Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soil seed-bank germination patterns in natural pastures under different mineral fertilizer treatments

Degraded native grasslands in Mediterranean areas can be improved by encouraging seedling regeneration from soil seed banks using chemical fertilization. The effect of mineral fertilizers on soil seed banks was studied in natural pastures at two locations in southern Italy: Carpino and Rignano Garganico. The aim was to determine if nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and combined nitrogen and phosphorus (NP) fertilization can promote increased soil seed density. The seed-bank size and composition were analysed over two growth cycles (2004-2006) at two periods of the year: at the early summer and at the early autumn. The plant species were classified into three functional groups: grasses, legumes and other species (all other dicots). A two-pool model (ephemeral and base pools) derived from the germination patterns was developed to quantify the dynamics of the germinated seed populations. The mean total seed number in the seed bank ranged from 2,915 to 4,782 seed m -2 with higher values in early summer than in early autumn. Mineral fertilizer applications increased the seed-bank size (by 27%, 23% and 46%, for N, P and NP, respectively) and modified the composition in both localities. The three plant functional groups showed different potentials for ephemeral and persistent seed-bank production; however, within each plant group, the proportion between the ephemeral and base pool fractions did not change with fertilizer application. These data show that mineral fertilization can have positive effects on the seed-bank size of ungrazed natural pastures, and can be used to improve degraded Mediterranean pastures.
Increased prevalence and severity of radiographic hand osteoarthritis in HIV-1- infected patients associated with metabolic syndrome: data from the cross-sectional METAFIB-OA study

1 Department of Rheumatology, DHU i2B, Saint-Antoine hospital, Assistance Publique– Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), F75012, Paris, France 2 Department of Rheumatology, Henri Mondor Hospital, AP-HP, F94000, Créteil, France 3 Sorbonnes Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, Inserm UMRS_938, DHU i2B, F75012, Paris, France Sorbonnes Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’épidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP UMRS 1136), F75012, Paris, France; 5 Department of Infectious diseases, Saint-Antoine hospital, AP-HP, F75012, Paris, France, 6 Biochemistry department, Tenon hospital, APHP, Sorbonnes Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, Inserm UMR_S938, DHU i2B, IHU ICAN, F75012, Paris, France; Department of Radiology, Saint-Antoine hospital, AP-HP, F75012, Paris, France, 8 Department of Rheumatology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, 0370, Oslo, Norway. 9 Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, MA 02118, Boston, USA
Genetic variability, character association and selection criteria in cotton

Fifteen cotton genotypes were studied to investigate genetic variability, character association and selection criteria for some contributing characters through correlation and path coefficient analysis. A wide range of variability was shown by most of the characters. The coefficient of vaiation varied between 0.8% and 14.7% for the studied characters. Lint yield had the highest coefficient of variation (14.7%) and varied from 1253 to 571 kg ha -1 , number of bolls varied from 33 to 22 and first fruitng node from 5 to 7. Broad sense heritability estimates ranged between 59.8% and 98.8% for the studied traits and genetic gain for lint yield was 42.6%. Lint yield had significant positive correlations with number of bolls, plant height and number of sympodial branches. Path coefficient analysis revealed that number of bolls, plant height and ginning outturn had contributed considerably to lint yield. Genetic variability for lint yield and agronomic characters attained from mating the MAR and the local genetic lines should be useful to breeders as well as a nucleus for a new pool of variable germplasm for upland cotton improvement in Sudan.
The Impact of Monetary Policy on Agricultural Price in China: A Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) Approach

We use recently available Chinese data from 2005m1 to 2016m2 to examine the impact of monetary policy on agricultural price using a factor-augmented vector autoregressive (FAVAR) model proposed by Bernanke et al. (2005). Results show the superiority of a FAVAR model with three variables and three factors over other specifications. Impulse response functions show that both money supply and interest rate have no impact on agricultural price in the long-run (beyond 50 months). However, results indicate the considerable short-run impact of monetary policy on agricultural price. According to forecasting error variance decompositions, the interest rate could account more for the fluctuations in agricultural price than the money supply.
On reductions of the discrete Kadomtsev–Petviashvili-type equations

The reduction by restricting the spectral parameters k and k′ on a generic algebraic curve of degree N is performed for the discrete AKP, BKP and CKP equations, respectively. A variety of two-dimensional discrete integrable systems possessing a more general solution structure arise from the reduction, and in each case a unified formula for the generic positive integer N⩾2 is given to express the corresponding reduced integrable lattice equations. The obtained extended two-dimensional lattice models give rise to many important integrable partial difference equations as special degenerations. Some new integrable lattice models such as the discrete Sawada–Kotera, Kaup–Kupershmidt and Hirota–Satsuma equations in extended form are given as examples within the framework.
Bubbles in Hybrid Markets - How Expectations About Algorithmic Trading Affect Human Trading

Bubbles are omnipresent in lab experiments with asset markets. Most of these experiments were conducted in environments with only human traders. Today markets are substantially determined by algorithmic traders. Here we use a laboratory experiment to measure changes of human trading behavior if these humans expect algorithmic traders. To disentangle the direct effect of algorithmic traders we use a design where we manipulate only the expectations of human traders. We find clearly smaller bubbles if human traders expect algorithmic traders to be present.
When memory falls short: The effect of suggestibility and repeated questioning on 3- to 5-year-old children’s recognition of event details

The present study investigated children’s event recognition as a function of feedback, suggestible question type, and repeated questioning. Forty-three 3to 5-year-old children read a book and were asked twelve positive-leaning, negative-leaning, and additive-misinformation questions. After six and twelve questions, children were presented with positive or negative feedback and asked the same questions again. Feedback did not affect response accuracy; however, children’s likelihood of changing their answer when questioned a second time varied as a function of question type. Children answered negative-leaning questions more accurately the second time, additive-misinformation questions less accurately the second time, and showed no change with positive-leaning questions. These findings extend prior knowledge of factors that influence children’s recollection of an event.
The role of task-type and orthography in the production of word-final consonants

This paper investigates the effects of task-type and orthography on the production of English word-final consonants by Brazilian learners. Ten participants, attending a first-semester English course, completed three different tasks: (1) reading a sentence-list; (2) reading a dialog; and (3) answering a set of questions. The three tasks were recorded and items containing word-final consonants were transcribed in order to verify the extent to which these learners resorted to an epenthetic vowel to produce English word-final consonants that are not permitted in Brazilian Portuguese (e.g., fog, pronounced as [ @fagi]). A comparison was also made between words ending in a consonantal grapheme (mad) and words spelled with a final –e (made), in order to assess whether spelling influenced the production of word-final consonants. The results indicate that both task-type and orthography play a role in the production of word final consonants.
Colorado river benthic ecology in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA: dam, tributary and geomorphological influences

The serial discontinuity concept (SDC; Ward and Stanford, in Ecology of River Systems, 1983) predicts that recovery of large regulated rivers over distance downstream from a dam is limited by relative tributary size; however, channel geomorphology may also influence the recovery process. We examined the spatial variation in water quality, benthic composition and ash-free dry standing biomass (AFDM) among the bedrock-defined geomorphological reaches in three turbidity segments of the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Diamond Creek, Arizona, including most of the Grand Canyon. This 387-km long study area supported virtually no Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera or Trichoptera, probably because cold, stenothermic, hypolimnetic releases limited maximum aestival warming to 17 1 C. The benthos displayed abrupt, physically related decreases in AFDM over distance from the dam and in the varial zone. The 26-km long clear water segment between the dam and the Paria River supported a depauperate Cladophora glomerata/epiphyte/chironomid/Gammarus lacustris/lumbricine/ Physella sp. assemblage, and ooze-dwelling oligochaetes. This segment contained 6 9% of the aquatic habitat below the 140 m 3 /s (normal minimum) discharge stage of the Colorado River study area, but supported 63 5% of the benthic primary producer AFDM and 87% of the benthic consumer AFDM in the entire study area. Turbidity increased and light penetration decreased immediately downstream from the confluence of the small, turbid Paria River, and further downstream from the Little Colorado River confluence. The benthos downstream from the Paria River was abruptly replaced by an Oscillatoria/ Simuliium assemblage with a mean AFDM of 0 12 g C/m 2 . Dam-related effects on water clarity, varial flow and water temperature overrode geomorphological influences on habitat availability. These results generally support the SDC, in that recovery of the benthos did not take place over distance in this large river ecosystem; however, geomorphological differences in substratum availability between reaches mediated dam and tributary effects on water clarity and benthic AFDM. Interactions between flow regulation and geomorphology produce a pattern of circuitous recovery of some physical river ecosystem characteristics over distance from the dam, but not of the benthos. Improving discharge management for endangered native fish populations requires detailed understanding of existing and potential benthic development, and trophic interactions, throughout the geomorphological reaches and turbidity segments in this river. 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brief communication: Improved simulation of the present-day Greenland firn layer (1960–2016)

Abstract. By providing pore space for storage or refreezing of meltwater, the Greenland ice sheet firn layer strongly modulates runoff. Correctly representing the firn layer is therefore crucial for Greenland (surface) mass balance studies. Here, we present a simulation of the Greenland firn layer with the firn model IMAU-FDM forced by the latest output of the regional climate model RACMO2, version 2.3p2. In the percolation zone, much improved agreement is found with firn density and temperature observations. A full simulation of Greenland firn at high temporal (10 days) and spatial (11 km) resolution is available for the period 1960–2016.
Phytophthora and Oak Decline – Impact on Seedlings and Mature Trees in Forest Soils

This thesis investigated the occurrence of soilborne species of the plant pathogenic genus Phytophthora in southern Swedish oak forests and their possible involvement in southern Swedish oak decline. The emphasis was on the impact of P. quercina on Quercus robur in acid forest soils. Several different methods, including screening for Phytophthora in oak forest soils, greenhouse experiments with seedlings grown in soils inoculated with Phytophthora, and field studies of mature oaks growing in Phytophthora-infested stands, were used. The results showed that Phytophthora species occur in southern Swedish oak forests. The most frequently recovered species was P. quercina, which was found in 10 of 32 investigated oak stands. In addition, P. cactorum and P. cambivora (mating type A2) were recovered from one stand each. The soil conditions at the sites from which Phytophthoras were recovered ranged from mesic sediments to moraines, with clayey to silty textures and with pH(BaCl2) in the rhizosphere soil between 3.5 and 5.0. In greenhouse studies, P. quercina and P. cactoum were found to infect and cause substantial damage to roots of Q. robur seedlings grown in acid forest soils under a mesic water regime. The presence of the natural soil microflora did not hinder the pathogens from infecting and damaging the roots. In addition, significant differences in live fine-root length were found between healthy mature oaks and declining mature oaks growing in stands infested with P. quercina. No such difference was found between trees growing in non-infested stands. The impact of the pathogen on mature oaks seemed to depend on tree vitality, site and climatic conditions. Despite the significant reductions in live fine-root length of both seedlings and mature oaks, few differences in aboveground growth (measured only in seedlings) and leaf nutrient concentrations were detected. However, it seems likely that continuous root infections, with subsequent replacement of roots, will deplete the carbohydrate stores in the plant and cause reductions in the production of new root and shoot tissue as well as in the production of secondary metabolites. This may result in an increased susceptibility of the tree to further pathogen infections as well as to other stress factors. A weak association was found between the occurrence of P. quercina and the vitality of oak stands (determined from estimates of crown defoliation). The impact of soil type on carbon allocation patterns in plants and its consequences for the extent of root damage caused by P. quercina is discussed, as well as the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on the aggressiveness of Phytophthora, susceptibility of oak and subsequent disease development. This thesis is based on the following papers, which are referred to by their Roman
The Efficiency of a p-n Solar Diode as a Function of the Recombination Velocity within the Depletion Layer

The role of the carrier’s recombination velocity Si within the depletion Layer of p-n junction solar cell and the external bias voltage Va across the junction in determining the current density “J” through the cell is revealed. The unsteady carrier diffusion equation is solved under illumination conditions considering a source spectral function G(λ). The efficiency of the device as a function of Si , Va , G(λ) is obtained. Computations considering a silicon solar cell are given as an illustrative example.
The role of glucocorticoid hormones in diet-induced metabolic diseases

Summary. Excessive fructose intake promotes the development of metabolic syndrome through the deregulation of metabolic pathways in the hypothalamus, liver and adipose tissue, which play crucial roles in metabolic homeostasis by responding to the body’s nutritional and energy requirements. Variable amounts and modes of fructose intake have been shown to result in different patterns of expression of metabolic disturbances, which generally include adiposity, insulin and leptin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension. We explored the possible mediatory role of glucocorticoid signaling on the effects of two different dietary fructose loads on hypothalamic leptin sensitivity and hepatic and adipose tissue lipid metabolism, which are responsible for the development of signs of metabolic syndrome. Experimental rats were provided with 10% and 60% fructose solutions ad libitum over a period of nine weeks. Our results revealed that the applied fructose had different impacts on leptin and glucocorticoid signaling and different consequences on visceral adiposity and hepatic lipid metabolism. Only rats maintained on the high-burden 60% fructose diet accumulated visceral fat through the activation of adipogenic transcription factors and adipogenesis. This was paralleled by diminished glucocorticoid signaling in the adipose tissue and the establishment of the state of hypothalamic leptin resistance. The high-burden dietary fructose triggered hepatic de novo lipogenesis and a concomitant inhibition of β oxidation. Consumption of 10% fructose enhanced glucocorticoid signaling and lipolysis in the adipose tissue, creating a circulatory influx of free fatty acids and providing substrates for enhanced β oxidation and triglyceride synthesis in the liver. In summary, our results show that a long-term high dietary fructose load leads to hypothalamic leptin resistance, the development of visceral adiposity and increased hepatic de novo lipogenesis. Glucocorticoids regulate adipocyte storage functionality and thus may indirectly contribute to the observed changes in hepatic lipid metabolism, aggravating the metabolic disturbance.
Rumen degradation and nutritive utilization of wheat straw, corn stalks and sugarcane bagasse ensiled with multienzymes

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine the effect of anaerobic ensiling of raw agricultural wastes with a fibrolytic enzyme cocktail (EZ) as a cleaner and sustainable biological product for animal feed. Ten 1-kg samples of wheat straw, corn stalks and sugarcane bagasse were chopped at 5 cm length and mixed with EZ at three levels of 0, 1 or 3 L enzyme/ton of feed, moistened to a relative humidity of approximately 50% and ensiled in plastic bales for 30 days. Additionally, fibrous samples were incubated for 72 h with rumen liquor to determine the digestion of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre. Increasing enzyme level lowered ether extract and nitrogen-free extract contents of fibrous feeds and increased the biodegradation of acid detergent lignin of wheat straw. Anaerobic ensiled corn stalks and sugarcane bagasse with EZ improved the biodegradation of DM and fibre fractions. It could be concluded that ensiling fibres of the three wastes with EZ improved and enhanced their ruminal digestion with the biodegradation rate at 3 L/ton and subsequently produced a cleaner product for animal feed from agriculture wastes.
Trophic ecology of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) on the Icelandic continental shelf and slope

Abstract The feeding habits of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in Icelandic waters were investigated. In total, 1595 Greenland halibut were collected during the period from May 1991 to March 1992. The main prey species were capelin (Mallotus villosus), eelpouts (Lycodes spp.), northern ambereye (Hymenodora glacialis) and northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis), comprising two-thirds of the total stomach contents by weight. Small crustaceans, mainly euphausiids, were the main prey of the smallest (<20 cm) Greenland halibut, whereas capelin and shrimps dominated the diet of fish 20–59 cm in length. The largest individuals (>80 cm) mainly consumed eelpouts and other relatively large fish. This ontogenetic shift in diet was confirmed by multivariate canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), which explained 6% of the total variation in the diet composition. The CCA further revealed spatial and seasonal effects on the variation in diet. This study indicates that small and medium-sized Greenland halibut (<60 cm) off Iceland are mainly pelagic or semi-pelagic feeders, whereas the largest individuals (>80 cm) seem to feed mainly on or near the bottom.
New detrital zircon U-Pb ages from BIF-related metasediments in the Ntem Complex (Congo craton) of southern Cameroon, West Africa

Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) were formed by contemporaneous events of active sediments supply and the venting of a hydrothermal fluid source at the Mid-Ocean-Ridge. BIFs within the Ntem Complex at the northern edge of the Congo Craton are intercalated with metasandstones and siltstones. SHRIMP U-Pb analysis on detrital zircons obtained from these metasediments gave variable ages from over 3000 Ma to 1000 Ma with the maximum age of deposition clustered around 1200 Ma and the peak of deposition at 1800 Ma. This age range suggested that the sub-basin was opened sometime in the Archean and remained active up till the Neoproterozoic. Zircons with Archean ages have a provenance linked to the charnockitic suite and the high-K granites within the Ntem Complex. The Paleoproterozoic ages are attributed to clastic inputs from the neigbouring Nyong Series west of the Ntem Complex. Also the peak of deposition in the Proterozoic could probably be explained by the globally recognized intense crust-forming processes in the Early Proterozoic time. The provenance of the younger Neoproterozoic ages is tied to various lithologies within the northern mobile belts of the Adamawa-Yade massifs and correlates with Neoproterozoic sedimentation ages in the Yaounde, Lom and Poli series. The Neoproterozoic ages obtained are comparable to those obtained from metasediments of the Amazonian Craton and provide evidence of Pre-Gondwana assemblage of the Congo and the S? o Francisco Cratons.
Experimental constraints on mantle sulfide melting up to 8 GPa

Abstract We present high-pressure experiments up to 8 GPa that constrain the solidus and liquidus of a composition, Fe0.69Ni0. 23Cu0.01S1. 00, typical of upper mantle sulfide. Solidus and liquidus brackets of this monosulfide are parameterized according to a relation similar to the Simon-Glatzel equation, yielding, respectively, T (°C) = 1015.1 [P(GPa)/1.88 + 1]0.206 and T (°C) = 1067.3 [P(GPa)/1.19 + 1]0.149 (1 ≤ P ≤ 8). The solidus fit is accurate within ±15 °C over the pressure intervals 1–3.5 GPa and within ±30 °C over the pressure intervals 3.5–8.0 GPa. The solidus of the material examined is cooler than the geotherm for convecting mantle, but hotter than typical continental geotherms, suggesting that sulfide is molten or partially molten through much of the convecting upper mantle, but potentially solid in the continental mantle. However, the material examined is one of the more refractory among the spectrum of natural mantle sulfide compositions. This, together with the solidus-lowering effects of O and C not constrained by the present experiments, indicates that the experimentally derived melting curves are upper bounds on sulfide melting in the Earth's upper mantle and that the regions where sulfide is molten are likely extensive in both the convecting upper mantle and, potentially, the deeper parts of the oceanic and continental lithosphere, including common source regions of many diamonds.