Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting the effect of tilling practices on wind erosion activity: application of the Wind Erosion Prediction System in a sand drift area in The Netherlands

The inland drift sand area in The Netherlands forms a unique ecosystem in northern Europe, but is characterized by a rapid decline in both aeolian activity and area size. It is therefore necessary to investigate how the drift sand areas can be preserved, and how their immobilization by vegetation can be counteracted by introducing techniques that reactivate the aeolian processes. Four such techniques (rotary cultivator, beach sand cleaner, disc harrow and excavator) were evaluated during an 8‐month experiment at Kootwijkerzand, The Netherlands. The effectiveness of the techniques to reactivate the aeolian processes was measured by investigating their effect on the horizontal sediment flux. Furthermore, the Wind Erosion Prediction System was used to simulate the effect of the different techniques, without the noise related to field measurements. Both field experiment and model simulation showed that the most effective method is the beach sand cleaner, followed by the rotary cultivator. Unlike measurement in the field, the model did not simulate any mass transport on the plot tilled with the excavator. Here incoming sediment could have initiated mass transport. In the case of the plot tilled with the disc harrow the model overestimated the transport. In reality, however, a surface layer with a high random roughness shows large variation in moisture content in space and time resulting in lower mass transport. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Formative evaluation: Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communication to Youth

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the study participants from the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), Uganda Initiative for Teacher Development Management System and PIASCY (UNITY), Uganda Programme for Human and Holistic Development (UPHOLD), as well as the pupils, teachers, and school administrators who took their time to accommodate us and answer our questions. We would also like to thank Margaret Kemigisa, our consultant in Uganda, for making initial contacts with key informants, facilitating discussions, and assisting with field logistics. Special thanks to the field workers for a job well done. We also thank Sam Kalibala and Deborah Weiss of the Population Council for reading our report and providing invaluable comments. Special thanks also go to our APHRC colleagues, Joseph Inungu, Chimaraoke Izugbara, Akaco Ekirapa, Ziraba Kasiira, and Joseph Gichuru for their contributions to the project. The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. APHRC conducts research in Africa focusing on health, urbanization, population studies, and education. The organization contributes to science through high impact research projects and publications. APHRC brings together African scholars to take the lead in developing priority research programs and enhancing use of research findings for policy formulation and program improvement in sub-Saharan Africa. www.aphrc. org The Population Council conducts research worldwide to improve policies, programs, and products in three areas: HIV and AIDS; poverty, gender, and youth; and reproductive health. IV.A. To what extent is PIASCY achieving its planned goals and objectives? 13 IV.B. What are the strengths and limitations of the design, organisational structure, and rollout of PIASCY? 21 IV.C. What are the lessons learned and best practices for continued rollout of the programme? 28 IV.D. What are the unintended consequences of the development and implementation of PIASCY? 30 IV.E. What are the sustainability issues that will need to be addressed in handing over the programme? 33
“Red-Cell Adhesion” in Trypanosomiasis of Man and Animals

The more important points that have emerged in the course of our investigations may now be assembled. (1) An adhesion phenomenon has been described in which, in certain circumstances, red blood corpuscles adhere to trypanosomes. (2) We believe this red-cell adhesion to be a manifestation of the adhesion phenomenon already described by other workers both with trypanosomes and spirochaetes. (3) The substance responsible for this phenomenon of adhesion is designated in this paper adhesin. (4) The red-cell adhesion test has been studied in relation to several strains of polymorphic trypanosomes, all of which were either recently isolated from naturally infected man or animals, or had been recently passed cyclically through tsetse. (5) It is shown that the adhesion phenomenon is irregular and uncertain in its appearance. A single or even a number of negative observations do not exclude trypanosomiasis. A positive reaction, on the other hand, indicates recent or actual infection with a trypanosome of the same group, but not necessarily specifically identical with that employed as antigen in the test. Thus T. gambiense adhesin bloods not uncommonly react with T. rhodesiense trypanosomes and also on occasion with the Damba strain: the converse is apparently of less common occurrence. (6) Adhesins appear in an animal's blood in the course of its infection with trypanosomes, whether the animal be treated with trypanocidal drugs or not. When sterilising doses of such drugs are employed the adhesins gradually disappear in the course of a few months; but in untreated infections of T. gambiense they have been shown to persist in an active form for more than two years. (7) With our material it was found impossible to distinguish between “passage” and “relapse” strains by means of the adhesion test. On the contrary it was found, at all events with T. gambiense, that the best way to call forth the reaction in the blood of animals long infected is to employ trypanosomes from a very early infection. (8) Guinea-pigs have been found to be unsatisfactory animals in which to demonstrate adhesins; they are, however, useful as a source of sensitive trypanosomes. When only guinea-pig elements are present in a test a positive reaction is indicated by platelet not by red-cell adhesion. (9) The presence of adhesins in the blood has no apparent relation to immunity against the homologous trypanosome. (10) The test has been applied to over 200 human cases of trypanosomiasis in the Uganda Protectorate, and with six of these repeated observations were made. Some of these human cases reacted both to T. gambiense and T. rhodesiense, but none to T. rhodesiense alone. (11) A partial analysis has been made of the mechanism of red-cell adhesion, which has been shown to be in some way associated with the presence of the red corpuscles of primates. This fact probably explains why other workers appear not to have noticed red-cell adhesion in the extreme form we have described in this paper.
Symbiont–host interactions in the association of the scale-worm Branchipolynoe aff.seepensis (Polychaeta: Polynoidae) with the hydrothermal mussels Bathymodiolus spp. (Bivalvia: Mytilidae)

liminary results based on material collected mainly during a recent cruise of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh (2002) at the hydrothermal vent fields along the MAR and complimentary data of previous French and Russian expeditions which allowed to better understand the true nature of the relationships between the Atlantic scale worm B. aff. seepensis with their mytilid hosts Bathymodiolus puteoserpentis and B. azoricus.
Studies on White Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) III. Foliar Analysis for Nitrogen Nutrition

SUMMARY The concentrations of total nitrogen and nitrate–nitrogen in yam leaves receiving various levels of nitrogen were determined fortnightly. Nitrate–nitrogen was superior to total nitrogen as an index of nitrogen nutrition. Correlation coefficients between nitrate–nitrogen at various sampling dates and rate of nitrogen application were highest between late June and early July in two seasons, indicating that this is the best time to take single samples for foliar analysis. A relation was demonstrated between nitrate–nitrogen at this period and tuber yield.
Eine volkswirtschaftliche Analyse der Wildbach- und Lawinenverbauung

Aufgrund der topographischen Situation ist Osterreich Naturgefahren – Hochwasser, Lawinen, Rutschungen, Muren, Felssturzen – in besonderem Mas ausgesetzt. Die Wildbach- und Lawinenverbauung, eine Bundesdienststelle, setzt Masnahmen zur Abwehr dieser Gefahren. Dazu zahlen die Errichtung von Schutzbauten, die Erstellung von Gefahrenzonenplanen und andere Dienstleistungen. Die Studie untersucht ausgewahlte Wirkungen dieser Aktivitaten: wirtschaftliche Folgen von Investitionen in Schutzmasnahmen und Schadereignissen, die Entwicklung des Kapitalstocks von Schutzanlagen und Einflussfaktoren auf die Schadenentwicklung. Demnach tragen die gesetzten Masnahmen wirksam zur Schadenvermeidung bei. Vor allem ist es gelungen, durch die zugige Entwicklung von Gefahrenzonenplanen die Besiedlung gefahrdeter Zonen zu vermeiden.
A genome-wide association identified the common genetic variants influence disease severity in b 0 -thalassemia/hemoglobin E Manit NuinoonWattanan MakarasaraTaisei MushirodaIswari Setianingsih • Pustika Amalia WahidiyatOrapan SripichaiNatsuhiko KumasakaAtsushi Takahashi • Saovaros SvastiThongperm Mu

b-Thalassemia/HbE disease is clinically vari- able. In searching for genetic factors modifying the disease severity, patients were selected based on their disease severities, and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed. Genotyping was conducted with the Illumina Human 610-Quad BeadChips array using DNAs from 618 Thai b 0 -thalassemia/HbE patients who were classified as 383 severe and 235 mild phenotypes by a validated scoring sys- tem. Twenty-three SNPs in three independent genes/regions were identified as being significantly associated with the disease severity. The highest association was observed with SNPs in the b-globin gene cluster (chr.11p15), and rs2071348 of the HBBP1 gene revealed the most significant association (P = 2.96 9 10 -13 , odds ratio (OR) = 4.33 (95% confidence interval (CI), 2.74-6.84)). The second was identified in the intergenic region between the HBS1L and MYB genes (chr.6q23), among which rs9376092 was the most significant (P = 2.36 9 10 -10 ,O R= 3.07 (95% CI,
The diet of the parti-coloured bat Vespertilio murinus in Sweden

Food habits of the parti-coloured bat in southern Sweden were investigated by analysis of fecal samples collected from three maternity roosts used in summer and, in addition, one roost used by a male during the mating season in autumn. Small (c. 3-10 mm) dipterans dominated all samples, representing 64-82% by volume, but larger flying insects like moths, caddis-flies and dung beetles were also eaten, together representing 14-33%. At the family level, midges (Chironomidae) were by far the most common prey items, comprising 12-67% of the diet. The dominance of small prey items in the diet of the parti-coloured bat in Sweden contrasts with other bat species of similar size and foraging habits, but agrees with observations on parti-coloured bats in Ukraina and Poland.
A Novel Adaptive Marginalized Particle Filter for Mixed Linear / Nonlinear State-Space Models

The speed with which the state parameters can be estimated with acceptable variance is an important issue in any target tracking application. In most of these problems, a linear Gaussian substructure is present in the model which is made use of and estimation is usually done using Marginalized Particle Filter (MPF) than the most general Particle Filter (PF). An important parameter that affects the performance of such filters is the amount of noise present in the measurement which may not remain constant, varying between a low value and a high value. The main aim of this paper is to introduce a new filter known as Adaptive Marginalized Particle Filter (AMPF) which exploits this property of noise thereby adapting the number of particles whenever possible and hence improving the estimation speed. The proposed filter is able to estimate the state parameters much faster than the existing filters. The performance of AMPF is compared with that of MPF and PF using a typical target tracking example. From the simulation, it can be concluded that AMPF is better than MPF and PF in terms of execution time, without much affecting its performance in terms of RMSE.
Dispersal and migration of juvenile African Black Oystercatchers Haematopus moquini: Dispersal and migration of juvenile African Black Oystercatchers

African Black Oystercatchers Haematopus moquini are sedentary as adults. However, colour-ringing of more than 700 juveniles has revealed complex post-fledging movements that vary geographically. Young from the western part of the breeding range either remain within 150 km of their natal site or migrate 1500–2000 km to one of five discrete nursery areas on the Namib Desert coast of central and northern Namibia, and southern Angola. These nurseries all lie north of the species’ breeding range. We calculate that 36–46% of all juveniles born in South Africa migrate to nurseries. Birds return to their natal sites from nurseries at 2–3 years old, but never migrate again. Juveniles from the eastern part of the range undertake ‘diffusion dispersal’, regularly up to 1000 km, but these journeys mostly end within the breeding range, where there are no nurseries. Very few eastern birds reach nurseries. There is no evidence that movements of western birds are density-dependent responses to hatching date, but long-distance migrants are significantly heavier as chicks than are short-distance dispersers. We hypothesize that a genetic basis exists to these movements, possibly triggered by body condition, that could account not only for the highly dichotomous behaviour of western birds, but also for the intermediate behaviour of eastern birds.
Isolation and Properties of Spore Germination Mutants of Bacillus subtilis 168 Deficient in the Initiation of Germination

SUMMARY: Two spore germination mutants of Bacillus subtilis 168 (GerA38 and GerA44) deficient at a very early stage of germination prior to loss of heat resistance and absorbance were isolated. In contrast to the wild-type their spores required higher concentrations of germinant and had a slower germination rate and longer average microlag in L-alanine, L-α-aminobutyrate, DL-β-aminobutyrate and L-valine. Although wild-type spores germinated in 0.1 M-CyCloleucine the mutants did not, but did so normally in L-asparagine plus glucose, fructose and KCl. GerA44 was more defective than GerA38. Their germination abnormalities were partially corrected if glucose, fructose and KCl were added to L-alanine or L-valine. Germination of both mutants in L-alanine was more sensitive than the wild-type to inhibition by D-alanine, the sensitivity of GerA44 being greater than that of GerA38. Two other GerA mutants which did not germinate in L-alanine, even at high concentrations, were able to use it as a source of carbon or nitrogen at rates equal to those of the wild-type. A similar mutant and GerA44 show normal chemotaxis to L-alanine. Thus, the deficiencies of GerA mutants appear to be spore specific. GerA38 and gerA44 mutations were approximately 75% and 43% cotransduced with cysB and thr-5, respectively, with phage PBS1. They mapped within a cluster of gerA mutations that were 70-90% cotransduced with citG4 by phage SPP1. Although other GerA mutants cannot germinate in L-alanine plus KCl no difference in map location between their mutations and gerA38 and gerA44 could be detected.
A Comparison of Seasonal Movement Patterns of Yellow Perch in Simple and Complex Lake Basins

Abstract Determining the seasonal movement patterns of fish can provide insight into their spawning behaviors, predator–prey interactions, and habitat preferences. To investigate the seasonal movement patterns of adult yellow perch and how they are affected by lake habitat characteristics, we attached ultrasonic transmitters to two length-groups (210–235 and 250–280 mm total length) of yellow perch from populations inhabiting two temperate lakes differing in habitat diversity and basin morphology. In the simple lake, yellow perch distributions differed between seasons, mean depth and distance from shore being greatest during the summer. The observed seasonal differences were similar between the two length-groups. In the complex lake, yellow perch depth varied seasonally, the fish occupying deeper waters during the fall and shallower ones during the summer; however, the distance from shore was consistent among seasons. During the spring, males inhabited areas closer to shore than females in the complex lak.
Untangling Multiple Factors in Spatial Distributions: Lilies, Gophers, and Rocks

Despite broad consensus on the power of experiments, correlational studies are still important in ecology, and may become more so as spatial studies proliferate. Conventional correlation analysis, however, (1) fundamentally conflicts with the basic ecological concept of limiting factors, and (2) ignores spatial structure in data, which can produce spuriously high correlations. Especially for field data, bivariate scattergrams often show factor—ceiling" distributions wherein data points are widely scattered beneath an upper limit, due to the action of other factors. Although most ecological information in such a graph resides in the upper limit, standard correlation/regression does not characterize such limits. If other factors have been measured, path analysis may be useful, but otherwise, direct description of ecological ceilings is desirable. Objective methods for doing so are barely known to ecologists; we review recent proposals for statistical testing and data display. For correcting correlations for spatial patchiness of the variables, another new technique has been proposed by Clifford, Richardson, and Hemon: by reducing the effective sample size to account for the autocorrelation it allows significance tests. We discuss these issues with reference to counts of glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum) seedlings, vegetative plants, and flowering plants in a square grid of 256 contiguous $2 \times 2$ m quadrats in subalpine meadow in western Colorado. We also measured soil moisture, pocket gopher activity, and soil rockiness. All six variables showed significant patchiness (spatial autocorrelation) at similar scales. The abundance of flowering plants was positively correlated with rockiness and negatively correlated with moisture and gopher activity. Although limited seed dispersal suggests that seedlings should be spatially associated with flowering plants, no such correlation existed: indeed, examination of the bivariate scatterplot suggests a negative association, in the particular and restricted sense that seedlings are abundant only in quadrats where flowering is low. We hypothesize that seed germination is higher in less rocky areas of deeper, moister soil than in the rocky areas where most seeds land, but that seedlings seldom reach maturity unless they are in a rocky refuge from predation. Results from path analysis are consistent with this hypothesis. Such an ecological situation should weaken natural selection on characters enhancing seed dispersal.
Soil seed bank and driftline composition along a successional gradient on a temperate salt marsh

Abstract This study focuses on the relationship between vegetation succession and soil seed bank composition on the Schiermonnikoog (The Netherlands) salt marsh over 100 yr. The importance of driftline material in seed dispersal and the relationship with succession is also investigated. The results indicate that the majority of species have a transient or short-term seed persistent bank. Seeds of most species are able to float over the salt marsh and become concentrated in the driftline higher up the marsh. After plants have established a seed bank forms, which disappears when vegetation is replaced by later‐successional species. Exceptions are Spergularia maritima which is still present in the seed bank of late successional stages, and Juncus gerardi and Glaux maritima which appear in the seed bank of early successional stages, but are absent in the vegetation. Based on the results of this study constraints and possibilities for salt‐marsh restoration by de‐embankment are discussed. Nomenclature:van der Meijden (1990).
Inhibition of Armillaria and Heterobasidion growth by Penicillium adametzii isolated from Pinus sylvestris forest soil

Summary Penicillium adametzii significantly inhibited the growth of Heterobasidium annosum sensu stricto on 2% potato dextrose agar after 10 days at 20–25°C. Chloroform extracts from P. adametzii culture filtrate and from culture grown on rice often decreased the dry weight of Armillaria colony and diameter of Heterobasidion colony in vitro. The effect depended on species and isolate of Armillaria, Heterobasidion and P. adametzii and concentration of the extract. Higher concentration of chloroform extract increased the dry weight of stems and roots of Pinus sylvestris plants inoculated with either of two isolates of Armillaria ostoyae and one isolate of Armillaria gallica. Lower concentrations of chloroform extract increased the dry weight of stems and roots of P. sylvestris inoculated with another isolate of A. gallica. Culture filtrate of P. adametzii decreased the length of necrosis on P. sylvestris stem inoculated with either of two of four isolates of H. annosum s.s. , but if applied 1 month before inoculation, it increased the length of necrosis caused by another H. annosum s.s. isolate. Twenty fractions from the P. adametzii chloroform extract were separated by thin layer chromatography. Carboxylic acids, flavonoids and glycosides were detected in chloroform extract of P. adametzii by high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometer analysis. This is the first report of interactions between P. adametzii and either Armillaria or Heterobasidion with P. sylvestris.
Assessing completeness of biodiversity databases at different spatial scales

J. Sobero'n (jsoberon@ku.edu), R. Jimenez and P. Koleff Comisio'n Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Insurgentes-Periferico 4903, Tlalpan, Mexico, D.F. 14010 Mexico. (Present address off. S.: Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, Dyche Hall, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66047, USA.) J. Golubov, Univ. Autonoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Div. de Ciencias Biologicas y de la Salud, Dept El Hombre y Su Ambiente, Lab. Sistemas de Informacio'n Geografica, Calzada del Hueso 1100, Col. Villa Quietud, Mexico.
Fire Effects on Soil Infiltration

Within the hydrological cycle, infiltration plays the key role in partitioning rainfall into surface runoff and subsurface flows. Fire modifies the soil as well as the vegetation/litter cover on the soil, thus altering the infiltration process on burned lands. Fire effects on the infiltration process and infiltration rates are described and illustrated with data from studies where infiltration was measured before and after wildfires or compared in paired (burned and unburned) plots. Some research shows that immediately after a fire, ash absorbs the rainfall and briefly enhances the infiltration into the mineral soil. As the ash is washed downslope due to raindrop impact and surface runoff, it clogs the soil pores causing surface sealing, and infiltration reaches its lowest values. The extent and degree of fire-induced or enhanced soil water repellency is directly related to the reduction in infiltration. As vegetation recovery enhances the hydrological functioning of the soil and soil water repellency decreases, infiltration recovers approaching its pre-fire infiltration values within a few years.