Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Habitat fragmentation, EFN‐bearing trees and ant communities: Ecological cascades in Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil

Habitat fragmentation has a marked impact on the functional composition of tropical forest tree assemblages, and such change is likely to cascade through other trophic levels. Here, we investigate how habitat fragmentation affects extrafloral nectary (EFN)-bearing plants and ant functional groups known to attend EFNs in a fragmented landscape of the Atlantic Forest. Extrafloral nectary-bearing trees were identified in 50 0.1-ha plots located in forest fragments, edge and interior patches. Ants were surveyed in 30 1-m2 litter samples in each of 17 forest fragments and in forest interior. Extrafloral nectary-bearing plants accounted for 19.9% of individuals and 10.5% of species and included both pioneer and shade-tolerant species similarly rich in the three habitat types. However, shade-tolerant individuals accounted for >80% of EFN-bearing plants in forest interior, compared with 2% in forest edge and 29% in fragments. Forest edge and fragment plots had a third fewer EFN-bearing individuals and species compared with forest interior. This appeared to have important implications for local ant communities as the density of EFN-bearing trees was the most important variable explaining the species richness of arboreal dominant ants. Our results show that plant loser–winner replacements promoted by forest fragmentation can cascade through higher trophic levels, with implications for forest dynamics and biodiversity conservation.
THE PERMEABILITY OF THE SENSORY PEGS ON THE ANTENNAE OF THE GRASSHOPPER (ORTHOPTERA, ACRIDIDAE)

1. When an aqueous solution of acid fuchsin is applied to the surface of the living antenna of a grasshopper the dye enters the tips of the largest of three types of basiconic sense organs while the other two types are unaffected.2. The permeability to water and to dye of these long basiconic pegs on the antenna of the living grasshopper strongly supports the conclusions of earlier workers with other insects that such structures may serve as chemoreceptors, as hygroreceptors, or as both.3. The permeability to water and to dye of the pegs of the coeloconic sense organs on the surface of the antennae of preserved grasshoppers suggests that these, too, may function as chemoreceptors, as hygroreceptors, or as both but the evidence is less satisfactory than it is for the long basiconic pegs.4. Positive results with the staining method described in the present paper indicate that the structure tested is permeable to acid fuchsin and to water and, probably, to many other substances as well. Negative results mean.
Ethnomycological notes from western Burundi.

General attitude, perception, identification and preparation of edible fungi in the Bujumbura - Rumonge area of Burundi, Central Africa, are discussed. A first list of 32 edible mushrooms belonging to Aphyllophorales, Agaricales, Russulales and Boletales is given with citation of available vernacular names. R? sum? Notes ethnomycologiques de l'Ouest du Burundi. L'attitude g? n? rale, la perception, l'identification et la pr? paration des champignons comestibles dans la r? gion de Bujumbura ? Rumonge au Burundi, Afrique centrale, sont discut? es. Une premi? re liste de 32 champignons comestibles appartenant aux Aphyllophorales, aux Agaricales, aux Russulales et aux Boletales est fournie avec citation des noms vernaculaires not? s.
A QUANTITATIVE EXAMINATION OF TESTICULAR GROWTH IN THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW

1. The rate of testicular development in Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii has been examined quantitatively as functions of day-length, light intensity, and environmental temperature.2. From these laboratory-established relations a predicted curve for testicular growth under natural conditions was calculated and compared with data obtained from a natural population. The predicted curve indicates the attainment of 100mg. combined testicular weight about ten days earlier than its occurrence in the natural population. Although this relatively small discrepancy may be reasonably explained on a statistical basis, it is not possible to rule out minor effects by environmental variables other than daily photoperiod and temperature.3. The calculations, and the relatively close agreement with the observations of the natural population, emphasize quantitatively the overwhelming importance of the daily photoperiod as the primary timer in the testicular cycle for this population of Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii. Other.
Improving nitrogen-use efficiency through essential oils’ coated prilled urea in aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system

A field investigation was carried out at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during kharif seasons of 2010 and 2011 on aromatic hybrid rice PRH-10. Combinations of different levels of nitrogen (75 and 150 kg ha -1 ) and different sources (coated prilled ureas with two kinds of essential oil at 2 thickness) were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design with three replications. The results indicated that the treatments differed significantly in respect of the LAI, dry matter accumulation (DM), CGR, RGR and NAR. Among the treatments, CCPU1000@N150 gave numerically higher number of tillers m -2 and plant height at 60 and 90 days after sowing (DAS) and uncoated prilled urea at 150 kg N ha -1 (PU@150) gave the highest values of LAI and dry matter accumulation at 30 DAS, but at 60 and 90 DAS, highest values were recorded with CCPU1000@N150. Furthermore, coating of prilled urea either with citronella or palmarosa oil at higher thickness of coating (1000 mg kg -1 ) was more effective than lower thickness of coating (500 mg kg -1 ) in increasing the DM of rice at both 60 ,90 DAS and at harvest during either years of the present field study. Various sources of N@150 kg ha -1 recorded significantly higher SLW, CGR and RGR than lower level of 75 kg ha -1 , irrespective of the N source during the year 2010 at 30, 60 and 90 DAS. CCPU1000@N150 recorded the highest SLW during both the years. CCPU1000@N150 recorded significantly higher CGR at 30-60 DAS and 60-90 DAS over CCPU500@N150 , PCPU 500 @N150, PCPU1000@N150. The RGR was highest between 0-30 DAS and decreased consistently with advancement in growth reaching lowest values between 90-harvest. CCPU500@N150 and CCPU1000@N150 maintained numerically higher RGR at most of the growth stages. Between 0-30 DAS high NAR was maintained which drastically reduced during 3060 DAS and slightly increased thereafter. The application of N to preceding wheat had a non-significant residual effect on NAR in second year of rice.
Bumblebees depend on ericaceous species to survive in temperate heathlands

Bumblebees are the predominant wild pollinators for many plant species in temperate regions. A bumblebee colony requires pollen and nectar throughout its lifetime, but degraded and fragmented habitats may have gaps in the temporal and spatial continuity of floral resources. Heathlands are open biotopes that provide favourable habitat for bumblebees like Bombus jonellus, a declining species in Belgium. In heathlands, ericaceous species are the main plants that provide pollen and nectar for bumblebees. Although the nectar composition of ericaceous species has been previously studied, data on pollen composition remain scarce. We examined bumblebee diets (composition of their pollen loads) in Belgian heathlands over the course of a colony lifetime to assess the fidelity of bumblebees for ericaceous species. We compared nutritional values by investigating the chemical composition (amino acids, polypeptides and sterols) of the pollen of the ericaceous and dominant non‐ericaceous species present in pollen loads. No relationship was detected between the abundance of a particular plant species in bumblebee loads and its pollen composition. The successive flowering periods and the nutritional quality of pollen of ericaceous species offer valuable resources for bumblebees. Ericaceous species represent a large part of bumblebee diets in heathlands, especially in early spring and late summer when the diversity of other flowering species was low. Bumblebee pollen loads also contained non‐ericaceous flowering species that grow outside heathlands. Thus, land planning must incorporate conservation strategies for the different elements of the landscape matrix, including heathlands, peatlands, meadows and margins.
Cold Hardiness in the Genus Rhododendron

Cold hardiness of 101 Rhododendron genotypes was assessed. In hardy rhododendrons, the difference in hardiness between floral primordia and other tissues or organs was greater than in the less hardy species. All rhododendrons tested were divided into 4 hardiness divisions: very hardy, semihardy, hardy, and tender. In all hardiness divisions, the vegetative buds, leaves, and stem cortex were hardiest, whereas the floral primorida were least hardy, with a lowest survival temperature (LST) of −35°C or higher. The majority of the very hardy division of rhododendrons, such as R. brachycarpum D. , R. catawbiense Michx. , and R. maximum L. , belong to the ponticum series. In general, rhododendrons from cold regions were hardier than those from warm regions. The hardiness of the floral primordia of rhododendrons growing near the timberline (3900 m alt.) of East Himalaya and the high altitudes of the northwestern Yunnan area were similar (−20° to −23°). These were less hardy than those found in the subalpine forests of Japan and eastern North America, probably due to moderate temperature and high humidity during the winter in eastern Himalaya and northwestern Yunnan.
A NEW SAUROPOD FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS OF MONGOLIA

A description is given of Quaesitosaurus orientaLis gen. et sp. nov., assigned to the subfamily Dicraeosaurinae. Brief data about its living habits are presented. * * * The saurian dinosaurs are a constant element of dinosaur faunas of all conti­ nents. However, complete skeletons are extremely rare, as are isolated cranial dis­ coveries. For instance, from Cretaceous deposits of Asia, only two species have been described on the basis of a complete skull, and only one, on the basis of a brain case and cervical vertebrae. The remaining species of Asiatic sauropods are known only from fragments of the post-cranial skeleton or from isolated teeth. Therefore the discovery by the Combined Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedi­ tion of an almost complete skull of a sauropod, belonging to the new genus Quaesito­ saurus, is of particular interest. The skull was discovered in the western part of the Shara-Tsav bluffs, located 8 km to the north of the well-known Upper Cretaceous reptile locality at Bayshin-Tsav (2). The bluffs consist of mottled marls, clays, siltstones, sandstones, and grits of the Barungoyot Formation. Besides the Quaesito­ saurus skull, the locality yielded a skeleton of the ornithomimid GaLLimimus sp. and a substantial part of the skeleton of the theropod Avimimus portentosus (1), which also place the deposits in the Barungoyot.
Role of the Brn-3a and Brn-3b POU family transcription factors in cancer

Brn-3a and Brn-3b are closely-related POU family transcription factors both of which play an important role in the nervous system. However, both these factors were originally isolated from a neuroblastoma cell line and their expression has been shown to be altered in several different human cancers. Interestingly, functional studies have shown that Brn-3b has a growth-stimulating effect in neurobastomas, whereas Brn-3a has a growth-inhibiting effect. Similarly, Brn-3b is over-expressed in human breast cancers and stimulates their growth. However, Brn-3a is strongly over-expressed in human cervical cancer and stimulates cervical tumour growth by activating expression of the human papilloma virus E6 and E7 oncogenes which are essential for development of this tumour. Hence, these closely-related factors play critical but distinct roles in different human cancers.
Circulation in the Leech, Hirudo Medicinalis L

In the leech, the physiological significance of high-pressure phases (HIP) and lowpressure phases (LOP) of the lateral vessels was studied by intravascular pressure recordings and observation of blood flow in different parts of the circulatory system, and by measurements of the blood flow velocities in the dorsal vessel. Different shapes of the pressure pulses were found in the anterior lateral vessel segments during HIP and LOP phases, according to the different modes of diastolic filling in both phases. Pressure recordings in the lateral abdominal vessels showed the different action of the lateral abdominal sphincters in the HIP and LOP phases of the ipsilateral lateral vessel. The LOP contractions were responsible for the blood supply to the capillary networks of the organs and the body wall, with the possible exception of the intestine. The HIP contractions caused a forward bloodflow within the lateral vessel. In the dorsal vessel, the blood pressure was about 0.9-1.9kPa in different animals. The blood flow was discontinuous with velocities of 0.5-10 mms −1 . Average blood flow in the dorsal vessel was 22. 9μl min −1 . An improved model of the circulation in the leech is presented.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Sarcomeric Protein Genes: Association withChemotherapy Induced Cardiomyopathy

Seventeen chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy (CM) patients and 100 volunteer blood donors (VBD) were analyzed for genetic variability in the following sarcomeric protein genes: cardiac alpha actin (ACTC); myosin light chain 2 (MYL2); myosin light chain 3 (MYL3); myosin heavy chain 7 (MYH7); myosin binding protein C3 (MYBPC3); tropomyosin 1 (TPM1); cardiac troponin I (TNNI3); and cardiac troponin T (TNNT2). No previously published mutations associated with familial CM were found in any of the subjects. No differences in the subjects and the published literature were found in the ACTC, MYL2, or TNNI3 genes. However, eight single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in the other genes analyzed: a base change in intron 1a of TPM1; a synonymous change in exon 4 of TPM1; a base change in intron 11 of TNNT2; base changes in introns 2 and 4 of MYL3; a base change in introns 8 and 11 of MYH7; and a synonymous change in exon 31 of MYPC3. Both homozygous and heterozygous genotypes for each of these areas were identified among the subjects. Certain genotypes occurred more frequently in the CM patients and were deemed to be “skewed”, with the MYH7I8 (TT) genotype approaching statistical significance (p = 0.052). Eighty-eight percent of the CM patients had one or more “skewed” genotypes, while only 64 percent of the VBD had this genetic pattern (p = 0.032). An increasing number of “skewed” genotypes was significantly associated with cardiomyopathy. Certain genotypes did not occur at all among the CM patients, and theoretically may confer protection against chemotherapy induced toxicity. Only one subject, a woman who developed CM on trastuzumab, had the genotype MYL3I2 (T/T), MYL3I4 (C/C), MYH7I11 (CC). Additional in vitro and clinical studies are warranted to understand the phenotypic, physiologic, and clinical significances of these variabilities in the sarcomeric protein genes.
Infection and Infertility

Infection is a multifactorial process, which can be induced by a virus, bacterium, or para‐ site. It may cause many diseases, including obesity, cancer, and infertility. In this chapter, we focus our attention on the association of infection and fertility alteration. Numerous studies have suggested that genetic polymorphisms influencing infection are associated with infertility. So we also review the genetic influence on infection and risk of infertility.
Systematics and origin of moths in the subfamily Arctiinae (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) in the Neotropical region

The availability of standard protocols to obtain DNA sequences has allowed the inference of phylogenetic Hypotheses for many taxa, including moths. We here have inferred a phylogeny using maximum‐Likelihood and Bayesian approaches for a species‐rich group of moths (Erebidae, Arctiinae), with strong emphasis on Neotropical genera collected in different field campaigns in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, eastern Amazon and southern Ecuador. A total of 277 species belonging to 246 genera were included in the analysis. Our main objectives were to shed light on the relationships between suprageneric groups, especially subtribes, and hypothesize colonization events in and out of the Neotropics. The monophyly of Arctiinae and its four tribes (Lithosiini, Amerilini, Syntomini and Arctiini) was recovered in the ML and Bayesian trees. Three Lithosiini subtribes previously found and two additional species groups were recovered monophyletic in both phylogenetic estimation methods. In Arctiini, the monophyly of Spilosomina and Arctiina was highly supported in the ML and Bayesian trees, but the monophyly of Ctenuchina and Echromiina was weakly supported in the ML tree and absent in the Bayesian tree; the remaining subtribes were paraphyletic and, in the case of Phageopterina, formed several species groups. The mapping of species occurrence in our ML tree suggests that Arctiinae have an Old World origin and that the Neotropical region was colonized at least six times independently. Our analysis also suggests that a number of species that occur in Neotropical and other zoogeographic regions may have originated in the Neotropics, although further taxon sampling is required to support this hypothesis. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a highly speciose group of tropical moths is well covered in a phylogeny, and it seems plausible that the results reported here may be extendable to other species‐rich tropical undersampled moth taxa.
Inferring the role of microorganisms in water kefir fermentations

Summary Water kefir is a slightly alcoholic, lactic and acetic beverage fermented by yeasts, lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria that are associated with the polysaccharide of the water kefir grains. In this study, the three main metabolic products of microorganisms were evaluated during a traditional 192-h water kefir fermentation and also after inoculating the microorganisms in fresh medium or sterilised broth from different fermentation stages. The first process to occur was alcoholic fermentation, carried out in particular by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After 24 h, lactic and acetic acid accumulation was generated by Lactobacillus hilgardii and Acetobacter tropicalis. By the end of fermentation, ethanol had been almost entirely consumed and oxidised to acetic acid, possibly by a dissimilatory route of Acetobacter species. An original hypothetical diagram is proposed for the carbon flux from sucrose, and the metabolic role of the main yeasts and bacteria is assigned for the distinct stages of water kefir fermentation.
Biology And Conservation Of Wild Canids

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Micropropagation of Aristolochia rotunda L.

Abstract An original protocol of micropropagation of Aristolochia rotunda L. , an important herb for the survival of an endangered butterfly was developed. The cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine affected the production of new shoots but had no effect on shoot length. The addition of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) had a negative effect on shoot length. Best results in terms of rooting percentage and root length were achieved with 1.5 μM IBA. The protocol can be employed to enhance the number of A. rotunda in the environment.
Above- and belowground patterns in a subalpine grassland-shrub mosaic

Abstract Many mountain pastures consist of a mosaic of grassland and shrub communities. Ongoing changes in mountain agriculture have affected the balance between the two elements of the mosaic. In order to understand the consequences of these changes for ecosystem functioning, we studied patterns in vegetation, root structure and soil properties along transects of varying grassland-to-shrub proportions. Our hypothesis was that differences in the vegetation aboveground are accompanied by differences belowground, related to soil properties and depth. The research was conducted at a subalpine site in the Trentino region (South-eastern Alps), consisting of Nardus stricta grasslands alternating with shrub patches of Rhododendron ferrugineum. Our investigation showed that the composition of vegetation was mainly governed by R. ferrugineum cover and less by soil properties. Plant species richness peaked at low to intermediate degrees of shrub cover and composition between transects became more similar with increasing shrub cover. Where R. ferrugineum cover was higher, Hemicryptophytes caespitosae were replaced by Nano-phanerophytes with consequences for belowground structures. At increasing shrub cover, root length density decreased, especially in the top soil, while root weight density remained stable and C content increased insignificantly. We discuss that theses structural changes along the gradient of R. ferrugineum cover affect a number of ecosystem services. The presented evidence suggests that maintaining grasslands with a low cover of R. ferrugineum balances a number of services, namely plant species diversity, carbon stabilization in soil and the prevention of soil erosion.
The Production of Drone Comb by Honeybee Colonies

SUMMARYDrone-cell production reached its annual peak in April and May, in colonies building their own comb. The amount of drone comb they produced was controlled by the amount already present. The presence of an immature or adult queen stimulated worker-comb production; the absence of a queen did not stimulate drone-comb production, but the presence of occupied queen cells did so.
Production efficiency and productivity growth in Norwegian sawmilling

Production efficiency of Norwegian sawmilling was examined using Data Envelopment Analysis. The analysis was carried out on an extensive panel data set, including about 200 sawmills during the period 1974 to 1991. Productivity growth throughout the period was investigated using the Malmquist productivity index. The results indicate that approximately 30% of the sawmills were producing efficiently when assuming constant returns to scale. Estimated production growth approximated 1% per year.