Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Avian eggshell coloration: new perspectives on adaptive explanations

Recent work suggests that the evolution of egg coloration may have been constrained in three important ways that have not yet been critically synthesized in any review. First, on account of birds being able to see in the ultraviolet spectrum, the interaction between the properties of avian vision and the light environment of nests imply different perceptions of egg coloration from those experienced by humans. Second, a new hypothesis to explain blue–green egg coloration interprets it as a sexually selected signal to males of the laying female's genetic quality. Third, evidence from taxa as divergent as sparrowhawks and great tits indicates that protoporphyrin pigments responsible for maculation (spotting patterns) have a structural function in compensating for eggshell thinning, as caused by calcium stress, and, more recently, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. We consider this to be the most convincing explanation for the primary function of spotting, although an important secondary function might arise through the fact that individual patterns of maculation may allow birds to identify their own eggs, effectively serving as signatures in the face of inter- or intra-specific brood parasitism. These constraints or hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, and should not be taken to imply that one, but not other, agents of selection might apply to any one species. However, the sexually-selected eggshell coloration hypothesis is least plausible for hole-nesting birds because of the poor light quality available, although such species have been the focus of research in this area, and only a single experimental study has shown a link between egg coloration and male provisioning. Furthermore, the observed relationships between female phenotypic quality and egg traits do not necessarily imply that they have signalling functions. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 753–762.
Usefulness of gene information in marker-assisted recurrent selection: A simulation appraisal

Genomics and post-genomics sciences are expected to uncover most, if not all, of the quantitative trait loci (QTL) in plants. Prior knowledge of QTL locations can then be exploited in marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS). Our objectives were to determine (i) whether prior knowledge of QTL locations is advantageous in MARS, and (ii) whether knowledge of the QTL themselves, as opposed to knowledge of markers linked to QTL, is advantageous in MARS. We simulated MARS in a maize (Zea mays L.) F 2 population. We found that when 10 QTL controlled the trait, the percentage of known QTL that maximized the response to MARS was P Max = 100%. In contrast, P Max was often less than 100% when 40 or 100 QTL controlled the trait and QTL effects were estimated with a population size (N = 100) typically used in MARS. This result implied it was advantageous to exploit only the QTL with large effects and ignore those with small effects, even if the locations of all QTL were known. For a trait controlled by 40 QTL, the response was up to 50% greater when P Max = 70% of the QTL were known through markers for the QTL themselves rather than through linked markers. We conclude that having known QTL in MARS is most beneficial for traits controlled by a moderately large number of QTL (e.g., 40). We speculate that a combination of approaches would be needed to exploit information on markers for QTL themselves, markers linked to QTL, and unknown QTL.
Differences in egg parasitism of Chrysophtharta agricola (Chapuis) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) by Enoggera nassaui Girault (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) in relation to host and parasitoid origin

The first instances of egg parasitism of Chrysophtharta agricola, a pest of eucalypt plantations, are recorded. Enoggera nassaui was found parasitising C. agricola egg batches in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales and Victoria: this is the first record of this parasitoid species from Victoria. One instance of Neopolycystus sp. parasitising C. agricola eggs in Victoria was also recorded. Parasitism of egg batches by E. nassaui ranged from 0 to 55% between five geographical populations collected in mainland Australia (n = 45), and from 0 to 2% between two populations collected in Tasmania (n = 300). For mainland sites at which parasitism was recorded, parasitism rates within sites differed significantly from either population in Tasmania. Reciprocal exposure experiments using one Tasmanian (Florentine Valley) and one parasitised mainland (Picadilly Circus, ACT) population were conducted in the laboratory to examine whether these different parasitism rates were attributable to egg or parasitoid origin. Parasitoids from the ACT parasitised C. agricola eggs of both origins more successfully than parasitoids from Tasmania, with up to 65% wasp emergence compared with 33% from Tasmania. Parasitoid origin significantly affected the number of wasps that emerged from exposed batches, but not the total loss from parasitism.
Karyomorphological Observations in Desmodium Desv. and Its Related Taxa of Nepal

Chromosome number and karyomorphology of some species of the genus Desmodium Desv. and its related taxa, viz. D. concinnum DC. var. retusum (D. Don) H. Ohashi, D. heterocarpon (L.) DC. var. heterocarpon, D. laxiflorum DC. , D. microphyllum (Thunb.) DC. , D. podocarpum subsp. oxyphyllum var. mandschuricum Maxim. , D. podocarpum DC. subsp. podocarpum and D. triflorum (L.) DC. , Butea minor Buch. -Ham. ex Baker, Crotalaria cytisoides Roxb. ex DC. and Piptanthus nepalensis (Hook.) D. Don collected from different climatic regions of Nepal were observed. The basic numbers of chromosomes in Desmodium species was 11. It was recorded to be 9 in B. minor and P. nepalensis, and 8 in C. cytisoides. The chromosomes of the genus Desmodium were mostly medium and small in length throughout except in D. podocarpum. In D. podocarpum, B. minor, C. cytisoides and P. nepalensis chromosomes were large and medium.
The diet of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Heard Island

Stomach contents were lavaged from 76 southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) at Heard Island between July 1992 and March 1993. Eighty-six percent of stomachs contained cephalopods of 17 species. Numerically the most important was Psychroteuthis glacialis (21.1%), and from estimated biomass the most important was Kondakovia longimana (40.4%). Three other species were also common prey: Moroteuthis knipovitchi (19.4% by estimated biomass), Moroteuthis ingens (13.0%), and Alluroteuthis antarcticus (10.2%). Sixty-six percent of stomachs contained fish remains, and four species, Dissostichus eleginoides, Electrona carlsbergi, E. antarctica, and Gymnoscopelus nicholsi, were identified from otoliths. The diet of adults differed from that of juveniles, particularly pups in their first year. Martialia hyadesi was the most important prey of juveniles and represented 57.1% of estimated biomass consumed. Furthermore, smaller seals ate smaller squid. The species and size of cephalopods eaten by southern elephant se.
Feeding and egg production of Oithona similis in the North Atlantic

Although cyclopoids of the genus Oithona are considered the most abundant cope- pods in the marine environment, there is still very little information about what sustains their pop- ulation and almost constant reproduction rate throughout the year. Feeding and egg production rate (EPR) of O. similis were measured at coastal and oceanic stations during 3 cruises in the North Atlantic between April and November 2002. O. similis ingested ciliates preferentially to other com- ponents of the nano- and microplankton (herein nano-microplankton), which only became a more important component of the copepod diet when the abundance of the former decreased to low con- centrations. EPR did not show significant seasonal differences, with 2.13 ± 0.67 eggs female -1 d -1 in spring, 1.61 ± 0.32 eggs female -1 d -1 in summer and 1.60 ± 0.15 eggs female -1 d -1 in winter. The ingestion rates measured at many oceanic stations and in winter were often too low to sustain EPR. Egg production efficiency (GGE) >100% indicated that sustained EPR might have relied, particu- larly in winter, on alternative food sources such as a more carnivorous diet and/or on the faecal pellets of euphausids.
Climate-induced overwintering challenges for wheat and rye in northern agriculture

Abstract Winters are typically harsh in the northernmost agricultural areas of Europe, and winter rye (Secale cereale L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are the only winter grain crops that can be grown. However, climate change is projected to result in milder winters, which may enable cultivation of winter crops to a greater extent in the future than is possible today. In this study we aimed at identifying main temperature, precipitation events and characteristics that have resulted in past poor overwintering of rye and wheat in their current production areas in Finland. Using long-term (1970–2006), multi-location datasets, we compared our findings with the projected major changes attributable to climate change. Mixed models were used to estimate mutually comparable overwintering damage to all experiments and logistic regression was used to determine whether climatic parameters are related to high levels of overwintering damage. Severity of overwintering damage, and associated yield penalties, fluctuate considerably on a year-to-year basis and no consistent reduction in variability was recorded during the study period. Particularly for wheat, severity of winter damage in any one year was associated negatively with area sown in the following year. There was no evidence of consistent genetic improvements in winter hardiness, but rye was more winter hardy than wheat. Current risks associated with rye production related to low temperatures could be alleviated in the future, although overwintering damage currently enhanced by high autumn precipitation could increase due to climate change. For wheat, fluctuating conditions hampered overwintering, which may be an even harder challenge in future when weather variation is projected to increase and extreme weather events are projected to become more common.
Scientometric analysis of energetic ecology: primary production of aquatic macrophytes - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v31i4.5139

The objective of this work was to perform a temporal quantitative analysis, using the scientometric technique, considering the number of citations that the terms Primary Production of Aquatic Macrophytes and Energetic Ecology received in a 50-year period (1956 to 2006). The study related 189 papers published in 26 magazines. It was verified that researchers of several nationalities are working on the proposed themes, with a predominance of those from developed countries (USA and Germany). In Brazil, production on these themes, although small, coincides with the results obtained for other themes analyzed using the same research technique. This fact indicates that greater efforts should be made in the search for more intense scientific production in the country, in the different areas of knowledge, especially in the object of this study
Evaluating the function of wildcat faecal marks in relation to the defence of favourable hunting areas

To date, there have been no studies of carnivores that have been specifically designed to examine the function of scent marks in trophic resource defence, although several chemical communication studies have discussed other functions of these marks. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that faecal marks deposited by wildcats (Felis silvestris) serve to defend their primary trophic resource, small mammals. Field data were collected over a 2-year period in a protected area in northwestern Spain. To determine the small mammal abundance in different habitat types, a seasonal live trapping campaign was undertaken in deciduous forests, mature pine forests and scrublands. In each habitat, we trapped in three widely separated Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) cells. At the same time that the trapping was being performed, transects were conducted on foot along forest roads in each trapping cell and in one adjacent cell to detect fresh wildcat scats that did or did not have a scent-marking function. A scat was considered to have a presumed marking function when it was located on a conspicuous substrate, above ground level, at a crossroad or in a latrine. The number of faecal marks and the small mammal abundance varied by habitat type but not by seasons. The results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that small mammal abundance and habitat type were the factors that explained the largest degrees of variation in the faecal marking index (number of faecal marks in each cell/number of kilometres surveyed in each cell). This result suggests that wildcats defended favourable hunting areas. They mark most often where their main prey lives and so where they spend the most time hunting (in areas where their main prey is more abundant). This practice would allow wildcats to protect their main trophic resource and would reduce intraspecific trophic competition.
Principles of Ecosystem Sustainability

Many natural ecosystems are self-sustaining, maintaining a characteristic mosaic of vegetation types for hundreds to thousands of years. In this article we present a new framework for defining the conditions that sustain natural ecosystems and apply these principles to sustainability of managed ecosystems. A sustainable ecosystem is one that, over the normal cycle of disturbance events, maintains its characteristic diversity of major functional groups, productivity, and rates of biogeochemical cycling. These traits are determined by a set of four "interactive controls" (climate, soil resource supply, major functional groups of organisms, and disturbance regime) that both govern and respond to ecosystem processes. Ecosystems cannot be sustained unless the interactive controls oscillate within stable bounds. This occurs when negative feedbacks constrain changes in these controls. For example, negative feedbacks associated with food availability and predation often constrain changes in the population size of a species. Linkages among ecosystems in a landscape can contribute to sustainability by creating or extending the feedback network beyond a single patch. The sustainability of managed systems can be increased by maintaining interactive controls so that they form negative feedbacks within ecosystems and by using laws and regulations to create negative feedbacks between ecosystems and human activities, such as between ocean ecosystems and marine fisheries. Degraded ecosystems can be restored through practices that enhance positive feedbacks to bring the ecosystem to a state where the interactive controls are commensurate with desired ecosystem characteristics. The possible combinations of interactive controls that govern ecosystem traits are limited by the environment, constraining the extent to which ecosystems can be managed sustainably for human purposes.
Recovery in plants and soils of 15N applied as subsurface bands of urea to sugarcane

The recovery of fertiliser N by sugarcane crops is low in comparison with most other field crops. Application of urea in subsurface bands instead of by broadcasting can greatly reduce loss of fertiliser N due to ammonia volatilisation, but the fertiliser N is still susceptible to loss from leaching or denitrification, which could be affected by soil internal drainage, trash management, or tillage practice. The recovery of fertiliser N in crops and soil from 15N-labelled urea applied as subsurface bands was measured in ratoon crops in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Two soil types, with contrasting internal drainage, were used in each region. In Queensland, the cultural practice was either trash burnt with inter-row cultivation or trash retained on the surface ('trash blanket') with no cultivation. In northern New South Wales, where the trash was burnt prior to harvest, the practice was either inter-row cultivation or zero tillage. Crop recovery of fertiliser N was nearly always in the range 20-40% of the amount applied. Residual fertiliser N in the soil at crop maturity ranged from 13 to 42% (average 26%). Total recovery of fertiliser N in the soil-plant system ranged from 35 to 76% (average 52%) at 6 months after application, and from 35 to 96% (average 56%) at crop maturity. Urea fertiliser supplied only 20-40% of the crop N uptake in a given season. Neither crop recovery nor loss of fertiliser N from the soil-plant system were related to the soil type or cultural practice used, indicating that compensatory effects occurred.
The effect of steam-flaked and extruded full-fat soybeans on the concentration of conjugated linoleic acid in the milk fat of dairy cows

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is naturally produced in ruminants and exerts many beneficial health effects to humans. Feeding dairy cows with extruded soybeans has been reported to boost the CLA concentration in milk. However, the impact of steam-flaking soybeans on milk CLA content remains unknown. To study the potential of feeding steam-flaked soybeans on enhancing the CLA concentration in milk, a total of 27 Holstein lactating cows were fed with either conventional corn-soybean meal-based (control, CON) diet, steam-flaked full-fat soybean-based (SFS) diet or extruded full-fat soybean-based (ES) diet (nine cows per treatment) in an eight-week trial. Milk yield and other milk components were largely unaffected by dietary treatment. As compared with the CON diet, feeding SFS and ES diets resulted in an increase (p < 0.05) in the concentration of cis-9, trans-11 CLA from 0.76–1.00 and 0.98 g/100 g fatty acids in milk fat, respectively. Similarly, the concentration of trans-11 C18:1 in milk fat also increased (p < 0.01) with feeding the SFS and ES diets. No statistical difference in either cis-9, trans-11 CLA or trans-11 C18:1 concentration was observed between the SFS and ES diets. Collectively, our results suggest that, similar to extrusion, steam-flaking of full fat soybeans can increase milk CLA.
Genetic control of feeding preferences in the mosquitoes Aedes (Stegomyia) simpsoni and aegypti

ABSTRACT. The biting rate of a non‐anthropophilic (Bwayise) population of Aedes simpsoni was found to be approximately 0.3 mosquitoes per catcher per hour, whereas that of an anthropophilic (Bwamba) population was approximately 101 per catcher per hour. Population density indices, as determined by the number of pupae per wet plant axil, were 0.70 in Bwayise and 1.00 in Bwamba. The big difference in anthropophilic behaviour between these populations was therefore unlikely to be derived from this small population difference. Larval density was higher at Bwamba than at Bwayise, but isolation or crowding of the larvae in the laboratory did not affect the biting behaviour of adult Ae. simpsoni. Laboratory studies also failed to confirm field observations that temperature might play a part in determining anthropophily and non‐anthropophily in this species. In choice‐chamber landing tests, using a rat and a human hand, Ae. simpsoni females derived from wild larvae and reared in the laboratory showed that 83% of the Bwamba strain landed on man, whereas only 38% of the Bwayise strain did so. In Aedes aegypti, 71% of a long‐established laboratory strain (Ilobi) landed on man, whereas 47% of a relatively non‐anthropophilic wild (Kampala) strain did so. These preferences persisted in culture. Selective breeding increased the preference for the rodent significantly in the Kampala strain of Ae. aegypti, but had no significant effect on the Ilobi strain. Crossbreeding showed that the F1 and F2 hybrids between the anthropophilic and non‐anthropophilic strains were intermediate in their preference between the parental pure bred strains; the reciprocal crosses were not significantly different from each other. The behaviour of the backcross progenies, at least in Ae. aegypti, appeared to indicate that the genotype of the male parent might be the main determining factor.
Short-Term Feeding Response in Chicks to Tea Saponin

Tea saponin is known to suppress chick growth rate by decreasing feed intake, although the mechanism by which tea saponin decreases feed intake remains obscure. Since tea saponin has bitter taste, palatability was suggested to be a major factor affecting feed intake. However, there are some experimental results showing another possibility. The present experiment was conducted with chicks to evaluate the involvement of taste in the adverse effect of tea saponin on feed intake. When Single Comb White Leghorn male chicks were given a casein diet for at least 4h in experiments 1 and 2, 1% tea saponin depressed feed intake. The decrease in feed intake immediately after feeding (0-2h) was rather mild and became severer with time (2-4h). Removal of saponin from the diet increased feed intake, and this beneficial effect was manifested for the 2-4 h of the feeding period as compared with the first 2h. In experiment 3, 40mg of tea saponin was administered directly to the proventriculus by capsules to avoid the effect of taste or orally as a 10o solution. Despite the fact that chicks were given free access to the Saponin-free diet after the administration, the depression in feed intake due to saponin was lasted until 8 h had passed, irrespective of different dosing methods. These results show that the aversion to the saponin-added diet does not occur immediately after the ingestion of tea saponin and that the adverse effect of tea saponin on feed intake is carried over. Thus, it seems unlikely that taste is a primary factor decreasing feed intake in chicks given tea saponin.
Himalaya

AFZAL, QAISER. Mohammed Hussain Azad; a pioneer of modern Urdu poetry. Pakistan review 11 (June 1963), 9-10. AJWANI, L. H. Post-partition Sindhi literature. I lit 5, no. 2 (1962), 39-41. AZRAF, MOHAMMED. Farrukh Ahmed, the representative poet of East Pakistan. Pakistan review II (Jan. 1963), 35-39. CHAUDRY, KABIR. Lalan Shah: a mystic bard of East Pakistan. Pakistan review 11 (June 1963), 15-16. ENAYETULLAH, ANWAR. Qudratullah Shahab. Scintilla 4 (Oct. 1963/Jan. 1964), 76-77. GAUBA, GOPI. Sindhi literary journals. Indian P. E. N. 29 (Dec. 1963), 343-345. GHANI, M. A. Nazrul Islam. Scintilla 3 (Jan. 1963), 31-33. KHAN, JALILUDDIN AHMAD. Iqbal as poet with a message to the modern world. Iqbal review 4 (July 1963), 85-94. KHAN, SAIFUR ISLAM. Contemporary poetry in East Pakistan. Scintilla 3 (Jan. 1963), 27-30. MUJEEB, M. Iqbal. Education quarterly 14 (Sept. 1962). 182-184. PAGE, ALEX. Pakistan's Hemingway. Antiocb review 23 (Summer 1963), 203-211. SAID, TAJ . Urdu story writers of Peshawar. Scintilla 4 (Apr. 1963), 82-84.