowledge was also discussed. The paper highlighted the indigenous knowledge method and procedures. It also established that with the indigenous knowledge stored in human mind, the knowledge is susceptible to be lost because when a person possessing that knowledge dies, she or she dies with the entire knowledge in abundance. The paper further examined that Indigenous knowledge is mostly understood in rural areas and that most of that knowledge is not documented. As a result, the libraries should device a means to collect, store and disseminate Indigenous Knowledge (IK). The study recommends that libraries should take full responsibility of collecting and developing Indigenous Knowledge for ease of storage and dissemination as well as access.
Effects of nitrogen fertilization and straw amendment on soil microbial biomass and soil functions after heat stress

A 60-day incubation experiment was conducted to study the effects of nitrogen fertilization (N), rice straw amendment (R), and their combination (RN) on the changes of soil microbial biomass and soil functions (basal respiration, substrate-induced respiration, and straw decomposition) after heat stress (40 degrees C for 18 h). Heat stress tended to promote the soil microbial biomass and soil functions, but the effects were weak and transient. Either with or without heating, treatment R and especially RN could greatly stimulate soil microbial biomass, basal respiration, substrate-induced respiration and straw decomposition, as compared to no straw amendment and with nitrogen fertilization alone, but the parameters in treatment N had less change, and even, presented a decreasing trend. It was suggested that straw amendment and its combination with nitrogen fertilization could improve soil functions in natural conditions or after environmental stress.
Sedentary Time and Disability in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the relationship between sedentary behavior (SB) and disability in older adults. A search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, and Sport Discus databases to identify eligible studies. Of the 405 studies identified, only 4 studies met our predefined criteria to be included in this metaanalysis. In these studies, participants who reported having a disability had higher levels of SB (effect size: 0.38, 95% IC: 0.14-0.62, p<0. 002) than those without disability. Older adults with disabilities seem to engage in higher levels of SB (mean 5.8 to 10.3 hours/day) when compared with older adults without disability (mean of 4.6 to 9.7 hours/ day). The findings of this review and meta-analysis suggest that there is an association between SB and disability. Our findings, however, are limited to cross-sectional studies and thus direction of this relationship is not clear based on studies to date.
Visualizing Ratings in Recommender System Datasets

The numerical outcome of an offline experiment involving different recommender systems should be interpreted also considering the main characteristics of the available rating datasets. However, existing metrics usually exploited for comparing such datasets like sparsity and entropy are not enough informative for reliably understanding all their peculiarities. In this paper, we propose a qualitative approach for visualizing different collections of user ratings in an intuitive and comprehensible way, independently from a specific recommendation algorithm. Thanks to graphical summaries of the training data, it is possible to better understand the behaviour of different recommender systems exploiting a given dataset. Furthermore, we introduce RS-viz, a Web-based tool that implements the described method and that can easily create an interactive 3D scatter plot starting from any collection of user ratings. We compared the results obtained during an offline evaluation campaign with the corresponding visualizations generated from the HetRec LastFM dataset for validating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Feature Selection for Emotion Classification

In this paper, we describe a novel supervised approach to extract a set of features for document representation in the context of Emotion Classification (EC). Our approach employs the coefficients of a logistic regression model to extract the most discriminative word unigrams and bigrams to perform EC. In particular, we employ this set of features to represent the documents, while we perform the classification using a Support Vector Machine. The proposed method is evaluated on two publicly available and widely-used collections. We also evaluate the robustness of the extracted set of features on different domains, using the first collection to perform feature extraction and the second one to perform EC. We compare the obtained results to similar supervised approaches for document classification (i.e. FastText), EC (i.e. #Emotional Tweets, SNBC and UMM) and to a Word2Vec-based pipeline.