Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Shelter Site Selection Aid Persistence of a Threatened Alpine Lizard? Assessing Liopholis guthega Populations a Decade after Severe Fire in Southeastern Australia

Abstract Species' tolerance of and response to fire varies. Environments that experience frequent fires will contain fire-tolerant fauna, whereas fauna that occur in environments that burn infrequently may lack strategies to cope with fire. In 2003, intense summer wildfires in southeastern Australia's alpine region burned more than 1.3 million ha. The Guthega Skink, Liopholis guthega, is an endangered lizard that is restricted to two geographically isolated alpine locations affected by these fires: Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales, and the Bogong High Plains in Victoria. We investigated the long-term effects of fire on L. guthega populations through surveys of burned and unburned habitat on the Bogong High Plains. We found L. guthega selected specific microhabitats that are restricted on the Bogong High Plains. Their selection of less-vegetated microhabitats suggests that they may favor an early successional environment. We found retreat site selection differed between sites; at burned sites L. guthega burrowed preferentially under rocks, and at unburned sites comparatively more burrows were positioned at the base of shrubs. Our results suggest that in this species' Victorian range they may be more tolerant to fire than previously thought, likely because of the protection afforded by their burrows. However, our surveys of L. guthega populations from past records also suggest potential local extinctions. To determine the immediate and longer-term effects of intense fires on threatened species, it is important to have prefire data on species and prompt postfire assessments to obtain results applicable to management.
‘Sub-imbibed’ storage is not an option for extending longevity of recalcitrant seeds of the tropical species, Trichilia dregeana Sond.

Abstract Recalcitrant seeds of Trichilia dregeana were stored at 16 or 25°C, either at the water content at which they were shed or partially dried. Although having been exposed to a short period (approx. 6 h) at temperatures up to 30°C prior to storage, seeds at the original water content maintained viability for several weeks at 16°C. However, storage of undried seeds at 25°C was deleterious within 8 d, indicating a chemical basis for degeneration of hydrated recalcitrant seeds. Seeds that had been mildly dehydrated to the relatively high axis level of 1.68 g H2O g—1 dry mass, while maintaining full germinability immediately after drying, exhibited only 4% viability after 8 d in storage at 16°C and had completely lost viability after the same storage period at 25°C. Ultrastructural features characterizing hydrated seeds included indications of enhanced activity associated with initial exposure to the elevated temperature as well as some signs of stress. However, over an effective 15 d storage period at 16°C, ultrastructural features showed the cells to have retained little damage and to have been in an enhanced state of activity commensurate with ongoing development towards germination. After a longer storage period, however, signs of damage, including indirect evidence for disarray of the cytoskeleton in some axis cells, became apparent in line with the declining seed viability. Immediately following dehydration from an average axis water content of 1.97 to 1.68 H2O g g—1(the sub-imbibed condition), some ultrastructural abnormalities were apparent, but the seeds remained 100% germinable. However, within the 8 d storage period in this sub-imbibed condition, a spectrum of severe ultrastructural degeneration, including indirect evidence of the collapse of the nucleoskeleton and extensive cell lysis, accompanied viability decline of the seeds to 4%.
Reproductive strategy and lipid mobilization in Rana hexadactyla at a seasonal locality

The reproductive strategy of the folivorous Indian green frog (Rana hexadactyla) was studied at a seasonal locality in south India. The reproductive tracts of adult females, and the liver and abdominal fat masses of adult males and females, were examined monthly. Mature eggs were recovered from females at all months of the year, although monthly variation in relative clutch mass suggests seasonality in reproduction. Egg masses increase prior to the seasonal rains, and drop sharply during or just after the wet seasons. The size of visceral lipid deposits shows seasonal peaks that are correlated to feeding peaks. The decline in fat body mass is associated with spawning peaks, suggesting their mobilization for reproduction. The liver mass of adult males also shows seasonal variation, being greatest prior to the peak spawning periods, indicating the mobilization of lipid for courtship and spermatogenesis. The liver mass of adult females does not show month-to-month variation. In conclusion, lipids stored in t.
Inhibition on LDL-oxidation by phenolic compounds from the fruit body of Phellinus linteus

The fruit body of Phellinus linteus was extracted with 80% aqueous MeOH, and the concentrated extract was successively partitioned using EtOAc, n-BuOH and . From the EtOAc and n-BuOH fractions, three phenolic compounds were isolated through repeated silica gel and ODS column chromatography. The chemical structures of these compounds were determined as 2-(3`,4`-dihydroxyphenyl)-1,3-benzodioxole-5-aldehyde (1), 4-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-buten-2-one (2), and protocatechuic acid methyl ester (3) by spectroscopic data including NMR, MS and IR. Compounds exhibited low density lipoprotein (LDL) antioxidant activity with values of 1.7, 0.7, and , respectively.
Genetic parameters and trends of the thigh muscle volume in Pannon White rabbits.

Genetic parameters and genetic trends for average d ily weight gain between the age of 5 and 10 weeks (ADG) and thigh muscle volume (TMV) were anal yzed for 19751 and 2602 Pannon White rabbits, respectively, reared in 3093 litters and b orn between 2003 and 2007. Rabbits with higher dail y weight gain than the average of their kindling batc h were chosen (based on individual ADG performances), thereafter CT (computerised tomograp hy) scanning was performed on these rabbits measuring thigh muscle volume. Estimated heritabili ties were moderate for average daily gain (0.27±0.02) and moderately low for thigh muscle vol ume (0.21±0.03). Litter effects were low for both traits (0.14±0.01 and 0.14±0.02, respectively). Gen etic correlation coefficient estimate between average daily gain and thigh muscle volume was low (0.14±0.08). Applying BLUP the estimated selection response was 0.0879 g/year-month (i.e. 1. 05 g/year) for average daily weight gain; 0.3341 cm/year-month (i.e. 4.01 g/year) for thigh muscle vol ume.
A Quantitative Method for Extracting Resting Spores of Two Nematode Parasitic Fungi, Nema Tophthora g yNophila and Verticillium Chlamydosporium, From Soil

A method is described for quantitative extraction of Nematophthora gynophila and Verticillium chlamydosporium spores from soil. These two species of fungi can prevent populations of the cereal cyst-nematode, Heterodera avenae, increasing when susceptible cereal hosts are grown. The soil sample is wet sieved and the spores separated by centrifugation on a high specific gravity solution of magnesium sulphate. The spore suspension is counted directly under a compound microscope (125 x ). About 80% of spores added to three soils of different texture were recovered. In a survey of 23 soils, spore numbers of both fungi were large where H. avenae failed to multiply on susceptible hosts, and small where the nematode was increasing or causing damage.
Enzymatic methods to predict the value of the energy and protein in feedingstuffs

Research into the use of enzymatic procedures to predict the energy and protein value of feeds for cattle is reviewed. Satisfactory methods for the empirical prediction of the potential organic matter digestibility of feedstuffs using the cellulolytic activity of rumen liquor both in vivo and ire vitro and fungal cellulase preparations in vitro have been developed and correlated with direct animal determinations. Similar techniques have been exa- mined as a basis for estimating the potential degradability in the rumen of the protein in feedstuffs but there is a lack of precise animal data against which to validate these methods. These methods have been widely used in research work and are generally more precise than chemical methods, but are too costly for the routine advisory assays. In both fields enzy- matic studies of rates of hydrolysis seem to be revealing the need to develop simpler methods to partition both the cell wall and total N fractions into at least three distinct parts based on their rate of hydrolysis. If this were possible then not only the potential degradation but also the likely deviations from potential occuring in vivo might be predicted. Les études enzymatiques sur les vitesses d’hydrolyses semblent mettre en évidence la nécessité de mettre au point des méthodes plus simples pour séparer aussi bien les membranes cellulaires ou les constituants azotés au moins en trois fractions distinctes fonction de leur vitesse d’hydrolyse. Si cela était possible, on pourrait alors prédire, non seulement la dégra-dation potentielle, mais aussi les écarts qui peuvent se produire in vivo par rapport à ce potentiel.
Níveis de lisina, com base no conceito de proteína ideal, em rações para alevinos de tilápia-do-nilo

Avaliaram-se os efeitos dos niveis de lisina digestivel da racao, com base no conceito de proteina ideal, no desempenho de alevinos de de tilapia-do-nilo (Oreochromis niloticus). Utilizaram-se 432 alevinos revertidos, linhagem tailandesa, com peso inicial de 1,12 ± 0,02 g, em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, composto de 6 dietas, 6 repeticoes e 12 peixes por unidade experimental. Como tratamentos, avaliaram-se uma dieta basal com 29,12% de proteina bruta e 3.000 kcal de energia digestivel/kg, suplementada com aminoacidos sinteticos, resultando em dietas com 0,95; 1,10; 1,25; 1,40; 1,55 e 1,70% de lisina digestivel e relacoes minimas entre metionina + cistina, treonina, triptofano, isoleucina e arginina com a lisina (66, 77, 23, 64 e 85%, respectivamente), com base em valores digestiveis. Os peixes foram mantidos em aquarios de 130 litros, dotados de abastecimento de agua, temperatura controlada e aeracao individual, e alimentados a vontade em seis refeicoes diarias durante 30 dias. Avaliaram-se os parâmetros de desempenho, a composicao corporal, a deposicao de proteina e gordura corporais e a eficiencia de retencao de nitrogenio dos peixes. A elevacao do teor de lisina digestivel na racao nao influenciou a taxa de sobrevivencia e o teor de gordura corporal dos peixes, mas melhorou de forma linear todos os demais parâmetros avaliados, com excecao da eficiencia de utilizacao de lisina e a umidade corporal, que pioraram de forma quadratica e linear, respectivamente. O nivel de 1,80% de lisina total (0,600% Mcal de ED) e o de 1,70% de lisina digestivel (0,567% Mcal de ED) proporcionam os melhores resultados de desempenho e caracteristicas de carcaca de alevinos de tilapia-do-nilo quando se utiliza o conceito de proteina ideal na formulacao das racoes experimentais.
The effect of crop-pasture rotations on the C, N and S contents of soil aggregates and structural stability in a volcanic soil of south-central Chile

Abstract The effects of six crop-pasture rotations were evaluated on properties of soil aggregates in a volcanic soil (Humic Haploxerand) of south-central Chile. Rotations that included intensive cropping without pastures, and crops with short- or long-term pastures were maintained for 12 years after which soil samples were taken at 0–5 and 5–10 cm depths for analysis of the C, N and S contents in the different grades of water-stable aggregates. The mean weight diameter of the aggregates was also determined as an indicator of structural stability. The results showed that the rotations which included long-term pastures of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) or white clover (Trifolium repens L.) had higher contents of C, N and S in soil and there was a higher concentration of these elements in macro-aggregates (>0.5 mm) than in micro-aggregates (<0.5 mm). Additionally, the rotations with pastures also produced greater structural stability of the soil aggregates. Consequently, crop rotations that included pastures, particularly those of longer duration, improved the soil and were therefore a more sustainable use of the soil resource compared to the more intensive rotations. Additionally, there was evidence of hierarchical organization of the soil structure, which is a previously non-described feature of volcanic soils.
Discourses of creativity in Shanghai

Creativity is celebrated for its ability to generate economic growth, but despite the strong GDP growth in China in the last two decades, Chinese workers are often assessed as less creative than their Western counterparts. This lesser level of creativity is usually attributed by observers to the influence of culture, education, and political history. However, these influences are not static in China's rapidly changing economic landscape and neither do Chinese workers uniformly accept the assessment of themselves as less creative. Furthermore the thriving cultural industries in China's cities demonstrate a profusion of indigenous creativity, yet the idea that Chinese people are less creative seems to be an enduring one amongst critics. This thesis investigates the meanings associated with creativity, with a view to understanding the Chinese workers are perceived as less creative than Westerners. Based on ethnographic work carried out in Shanghai, this thesis argues that the creativity discourses are deployed as a means to mobilise the workforce and transform workers into self-governing employees and obedient corporate subjects (Foucault, 1999). Psychologists and management academics have largely approached creativity through a logical positivist lens, and in the processes, turned creativity studies into a science, although some qualitative methods have been applied in the area of innovation research (Crossan et al., 1996; Lanzara, 1999). Increasingly the study of creativity has become focused on the production of creative outputs and tied to economic objectives. This thesis develops existing knowledge on creativity by untangling the concept from productivity discourses. It focuses on two primary sites of investigation, namely the software engineering and fashion design sectors of the creative industries. I examine the meanings associated with creativity and how particular personality traits, processes, places, and products come to be considered more creative than others. I then explore the strategies applied by indigenous workers, students, and parents in responding to the dominant creativity discourses. I also make a further theoretical contribution to creativity scholarship by introducing an alternate way of conceptualising creativity that includes multiple perspectives.
Effect of Arbucula Myrrhizal Fungi on an Ecological Crop of Chili Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.)

Mapuche farmers in southern Chile have been cultivating local ecotypes of chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), called locally "Cacho de cabra", for many decades. It is used to make "merken", a condiment that is consumed locally and exported. This vegetable requires a nursery stage and can obtain nutritional benefits from symbiotic associations such as mycorrhizal fungi, achieving a better adaptation to transplanting. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate biotrophes appearing in abundance in agroecosystems with conservation management. The aim of this study was to compare effectiveness of two AMF, a commercial mycorrhizal inoculant (IC, Glomus intraradices) and another native (IN, Glomus claroideum) with a control without inoculation (-I) on the production and quality of "Cacho de cabra". At 45 days after sowing (DAS) transplanting was carried out and at 90 and 216 DAS fruit quality, fungal and edaphic parameters were evaluated. The harvest was at four stages. With IN inoculation plants and with greater foliar area were obtained. Also, precocity of fruit production was observed. The harvest started 49 days earlier and fresh weight was 177% higher than that of the control. Root colonization was low, showing significant differences between IN and IC, while a large number of spores was produced in the substrate. It was concluded that inoculation with native fungi decreased transplanting stress thus accelerating the maturation stage of plants and resulting in higher and better yield quality.
Ascorbate peroxidase – a hydrogen peroxide‐scavenging enzyme in plants

Ascorbate peroxidase is a hydrogen peroxide-scavenging enzyme that is specific to plants and algae and is indispensable to protect chloroplasts and other cell constituents from damage by hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals produced from it. In this review, first, the participation of ascorbate peroxidase in the scavenging of hydrogen peroxide in chloroplasts is briefly described. Subsequently, the phylogenic distribution of ascorbate peroxidase in relation to other hydrogen peroxide-scavenging peroxidases using glutathione, NADH and cytochrome c is summarized. Chloroplastic and cytosolic isozymes of ascorbate peroxidase have been found, and show some differences in enzymatic properties. The basic properties of ascorbate peroxidases, however, are very different from those of the guaiacol peroxidases so far isolated from plant tissues. Amino acid sequence and other molecular properties indicate that ascorbate peroxidase resembles cytochrome c peroxidase from fungi rather than guaiacol peroxidase from plants, and it is proposed that the plant and yeast hydrogen peroxide-scavenging peroxidases have the same ancestor.
Tomato mutants sensitive to abiotic stress display different abscisic acid content and metabolism during germination

Abstract We report the determination of abscisic acid (ABA) and its metabolites, phaseic acid (PA), dihydrophaseic acid (DPA) and ABA glucose ester (ABA-GE), in non-dormant dry and imbibed seeds of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) cv. Moneymaker (wild type), and its tss1, tss2 and tos1 mutants. High ABA in dry seeds may originate from ABA accumulation in the sheath tissue, which was in contact with an ABA-containing medium, the endocarpus. The highest germination percentages at 72 h, observed in tss1 and tss2, coincided with minimal ABA content. Wild-type and mutant seeds showed different ABA and catabolic patterns, and these were correlated with their sensitivity to abiotic stress. Whereas dry seeds showed a high basal ABA, imbibed seeds showed higher ABA metabolite content, particularly DPA. The dramatic decrease of ABA following seed imbibition suggests an activation of ABA catabolism during the early stages of the germination process. The observed variation of ABA metabolites among dry and imbibed seeds of Solanum lycopersicum cv. Moneymaker and its tss1, tss2 and tos1 mutants shows that ABA metabolism is differentially regulated in these genotypes.
Effect of time-of-day of aerobic maximal exercise on the sleep quality of trained subjects

This study was designed to assess the effects of time-of-day of maximal aerobic exercise on the subsequent sleep of trained subjects. Twelve subjects (22.6 ± 2.1 years, 178 ± 4.4 cm and 72.2 ± 6.3 kg) completed the Yo-Yo intermittent-recovery-test level 1 (YYIRT) at 14:00 and 20:00 h. Then, sleep polysomnography was recorded from 22:00 to 07:00 h. Oral temperature was measured before and after the YYIRT and the sleep period. Performance during the YYIRT was not statistically different between afternoon and evening. However, core temperature was significantly higher in the evening than afternoon before (p < 0.05) and after (p < 0.01) the YYIRT. Moreover, sleep-onset-latency, number-of-awakenings, slow-wave-sleep and rapid-eye-movement-sleep-latency were significantly higher after the evening test session (p < 0.05). However, time-in-bed, total-sleep-time, rapid-eye-movement-sleep and sleep-efficiency were higher after the afternoon test session (p < 0.05, p < 0.001, p < 0.01 and p < 0.01 respectively). In conclusion, maximal aerobic exercise performed later in the evening is “worse” than training in the afternoon and might result in a markedly poor subsequent sleep quality (disturbing and fragmenting sleep).
Rediscovery, natural history, and conservation status of Idiocranium russeli Parker, 1936 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae)

The indotyphlid caecilian amphibian Idiocranium russeli Parker, 1936 is the only nominal species in its genus. Apart from two additional, largely overlooked locality records that we consider to be of an undescribed species, I. russeli is known with certainty from only a single collection of c.50 specimens from a single locality in 1933. We report new material from fieldwork in 2012 carried out in the vicinity of the type locality. Digging surveys at 34 sites for a total of >2000 person minutes found 50 I. russeli at 15 of these sites, extending the known range of the species by more than 40 km south and from an elevation of c.670 m to 104–820 m. The species probably occurs in nearby Nigeria and in some protected areas, is tolerant of some human disturbance, and is likely to move from Data Deficient to Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Males have relatively longer and wider heads than females. Total length measured for preserved specimens is less than for freshly anaesthetized specimens, by up to 14.1%. Previously, preserved I. russeli were reported as having a maximum length of 114 mm, but the new sample includes specimens with total lengths of 145 mm in preservation and 167 mm when fresh. The sex of the smallest independent specimens (total length 62 mm in preservation) could be determined from examination of the gonads, hatchlings are c.30 mm, and I. russeli is confirmed as one of the smallest known caecilian species.
Control of Syringopais temperatella in Cyprus

Trials for the control of Syringopais temperatella Lederer were conducted in Cyprus over the 4 year period, 1969–72. BHC was effective against larvae both as a spray treatment applied during the growing season and as a soil treatment applied at the time of sowing. Parathion, fenitrothion, diazinon, chlorpyriphos, mevinphos, and an endrin-dicrotophos mixture also were effective as spray treatments while trichloronate and carbofuran were effective as soil treatments. A single deep plowing in summer was not effective in controlling the larvae. Early stage larvae were more susceptible than late stage larvae to insecticides. A significant correlation was obtained between larval population and loss in grain yield. A BHC spray applied early in the growing period provided season long control and tended to increase yield over late applications.
The recent sugar maple decline in southern Quebec : probable causes deduced from tree rings

We used tree-ring chronologies from sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.) stands showing various degrees of dieback (i.e., 16 sugar maple chronologies from healthy trees and 11 from damaged trees), distributed throughout the species range in southern Quebec, to analyze the spatial extent and timing of the recent sugar maple decline. Furthermore, six tree-ring chronologies of American beech (Fagusgrandifolia Ehrh.) from six damaged sugar maple stands were used to compare for differential responses associated with factors such as insect defoliation (from the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosomadisstria Hbn., for which American beech is a nonpreferred species), drought, and other climatic events. It was found that several small-scale drought-induced disturbances occurred repetitively over the last 100 years in the western part of the species range in southern Quebec. Most sugar maple chronologies from stands located west, north, and south of Quebec City also show extreme narrow tree rings, indicating the inciden.