Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BOTRYOPTERIS FORENSIS (BOTRYOPTERIDACEAE), A TRUNK EPIPHYTE OF THE TREE FERN PSARONIUS

Basal parts of Botryopterisforensis have been discovered rooted within the mantle of the tree fern Psaronius. Specimens occur in Upper Pennsylvanian coal balls from near Steubenville, Ohio, USA. The Botryopteris stems branch profusely, and these shoots are intertwined with the Psaronius roots near the surface of the mantle. They also produce adventitious roots that extend among the Psaronius roots. This material demonstrates that B. forensis was a trunk epiphyte, rather than a rhizomatous terrestrial fern. The B. forensis plant is interpreted to have branched continuously, to ramify, and to maintain itselfat the periphery ofthe growing mantle of Psaronius roots. A new reconstruction of B. forensis is offered showing the large, globose fructifications hanging pendulously from horizontal fronds on emergent shoots. Epiphytes and lianas are common on the trunks of Psaronius, indicating that some Marattiales did not produce leaf skirts.
Diurnal Profiles of Blood Glucose in Relation to Time of Administration of Melatonin in Male Spotted Munia (Lonchura punctulata)

The study was aimed at demonstration of the effect of a single acute dose of melatonin (0.5 mg/ 100 g body wt.) on the diurnal profile of blood glucose in male spotted munia in relation to the administration of hormone at the onset of light (i.e., at 06.00 h) or at the onset of darkness (i.e., at 18.00 h) under natural photoperiodic (~12L : 12D) conditions. Blood samples from all birds belonging to the control, sham-control (administered only with the vehicle of hormone, i.e., ethanol-saline 1:9 v/v), and melatonin treated groups were collected at four time points, i.e. 06.00 h, 12.00 h, 18.00 h, and 24.00 h, in a 24 hour cycle. The blood glucose levels in control and sham-control birds showed marked variation with regard to the time of sampling, with a mid-day peak and morning nadir. Exogenous melatonin induced a significant alteration in this diurnal pattern of blood glucose with a marked variation in relation to the time of administration of melatonin. While morning administration of melatonin resulted in hypoglycemia at 12.00 h and 24.00 h and hyperglycemia at 18.00 h, the response to evening injection of melatonin was only hypoglycemic at 24.00 h leaving the glycemic values at other time-points almost unaltered compared to the blood glucose levels in control and sham-control munias. The results of this investigation demonstrate for the first time that a schedule of morning administration of melatonin induces a more broad range of variations in the blood glucose levels than a schedule of evening administration does.
Microbiology of Naturally Fermented Fish (Sardinella sp.)

Abstract Microorganisms involved in the natural fermentation of Sardinella sp. were enumerated and characterized. Total heterotrophic bacterial counts obtained after six days of fermentation were 6.23 × 105 cfu/g and 5.65 × 105 cfu/g for fish treated with 10 and 15% (w/v) sodium chloride, respectively. Counts on MacConkey agar increased steadily as fermentation progressed and reached a peak at the sixth day. Staphylococcus and Bacillus species were the predominant organisms isolated from the fermenting fish. The pH of the fermenting fish decreased from 7.3 to 5.4 with a corresponding increase in titratable acidity during the incubation period. Fermented Sardinella sp. could be a suitable protein supplement for seasoning foods and for baby foods.
Are the scientific foundations of temperate marine reserves too warm and hard?

SUMMARY The scientific literature (including some of the most high-profile papers) on the ecological and fisheries effects of permanent no-take marine reserves is dominated by examples from hard tropical and warm temperate ecosystems. It appears to have been tacitly assumed that inference from these studies can directly inform expectations of marine reserve effects in cooler temperate and cold temperate waters. Trends in peer-reviewed studies indicate that the empirical basis for this assumption is tenuous because of a relative lack of research effort in cooler seas, and differences between tropical and temperate regions in ecology, seasonality, the nature of fisheries and prevailing governance regimes.
An Asymmetric Relationship: The Spirit of Kenneth Craik and the Work of Warren McCulloch

Abstract Warren McCulloch held Kenneth Craik’s work in high regard. What was the source of this high regard and did this good opinion mean that Craik’s work had any effect on McCulloch’s own work? Aspects of Craik and McCulloch’s backgrounds are examined to help explain McCulloch’s views: the important place of philosophy in their education and some shared philosophical positions, their attraction to work in diverse disciplines, a respect for the science of physiology, an acceptance that mind was a legitimate object of enquiry, the demands and opportunities of military and wartime research, and a shared sense of creating a new approach to inquiries into human abilities. Two aspects of Craik’s theory about the nature of thought were also key: his claim that modelling was central to thought and the fact that those views complemented McCulloch’s own. Finally, McCulloch helped to contribute to Craik’s reputation and in doing so helped to create a founding father for cybernetics to be set alongside the likes of Ashby, Wiener and McCulloch himself.
Distribution of Different Fractions of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu in Industrially Polluted and Non-polluted Soils of Odda Region, Norway

(1978). Distribution of Different Fractions of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu in Industrially Polluted and Non-polluted Soils of Odda Region, Norway. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica: Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 262-268.
Cybernetic Sense

Abstract The cybernetic reformulation of cognition and perception is interrogated through the work of mathematician Norbert Wiener and psychiatrist Warren McCulloch. In this history lies a genealogy of our contemporary attitudes to ubiquitous computing and the interface. The work of these two men demonstrates highly dissonant understandings of human perception and cognition. On the one hand, both men believed that cybernetics and, by extension, computational technology, possessed a normative prosthetic capacity. Deeply attuned to ideas of human limits and disabilities, cyberneticians envisioned perception and cognition in normative terms still deeply inflected by older modern ideas about the human subject from psychology and pathology. On the other hand, Wiener and McCulloch’s concerns with process and probability produced an autonomous form of sense no longer linked to limits. For both men, process was a concrete entity in the world, and splits between materiality and abstraction did not hold. Cyberneticians thus struggled between ideal concepts of how human bodies and minds worked, and their own theories that made humans but one part of a system of equivalencies with machines and other entities. This tension between envisioning sensory infrastructures as subjective and mimetically prosthetic or networked and autonomous continues to serve as the infrastructure for our contemporary drive to increase media penetration and ubiquity; forcing an endless effort to augment a human sensorium normatively understood as lagging behind an information network now lent lively autonomy and infinite capacities to process data.
Chromatin Transfer during Male Meiosis Resulted into Heterogeneous Sized Pollen Grains in Anemone rivularis Buch.-Ham. ex DC. from Indian Cold Deserts

Presently, detailed cytological investigations have been carried out in 4 accessions of Anemone rivularis Buch. -Ham. ex DC, collected from the cold deserts of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh (India). The phenomenon of cytomixis involving chromatin transfer among proximate pollen mother cells (PMCs) during male meiosis is recorded for the first time in the species. The effects of cytomixis on meiosis and pollen grains have also been discussed. In spite of the existence of intraspecific aneuploid and polyploid cytotypes (2n=14, 16, 24, 28, 48), all the accessions of the species unequivocally share the same diploid chromosome number, 2n=16. The accession studied from Kothi (Kullu) shows perfectly normal meiotic behaviour, cent per cent pollen fertility and uniform sized pollen grains. However, the accessions analyzed from Keylong and Kishori (Lahaul-Spiti) and Sangla (Kinnaur) show the phenomenon of cytomixis involving chromatin transfer among proximate PMCs, and associated meiotic abnormalities like chromosome stickiness, laggards and bridges at anaphase/telophase, micronuclei, some pollen malformation and pollen grains of heterogeneous sizes.
Physilogy and morphology of substantia gelatinosa neurons intracellularly stained with horserdish peroxidase

Neurons in Rexed's layer II were physiologically characterized with natural and electrical stimuli applied to their cutaneous receptive field. The neurons were then intracellularly stained with horseradish peroxidase. Three general patterns of physiological responses were found Nociceptive specific neurons did not respond to gentle mechanical stimulation. Most responded exclusively to tissue‐damaging stimuli. Some also responded to moderately heavy pressure, but these responded to noxious stimuli with an increased discharge frequency. Wide dynamic range neurons responded to both gentle mechanical stimulation and to tissue‐damaging stimulation. Low‐threshold mechanoreceptive neurons responded only to gentle mechanical stimulation. Some of the low‐threshold mechanoreceptive neurons were innervated by primary afferents with unmyelinated axons. Excepting those low‐threshold mechanoreceptive neurons with input form unmyelinated afferents, the patterns of primary afferent innervation of layer II neurons were similar to the patterns innervation that gave been found for neurons in layers I and IV‐V.
Self‐referential processing and emotion context insensitivity in major depressive disorder

We examined whether differential self‐perception influences the salience of emotional stimuli in depressive disorders, using a perceptual matching task in which geometric shapes were arbitrarily assigned to the self and an unknown other. Participants associated shapes with personal labels (e.g. “self” or “other”). Each geometric shape additionally contained a happy, sad or neutral line drawing of a face. Participants then judged whether shape‐label pairs were as originally shown or re‐paired, whilst facial emotion was task‐irrelevant. The results showed biased responses to self‐relevant stimuli compared to other‐relevant stimuli, regardless of facial emotion, for both control and depressed participants. This was reflected in sensitivity (d′) and drift rate (v) measures, suggesting that self‐bias and a bias towards emotion may reflect different underlying processes. We further computed bias scores by subtracting the “neutral” value of each measure (acting as baseline) from the “happy” and “sad” values of each measure, indexing an “emotional bias” (EB) score for “self” and “other” separately. Compared to control participants, depressed participants exhibited reduced “happy” and “sad” emotional biases, regardless of the self‐relevance of stimuli. This finding indicates that depressed participants may exhibit generalised Emotion Context Insensitivity (ECI), characterised by hyopoattention to both positive and negative information, at short stimulus presentations. The implications of this are discussed.
Regarding mutations in daisyworld models

Abstract The Daisyworld is a simplified model to describe a coupling between biosphere and climate. In this model, daisies, having a temperature-dependent birth rate and determining the reflectivity of the planet through their colour, are symbols for living thermostats. This paper presents a model with mutations in colour of the existing species. The outcome is an even better regulation than without mutations.
Dynamics of a protected black rhino (Diceros bicornis) population: Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa

Achieving maximum productivity in remnant populations of black rhinoceros is crucial to the persistence of this species. It was, therefore, investigated whether the black rhino population of Pilanesberg National Park had become regulated by resource limitation 22 years after introduction in 1979. Inter‐calving intervals (which are not restricted to yearly time increments, due to asynchronous reproduction) decreased with an increase in rainfall, while the percentage of male calves born increased with increasing rainfall. The percentage of reproductive cows achieving maternal success increased with increasing density until 0.085 rhinos/km2, after which it decreased. This positive relationship at low densities is largely due to changes in the female age structure and the adult female/male ratio. The age at first calving tended to increase with increasing density, while mortality was not related to rainfall or density. It is concluded that the Pilanesberg black rhino population is showing the first signs of density dependence. It is proposed that black rhino conservators should monitor the percentage of cows achieving maternal success to detect early indications of density dependent resource limitation and use this as a criteria for decisions regarding metapopulation management.
Effect of the traditional cooking practice on fumonisin content of maize porridge consumed in the former Transkei region of South Africa

Fumonisin exposure in the rural district of Centane, former Transkei region of South Africa, has largely been determined from surveys of fumonisin levels in home-grown maize kernels collected from household storage cribs, rather than from the traditional cooked dishes. In this current study, five samples of home-grown maize kernels were ground in the conventional manner of the district, i.e. without separation of any kernel components. The contamination levels of total fumonisins (FB1+FB2+FB3) in the resultant meals ranged from 2.130 to 13.27 mg/kg. In each of two separate villages, five volunteer householders each cooked a portion of one of the maize meals into a traditional porridge. The resultant ten porridges were subsequently analysed for fumonisins by HPLC. The mean decrease in total fumonisin levels, based on a dry weight basis and corrected for recovery, was 11.3% (standard deviation 6.9%), confirming that preparation of traditional porridge has only a limited effect on fumonisin exposure in this .
Progressive supranuclear palsy often develops idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus‐like magnetic resonance imaging features

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a clinical entity without established pathological hallmarks. Previous autopsy studies reported that patients with an antemortem diagnosis of iNPH had a different postmortem diagnosis, commonly progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid space hydrocephalus (DESH) has been reported as a characteristic feature of iNPH on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In addition, periventricular white matter hyperintensities (PVHs) are noted in most patients with iNPH; these PVHs are supposed to reflect transependymal movement of ventricular cerebrospinal fluid. It is hypothesized that PSP develops more iNPH‐like MRI features than other neurodegenerative disorders.
Maternal intentions towards infant sleeping practices in Ireland

Mortality from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has reduced by 50%‐85% globally. Despite improvements from 1990 to 2009, the Irish SIDS rate has plateaued. Reasons for this are unclear, but may be related to a reduced parental SIDS awareness. Our study aimed to assess intentions regarding infant sleeping practices in mothers in Ireland.
Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Chloroquine in a Plasmodium vivax Volunteer Infection Study

Chloroquine has been used for the treatment of malaria for > 70 years; however, chloroquine pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profile in Plasmodium vivax malaria is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to describe the PK/PD relationship of chloroquine and its major metabolite, desethylchloroquine, in a P. vivax volunteer infection study. We analyzed data from 24 healthy subjects who were inoculated with blood‐stage P. vivax malaria and administered a standard treatment course of chloroquine. The PK of chloroquine and desethylchloroquine was described by a two‐compartment model with first‐order absorption and elimination. The relationship between plasma and whole blood concentrations of chloroquine and P. vivax parasitemia was characterized by a PK/PD delayed response model, where the equilibration half‐lives were 32.7 hours (95% confidence interval (CI) 27.4–40.5) for plasma data and 24.1 hours (95% CI 19.0–32.7) for whole blood data. The estimated parasite multiplication rate was 17 folds per 48 hours (95% CI 14–20) and maximum parasite killing rate by chloroquine was 0.213 hour−1 (95% CI 0.196–0.230), translating to a parasite clearance half‐life of 4.5 hours (95% CI 4.1–5.0) and a parasite reduction ratio of 400 every 48 hours (95% CI 320–500). This is the first study that characterized the PK/PD relationship between chloroquine plasma and whole blood concentrations and P. vivax clearance using a semimechanistic population PK/PD modeling. This PK/PD model can be used to optimize dosing scenarios and to identify optimal dosing regimens for chloroquine where resistance to chloroquine is increasing.
Alteração no método de amostragem de Mahanarva fimbriolata (Stål, 1854) (Hem.: Cercopidae) e avaliação da eficiência de Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff, 1879) Sorokin, 1883 (Hyp.: Clavicipitaceae)

The present study suggests a change in the method of sampling the spittlebug in sugarcane crops in order to improve the control of this pest. Conventional monitoring of Mahanarva fimbriolata may underestimate the number of eggs in the area, causing pest resurgence. In this regard a study was carried out in Ponta Pora, MS, Brazil, in order to study possible changes in the methods used for sampling M. fimbriolata. The experiment consists of randomized blocks with 10 treatments and 4 replications. The treatments were: 1) control - untreated, 2) Thiamethoxam 250 WG at 250 g ha-1, 3) IBCB 425 at 5 x 109 con ha-1, 4) IBCB 425 at 10 x 109 con ha-1, 5) IBCB 425 at 15 x 109 con ha-1, 6) BIO 08 at 5 x 109 con ha-1, 7) BIO 08 at 10 x 109 con ha-1, 8) BIO 08 at 15 x 109 con ha-1, 9) IBCB 425 at 5 x 109 con ha-1 - granular application and 10) BIO 08 at 5 x 109 con ha-1 - granular application. Evaluations of effectiveness of treatments were obtained at 15, 45, 75 and 105 days after application (DAA). At 15 DAA treatments with the isolated application with grainy BIO 08 and IBCB 425 at dosage of 5 x 109 con ha-1 and 10 x 109 con ha-1 showed an efficiency of 73.33 and 70.66%, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments with biological and chemical insecticides tested in the experiment at 75 and 105 DAA.
Effects of non‐starch polysaccharides enzyme, phytase and citric acid on activities of endogenous digestive enzymes of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus × Oreochromis aureus)

Non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) enzyme, phytase and citric acid have been shown to increase digestibility in pigs, poultry and some fish. To examine their roles in digestion in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus × Oreochromis aureus), the present study was designed to evaluate their effects on activities of a number of endogenous digestive enzymes in tilapia. Neither NSPs enzyme (1 g kg−1) nor phytase (1 g kg−1) affected the activities of protease in digestive organs. In contrast, NSPs enzyme increased the activities of amylase in the hepatopancreas and intestine by 11.4% and 49.5%, respectively, while phytase (1 g kg−1) increased the activities of amylase in the hepatopancreas and intestine by 14.0% and 24.1%, respectively. Citric acid (10 g kg−1) increased the activities of protease in stomach by 29.6%, but reduced the activities of protease in the intestine by 35.1%. Citric acid increased the activities of amylase in the hepatopancreas and intestine by 30.7% and 29.4%. Lipase activities were not affected by NSPs enzyme, phytase or citric acid. Above results suggest that NSPs enzyme, phytase and citric acid primarily influence the activities of amylase in digestive tract of tilapia.
Microphysical evidence of the transition between predominant convective/stratiform rainfall associated with the intraseasonal oscillation in the Southwest Amazon

The distinction between convective and stratiform precipitation profiles around various precipitating systems existent in tropical regions is very important to the global atmospheric circulation, which is extremely sensitive to vertical latent heat distribution. In South America, the convective activity responds to the Intraseasonal Oscillation (IOS). This paper analyzes a disdrometer and a radar profiler data, installed in the Ji-Parana airport, RO, Brazil, for the field experiment WETAMC/LBA & TRMM/LBA, during January and February of 1999. The microphysical analysis of wind regimes associated with IOS showed a large difference in type, size and microphysical processes of hydrometeor growth in each wind regime: easterly regimes had more turbulence and consequently convective precipitation formation, and westerly regimes had a more stratiform precipitation formation.
Comparison of DNA marker technologies in characterizing plant genome diversity : Variability in Chinese sorghums

Chinese sorghums [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] are reputed to have a narrow genetic base, resulting from infrequent introduction of exotic germplasm into China. We have used several different molecular approaches to evaluate diversity and relatedness in a selection of 34 Chinese sorghums. The results indicated that different DNA marker technologies for germplasm assessment yield comparable results, but that a relatively new technique termed inter-simple sequence repeat amplification (ISSR) was relatively rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive. Extensive diversity was observed within the Chinese sorghums, and all lines could be easily differentiated. Different lines collected from the same locality were found to exhibit particularly high levels of relatedness. Contrary to expectations, improved varieties were found to contain more diversity and to be more different from each other than were the Chinese landraces studied, suggesting recent introduction of non-Chinese germplasm into these improved materials
Flight-initiation distance in birds is dependent on intruder starting distance

The distance at which animals move away from approaching threats (often quantified as flight-initiation distance [FID], or flush distance) has been used by behavioral ecologists to understand the economics of antipredator behavior. Wildlife managers often use FID when seeking to develop set-back distances to reduce human impacts on wildlife. Economic models of escape behavior predict that escape decisions will be dynamic and will be influenced by both the costs and benefits of remaining. In contrast, wildlife managers often aim to generate a single set-back distance for each species. While a number of factors are acknowledged to influence FID, the starting distance between the observer and the animal is typically ignored in FID studies. For 64 of 68 species of Australian birds, I found a significant positive relationship between starting distance and FID. This demonstrates that, as predicted by economic models, species generally assess risk dynamically and flush at a greater distance as starting distances increase. My finding is consistent with the idea that animals accrue an attentional cost for continued monitoring of an approaching predator. Researchers or managers aiming to quantify human impact using FID should use starting distance as a covariate.