Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutrient losses after clearfelling in Beddgelert Forest: a comparison of the effects of conventional and whole-tree harvest on soil water chemistry

The effects of conventional, bole only harvesting (CH) and whole-tree harvesting (WTH) on major inorganic nutrient concentrations (K, NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P and Ca) in soil water are described from Beddgelert forest in North Wales. Monitoring of nutrient leaching losses, and the timing thereof, from brash through the soil and into streams draining the CH areas allowed assessments to be made of the value of brash as a nutrient source for second rotation crops. Most of the K (around 100 kg ha-1) and one-third of the P (10 out of 30 kg ha-1) leached out of the brash lying on the CH plots within one year of felling. A pulse of K passed through the soil profile, but less than half this K reached the streams. In contrast, the P was immobilized in the soil. The lack of brash resulted in the absence of K and P pulses on the WTH plots. On the CH plots, brash was a net sink for inorganic-N for 3 years after felling. However, in both CH and WTH, a pulse of nitrate was observed in the soil and also in streams draining CH areas. The source of this nitrate may have been death of fine tree roots, followed by rapid mineralization and nitrification. Calculation of a nutrient budget for a complete crop rotation indicates that P and Ca losses in harvested material are likely to result in long-term depletion of these elements, and that the effects will be significantly more severe if WTH is practised.
Molecular Markers Used to Verify Interspecific Hybridization between Hemlock (Tsuga) Species

Controlled pollinations were made between five hemlock (Tsuga) species from eastern North America and Asia, resulting in over 5700 germinating seedlings. A subset of putative hybrid seedlings from each cross was tested for authenticity by various DNA marker systems. The most reliable and useful system for verifying hybrids was amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Hybridizations between the eastern North American species, T. canadensis (L.) Carriere and T. caroliniana Engelm. , and the Asian species, T. chinensis (Franch.) E. Pritz. , were used as a model to test the inheritance, reliability, and ease of use of these markers. Using AFLP markers, we were able to verify 58 hybrids between T. caroliniana and T. chinensis, one hybrid between T. caroliniana and T. canadensis, but could find no definitive hybrids between T. canadensis and T. chinensis. Results using other marker systems, including RAPD, SCAR, ITS, and SSR, are also presented.
Perivascular adipose tissue: An immune cell metropolis

What is the topic of this review? The review discusses how eosinophils can contribute to the function of perivascular adipose tissue and explores the mechanisms involved. What advances does it highlight? Understanding the communication between the cell populations that constitute perivascular adipose tissue function is important for exploring therapeutic options in the treatment of obesity‐related cardiovascular complications. This article highlights that eosinophils are able to contribute directly to healthy perivascular adipose tissue function. These immune cells contribute to adrenergic signalling and nitric oxide‐ and adiponectin‐dependent mechanisms in perivascular adipose tissue.
Habitat related differences in lipid reserves of some exploited fish species in the north-western Mediterranean continental shelf

At a large-scale, the lipid content in the muscle of Pagellus acarne and Pagellus erythrinus was higher in the Gulf of Lions than in the Catalan Sea. Furthermore, there was a significant effect of depth on lipid content of Mullus barbatus, Mullus surmuletus and P. acarne, fishes with the highest lipid levels inhabiting the shallowest parts of the Gulf of Lions (all three species) and the Catalan Sea (last two species). At a small-scale, the study revealed differences in the condition of Diplodus sargus sargus between protected (Natural Park of Cap de Creus) and the unprotected habitats. Total lipid content in the muscle of D. s. sargus during spawning was higher within the protected area than in adjacent unprotected rocky areas. Because lipids play a critical role in the health, growth and reproduction of fishes, results from this study support the relative importance of some habitats (shallow v. deeper parts of the continental shelf, the Gulf of Lions v. the Catalan Sea, and the protected bottom areas of the Natural Park of Cap de Creus v. the unprotected bottom areas) for the productivity of different Mediterranean fishes.
Evaluating the Performance of Sentinel-3A OLCI Land Products for Gross Primary Productivity Estimation Using AmeriFlux Data

Accurate and reliable estimation of gross primary productivity (GPP) is of great significance in monitoring global carbon cycles. The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) and vegetation index products of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are currently the most widely used data in evaluating GPP. The launch of the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) onboard the Sentinel-3 satellite provides the FAPAR and the OLCI Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (OTCI) products with higher temporal resolution and smoother spatial distribution than MODIS, having the potential to monitor terrain GPP. OTCI is one of the red-edge indices and is particularly sensitive to canopy chlorophyll content related to GPP. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the performance of OLCI FAPAR and OTCI for the estimation of GPP across seven biomes in 2017–2018. To this end, OLCI FAPAR and OTCI products in combination with insitu meteorological data were first integrated into the MODIS GPP algorithm and in three OTCI-driven models to simulate GPP. The modeled GPP (GPPOLCI-FAPAR and GPPOTCI) were then compared with flux tower GPP (GPPEC) for each site. Furthermore, the GPPOLCI-FAPAR and GPP derived from the MODIS FAPAR (GPPMODIS-FAPAR) were compared. Results showed that the performance of GPPOLCI-FAPAR was varied in different sites, with the highest R2 of 0.76 and lowest R2 of 0.45. The OTCI-driven models that include APAR data exhibited a significant relationship with GPPEC for all sites, and models using only OTCI provided the most varied performance, with the relationship between GPPOTCI and GPPEC from strong to nonsignificant. Moreover, GPPOLCI-FAPAR (R2 = 0.55) performed better than GPPMODIS-FAPAR (R2 = 0.44) across all biomes. These results demonstrate the potential of OLCI FAPAR and OTCI products in GPP estimation, and they also provide the basis for their combination with the soon-to-launch Fluorescence Explorer satellite and their integration with the Sentinel-3 land surface temperature product into light use models for GPP monitoring at regional and global scales.
Integrating 3D microanatomy and molecules: natural history of the Pacific freshwater slug Strubellia Odhner, 1937 (Heterobranchia: Acochlidia), with description of a new species

Forming a small group of mainly marine meiofaunal slugs, the Acochlidia have recently been separated from the traditional opisthobranch gastropods and placed within a mixed clade of pulmonates, Sacoglossa and Pyramidelloidea on the basis of molecular data. In the light of this new phylogenetic framework, we examined several populations of a comparatively giant Strubellia (Acochlidiidae s. l. ) found in rivers of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, combining microanatomical and molecular methods (interactive three-dimensional models are given in the online version). Novel features include an extended set of nerves, a ‘cephalic gland’ of unknown function and an osphradium, all detected here for the ﬁrst time in Acochlidia. The protandric genital system is characterized by three receptacles in the male phase, a possibly secondary open seminal groove and a complete reduction of the elaborate cephalic copulatory apparatus during ontogeny. Combined evidence from copulatory features and DNA sequences indicate a speciﬁc separation between the type species S. paradoxa (Strubell, 1892) from Ambon and the eastern Melanesian Strubellia wawrai n. sp. Live observations show the species to feed on the highly mineralized egg capsules of limnic Neritidae using a special piercing radula. Limnic Paciﬁc acochlidians are suggested to be amphidromic, as are their prey organisms. A unique type of adhesive larva, observed in an Acochlidium species, indicates a possible dispersive stage in Acochlidiidae. Molecular phylogeny conﬁrms the morphology-based placement of Strubellia as sister taxon to other Acochlidiidae. periods of starvation in the maintained in for this
Association of Apolipoprotein E in Lipoprotein Subspecies With Risk of Dementia

Key Points Question What is the association of apolipoprotein E (apoE) protein levels in different lipoproteins with cognitive function and risk of dementia? Findings In this case-cohort study including 1351 community-dwelling participants 74 years and older, the presence of apoE in high-density lipoproteins that lack apoC3 was associated with better cognitive function and decreased risk of dementia. In contrast, the presence of apoE in high-density lipoproteins that contain apoC3 was unrelated to cognitive function and risk of dementia. Meaning The findings of this study extend the beneficial associations of the novel apoE–positive, apoC3–negative lipoprotein from cardiovascular disease to dementia.
Efficacy of Joungal in preventing febrile neutropenia induced by platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in lung cancer.

BACKGROUND Myelosuppressive chemotherapy often results in febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with lung cancer, resulting in infection, prolonged hospitalization, higher economic and labor costs, and increased mortality rate. Colony-stimulating factor (CSF) is used to treat FN, but it exhibits limited efficacy and is often underused. We evaluated Joungal, a traditional Chinese medicine, for treatment of neutropenic complications in patients with lung cancer who received chemotherapy. METHODS A total of 795 patients with lung cancer were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy from 2012 to 2017. Of these, 191 received Joungal during chemotherapy. Three hundred eighty-two patients were included in the control group. The primary end point was incidence of FN. The secondary end points were incidence of neutropenia, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) use, hospitalization duration, and cost. RESULTS There were no differences in clinicopathological characteristics such as gender, age, smoking status, stage of disease, hemoglobin, or histologic type between two groups. Joungal significantly decreased the incidence of chemotherapy-induced FN (2.1% vs. 9.4%, OR =0.21, P=0.002), grade 2/3/4 neutropenia (29.8 % vs. 55.8%, OR =0.34, P=0.000), and grade 3/4 neutropenia (13.1% vs. 23.8%, OR =0.48, P=0.013) compared with controls. Furthermore, Joungal decreased G-CSF use (0.68 vs. 1.34/patient/cycle, P=0.001), hospitalization duration (2.56 vs. 4.68 day/patient/cycle, P=0.002), and economic burden ($660 vs. $1,580/ patient/cycle, P=0.001). No drug-related toxicity was observed. CONCLUSIONS Joungal safely and effectively decreased the incidence of neutropenia and FN induced by doublet platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer, and may have potential as a supportive care agent for patients with lung cancer.
Patterns of Marine Turtle Mortality in British Waters (1992–1996) with Reference to Tissue Contaminant Levels

Mortality patterns of marine turtles entangled in fishing gear, found dead at sea or stranded dead on and around the coast of Britain in the period 1992–1996 are described. Of a total of 38 dead turtles identified, 35 were leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) and three were loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). All D. coriacea were considered adults or subadults nearing sexual maturity. Six individuals were assessed as females, ten were classified as males and 19 were not sexed. Dermochelys coriacea (N=20 measured) ranged from 120 to 210 cm in curved carapace length (mean, 152 cm). The three C. caretta were juveniles, and ranged from 15 to 30 cm curved carapace length. Possible origins, causes of mortality and interactions with fisheries are discussed. In addition, contaminant levels were determined in the tissues of three D. coriacea. Concentrations of organic contaminants determined were found to be low.
Non-carcinogenic health risks of heavy metal in mudfish from Laguna Lake

This paper examines the potential risks to human health associated with exposure to heavy metal that have bioaccumulated in Mudfish (Ophicephalus striatus) from Laguna Lake. Fish samples were collected in eight sampling stations in three major areas of the lake during the dry and wet seasons. Dry season samples were collected from May to June 2010 and wet season samples, from September to November 2010. Coordinates of sampling site locations were recorded using Global Positioning System (GPS) and plotted in Geographic Information System (GIS) digital maps. Heavy metal analyses for cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr) were conducted using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) and a Mercury Analyzer (Mercur-Duo). Estimates of health risks associated with mudfish consumption were summarized according to non-carcinogenic effects. Non-carcinogenic Hazard Quotient (NHQ) values of five heavy metal showed that lead is the most urgent pollutant of concern in terms of adverse health effects from risks associated with mudfish consumption from all sampling locations in the lake. From the point of view of human health protection and disease prevention, mudfish from Laguna Lake is not fit for long-term human consumption primarily due to lead and mercury contamination. Keywords: Bioaccumulation, health risk assessment, heavy metal, Laguna Lake, mudfish
INTER-SPECIFIC INTIMIDATORY BEHA VIOUR IN NESTLING INDIAN EAGLE OWLS BUBO BENGALENSIS (FRANKLIN)

Intimidatory behaviour of nestling Bubo bengalensis to human intruders was investigated in five subjects. This disclosed a series of distinct behavioural unitsviz. , hissing, ruffled plumage, bill clicking and the full intimidatory display - increasing in intensity from a crouched concealing posture and linked by short duration transition phases. Often no reaction to human presence was discernable. This was due to the effects of repeated stimulation/ of the parents’ alarm calls/ developmental stage of the young. The rationale for these intensity types and behavioural patterns, with emphasis on motivational and phylogenetic elements has been discussed.
Ontogeny and Ventral Median Suture of the Ptychaspidid Trilobite Asioptychaspis subglobosa (Sun, 1924) from the Furongian (upper Cambrian) Hwajeol Formation, Korea

Abstract The order Asaphida has been characterized by the possession of a globular protaspis and a ventral median suture. The superfamily Dikelocephaloidea was included in the Asaphida, although there has been no reliable ontogenetic information for this superfamily, and thus whether dikelocephaloids had a protaspis of globular shape has remained unclear. The ontogenetic study of the dikelocephaloid trilobite, Asioptychaspis subglobosa, from Korea reveals that the protaspis of A. subglobosa is not of globular morphology but of general benthic adult-like morphology, heralding that the Dikelocephaloidea may not be closely related to other trilobite groups within the Order Asaphida. This protaspid morphology is clearly distinguished from the highly globular protaspis of the Remopleuridioidea, which has been considered the sister group to the Dikelocephaloidea. In addition, the ontogenetic development of the free cheeks shows that A. subglobosa possessed anteriorly yoked free cheeks during the early phase of development but formed a ventral median suture by splitting the yoked cheeks in the later phase of ontogeny. This contrasts with the previously suggested mode of ventral median suture formation of the Order Asaphida. This alternative mode of ventral median suture formation of A. subglobosa, along with non-asaphoid protaspid morphology, warrants removal of the Dikelocephaloidea from the current Order Asaphida. This study further demonstrates that the ventral median suture did not evolve only once in the evolutionary history of trilobites. With the addition of the mode here documented for Asioptychaspis, the ventral median suture is now known to have developed independently and in a different fashion at least three times in the history of Cambrian trilobites.
MEF-GAN: Multi-Exposure Image Fusion via Generative Adversarial Networks

In this paper, we present an end-to-end architecture for multi-exposure image fusion based on generative adversarial networks, termed as MEF-GAN. In our architecture, a generator network and a discriminator network are trained simultaneously to form an adversarial relationship. The generator is trained to generate a real-like fused image based on the given source images which is expected to fool the discriminator. Correspondingly, the discriminator is trained to distinguish the generated fused images from the ground truth. The adversarial relationship makes the fused image not limited to the restriction of the content loss. Therefore, the fused images are closer to the ground truth in terms of probability distribution, which can compensate for the insufficiency of single content loss. Moreover, aiming at the problem that the luminance of multi-exposure images varies greatly with spatial location, the self-attention mechanism is employed in our architecture to allow for attention-driven and long-range dependency. Thus, local distortion, confusing results, or inappropriate representation can be corrected in the fused image. Qualitative and quantitative experiments are performed on publicly available datasets, where the results demonstrate that MEF-GAN outperforms the state-of-the-art, in terms of both visual effect and objective evaluation metrics. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/jiayi-ma/MEF-GAN.
Productivity and Sustainability of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)–Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cropping System as Influenced by Prilled Urea, Farmyard Manure and Azotobacter

Field experiments were conducted at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, during 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, to study the effect of inorganic, organic and Azotobacter combined sources of N on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and their residual effect on succeeding wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crop. The results indicated considerable increase in yield attributes and mean seed cotton yield (2.33 Mg ha -1 ) with the combined application of 30 kg N and farmyard manure (FYM) at 12 Mg ha -1 along with Azotobacter (M 4 ). The treatment in cotton that included FYM, especially when fertilizer N was also applied could either improve or maintain the soil fertility status in terms of available N, P and K. Distinct increase in yield attributes and grain yield of wheat was observed with the residual effect of integrated application of 30 kg N ha -1 + FYM at 12 Mg ha -1 + Azotobacter. Direct application of 120 kg N ha -1 resulted 67.4 and 17.7 % increase in mean grain yield of wheat over no N and 60 kg N ha -1 , respectively. Integrated application of organic and inorganic fertilizer is therefore, recommended for higher productivity and sustainability of the cotton-wheat system.
Carcass quality and abdominal fat fatty acid composition of chickens fed with different vegetable oil additions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of soybean, linseed and rapeseed oils on the productive performance, carcass quality and fatty acid composition of abdominal fat of broiler chickens. At the beginning of the experiment, six groups with 40 day old chicks Cobb 500 line, with five replications were formed. Chicken were fed with two diet mixtures. During the first two weeks of the preparatory period, chickens were fed with starter mixture and after that period with grower diet mixture until the end of the experiment. The control group was fed with a mixture of standard composition, based on soybean meal and corn with the addition of 4% and 8% of soybean oil, while in the experimental groups, 4% and 8% of linseed oil and 4% and 8% of rapeseed oil were included. The experiment lasted 35 days. During the experimental period, chicks were fed and watered ad libitum, and microclimate conditions were regularly monitored. Control of body weight gain and feed consumption was performed every seven days. At the end of the experiment, 10 chicks from each group were sacrificed for the purpose of testing the carcass quality and fatty acids composition. Upon completion of the experimental period, the control group achieved body weight of 2122g and 2053g, and the experimental group with linseed oil 2164g and 2094g, while the group with rapeseed oil achieved 2121g and 2081g, respectively. Chickens on treatment with 4% linseed oil in the diet achieved significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight at the end of the experiment compared with the groups who were on treatment with 8% of rapeseed and soybean oil. Soybean oil in an amount of 4% had also a statistically significant (P<0.05) effect on the final body weight increase, compared with the body weight of chicks in a group with addition of 8% of soybean oil. Feed conversion ratio was lowest in the group with the addition of 4% linseeds and rapeseed oil, and the highest in the group with the addition of 8% linseed oil. The largest amounts of abdominal fat (18.9 g) were recorded in the group with the addition of 4% rapeseed oil and lowest in the group with the addition of 8% soybean oil (12.6 g). The analysis of chicks fatty acid composition of abdominal fat also showed that the introduction of 4 and 8% linseed oil in the diet of chickens had highly significant (P<0.01) effect on the increase in the content of linolenic acid (C18:3) compared with the control and experimental treatments. Chickens in the control treatment and treatment with 4 and 8% rapeseed oil have recorded a significantly higher (P<0.01) content of linoleic (C18:2) fatty acids in adipose tissue compared with chickens at linseed oil treatment. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that the addition of 4% oil showed better performance results, did not affect the quality of chicken carcasses, while the significant impact on the improvement of the chicks fatty acid composition of abdominal fat was present.