Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationships between Fruiting Seasons and Seed Dispersal Methods in a Neotropical Forest

The weight of fruits and seeds that fell into 75 polyethylene sheets, each 152 x 152 cm, totalling 175 m2 in area, was measured over a period of 17 months in the humid forest of Barro Colorado Island, in the Panama Canal Zone. A total of 72 species of fruits and seeds fell into the traps, and the number falling into any individual trap varied from three to 14. The number of fruiting species per month varied from 11 to 26, while the combined weight of fruits and seeds varied from a monthly average of 0.61-1.930 gm/square meter per day. Small-seeded fruits ripened rather evenly throughout the year, whereas large-seeded fruits tended to be seasonal. Although the primary determinants of fruiting times may be physical, small fruits the seeds of which pass unharmed through the guts of animals tend to be nonseasonal and thus avoid competition for dispersal. Fruits with large seeds that are destroyed by the animals eating them fruit synchronously. The agouti (Dasyprocta punctata), being unable to devour the entire synchronous crop, scatterhoards much of it and, since it fails to find many of the buried seeds, aids in the dispersal of its food species.
Hurricane damage to a flood plain forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

Hurricane Hugo caused low to moderate damage to a flood plain forest that was partially protected by its topographic position. Treefalls and the location of damage suggested N to NW wind direction during the storm. Thirty percent of the trees, or 693 trees/ha, had some damage and 84 percent of the damage was to the canopy. Most of the damage to trees was caused by direct wind impact (83%) as opposed to secondary effects (16%). Over 80 percent of the snapped, leaning, and uprooted trees were dicotyledonous. Tree mortality was only 1 percent, and most of the damage to the sierra palm Prestoea montana (R. Grah.) Nichols was loss of leaves. Rapid refoliation, epicormic branching, adventitious root production, resprouting, and regeneration from seed in open areas were observed nine months after the event. Ten percent of the aboveground biomass and 12-16 percent of the nutrient stocks (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) were transferred to the forest floor, mostly in the form of woody biomass and nutrient-rich leaves. Palm leaves were the dominant leaf component of necromass. Instantaneous in situ fine and coarse necromass production was 10 and 9.2 Mg/ha, respectively. Net changes in aboveground mass, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg (in percent of prehurricane value) were 8, 3, 0, 3, 12, and 1, respectively, in spite of a high rate of loss by export. The source of additional mass and nutrients were boles from upland forests that fell into and remained inside the flood plain.
Avaliação da sensibilidade da goiabeira 'Pedro Sato' ao ozônio

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a sensibilidade da goiabeira 'Pedro Sato' ao ozonio (O 3 ), em comparacao a cultivar Paluma, descrita como sensivel. Oito plantas de cada cultivar foram submetidas separadamente a ar filtrado e a ar filtrado + O 3 , cinco horas por dia, durante quatro dias. Foram avaliadas fotossintese (A sat ), injurias foliares visiveis e concentracao de antocianinas e taninos. Plantas das duas cultivares tambem foram expostas, durante tres meses, a condicoes ambientais em local contaminado por O 3 , tendo-se avaliado fotossintese, injurias foliares e crescimento. Plantas fumigadas com O 3 apresentaram reducao de A sat e da atividade fotoquimica, alem de manifestacao de injurias foliares. 'Paluma' apresentou maior reducao de A sat , injurias foliares mais severas e reducao de taninos. Quando exposta ao ambiente contaminado, 'Paluma' apresentou trocas gasosas mais altas, mas apresentou reducao de A sat 30 dias antes que 'Pedro Sato'. O crescimento nao foi afetado em 'Pedro Sato', cujas injurias foliares tiveram menor incidencia, severidade e precocidade do que em 'Paluma'. A menor taxa de crescimento de 'Paluma' indica maior sensibilidade ao O 3 . Apesar de responder com menor intensidade ao estresse induzido pelo O 3 , a cultivar Pedro Sato nao pode ser considerada tolerante, pois apresenta danos fotoquimicos, injurias foliares e alteracoes nos conteudos de metabolitos secundarios quando exposta a esse poluente.
Variability in grain quality traits of aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The present study involved the evaluation of physio-chemical characters and cooking quality of 36 rice genotypes from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The fine grain genotypes like Rajim-12, Kalimuchh, and Munibhog were found good for moderate kernel length and L:B ratio; Rajabhog, Jhulari, and Baghmuchha for kernel length after cooking and L:B ratio of cooked rice Kalajira and Bikoni for head rice recovery%; Barang, Bantaphool, Gangabalu, and Bikoni for elongation ratio; Barang, Rajabhog, Gangabalu, Bikoni, and Chirainikhi for elongation index; Sonth, Rajim-12, Jhulari, Gangabalu, Jhilli Safri, and Bikoni for intermediate alkali values. These genotypes may be utilized as donors for improvement of quality traits. In the present study, superior genotypes were Rajm-12 for grain yield, kernel length, L:B ratio and kernel length after cooking; Rajabhog for grain yield, kernel length after cooking, L:B of cooked rice and elongation index; Bikoni for head rice recovery, elongation ratio, elongation index, and intermediate alkali values. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/bjar.v37i4. 14352 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 37(4): 551-558, December 2012
Avaliação de Trichogramma spp. para o controle de Trichoplusia ni

The objective of this study was to evaluate the biological characteristics of the parasitoids Trichogramma acacioi, T. atopovirilia, T. marandobai, T. demoraesi, T. exiguum (two lines), and T. pretiosum (six lines), reared on eggs of Trichoplusia ni. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design, with 15 replicates. The biological characteristics evaluated were: parasitism, viability, sexual ratio and number of individuals per egg. The parasitism percentage varied between 7.66 and 53%, whith highest value observed for Trichogramma pretiosum Tspd line, and the lowest for the T. pretiosum Trecife line. There was no significant difference for the viability, which remained higher than 85%. The sex ratio varied from 0.75 to 1, and Tspd line showed the lowest value. The number of individuals per egg varied between 2.39 for T. marandobai (Tm1 line) and 1.34 for T. exiguum (Te1 line). T. pretiosum (Tspd line) was the species with the best performance in laboratory with the highest values observed in parasitism and in viability.
Predicting Teachers’ Perception of Inclusion: What is the Role of Self- Efficacy?

This research examines the influence of teachers’ perception of self-efficacy (TPSE) on their attitudes towards inclusion (TATI). Data were collected from a sample of 224 elementaryschool teachers in the country were the research was conducted. A path analysis procedure was employed to test the mediating effect of background variables, job variables, organizational variables, and TPSE on TATI. Results indicated that the most influential factor for predicting TATI is their perception of professional self-efficacy (PSE) concerning pedagogical issues. A Teacher who shows positive attitudes towards social inclusion is one who has high levels of TPSE, is well educated, but has less work experience. Thus, the teacher who shows positive attitudes towards the achievement component of TATI is --and must be-a teacher with high levels of pedagogical self-efficacy.
A Landscape Approach to Biodiversity Conservation of Sacred Groves in the Western Ghats of India

Abstract: Although sacred groves are important for conservation in India, the landscape that surrounds them has a vital influence on biodiversity within them. Research has focused on tree diversity inside these forest patches. In a coffee‐growing region of the Western Ghats, however, landscape outside sacred groves is also tree covered because planters have retained native trees to provide shade for coffee plants. We examined the diversity of trees, birds, and macrofungi at 58 sites—10 forest‐reserve sites, 25 sacred groves, and 23 coffee plantations— in Kodagu district. We measured landscape composition and configuration around each site with a geographic information system. To identify factors associated with diversity we constructed multivariate models by using a decision‐tree technique. The conventional measures of landscape fragmentation such as patch size did not influence species richness. Distance of sacred groves from the forest reserve had a weak influence. The measures of landscape structure (e.g., tree cover in the surroundings) and stand structure (e.g., variability in canopy height) contributed to the variation in species richness explained by multivariate models. We suggest that biodiversity present within sacred groves has been influenced by native tree cover in the surrounding landscape. To conserve this biodiversity the integrity of the tree‐covered landscape matrix will need to be conserved.
Preferences and Food Quality of Fruit‐Feeding Butterflies in Kibale Forest, Uganda 1

Many butterflies in tropical forests feed on fruits that have fallen to the forest floor. This substrate differs in many ways from floral nectar, and therefore fruit‐feeding butterflies are expected to possess adaptations for efficient foraging, choice, and ingestion of their food. Differences in food quality and in spatial and temporal availability are also likely to have led to life history evolution. Here we describe the sugar and nitrogen content of fruits that butterflies feed on in a tropical forest in Uganda, and measure the attractiveness of these fruits to the local butterfly fauna together with the role that decay plays in the attraction. These data are supplemented with feeding observations at fruit falls in the forest. Our results show that (1) fruits contain significant and variable concentrations of sugar and nitrogen, and constitute a nutritious food source for butterflies in tropical forests; (2) fruit‐feeding butterflies use cues from the fruits and fermentation products to locate their food; (3) different classes of fruit‐feeding butterflies may vary in their preferences for certain fruits, and differ in their ability to find preferred food; and (4) fruit choice is not strongly correlated with attractiveness or nutrient content. The results are discussed in the light of the evolution of food searching and life history strategies.
Mussel Remains from Prehistoric Salt Works, Clarke County, Alabama

Abstract Archaeological research at salt springs in Clarke County, AL (Tombigbee River drainage), documented bivalve mollusk exploitation by late prehistoric American Indians. A total of 582 valves representing 19 species of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) and an estuarine clam (Mactridae) from the Lower Salt Works Site (ca. A.D. 900–1550) and 41 valve fragments representing 6 mussel species from the Stimpson Site (ca. A.D. 1200–1550) were documented. The Lower Salt Works fauna was dominated numerically by Fusconaia ebena and Quadrula asperata, the dominant species reported during recent local surveys. The mussel species represented are known from medium to large streams in sand and gravel habitats and include four federally protected species and other species of conservation concern in Alabama. Results offer comparative data for other archaeological and ecological studies in the region.
A Comparative study of some carcass characteristics of Sudan Desert sheep and goats

Male Sudan desert sheep and goats of three age-groups, young, yearling and mature, were used to compare some of their carcass characteristics when reared under range conditions and in feedlot. Carcass traits studied were the dressing percentage, the percentage of bone in the carcass and wholesale cuts, chemical composition of meat, and muscle fibre thickness. An organoleptic test was carried out on meat from the fattened animals.The dressing percentage, percentage of edible meat, chemical fat and muscle fibre thickness were increased by fattening in the feedlot. Increases were also observed with advancing age, but the effect was more marked in fattened than unfattened animals. Goats yielded a higher carcass weight per unit live weight than sheep, the stomach content and skin weight relative to live weight being greater in the sheep than in the goats. Goats were shown to possess less chemical fat and thicker fibres than sheep. Taste panel scores revealed a highly significant (P < 0·005) treatment effect on tenderness and a significant (P = 0·5) treatment effect on juiciness in relation to age and species. Taste panel flavour scores were not associated with animal age or species.
Effect of Bt corn leaf suspension on food consumption by Chilo partellus and life history parameters of its parasitoid Cotesia flavipes under laboratory conditions

Laboratory scale experiments were conducted in order to assess the potential effect of Bacillus thuringiensis‐corn leaf material on the parasitized herbivore Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and on its parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Food consumption and relative consumption rate of parasitized hosts exposed to Bt‐corn leaf‐material were strongly reduced compared to the control. The number of hosts allowing parasitoid larvae to complete their development was also reduced in the Bt group. Moreover, the fresh weight of parasitoid pupae and the dry weight of parasitoid adults was lower than in the control. Only in the Bt group, were strong negative correlations found between food intake by the host, and the number of parasitoid cocoons. Strong positive correlations were also only found in the Bt group, between food intake and parasitoid development time. As effects of Bt on the oviposition behaviour of C. flavipes could be excluded, differences between the Bt group and the control could only be due to the effect of Bt toxin on the parasitoid larva developing inside the host. Whenever food consumption can be measured, the methods used in this study are proposed as a model for future risk assessments on different types of insect‐resistant transgenic plants, herbivores, parasitoids, and predators.
Learning to Discover Novel Visual Categories via Deep Transfer Clustering

We consider the problem of discovering novel object categories in an image collection. While these images are un-labelled, we also assume prior knowledge of related but different image classes. We use such prior knowledge to reduce the ambiguity of clustering, and improve the quality of the newly discovered classes. Our contributions are twofold. The ﬁrst contribution is to extend Deep Embed-ded Clustering to a transfer learning setting; we also improve the algorithm by introducing a representation bottle-neck, temporal ensembling, and consistency. The second contribution is a method to estimate the number of classes in the unlabelled data. This also transfers knowledge from the known classes, using them as probes to diagnose different choices for the number of classes in the unlabelled subset. We thoroughly evaluate our method, substantially outperforming state-of-the-art techniques in a large number of benchmarks, including ImageNet, OmniGlot, CIFAR-100, CIFAR-10, and SVHN.
Recovery of a rodent community in an agro-ecosystem after flooding

The Dongting Lake region is one of the areas prone to flood disaster in China. Despite the frequent occurrence of flooding in this area, few studies have analysed its effects on rodent communities, especially their recovery after withdrawal of floodwaters. We carried out a study of rodent recovery after flooding of the Dongting Lake region in 1998. Rodent population monitoring in the flooded countryside of the Dongting Lake region was conducted during 1998–2001. The census was conducted in Anzao polder of Anxian County in Hunan Province, where the dike burst in 1998 and thousands of hectares of farmland were flooded from July to October. The results indicate that flood disaster could provide important changes in rodent community structure. Firstly, species abundance in the post-flood area became less than in the normal area. Striped field mice Apodemus agrarius colonized the flooded area in farmland until March 2000, and Norway rats Rattus norvegicus and house mice Mus musculus occurred in July and December 2000, respectively. The degree of the effect on the rodent community in residential premises is less than that in farmland. However, the rodent community in the flooded area could recover and become similar to the normal community. The recovery of rodent species composition was faster in residential premises than in farmland after flooding. Secondly, there was a similar tendency of the dominant concentration indices between post-flood and normal areas. Thirdly, inundation for a long period could reduce the species diversity of the rodent community in farmland. The significant difference in abundance was continued to 2000 in post-flooded farmland; however, the influence on the rodent community in residential premises was less and their diversity indices did not differ in 1999. Similarity indices indicated that variation between post-flood and normal areas had been gradually becoming low from 1999 to 2001. Finally, the monitoring data showed that rodent populations in the flooded area were less than those in the normal area in the first step after withdrawal of floodwaters. However, the rodent population increased rapidly in the flooded area, and became greater than that in the unflooded area in half a year. The population in the flooded area also increased faster than that in unflooded neighbouring area after the application of rodenticide. Another phenomenon was that the population density of rodents could reach levels greater than the normal area, and may continue for more than 2 years. Flood disasters could reduce population densities and species abundance, species diversity and evenness, while increasing dominant concentration indices of the rodent community. However, after 3 years, the rodent community structure became similar to that in the non-flooded area, except for high density. The recovery of rodent communities in residential premises was faster than that in farmland for a lesser degree of flooding.
Boro em solos de várzea do sul de Minas Gerais e a cultura do feijoeiro

Aiming to evaluate the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plant response to boron application in lowland soils, an experiment was conducted in greenhouse conditions, involving four soils (0-20 cm), Low Humic Glei (LHG), Aluvial (A), Humic Gley (HG) and Bog soil (O), the last being artificially drained, all collected in Lavras, MG, Brazil. The experimental design was totally randomized, with four replications, in a 4x7 factorial scheme, consisting of the 4 soils and of 7 B doses (0; 0.25; 0.5; 1.5; 3.0; 6.0 and 10.0 mg dm-3). The soils received dolomitic lime, macro and micronutrients, and the respective doses of B, and were incubated for 24 days. Before seeding, the soils were sampled and analysed for B (hot water). Two plants were cultivated in 3 dm3 pots; at grain maturation the plants were harvested and the dry matter of grains, the number of pods per plant, and the number of grains per pod were evaluated. The results showed significant responses of the bean plant to the applied boron. The B doses, promoting 90% of the maximum yield, varied from 1.04 to 1.25; for maximum yield, varied from 2.50 to 2.85; and for 10% reduction of the yield due to toxicity, varied from 4.54 to 5.33 mg dm-3. The ranking of the productive potential of the soils for 90% of the maximum yield was the following: Humic Gley > Aluvial = Bog > Low Humic Gley.
Influence of macromolecules and treatments on the behavior of aroma compounds in a model wine

Etude de l'influence des macromolecules et des traitements de clarification stabilisation. Analyse de la fixation des composes volatils par filtration. Les caseinates de sodium et les mannanes interviennent dans les phenomenes de fixation des aromes. Recherche sur les mecanismes mis en œuvre
Effect of aspect, tree age and tree diameter on bark thickness of Picea orientalis

Abstract The volume of bark is a function of bark thickness and tree diameter, thus bark and tree volume calculations depend on accurate determination of bark thickness. Bark thickness is affected by a number of inherent and external factors. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting bark thickness and to derive models predicting bark thickness for Picea orientalis (L.) Link. This study indicated that bark thickness at breast height was strongly correlated with geographical aspect, tree age and diameter classes, and bark thickness increased as tree age or diameter class increased in sunny or shady aspect. Diameter over bark at breast height explained 50% of the variations in double bark thickness at breast height on shady aspects and 68% of the variations in double bark thickness of P. orientalis at breast height on sunny aspects. By adding tree age to the functions, the coefficient of determination increased by 1–2%. Thus, not only tree ages and diameters, but also the aspect in which trees grow should be taken into account to calculate the amounts of wood and bark in P. orientalis.
Relative resource allocation to dispersal and competition demonstrates the putative role of hybridity in geographical parthenogenesis

Asexual organisms frequently have larger ranges than their sexual progenitors, a phenomenon referred to as geographical parthenogenesis (GP). In plants, GP is associated not only with asexuality (apomixis), but also with polyploidization and hybridity (allopolyploidy). Dispersal is thought to play a role in range‐size differences in other taxa, but has not been directly related to GP. Here, we compare resource allocation to dispersal‐related traits in sexual diploids, asexual autopolyploids and asexual allopolyploids, and relate these differences to patterns of GP.
Systematic relationships within the Vibrionaceae (Bacteria: Gammaproteobacteria): steps toward a phylogenetic taxonomy

A phylogenetic hypothesis is presented for all 95 species of the family Vibrionaceae (Bacteria: Gammaproteobacteria) based on a combined analysis of eight molecular loci (16S rRNA, gyrB, recA, rpoA, gapA, mreB, topA, atpA) for up to 9337 nucleotide characters. Members of this taxon exhibit diverse life histories, including bioluminescence, pathogenicity to human and marine organisms, symbiosis, quorum sensing and extremophilic environment living, making a hypothesis of phylogenetic history important to studies addressing these traits from an evolutionary perspective. It is proposed that this phylogenetic set of relationships replaces previous phenetic hypotheses and be used to construct a phylogenetic taxonomy. Recent taxonomic proposals, including the validity of four, instead of one, families representing the 95 species and historical notions of genera within the group are compared with the presented phylogenetic hypothesis. Character support is traced through the tree and is used to address these taxonomic proposals. Photobacterium is not a monophyletic group as it is currently delimited. Aliivibrio is found within Photobacterium, suggesting a new definition for Photobacterium that includes all species of Aliivibrio. Enterovibrio, Salinivibrio and Grimontia, previously thought to be distinct from and basal to Photobacterium and Vibrio, are found nested deeply within a large Vibrio clade.