Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Diet Supplementation on Water Quality, Phytoplankton Community Structure, and the Growth of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), Common Carp, Cyprinus carpio (L.), and Silver Carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (V.), Polycultured in Fertilized Earthen Ponds

ABSTRACT In semi-intensive aquaculture systems, cultured fish can rely on natural food, produced through fertilization, up to certain size. Beyond this size, supplemental diet becomes imperative to sustain optimum fish growth. The application of supplemental diet to fish ponds should be optimized. In this regard, the present study was carried out to examine the relative importance of top-down (fish predation) and bottom-up (nutrient addition) control to phytoplankton dynamics in earthen fish ponds receiving different rates of supplemental feed for 19 weeks, and polycultured with Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.); common carp, Cyprinus carpio (L.); and silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (V.). Ten earthen ponds (0.1 ha each) were used in this study. Each pond was stocked with 1,000 Nile tilapia (13.7±1.2 g), 200 common carp (10.7±1.7 g) and 1,000 silver carp (1.8±0.3 g). The supplemental diet was provided to the ponds at a daily rate of 0.0% (control), 0.5%, 1%, 3%, and 5% of fish biomass. Water quality analyses revealed that water temperature, pH, free ammonia, and water conductivity were not significantly affected by feeding rate, while dissolved oxygen, orthophosphate, and nitrate levels were significantly (P < 0.05) increased with increasing feeding levels. Average Secchi disk reading was significantly (P < 0.05) lower at higher feeding rates. Chlorophyll a content and phytoplankton and zooplankton densities were also directly correlated to feeding rate up to 5%. The maximum growth of Nile tilapia and common carp was obtained at feeding rate of 3% and 5%, respectively, while the maximum growth of silver carp was obtained at 0.5% feeding rate. The best total fish production was obtained at 3% feeding rate. This study suggested that the optimum feeding rate for Nile tilapia, common carp, and silver carp reared in a polyculture system, in earthen ponds is 3% of fish biomass.
Yield and economic benefits of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and soybean (Glycine max) inoculation in northern Tanzania

On-farm experiments were conducted in farmers’ fields at 12 different sites in the 2 districts of Moshi and Rombo in northern Tanzania during the 2000–01 cropping season to study the effects of (brady)rhizobial inoculation in combination with P supply on growth and grain yields of soybean and common bean, and to assess the economic returns of these different technologies to farmers. A low level of N was included as an indicator of endogenous soil N status. The treatments included (brady)rhizobial inoculation, N fertilisation (30 kg N/ha as urea), P application [26 kg P/ha as triple super phosphate (TSP)], (brady)rhizobial inoculation + P fertilisation (26 kg/ha as TSP) and unfertilised uninoculated control. The study was conducted as a randomised complete block design with each of the 12 farmers’ fields as a replicate. At harvest, plant growth of soybean and common bean was significantly (P≤0.05) greater with (brady)rhizobial inoculation compared with N and P supply or uninoculated control in the 2 districts. Relative to uninoculated unfertilised plots, grain yields of common bean were markedly (P≤0.05) increased by 60–78% from inoculation alone, and 82–95% from inoculation + 26 kg P/ha; with soybean there was 127–139% increase in grain yield from inoculation alone, and 207–231% from inoculation + P. Thus, the combined application of bacterial inoculants and P fertiliser to field plants of soybean and common bean significantly (P≤0.05) increased biomass production and grain yield compared with the single use of N and P or (brady)rhizobial strains. From economic analysis, the increase in grain yield with inoculation translated into a significantly (P≤0.05) higher marginal rate of return and dollar profit for soybean and common bean farmers in northern Tanzania. With common bean, there was a 66 and 92% increase, respectively, in dollar profit with inoculation at Moshi and Rombo districts respectively relative to control; these profit margins rose to 84 and 102% with provision of supplemental P (26 kg P/ha). With soybean, however, the increase in profit with inoculation was much larger, about 140 and 153% at Rombo and Moshi, respectively, and these rose to 224 and 250% with P supply.
Phosphorylation of amyloid-β at the serine 26 residue by human cdc2 kinase

The amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide has been implicated in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using an antisense peptide approach a novel interaction between Aβ and the human cdc2 kinase was identified. The Aβ 1-42, 1-40 and 25-35 peptides were shown to be substrates for the cdc2 kinase and phosphorylated on the Serine 26 residue. Phosphorylated Aβ (pSAβ) was found in extracts from NT-2 neurons and AD brain. In NT-2 neurons the levels of pSAβ were increased in the presence of exogenous Aβ and this increase was prevented by a cdc2 protein kinase inhibitor, olomoucine, that also prevented Aβ cytotoxicity. The results from this study suggest that Aβ phosphorylation by cdc2 could play a role in the brain pathology of AD.
National identity, a blessing or a curse? The divergent links from national attachment, pride, and chauvinism to social and political trust

Is it true that national identity increases trust, as liberal nationalists assume? Recent research has studied this side of the ‘national identity argument’ by focusing on conceptions of the content of national identity (often civic or ethnic) and their links to social, rather than political, trust. This paper argues that if we take social identity theory seriously, however, we need to complement this picture by asking how varying the strength – rather than the content – of a person’s sense of their national identity affects both their social and political trust. We break down the different dimensions of national identity, hypothesizing and empirically verifying that there are divergent links from national attachment, national pride, and national chauvinism to social and political trust. We do so with data from the US (General Social Survey) and the Netherlands (Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences ), thus expanding current knowledge of national identity and trust to a highly relevant yet neglected European case.
Optimal Inflation Threshold and Economic Growth: Ordinal Regression Model Analysis

The study investigates the relationship between the inflation rate and economic growth to find out the optimal inflation threshold for economic growth. Therefore, this study applied an ordinary least square model (OLS) and the ordinal regression model, and collected the time-series data from 1996 to 2017 to test the relationship between inflation and economic growth in the short-term and long-term. The sample fits the model and is statistically significant. The study showed that 96.6% of correlation between inflation rate and economic growth are close and 4.5% of optimal inflation threshold is appropriate for economic growth. It finds that the optimal inflation threshold is base to perform economic growth, besides the inflation rate is positively related to economic growth. The results support the monetary policy appropriately. This study identifies issues for Government to consider: have a comprehensive solution among macroeconomic policies, monetary policy, fiscal policy and other policies to control and maintain the inflation and stimulate growth; have appropriate policies to regulate inflation to stimulate economic growth over the long term; set a priority goal for sustainable economic growth; not pursue economic growth by maintaining the inflation rate in the long term, but take appropriate measures to stabilize the inflation at the optimal inflation threshold.
Life History Patterns in Zooplankton

Freshwater zooplankton exhibit a continuum of compromises in their means of meeting the presumably conflicting demands of maximizing the potential for rapid increase, predator avoidance, and competitive ability. Rotifers and cladocerans both alternate parthenogenetic and sexual reproduction and attain high rates of increase relative to copepods. The rapidly developing small-clutch rotifers surpass more slowly developing large-clutch cladocerans in rmax. Copepods appear to consume food in a wider range of particle sizes, exhibit a greater capacity for selective feeding, and possess a greater ability in predator avoidance. Hence, ranking of three major taxa of freshwater zooplankton with respect to opportunism is: rotifers > cladocerans > copepods. These results are utilized to interpret some principal biogeographic trends in plankton composition, including the rarity or nearly complete absence of rotifers and cladocerans from the open oceans and deeper waters of large lakes. Patterns in the timing and sharpness of seasonal abundance peaks are also consistent with this interpretation, although complexities in timing occur owing to intrataxon variation in keying to seasonal fluctuations.
Researches on the Structure, Organization, and Classification of the Fossil Reptilia. Part IX., Section 5. On the Skeleton in New Cynodontia from the Karroo Rocks

This name was originally used, by Sir It. Owen, for the division of the Anomodontia, of which Galesaurus is the type. Subsequently, Theriodontia was defined, so as to be co-extensive with the older Cynodontia, both groups being based upon a type of dentition, which approximates to that of Carnivorous Mammalia. The name Theriodontia, hence, has some appearance of being a synonym of Cynodontia. The group Theriodontia, is obviously a larger group than the original Cynodontia, since its type, Lycosaurus , has simple pointed molar teeth, and it also includes Nythosaurus and Scaloposaurus , in which the molar teeth are laterally cuspidate. The Theriodontia include the Cynodontia, because the Cynodont genera were grouped in this way by Sir It. Owen, and, because there is no evidence of ordinal differences in the skull. The Cynodontia is conveniently distinguished from the Lycosauria by dental, and other minor characters of the skull; and I propose to use the name Cynodontia for animals which resemble Galesaurus in skull structure, and resemble Nythosaurus in the type of molar teeth. The crowns of the cheek teeth not being preserved in Galesaurus , I take Cynogathus , the genus now to be described, as the type of the group, which will be thus defined and limited. This genus makes known, for the first time, the more important parts of the Theriodont skeleton in association with the skull. The small bones of the limbs were not found in Cynognathus . Some account of bones of the extremities in other types of Theriodonts is given in other sections (2, 4, 6) of this paper, but in no case is there similar actual association of those bones and the skull. This sub-order of Therosuchian Anomodontia is defined as having incisor, canine, and laterally cuspidate molar teeth, of carnivorous type. The mandible fits within the upper jaw so as to give the teeth a dividing action, as in shears. The coronoid process of the lower jaw is formed by the dentary bone, and is strongly developed. There is no descending pedicle to the squamosal bone which, with the malar bone, forms a zygoma, placed as in Lemurs and Carnivora; and as in the extinct Mammal Elotherium .
Growth and survival rates of early developmental stages of Acartia grani (Copepoda: Calanoida) in relation to food concentration and fluctuations in food supply

The scales of temporal and spatial variability of food resources in marine systems are determinant factors in the control of zooplankton populations. For adult copepods, egg production rates are dependent on the frequency of fluctuating food availability. However, very little is known about the effects of food fluctuations on the life-history parameters for early developmental stages of copepods. The growth and survival rates for naupliar stages of the marine copepod Acartia grani were studied in relation to food concentration and to experimentally induced fluctuations in food availabihty. Growth rates of early nauplii were highly dependent on food abundance, and were comparable to simultaneously estimated rates of adult production (egg production rates). Tolerance to starving conditions (survival time) increased through the cohort development For short-time fluctuations in food abundance (alternating, 12 h high food / 12 h low food conditions), growth rates of naupliar stages depended on the light conditions at which food was available. Lower frequency fluctuations (alternating, 24 or 48 h high food / low food conditions) significantly reduced both naupliar growth and survival rates. The sensitivity of growth rates to food fluctuation for naupliar stages, and their low tolerance to starving conditions, a r e further evidence to explain the confinement of A. grani to coastal habitats.
Drawing areal information from a corpus of noisy dialect data

Abstract This article is an analysis of linguistic survey data representing German dialects in Switzerland in 1933/34 based on the so-called Wenker sentences. The data are impressionistic in terms of applied phonetic transcriptions, which were produced by non-specialists using the Latin alphabet. Due to the lack of pre-defined standardization, the phonetic transcriptions are very heterogeneous. From a technical perspective, this leads to very noisy data, which is why the validity of the Wenker data in general and the Swiss Wenker data in particular has been questioned. Using methods from computational linguistics, we compare, for the first time, Wenker data with linguistic data collected at virtually the same time by linguistics professionals. Direct comparison with a sample from the published atlas of German-speaking Switzerland (SDS) reveals that despite the noisiness of the data, they nevertheless provide reliable information, e.g., in terms of the spatial structuring of Swiss dialects. The study is thus a successful pilot for other corpus-based studies dealing with unstructured Wenker data in other regions.
Fluorescence Transients in Response to Nutrient Enrichment of Nitrogen- and Phosphorus-limited Microcystis aeruginosa Cultures and Natural Phytoplankton Populations: a Measure of Nutrient Limitation

This study presents the results of an investigation of the application of chlorophyll fluorescence perturbations as a bioassay for nutrient limitation in microalgae. The variable chlorophyll fluorescence (ΔF) response of Microcystis aeruginosa, chemostatically cultured under different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrient regimes, to spiking with NO3-, NH4+ and PO43-, was monitored. Differences were observed in the short-term (<10 min) fluorescence response (F) which related to the original nutrient status of the test organism. Cells growing exponentially in full nutrient media showed no transient changes in ΔF. The addition of NH4+ or NO3- to N-limited cells resulted in transient changes to ΔF, while no response was observed following the addition of PO43-. Spiking of P-limited cells with either PO43- or NH4+ resulted in transient changes to ΔF, while no response was observed for NO3-. Thus a simple, rapid, nutrient-specific assay for nutrient limitation was available for cultured cells of M. aeruginosa. When the assay was tested on field samples from the Maude Weir Pool (34o28'S,144o18'E), Murrumbidgee River, NSW, Australia, apparent nutrient limitation, either N or P, was detected. Use of microalgal fluorescence responses to nutrient spiking may allow the rapid and specific detection of nutrient limitation in both cultures and field populations of phytoplankton.
The production of Estonian quantity degrees by Spanish L1 speakers

This paper analyses the production of Estonian quantity degrees by Spanish learners. Estonian has an intricate three-way quantity system that combines durational and tonal features. It has been shown to be challenging for Estonian L2 learners to master this system and in particular the distinction between the long (Q2) and overlong (Q3) quantity degrees. This study is based on data from 22 native speakers of Spanish who participated in a reading task. The reading task consisted of 81 sentences including CV(ːː)CV structured test words. The analysis focused on vowel duration, syllable ratios and F0. The effect of length of residence was taken into account while interpreting the results. The results show that Spanish L1 speakers have two rather than three categories. Most striking in their production is the overlap of Q2 and Q3 degrees. The results of this study support previous findings of Estonian L2 production and are in line with the Feature Hypothesis which suggests that contrasts that are not present in L1 are difficult to produce in L2.
Transient Weighted Moving-Average Model of Photovoltaic Module Back-Surface Temperature

Accurate modeling of photovoltaic (PV) performance requires the precise calculation of module temperature. Currently, most temperature models rely on steady-state assumptions that do not account for the transient climatic conditions and thermal mass of the module. On the other hand, complex physics-based transient models are computationally expensive and difficult to parameterize. In order to address this, a new approach to transient thermal modeling was developed, in which the steady-state predictions from previous timesteps are weighted and averaged to accurately predict the module temperature at finer time scales. This model is informed by 3-D finite-element analyses, which are used to calculate the effect of wind speed and module unit mass on module temperature. The model, in application, serves as an added filter over existing steady-state models that smooths out erroneous values that are a result of intermittency in solar resource. Validation of this moving-average model has shown that it can improve the overall PV energy performance model accuracy by as much as 0.58% over steady-state models based on mean absolute error improvements and can significantly reduce the variability between the model predictions and measured temperature times series data.
Integrating freshwater science and local management through volunteer monitoring partnerships: the Michigan Clean Water Corps

Abstract Thousands of local watershed organizations and lake associations are actively involved in protection and management of freshwater systems throughout the USA. These nonprofit organizations may or may not have paid staff and rarely employ trained scientists or natural resource managers. Thus, they face challenges, including lack of access to technical assistance to support their lake and river assessment and management initiatives, and may struggle to convince decision makers of the validity of their efforts. Meanwhile, researchers and managers within academia and agencies are challenged by lack of access to long-term data sets, field sites, funding, and personnel, and sometimes struggle to demonstrate real-world application of research results and to build support for freshwater research and management programs. The Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps) volunteer monitoring program is a partnership-based program involving state and regional organizations and local volunteers that has met the above challenges, resulted in expanded monitoring of lakes and streams in Michigan (USA), and led to synergistic outcomes, such as advancing freshwater science, building public support for research and management, and implementing science-based management and protection projects at the local level.
Application of holography and automated image processing for laboratory experiments on mass and fall speed of small cloud ice crystals

Abstract. An ice cloud chamber was developed at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz for generating several thousand data points for mass and sedimentation velocity measurements of ice crystals with sizes less than 150 µm. Ice nucleation was initiated from a cloud of supercooled droplets by local cooling using a liquid nitrogen cold finger. Three-dimensional tracks of ice crystals falling through the slightly supersaturated environment were obtained from the reconstruction of sequential holographic images, automated detection of the crystals in the hologram reconstructions, and particle tracking. Through collection of the crystals and investigation under a microscope before and after melting, crystal mass was determined as a function of size. The experimentally obtained mass versus diameter (m(D)) power law relationship resulted in lower masses for small ice crystals than from commonly adopted parameterizations. Thus, they did not support the currently accepted extrapolation of relationships measured for larger crystal sizes. The relationship between Best (X) and Reynolds (Re) numbers for columnar crystals was found to be X=15.3 Re1.2, which is in general agreement with literature parameterizations.
Screening of non‐Saccharomyces wine yeasts for the presence of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes

Twenty‐six strains of yeasts, belonging to the genera Candida, Debaryomyces, Hanseniaspora, Hansenula, Kloeckera, Metschnikowia, Pichia, Saccharomyces and Torulaspora previously isolated from wines, were screened for the production of extracellular pectinases, amylases, lipases, proteases and β‐glucosidases. Some strains of Candida species and Hanseniaspora uvarum/Kloeckera apiculata produced extracellular proteolytic or lipolytic activities. Most yeasts exhibited β‐glucosidase activity, but particularly high activity was observed in strains of Pichia anomala/Candida pelliculosa (formerly Hansenula anomala) and Hanseniaspora uvarum/Kloeckera apiculata. The potential impact of these enzymes on wine quality is discussed.
Global Distribution and Variation of the Invasive Cheilostome Bryozoan Cribrilina mutabilis

Viable populations of the cheilostome bryozoan Cribrilina mutabilis Ito, Onishi & Dick exist in the NW Pacific (Russian Far East and northern Japan), NE Atlantic (Scandinavia and Scotland), and NW Atlantic (Maine, USA). The first NE and NW Atlantic records are from Norway (2008) and Casco Bay, Maine, USA (2018), respectively, indicating a relatively recent introduction to the region. Mitochondrial COI gene sequences from North Atlantic populations (Sweden, Norway, and Maine) showed two haplotypes differing by one substitution, but differed from two haplotypes from Akkeshi, northern Japan, by 6–8 substitutions. North Atlantic populations differed morphologically from the Akkeshi population in that some zooids formed a suboral projection, and frontal zooids were more common. While C. mutabilis in northern Japan has been found only on natural or artificial eelgrass (Zostera marina), across its range it has been found on several species of algae, plastic panels and strips, several species of Zostera, and mollusc shells. Similar frequencies of heteromorphic zooids with differing degree of frontal wall calcification, i.e., R (rib)-, I (intermediate)-, and S (shield)-type zooids, in colonies on eelgrass at comparable times of the season and across populations suggest an innate response to seasonal environmental fluctuations, although zooid frequencies were different on non-eelgrass substrates. The increase in trans-Arctic shipping along the Northern Sea Route in recent decades, and previous documentation of C. mutabilis on ship hulls in the Sea of Japan, indicate a clear mechanism for anthropogenic introduction from the Far East to Europe in recent decades.