Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new species of Lichenostigma (Lichenotheliaceae, Arthoniales) from Scandinavia

The new lichenicolous species Lichenostigma supertegentis is described from Sweden and Norway where it grows on thalli and apothecia of Aspicilia supertegens. The ecology and distribution of the new species are discussed and a distribution map is provided. The concept of Lichenostigma is enlarged to accommodate fungi producing macroconidia.
Supplementing enzymes to extruded, soybean-based diet improves breakdown of non-starch polysaccharides in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Plant-based feed ingredients typically contain remnants of dietary fibres [DF; non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) and lignin] that have various antinutritive effects in carnivorous fish. Exogenous enzymes have been shown to improve the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) of plant-based diets presumably by assisting in the breakdown of NSP. This study examined the effects on NSP degradation when supplementing β-glucanase, xylanase, protease or a mix of the three enzymes to an extruded, juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) diet containing 344 g kg−1 de-hulled, solvent-extracted soybean meal (SBM). The NSP content in the non-supplemented control diet and in faecal samples from the dietary treatment groups was analysed to determine the recovery/apparent digestibility of cellulose and total non-cellulosic polysaccharide (T-NCP) sugar monomers. The enzymes had significant, positive effects at the pH range and temperature prevailing in the gastrointestinal tract: β-glucanase improved the ADC of mannose, galactose and uronic acids; xylanase and protease improved the ADC of xylose; and protease furthermore improved the ADC of mannose and uronic acids. There were no effects when supplementing all three enzymes together. In conclusion, exogenous enzymes may potentially be applied to fish feed containing SBM, assisting in the breakdown of NSP and alleviating some of the antinutritive effects.
Skewed Idiosyncratic Income Risk over the Business Cycle: Sources and Insurance

We provide new evidence on business cycle fluctuations in skewed labor income risk in the United States, Germany, Sweden, and France. We document four results. First, in all countries, the skewness of individual income growth is strongly procyclical, whereas its variance is flat and acyclical. Second, this result also holds for continuously employed, full-time workers, indicating that the hours margin is not the main driver; additional analyses of hours and wages confirm that both margins are important. Third, within-household smoothing does not seem effective at mitigating skewness fluctuations. Fourth, tax-and-transfer policies blunt some of the largest declines in incomes, reducing procyclical fluctuations in skewness. (JEL E23, E24, E32, H24, I38, J22, J31)
Home Range, Spatial Overlap, and Burrow Use of the Desert Tortoise in the West Mojave Desert

Abstract Understanding the space use patterns of a population may provide crucial information regarding land management decisions, such as delineation of protected areas. Herein we provide a comprehensive analysis of factors affecting the space use of Desert Tortoises in the west Mojave Desert, including physical, social, and environmental variables. Our objectives were to determine how spatial overlap, as well as multiple parameters of burrow use, influence home range size of this species. Male tortoises were significantly larger than females and exhibited very different patterns of space and burrow use; however, body size did not affect these variables. Male home range (100% MCP) and core area (50% MCP) size averaged 65% and 73% larger than those of females. Burrow use by males and females affected core area size, but not home range area. Females exhibited a strong male bias in overlap of both estimates of space use and burrow sharing, while using a significantly lower number of burrows per year. However, males overlapped and shared burrows with a similar number of tortoises of either sex. In addition, a high degree of home range overlap between individuals suggests a lack of territoriality in this population, although this warrants further analysis. These results suggest that social factors may not be the primary determinants of space use in this Desert Tortoise population.
Ungulate vs. landscape control of soil C and N processes in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park

Within large grassland ecosystems, climatic and topographic gradients are considered the primary controls of soil processes. Ungulates also can influence soil dynamics; however the relative contribution of large herbivores to controlling grassland soil processes remains largely unknown. In this study, we compared the effects of native migratory ungulates and variable site (“landscape”) conditions, caused by combined climatic and topographic variability, on grassland of the northern winter range of Yellowstone National Park by determining soil C and N dynamics inside and outside 33–37 yr exclosures at seven diverse sites. Sites included hilltop, slope, and slope bottom positions across a climatic gradient and represented among the driest and wettest grasslands on the northern winter range. We performed two experiments: (1) a 12-mo in situ net N mineralization study and (2) a long-term (62-wk) laboratory incubation to measure potential N mineralization and microbial respiration. Results from the in situ exp.
Twin or narrow-row planting patterns versus conventional planting in forage maize production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Producing forage maize (Zea mays L.) in twin-row planting pattern has been attempted in past years. This research was performed to determine effects of planting patterns and densities on yields of forage maize hybrids. We also examined other plant characteristics associated with forage yield under second crop conditions in Hatay, East Mediterranean region of Turkey, during 2003 and 2004. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in a split-split-plot arrangement with three replications. The planting patterns of twin row (55:20 cm), conventional row (75 cm) and narrow row (50 cm) were main plots, the plant densities (80,000, 100,000 and 120,000 plants ha −1) were split-plots, and the hybrids (PR-1550, MAVERIK and DK-585) were split-split plots. Forage and dry matter yields were significantly affected by planting patterns, plant densities and maize hybrids. Our results revealed the advantage of twin-row planting pattern over conventional and narrow row plantings at all plant densities. Twin row planting out-yielded conventional row (16% more forage and 10.2% more dry matter yield) and narrow-row (7.9% more forage and 5.9% more dry matter yield) plantings. Twin-row planting pattern may be a profitable production technique for forage maize producers.
Pelagic ecosystem structure: Heterotrophic compartments of the plankton and their relationship to plankton size fractions 1

Organisms in the plankton are generally assigned to one of the three compartmental groups: bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. These groups are further subdivided into trophic levels on the basis of taxonomic categories well above the species level. This is unfortunate with regard to some protistan groups with differing modes of nutrition. Thus all the flagellates are grouped with the algae and are considered phytoplankton. Even the term “primary producers ,” obviously intended exclusively for phototrophic organisms, is widely used as a synonym for phytoplankton which at present also includes heterotrophic microorganisms. In contrast to the apochlorotic flagellates classed with the phytoplankton, the other protozoan groups, the ciliates and the sarcodinans, are often assigned to the zooplankton as microzooplankton. Conversely, the ciliate Mesodinium rubrum with its “incomplete symbionts” has a high photosynthetic rate and even forms red tides (Taylor et al. 1971; White et al. 1977), but is rarely grouped with the phytoplankton and is frequently assigned to the microzooplankton although its autotrophic mode of nutrition appears to be obligatory (Hibberd 1977). Obviously M. rubrum is a phototrophic microorganism or primary producer in the full ecological sense and should be classed accordingly. One approach to dividing organisms
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION AND COLONY GROWTH IN THE SCLERACTINIAN CORAL PORITES ASTREOIDES

This study examines patterns of sexual reproduction and colony growth for Pori tes astreoides Lamarck, an abundant Caribbean reef coral. Five factors influence the reproductivecondition of this coral in Jamaica:(i) Season, (ii) lunar day, (iii) polyp location within a colony, (iv) colony size, and (v) colony age. P. astreoides has an unusual mixed breedingsystem: Approximately half of colonies are hermaphroditic and half are female. Although gonads occur in some colonies throughout the year, there are clear seasonal differences both in the number of reproductive colonies within the population and in colony fecundity. Male gametes are spawned monthly around the time of the full moon. The abundance and maturity of brooded larvae peaks prior to the new moon. Within reproductive colonies, gonads and brooded larvae are more abundant in central polyps than at colony edges. Among female colonies, the onset of reproduction is apparentlyrelated to colony size, whereasthe fecundity of individual polyps is related to colony age. Hermaphroditicand female colonies differ in the size at which most colonies are reproductive. Rates of vertical and lateral growth for P. astreoides increase with colony size, but not with colony age. These findings demonstrate how the combined effects of several variables can cause individuals within a population to differgreatlyin reproductivecondition, fe cundity, and growthrate.
Morphological differences, molecular characterization, and herbicide sensitivity of catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine) populations

Abstract Plants of catchweed bedstraw from different Norwegian locations and from three other countries were compared with respect to morphological factors, herbicide sensitivity, and genetic variation. For the morphological comparison of cotyledons, whorls, leaves, and fruits five populations, grown outdoors but sheltered from rain, were used. Plants from Belgium and Sweden showed a high similarity, whereas one Norwegian population differed significantly in nearly all parameters. The same populations were used for a comparison of the sensitivity to the herbicide mecoprop-P. In this study, only slight differences appeared between the five populations. Finally, a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions was performed. The entire sequence of the ITS1 and ITS2 and the 5.8S subunit of ribosomal DNA were obtained from 15 populations (12 from Norway and one each from Sweden, Belgium, and Germany). The sequences had a length between 590 and 662 base pairs; intraspecific length variation was observed. Based on six insertions–deletions and 26 nucleotide substitutions, two DNA types could be distinguished. The first type consisted of eight Norwegian populations, whereas the second one contained the other seven populations including all non-Norwegian populations. The sequence alignments were used to build a phylogenetic tree. The results of the morphological comparison mostly corresponded with the results of the ITS sequence analysis. The variation was only to some extent correlated with the geographic distribution of the populations. Nomenclature: Mecoprop-P; catchweed bedstraw, Galium aparine L. GALAP.
Trends for Inbreeding in Polyploid Pteridophytes

Previous studies on the sequence of the gametangium formation in homosporous fern gametophytes (Masuyama, 1975a, b) suggested that diploid and polyploid taxa may favor gametophytic crossing and gametophytic selfing, respectively. In this view, intraspecific polyploids of three fern species (Phegopteris decursive-pinnata, Lepisorus thunbergianus and Pteris dispar) have been investigated for the amount of genetic load or the rate of gametophytic selfing. As expected, a marked contrast of mating systems is found between diploids and tetraploids; the former predominantly undergo gametophytic crossing and the latter predominantly undergo gametophytic selfing. It seems likely that diploid homosporous pteridophytes favor gametophytic crossing with some exceptions favoring gametophytic selfing as a derived condition, whereas polyploid homosporous pteridophytes favor gametophytic selfing predominantly.
Thrombopoietin-induced Dami cells as a model for α-granule biogenesis

Megakaryocytic α-granules contain secretory proteins relevant to megakaryocyte and platelet functions. Understanding α-granule biogenesis is hampered because human primary megakaryocytes are difficult to manipulate. Existing promegakaryocytic cell lines do not spontaneously exhibit mature α-granules. Dami cells, transfected with the megakaryocytic platelet factor 4, fused to GFP (PF4-GFP), were induced in the presence of thrombopoietin (TPO), a megakaryocyte cytokine and PMA. Using confocal microscopy, PF4-GFP colocalized with von Willebrand Factor (vWF) in newly formed storage granules. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated α-granule-like features, including a dense core or parallel tubules and colocalization of PF4-GFP and vWF. Hence, TPO-treated Dami cells are a suitable model to study α-granules and their biogenesis.
Bovine γδ T Cell Subsets Express Distinct Patterns of Chemokine Responsiveness and Adhesion Molecules: A Mechanism for Tissue-Specific γδ T Cell Subset Accumulation1

Subsets of γδ T cells localize to distinct tissue sites in the absence of exogenous Ag stimulation or development of effector/memory cells. Selective lymphocyte homing from the blood into tissues is controlled by a multistep process involving vascular and lymphocyte adhesion molecules, and G protein-linked chemokine receptors. The role of these mechanisms in the tissue tropism of γδ T cells is still poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that a subset of γδ T cells, most of which express an antigenically distinct TCR and are characterized by coexpression of CD8, selectively accumulated in tissues that expressed high levels of the mucosal vascular addressin, mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule 1. These cells expressed higher levels of α4β7 integrins than other γδ T cell subsets and selectively migrated to the CCR7 ligand secondary lymphoid-tissue chemokine (CCL21). Integrin activation by CCL21 selectively increased CD8+γδ T cell binding to recombinant mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule 1. These results suggest that the tropism of circulating CD8+γδ T cells for mucosal tissues is due, at least in part, to selective developmental expression of adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors.
Influence of synthetic and natural fungicides, environmental and physiological factors on the uredospore germination of the pathogen causing rust disease in cowpea

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. ) Is one of the most important pulse crops in Karnataka. Rust disease caused by Uromyces phaseoli var. vignae (Barclay) Arthur is a major threat for its cultivation causing severe yield loss. Among the six fungicides and ten botanicals, maximum per cent inhibition of germination of uredospores was observed at 50ppm in propiconazole 25%EC (78.87%), followed by hexaconazole 5% EC (77.37%). Whereas, least per cent inhibition of uredospores germination was recorded in treatment with tebuconazole 25% EC at 10ppm (67.17%) followed by difenconazole 25% EC (75.70%). Among different botanicals neem extract at 7.5%showed highest inhibition of 68.06%, however, ginger extract at 2.5% recorded least uredospore germination of 26.10%. Inorder to know optimum temperature and relative humidity for Uredininospore germination, an experiment was conducted under at temperature between 5-35 C and relative humidity regimes ranging between 0-100%. The maximum per cent of uredopsores germination (80.50%) was recorded at 20°C. however germination did not occur at 0°C and 35°C. When the relative humidity was 100 per cent the per cent germination of uredospores was 83.67 per cent which was maximum. No germination occured at zero per cent relative humidity. Different nitrogen and Carbon sources were tested at three different concentrations to study the influence of physiological factors on uredinospore germination. Highest germination was recorded in sucrose at 1.5% (36.10%), whereas in case of 0.5% mannitol least germination (15.60%) was obtained. Among the nitrogen sources KNO3 at 1.5% concentration showed maximum germination of 68.07%, least germination was recorded in NaNO3 at 0.5% with 18.07% germination.
Far-field control of long-term changes in Northumberland (NW North Sea) coastal zooplankton

Zooplankton at a station 5.5 nautical miles oV the Northumberland coast has been monitored monthly since 1968. Multivariate statistics distinguish two groups in the samples, with a change in community structure around 1979. These groups are not the result of dramatic changes in the occurrence of key species, but reflect small changes in abundance of many species. This study investigates the relationship between temporal changes in this community and local meteorological factors, far-field hydrographic/ meteorological factors and internal, biotic, feedbacks, including availability of phytoplankton and abundance of predators. The results indicate good correlations for both zooplankton abundance and community structure with the position of the north wall of the Gulf Stream. Implications are discussed. 1996 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
Alternative sampling methods to estimate structure and reproductive characteristics of Aleppo pine forest in Tunisia.

Aleppo pine had a large forest cover in North Africa and along the Mediterranean basin which management is not fully developed and new forest tools are required. In this research, the forest structure, epidometric characteristics and allometric relationships were studied in 79 plots covering four bioclimatic zones from natural even aged forests of Aleppo pine located between eastern Algeria to the western coastal part of Tunisia. To characterize the forest structure three sampling methods were carried out: classical inventories (recording all pine trees), and two simplified approach using one average size or five dominant pine tree per plot. Annual growth increment and cone production were only calculated for the average size tree. Furthermore, the analysis of variance showed non-significant differences recorded between bioclimatic zones in trunk or crown diameter using the two simplified approach. Moreover, a significant decrease from wetter to drier areas in total height, crown height, cone seed production was observed only for average size tree method. However, the analysis of covariance showed significant differences between both approaches in total height, trunk diameter and crown coverage which were largely influenced by the pine tree density. In future investigations, we confirmed previous research that the dominant tree is a good sampling method to examine the site fertility, whereas the average size tree constitutes a valuable approach to study the population growth and reproduction.
Prevalence of Human Specific Giardia lamblia in Irish Sheltered Canines: An Unknown Risk Factor for Human Infection

Giardia lamblia is a prominent cause of parasitic-induced diarrhoea with prolonged infections linked to temporary malabsorption. In 2018, 270 giardiasis cases were notified in Ireland, a six-fold increase since 2013. Although G. lamblia is genetically grouped into 8 host-specific assemblages, with A and B specific to human infection and C and D specific to canine infection, reports of human-specific assemblages in canines are becoming more frequent. With increasing cases in Ireland and reports of zoonotic transmission potential, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of G. lamblia in Irish sheltered canines. Faecal samples were collected from two dog shelters in the west of Ireland. Real-time PCR was used to detect G. lamblia. Risk factors for G. lamblia colonisation were statistically analysed. Overall, 51 faecal samples were collected with a 67% prevalence of G. lamblia. There were 38% of dogs positive in Shelter 1 and 87% in Shelter 2. Shelter of origin (p=0.0006) and time spent in shelter (p=0.0013) were significantly associated with increased G. lamblia prevalence, with dogs present in the shelter more than two weeks 10 times more likely to be infected with G. lamblia (Odds Ratio:10.185; Confidence Interval:2.303-45.044). This is the first Irish study to assess presence of G. lamblia in dogs using real-time PCR. The high prevalence among asymptomatic dogs shows their potential to contribute to human illness if correct hand-hygiene is not observed. This quantitative data is important in the implementation of effective measures to tackle giardiasis in Ireland.
Genetic variability of a Criollo cattle population under conservation

The active germplasm Bank of the Integrated Unit (Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Unversidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and the Experimental Station of INTA) at Balcarce, keeps both in vivo (live herd) and in vitro Criollo Cattle (samples of semen and embryos cryogenically), with the aim of preserving genetic variability for potential future use. Parameters based on probable origin of genes, on population size and on the estimation of components of (co)variances for birth and weaning weights were estimated to evaluate the genetic variability of the material contained in the Bank. The information available came from 667 individuals, of which 84 had unknown parents, and 142 half-founders (only one parent known), having a mean number of births per year of 24 calves from four different sires. AI was performed during the mating season almost every year. The evolution of effective number of founders (fe), effective number of ancestors (fa), effective number of founder genomes (Ng) and the ratio fe/fa over different periods from the creation of the Bank, were analysed. Annual increase of inbreeding coefficient (F) was 0·2% and the effective population size (Ne) was estimated as 23, 14 and 25 individuals for the periods defined by years 1978–82, 1983–87 and 1993–97, respectively. The ratio fe/fa was higher in the years where the ratio number of sires/number of dams was lower, indicating that the impact of the effective number of sires is more important than the effective number of females in generating genetic bottlenecks. When the reference population was taken for the period 1989–97, 16·45 out of the 85·63 founders of the population made contributions not explained by other ancestors, but if possible losses of genomes due to genetic drift are considered, the number of genomes still present was reduced to 9·09 indicating a possible narrow genetic bottleneck in the last period. The Ng/fe ratio was 0·11, 0·10 and 0·11 for the reference populations defined by years 1989–92, 1993–97 and 1989–97, respectively. The main objective in germplasm conservation programmes should be the maintenance of genetic variability. Thus, matings in the population under conservation should be designed in order to mate those animals that maximize the effective number of genome founders (Ng) to avoid losses due to genetic drift.