Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vibrio cholerae O139 Attached to Zooplankton: Reservoir Diversity and Distribution over an Estuarine-Coastal Gradient

ABSTRACT Martinelli Filho, J.E. ; Colwell, R.R. ; Queioz, A.F. S. ; Rivera, I.N. G. , and Lopes, R.M. , 2020. Vibrio cholerae O139 attached to zooplankton: Reservoir diversity and distribution over an estuarine-coastal gradient. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 92-96. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Some Vibrio cholerae strains are potentially pathogenic and harmful to humans, most belong to toxigenic serogroups O1 and O139. These bacteria have many natural reservoirs and are frequently found attached to phytoplankton and zooplankton. However, the dynamics of the association between V. cholerae and zooplankton and the distribution of V. cholerae over coastal and estuarine waters and between the many biological reservoirs has proven to be of interest. Zooplankton comprise a highly diverse community and V. cholerae is known to attach mainly on crustaceans, although serogroup O1 may colonize diverse planktonic taxa including foraminiferans, polychaete larvae, and fish eggs. In order to understand the distribution of V. cholerae O139 in coastal areas and the diversity of potential zooplanktonic reservoirs, the presence of the bacterium on 43 taxa from 9 distinct phyla over an estuarine-coastal gradient in the southeast Brazilian coast was investigated during July 2005 to March 2006. Plankton was collected with a 300µm mesh net, which was washed onboard between each tow. Detection of V. cholerae O139 was assessed in whole samples and for selected taxa by DFA and DVC-DFA (Direct Fluorescence Assay and Direct Viable Count) methods. V. cholerae O139 was present in most of the estuarine samples (77%), being less common on inner shelf samples (63%) probably due to higher salinity, although a larger sampling design would be needed to test this hypothesis. Our findings suggest the occurrence of an inshore-offshore gradient for V. cholerae O139 distribution in zooplanktonic reservoir, as well as new sites for V. cholerae O139 attachment, like echinoid larvae, appendicularians, and thaliaceans. Monitoring these bacteria in cholera outbreak areas should include analyses of planktonic communities, since that may be an important natural reservoir and would ensure safety of coastal urbanized areas.
Extrapair paternity and mate choice in a chickadee hybrid zone

The dynamics of hybrid zones are likely to be influenced greatly by patterns of mate choice, including "cryptic" choice mediated through extrapair copulations. To understand changes in hybrid zones over time and space, a detailed examination of mating patterns and correlates is needed. We studied the role of extrapair fertilizations (EPFs) in the breeding biology of hybridizing black-capped and Carolina chickadees in southeastern Pennsylvania over 4 years, using microsatellite DNA markers. We detected extrapair offspring (EPO) in 56% of 90 broods examined; these accounted for at least 26% of 477 offspring. Chickadees do not appear to use EPFs to reduce costs of heterospecific pairing: EPFs were no more likely to occur in genetically dissimilar (heterospecific) social pairs than in pairs where social mates were genetically similar. However, females paired with black-capped--like males were more likely to have EPO. Females that acquired EPFs did not obtain these from males genetically similar to themselves; instead, all females, regardless of their genotype or that of their social mate, tended to prefer Carolina-like males as extrapair partners. There was no relationship between the presence of EPO and hatching or fledging success. High rates of extrapair paternity and apparent female preference for Carolina-like males suggest that mate choice is an important influence in ongoing northward movement of this hybrid zone. Copyright 2006.
Predicting community dynamics of antibiotic-sensitive and -resistant species in fluctuating environments

Microbes occupy almost every niche within and on their human hosts. Whether colonizing the gut, mouth or bloodstream, microorganisms face temporal fluctuations in resources and stressors within their niche but we still know little of how environmental fluctuations mediate certain microbial phenotypes, notably antimicrobial-resistant ones. For instance, do rapid or slow fluctuations in nutrient and antimicrobial concentrations select for, or against, resistance? We tackle this question using an ecological approach by studying the dynamics of a synthetic and pathogenic microbial community containing two species, one sensitive and the other resistant to an antibiotic drug where the community is exposed to different rates of environmental fluctuation. We provide mathematical models, supported by experimental data, to demonstrate that simple community outcomes, such as competitive exclusion, can shift to coexistence and ecosystem bistability as fluctuation rates vary. Theory gives mechanistic insight into how these dynamical regimes are related. Importantly, our approach highlights a fundamental difference between resistance in single-species populations, the context in which it is usually assayed, and that in communities. While fast environmental changes are known to select against resistance in single-species populations, here we show that they can promote the resistant species in mixed-species communities. Our theoretical observations are verified empirically using a two-species Candida community.
Long-term Variability in Inorganic Sediment Contributions to the Great Marsh, Massachusetts

ABSTRACT FitzGerald, D. ; Ryerson, O. ; Hughes, Z.J.; Black, S. ; Georgiou, I. ; Hein, C. , and Novak, A. , 2020. Long-term variability in inorganic sediment contribution to the Great Marsh, Massachusetts. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 490–494. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. In New England, the marsh platform sits above mean high water and is flooded about 8 times a month. This high marsh, dominated by Spartina patens, has a vertical accretion rate of ∼2.5 mm/yr, significantly lower than the 6-7 mm/yr accretion rate of low marsh, dominated by Spartina alterniflora. Accelerating sea-level rise will eventually cause the high marsh to transition to low marsh; the rate of this change is controlled, in part, by the contribution of inorganic sediment. Temporal and spatial variability of inorganic marsh sedimentation during the past ∼ 2.5 ka was examined at the Great Marsh, Massachusetts, using twenty cores, each ∼180-cm long, along five transects. Transects were aligned perpendicular to bays and major channels at different compass quadrants to assess influences of wind and tidal flow during storms. Cores were sampled every 20 cm to determine percent organic matter (loss on ignition) and grain size distribution (using a laser particle size analyzer). Data show a weak correlation for grain size versus distance from the nearest channel or bay. Additionally, no consistent vertical trends in grain size were observed, either within individual sampling sites nor among coring transects. Instead, we find coarsening upwards trends at some sites, likely due to increased channelization and tidal velocity as the marsh matured. Elsewhere, sediments fine upwards in response to deepening bays and channels. Finally, transects exhibiting variable grain size trends are likely influenced by ice rafted sediment. These results demonstrate the complexity of sedimentation on the marsh platform and the challenge in accurately predicting patterns of sediment transport using a single suspended grain size in hydrodynamic models in these systems.
No Difference in Herbivory Preferences Among Ecotypes of Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), a dominant prairie grass, exhibits a wide distribution with several genetically distinct ecotypes. Each ecotype adapts to abiotic and biotic factors within its environment. These adaptations may prove more or less desirable to herbivores in the area. For instance, plants adapted to areas with greater rainfall tend to grow larger than those adapted to drier conditions. Wetter conditions might result in greater herbivore pressure, but according to the Resource Availability Hypothesis, individual plants tend to invest little in herbivore defenses when resources are abundant. Consequently, we hypothesized A. gerardii ecotypes adapted to wetter conditions might be more susceptible to herbivory and that ecotypes adapted to drier conditions might have evolved greater herbivore defense mechanisms. We tested this with feeding preference trials involving grasshoppers and leaves from five ecotypes of A. gerardii that represented plants adapted to wet and dry conditions. Scans of leaves before and after herbivory trials indicated 43 to 78 percent of leaf area remained, with no difference among ecotypes regarding which were favored by herbivores. We also hypothesized that leaves with more tannins would be less preferable to herbivores. This was tested by measuring leaf tannin concentration from five ecotypes of A. gerardii from four common gardens across a precipitation gradient. Leaf tannin concentrations ranged from 0.8 to 2.4% of leaf dry mass and were different among both sites and ecotypes. Site differences caused the biggest difference in leaf tannins, indicating a strong environmental influence on leaf tannin concentration. There was no correlation between tannin concentration and herbivory preference among ecotypes, indicating other factors are related to herbivore defense in A. gerardii.
What Happens to a Mediterranean Microtidal Wave-dominated Beach During Significant Storm Events? The Morphological Response of a Natural Sardinian Beach (Western Mediterranean)

ABSTRACT Trogu, D. ; Buosi, C. ; Ruju, A. ; Porta, M. ; Ibba, A. , and De Muro, S. , 2020. What happens to a Mediterranean microtidal wave-dominated beach during significant storm events? The morphological response of a natural Sardinian beach (western Mediterranean). In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 695-700. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The short-term effects of storm events on the coastline morphology of natural, microtidal, wave dominated beaches located in the western Mediterranean are still poorly documented. Since one of the most visible consequences of a warming climate is an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather conditions, it appears important to know the response of natural and urban beaches to these storm events. The spatial shoreline variability of a natural Sardinian beach was assessed in our study, based on video camera monitoring data from August 2013 to August 2015 along a 0.3 km stretch of sandy beach. This methodology has been applied in the SW coastal sector of Sardinia where severe storm events mainly related to southwesterly winds (about 50 km/h on average) can induce important morphological changes. These include shoreline retreat/progradation, erosion, beach rotation, reconfiguration of nearshore bars and the deposition of significant seagrass beach-cast litters. Our study showed an erosion and a consequent accretion of the studied beach of about 20 m in two days after the event (SW wind and waves) as a result of the deposition of the Posidonia oceanica beach-cast litter. This morphological response induced by storm events is crucial for coastal managers to plan beach management (for example beach cleaning practice), to prevent coastal risk and to understand the importance of seagrass berm deposition in the formation of natural Mediterranean beaches.
Rainfall-runoff Modeling by Hydro-meteorological Factors in the Coastal Urban Region

ABSTRACT Sunwoo, W.Y. ; Lee, G. , and Jun, K.S. , 2020. Rainfall-runoff modeling by hydro-meteorological factors in the coastal urban region. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 1303-1309. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This study aims to improve the rainfall-runoff model by applying and estimating water content on the surface and sub-surface with hydrological factors such as soil moisture and evapotranspiration. Coastal groundwater and water quality depend on runoff changes. Therefore, interest in more accurate rainfall-runoff analysis has recently increased. However, there are few researches which applying input data reflecting the physical reality into rainfall-runoff model. In this study, first, reanalysis and satellite based soil moisture products (i.e., soil moisture from GLDAS and ASCAT) are validated with in situ soil moisture during the test period. Second, the discharge is estimated using the actual evapotranspiration from Global Land Evaporation and Amsterdam Model (GREAM) and reanalysis soil moisture products as input data for the conceptual model, the Probability Distributed Model (PDM). Study area is Hongseong, a coastal urban region in South Korea. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of estimated discharge is reduced by 25% in case of using reanalysis soil moisture and evapotranspiration products and little overall difference is found before and after a major rainfall event. This shows that the excess rainfall on the soil impacts on surface and sub-surface runoff and reanalysis soil moisture products contributes to improve the accuracy of discharge prediction over the limited data region.
Wake Characteristics of a Tidal Stream Turbine under Combined Wave and Current

ABSTRACT Lin, X. ; Zhang, J.; Guan, D. ; Zhang, J.; Zhang C. , and Gan, M. , 2020. Wake characteristics of a tidal stream turbine under combined wave and current. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 1558-1562. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Tidal stream energy has been considered as one of the most promising renewable and clean resources to ease energy shortage. This study experimentally investigates wake characteristics of a tidal stream turbine subject to combined wave and current, using an advanced acoustic Doppler velocimeter to measure its wake properties. The phase-space filter is used to remove spikes in raw data, and the phase-averaged method is adopted for further data analyses. The experimental results indicate that the mean wake characteristics under combination of wave and current share a similar trend with that under pure current. However, it's found that the wave-current interaction fastens the wake recovery and increases the turbulence intensity level. Besides, the supporting structure is found to play an important role in the near wake. A region with low velocity and high turbulence intensity is observed in the lee side of the supporting structure. Furthermore, the wake zone is found to shift upward to the free surface due to wake merging of the turbine rotor and the supporting structure.
Towards capturing focal/ambient attention during dynamic wayfinding

This work-in-progress paper reports on an ongoing experiment in which mobile eye-tracking is used to evaluate different wayfinding support systems. Specifically, it tackles the problem of detecting and isolating attentional demands of building layouts and signage systems in wayfinding tasks. The coefficient K has been previously established as a measure of focal/ambient attention for eye-tracking data. Here, we propose a novel method to compute coefficient K using eye-tracking from virtual reality experiments. We detail challenges associated with transforming a two-dimensional coefficient K concept to three-dimensional data, and the debatable theoretical equivalence of the concept after such a transformation. We present a preliminary implementation to experimental data and explore the possibilities of the method for novel insight in architectural analyses.
The influence of ultraviolet radiation on growth, photosynthesis and phenolic levels of green and red lettuce: potential for exploiting effects of ultraviolet radiation in a production system

Studies have shown that natural ultraviolet (UV) radiation increases secondary products such as phenolics but can significantly inhibit biomass accumulation in lettuce plants. In the work presented here, the effect of UV radiation on phenolic concentration and biomass accumulation was assessed in relation to photosynthetic performance in red and green lettuce types. Lettuce plants in polythene clad tunnels were exposed to either ambient (UV transparent film) or UV-free conditions (UV blocking film). The study tested whether growth reduction in lettuce plants exposed to natural UV radiation is because of inhibition of photosynthesis by direct damage to the photosynthetic apparatus or by internal shading by anthocyanins. Ambient levels of UV radiation did not limit the efficiency of photosynthesis suggesting that phenolic compounds may effectively protect the photosynthetic apparatus. Growth inhibition does, however, occur in red lettuce and could be explained by the high metabolic cost of phenolic compounds for UV protection. From a commercial perspective, UV transparent and UV blocking films offer opportunities because, in combination, they could increase plant quality as well as productivity. Growing plants continuously under a UV blocking film, and then 6 days before the final harvest transferring them to a UV transparent film, showed that high yields and high phytochemical content can be achieved complementarily.
Molecular phylogeny of the genus Helix (Pulmonata: Helicidae)

The vast diversity of land snail forms is insufficiently understood even in seemingly familiar taxa. This holds for Helix Linnaeus, 1758, a genus with several common edible species which comprises the largest Western Palearctic snails. The taxonomy of this genus, which has a centre of diversity in the eastern Mediterranean, has recently undergone significant changes, in both the delimitation of the genus itself and its species‐level systematics. Here, we compare the lineage diversity of Helix, as revealed by two mitochondrial markers, with the conclusions of the recently published morphology‐based taxonomic revision. For the molecular analysis, we assembled a representative data set covering almost all species of the genus as recognized by the mentioned revision. We obtained sequences not only from fresh and preserved soft tissues but also from dried tissue remains (some of them decades old) from shell collections. Our results show that the genus Helix, in the narrow sense proposed by recent studies, is paraphyletic because the genus Tacheopsis was unambiguously revealed as one of the tip branches of Helix. The monophyly of several species, as presently recognized, was not supported; partly, this may be attributed to a lineage diversity overlooked so far. This holds also for the type species of the genus, H. pomatia, which comprises at least one additional lineage. Greece, the Aegean and western Turkey is the core area for the diversity of Helix and its relatives, and the region is probably a major long‐term refuge for large Helicidae. The highest species diversity is found along the Alpide belt from the western Balkans to southern Turkey. The diversity of Helix in Europe, north of Greece and the Apennines, is a result of a single European radiation. Our data also suggest that past human activities likely influenced the present‐day distributions of some species.
Adversarial Attacks on Classifiers for Eye-based User Modelling

An ever-growing body of work has demonstrated the rich information content available in eye movements for user modelling, e.g. for predicting users’ activities, cognitive processes, or even personality traits. We show that state-of-the-art classifiers for eye-based user modelling are highly vulnerable to adversarial examples: small artificial perturbations in gaze input that can dramatically change a classifier’s predictions. On the sample task of eye-based document type recognition we study the success of adversarial attacks with and without targeting the attack to a specific class.
Pupil Dilation Fulfills the Requirements for Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Gaming on the Example of Pong

When games are too easy or too difficult, they are likely to be experienced as unpleasant. Therefore, identifying the ideal level of game difficulty is crucial for providing players with a positive experience during gaming. Performance data is typically used to determine how challenged a player is; however, this information is not always available. Pupil diameter has recently been suggested as a continuous option for tracking gaming appraisal. In this paper, we describe two experiments with in total 55 participants playing ’Pong’ under four levels of difficulty. Difficulty was manipulated via ball-speed (Experiment 1) and racket-size (Experiment 2) ranging from under- to overload. Pupil dilation and appraisal were maximal under medium difficulty (compared to easy and hard levels). These findings demonstrate the usefulness of pupil diameter as basis for psychophysiologically dynamic difficulty adjustment as it is sensitive both to under- and overload, hence underlining pupil dilation’s potential value for user-adaptive interfaces in general.
Glicerina bruta na dieta de cordeiros terminados em confinamento

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of crude glycerin (CG) inclusion, with 36.20% of glicerol, on finishing lamb diets on intake, nutrients digestibility, and productive and economical performance. Thirty‑five intact male lambs (Santa Ines), with 20±2.27 kg of initial average body weight were randomly assigned to five treatments, with six replicates. The treatments consisted of increasing crude glycerin levels on the diet: 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12% of diet dry matter. After ten days of adaptation, five animals were slaughtered to determine initial carcass dressing. After the adaptation period, 30 animals were housed in individual pens. When the group reached average body weight of 35 kg, animals were slaughtered. The CG levels had a negative linear effect on dry matter intake and average daily weight gain, and a quadratic effect on neutral fiber detergent digestibility corrected for ash and protein. Crude glycerin levels had also a quadratic effect on body weight at slaughter and feed‑to‑gain ratio (FGR). Crude glycerin with 36.20% of glycerol can be included in the diet of finishing lambs up to 6% of dry matter, optimizing the FGR and promoting economic benefits.