Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formica perpilosa, an Emerging Pest in Vineyards

Abstract Formica perpilosa Wheeler is a serious economic ant pest on table grapes grown in the Coachella Valley, California, and Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. This ant aggressively tends hemipteran pests, such as the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus Signoret, and disrupts natural control by predators and parasitoids. Efforts are underway to develop control measures against F. perpilosa using granular bait, yet little is known about the colony life cycle or foraging characteristics of this ant. We studied the seasonal activity, mating behavior, and density and spatial characteristics of F. perpilosa nests in vineyards as well as its foraging and recruitment behavior. Nests were active from early February to mid-October. Mating flights occurred in early August and again in the first two weeks of September and new colonies were founded by a single queen. F. perpilosa rapidly colonized a new, non-infested vineyard with ca. 9% of the vines infested after 1.5 y. In September the proportions of infested vines at 5, 20, and 30 y old vineyards were 18.6, 21.8, and 16.2%, respectively. This ant is seasonally polydomous and nest density increased ca. two-fold at the 5 and 20-year old vineyards between February and September. Foraging and recruitment primarily occurred up to 6.39 m from a home nest. The implications of these studies for controlling F. perpilosa using low-toxic bait delivery systems are discussed.
Ultrastuctural study of the phagocytic activities of splenic macrophages in tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus )

The main stages of the phagocytic process after the intraperitoneal injection of colloidal carbon to tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), was ultra-structurally documented. Carbon particles were initially in diffuse form in the cytoplasm but they gradually formed discrete electron dense bodies that later fused with cytoplasmic granules to form phagolysosomes. Ultra structural results demonstrate that colloidal carbon is actively phagocytized by cytoplasmic granules (lysosomes) in the spleen of O. niloticus. Direct phagocytic reaction of cells in the presence of an antigen is therefore very important in immunity.
Differentiating the echolocation calls of Daubenton's bats, pond bats and long-fingered bats in natural flight conditions

Echolocation calls of the three European species of trawling bats were studied in their natural habitats, during hunting, commuting and swarming activities. Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii) used pulse durations below 8 ms in most cases, however on rare occasions they used some longer search phase calls up to 13 ms. Pond bats (Myotis dasycneme) used a wide variety of pulse durations of up to 26 ms, with signals of >15 ms regularly recorded. The longest pulse durations recorded from the long-fingered (Myotis capaccinii ) bat were 8 ms. The three species usually emitted starting frequencies below 100 kHz, however some recordings made at very close range revealed starting frequencies up to circa 120 kHz in Daubenton's bat and the long-fingered bat and circa 110 kHz in the pond bat. Although the peak frequencies were variable in all species, the pond bat generally used lower peak frequencies (median 41 kHz for durations of 1-4 ms and median 35 kHz for durations of >14 ms) compared to Daubenton's bat (median 49 kHz for durations of 1-4 ms and median 37 kHz for durations of 8-14 ms) and the long-fingered bat (median 45 kHz for durations of 1-4 kHz). End frequencies were significantly higher in the long-fingered bat (median 32 kHz, for durations of 1-4 ms) than in the other two species (pond bat median 25 kHz, Daubenton's bat median 26 kHz, for durations of 1-4 ms). Quasi-constant frequency parts in the middle of the signal were only found in the pond bat. Long-fingered bats sometimes used pulse series with alternating end frequencies.
Mucosal Mast Cells Response in the Jejunum of Ascaridia galli-Infected Laying Hens

Intestinal defense mechanism against helminthes parasitic nematode to be associated with mucosal mast cells reaction. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of infection by Ascaridia galli parasite to trigger mucosal defense based on mucosal mast cells response in laying hens. Amount of ten head laying hens 12-wk old were divided into two groups containing five chickens of each. The first group, chickens were left as un-infected controls. The second group, chickens were infected orally with 1,000 embryonated eggs of A. galli . Mucosal mast cell responses were assayed by in situ jejunal mast cell counts in stained serial histological sections with Alcian blue (pH 0.3) and Safranin-O (pH 0.1) of the jejunum. Mucosal mast cells response were observed and counted on days 14 post infection. The result showed that A. galli infection was able to increase significantly (P<0.05) mast cells response. This research concluded that the A. galli infection can trigger the involment of mucosal mast cells response in jejunal defense of laying hens against parasitic diseases caused by A. galli .
Bacterial Amyloids

Amyloids are supramolecular protein assemblies based on fibrillar arrangements of βsheets that were first found as linked to neurodegenerative and systemic human diseases. However, there is now overwhelming evidence on alternative roles of amyloids as functional assemblies and as epigenetic determinants of beneficial traits, both in Fungi and Metazoa. Bacteria also use amyloids as functional devices, mainly as extracellular scaffolds in biofilms, but there is increasing evidence for functional roles of amyloids in the bacterial cytosol, and these have enabled to engineer minimal models of a ‘generic’ amyloid disease. Amyloids are thus key players in the physiology of bacteria and versatile building blocks in Synthetic Biology.
Diet composition of the golden jackal, Canis aureus in an agricultural environment

Abstract. Diet composition of the golden jackal (Canis aureus, L.) in Bulgaria, where the largest jackal population in Europe occurs, has been studied by scat analysis in a typical and newly occupied agricultural environment. The study was carried out during late summer and early autumn, a period when small mammal density is high. The food of the jackal typically consisted of small-sized and wild-living prey species. Rodents have been found to represent the primary food of the jackal (biomass estimation: 59.3 %, mainly Microtus spp.), and the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus, 20.1 %) and plants (19.7 %, mainly fruits) are secondary foods. Other prey, such as birds (mainly passerines), reptiles and invertebrates had been consumed in a low biomass ratio. No remains of wild ungulate and domestic animals have been detected in the studied scats.
FIGHTING IN FEMALE MAGELLANIC PENGUINS: WHEN, WHY, AND WHO WINS?

Abstract Female Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) fought for the best quality nests, mainly before egg laying. Female fights (n = 47) were longer than male fights (n = 138), but less frequent and less intense as indicated by the number of flipper hits and length of cuts. Female winners occupied the disputed nests, and losers usually moved to nests of lower quality. Losers subsequently fledged fewer chicks than winners. Female winners were in better body condition, were not significantly larger, and were the owners of the nest as indicated by previous season attendance at the nest.
Controlling Growth of Tabletop Christmas Trees with Plant Growth Retardants

Tabletop Christmas tree growers whose greenhouse-grown conifers have undesirable shoot growth may alleviate this problem by applying plant growth retardants (PGRs). Some of the most common PGRs in the horticulture industry were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in controlling plant height: ancymidol at 100 μL·L–1 (ppm), daminozide at 5000 μL·L–1, paclobutrazol at 60 μL·L–1, chlormequat at 1500 μL·L–1, uniconazole at 15 μL·L–1, and ethephon at 500 μL·L–1 compared to a nontreated control. The following conifer species were used: colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), black hills spruce (P. glauca var. densata), serbian spruce (P. omorika), noble fi r (Abies procera), grand fi r (A. grandis), fraser fi r (A. fraseri), concolor fi r (A. concolor), arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), port orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), and douglas-fi r (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Chlormequat was the only PGR that caused phytotoxicity and damage to the foliage was minimal. Noble fi r, douglas-fi r, colorado blue spruce, and arborvitae were unaffected by any PGR treatment. Daminozide reduced growth of port orford cedar and concolor fi r; uniconazole reduced growth of black hills spruce and serbian spruce; paclobutrazol reduced growth of fraser fi r; and ethephon reduced growth of grand fi r.
Lossy Compression Methods for Performance-Restricted Wearable Devices

With the increasing popularity, diversity, and utilization of wearable devices, the data transfer-and-storage efficiency becomes increasingly important. This paper evaluates a set of compression techniques regarding their utilization in crowdsourced wearable data. Transform-based Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), interpolation-based Lightweight Temporal Compression (LTC) and dimensionality reduction-focused Symbolic Aggregate Approximation (SAX) were chosen as traditional methods. Additionally, an altered SAX (ASAX) is proposed by the authors and implemented to overcome some of the shortcomings of the traditional methods. As one of the most commonly measured entities in wearable devices, heart rate data were chosen to compare the performance and complexity of the selected compression methods. Main results suggest that best compression results are obtained with LTC, which is also the most complex of the studied methods. The best performance-complexity trade-off is achieved with SAX. Our proposed ASAX has the best dynamic properties among the evaluated methods.
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF BRANCH AUTONOMY

The past 15 years have seen a surge of interest in modularity in plants; that is, in the implications of the fact that plants are composed of repetitive modules that may in some ways behave as in independent units (32). Much has been written about the importance of modularity in plant population biology (e.g. 33, 34, 113, 114), and also about the advantages and disadvantages of independence or interdependence among separate but connected modules (7, 31, 69). The interest in modularity is mainly at two scales. At the smallest scale, interest has focused on the "nutritional unit" (1) or "physiologically independent subunit" (111, 112), comprising a unit of foliage, the section of stem to which it is attached, and the subtending axillary bud. At the opposite end of the spectrum, research has focused on clonal herbs (3, 81, 82, 113), in which each module (ramet) contains all of the structural parts and physiological processes necessary for independent existence. However, this upsurge of interest in modularity has also led to renewed speculation about other, intermediately scaled, functional units that may also behave semiautonomously (112). For woody plants, considerable interest has focused on the degree of autonomy of individual branches' on a tree or shrub (107, 112, 117).
Remobilisation of carbon and nitrogen supports seed filling in chickpea subjected to water deficit

In the Mediterranean-type environment of south-western Australia, pod filling of chickpea occurs when net photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation is low as a result of the onset of terminal drought. Remobilisation of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) from vegetative parts to developing seed may be an important alternative source of C and N for seed filling. The contribution of stored pre-podding C and N to seed filling was studied by labelling the vege- tative tissues with the stable isotopes, 13 C and 15 N, prior to podding and following their subsequent movement to the seed. In ICCV88201, an advanced desi breeding line, 9% of the C and 67% of the N in the seed were derived from pre-podding C and N in well-watered plants compared with 13% of the seed C and 88% of the seed N in water- stressed plants. Furthermore, the contribution of pre-podding C and N was higher for earlier set compared with later set seeds. Pre-podding C and N were derived predominantly from the leaves with relatively little from the stems, roots, and pod walls. Genotypic variation in remobilisation ability was identified in contrasting desi (Tyson) and kabuli (Kaniva) cultivars. In well-watered Tyson, 9% of the seed C and 85% of the seed N were remobilised from vegetative tissues compared with 7% of the seed C and 62% of seed N in well-watered Kaniva. Water deficit decreased the amount of C remobilised by 3% in Tyson compared with 66% in Kaniva, whereas the total amount of N remobilised was decreased by 11% in Tyson and 48% in Kaniva. This was related to the maintenance of greater sink strength in Tyson, in which the number of filled pods was reduced by 66% in stressed plants compared with a 91% decrease in Kaniva. This indicates that better drought tolerance in desi genotypes is partly a consequence of better remobilisation and higher pod number. These studies show that C and N assimilated prior to podding can sup- plement the supply of current assimilates to the filling seed in both well-watered and water-stressed chickpea. Remobilisation of pre-podding N is an essential source of N for seed filling irrespective of environmental stress.
Effect of sowing date and N fertilisation on the yield and yield stability of maize ( Zea mays L.) hybrids in a long-term experiment

The effect of sowing date, N fertilisation and genotype on the grain yield and yield stability of maize was studied between 1991 and 2006 in a long-term N fertilisation experiment set up on chernozem soil in Martonvasar, Hungary. The N treatments (0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg ha −1 ) represented the main plot of the three-factor, split-split-plot experiment, with the sowing date (early, optimum, late, very late) in the sub-plots and hybrids from different maturity groups in the sub-sub-plots. The highest yields were obtained for the early and optimum sowing dates (8.712 and 8.706 t ha −1 ). Compared with the optimum sowing date, a delay of ten or twenty days led to yield losses of 5% and 12.5%, respectively. In the late and very late sowings and in years with unfavourable weather conditions, yield increments were only observed up to an N rate of 60 kg ha −1 , while in the early and optimum sowings and in favourable years yield increments were significant up to 120 kg ha −1 N. Yield stability was smallest in.
Participatory rural appraisal approaches: an overview and an exemplary application of focus group discussion in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies

Different tools and techniques of participatory approaches are the basic way of conducting qualitative research especially in the field of applied social science. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) is one of the main Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) technique often used in combination with others to achieve desired goals. Considering this concept, this paper attempts to review the PRA approach and then application of FGD, in combination with matrix scoring and ranking to identify problems and causes of climate change along with possible mitigation and adaptation strategies. A group of 20 students at post graduate level under the faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture at Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany those from different corner of the world was considered as target people of the study. The results concluded that unpredictable weather events was ranked as the present outstanding visible climate change problem caused by human activities. However, it was noted that if alternative renewable energy sources are exploited, this could contribute to solving the present climate change problem. This finding might have the good reference for the policy makers in the same line not only for developing countries but also for developed countries. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/ijarit.v3i2. 17848 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 3 (2): 72-78, December, 2013
Parasitism, condition and reproduction of the European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

It is well known that parameters relating to physical condition and reproduction of fish provide essential data for estimating the productivity of exploited populations, as is the case with the European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Although parasitism might affect these parameters, research in this area is very scarce (and in the case of the Mediterranean almost non-existent). This study evaluates for the first time the potential link between parasitism, condition and reproduction of the European hake. Indicators of fish energy reserves (total lipid content in liver and gonads) and reproductive capacity (fecundity, egg quality and atresia) were evaluated, as were the prevalence and intensity of infection by metazoan parasites. The results indicate that the impact of anisakid nematodes is mostly negative and occurs mainly when hake are allocating their energy reserves to gonadal development. Although the results reveal a link between parasitism, condition and reproduction, we concluded that the northwestern Mediterranean hake population is in equilibrium with its metazoan parasites, which are not causing severe impairment to their physical condition or reproductive capacity.
Relative Salinity Tolerance of 21 Turf-type Desert Saltgrasses Compared to Bermudagrass

Relative salinity tolerance of 21 desert saltgrass accessions (Distichlis spicata [L.] Greene var. stricta (Torr.) Beetle), and one hybrid bermudagrass 'Midiron' (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers. var. dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy 'Midiron') were determined via solution culture in a controlled-environment greenhouse. Salinity in treatment tanks was gradually raised, and grasses progressively exposed to 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 M total salinity in sequence. Grasses were held at each salinity level for 1 week, followed by determination of relative salinity injury. Relative (to control) live green shoot weight (SW), relative root weight (RW), and % canopy green leaf area (GLA) were highly correlated with one-another (all r values >0.7), being mutually effective indicators of relative salinity tolerance. The range of salinity tolerance among desert saltgrass accessions was substantial, though all were more tolerant than bermudagrass. Accessions A77, A48, and ASS suffered little visual shoot injury, and continued shoot and root growth at a low level, when exposed up to 1.0 M (71,625 mg.L -1 ); sea water is about 35,000 mg-L-'), and therefore can be considered halophytes.
Effects of excessive calcium fertilization on photosynthetic characteristics and chloroplast ultra-structure of tea tree.

Tea tree absorbs less calcium than other plants in the same soil usually.In order to probe the effects of excessive calcium fertilization on the photosynthetic physiology of tea leaves and provide the theoretical foundation to explain why the poor growth of tea tree in the soil with high calcium content,this study focused on the changes of chlorophyll content,the leaf photosynthesis,chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and chloroplast ultra-structure of tea leaves treated with excessive calcium using sand culture.The results indicate that the net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance of tea leaves are reduced with the increase of calcium concentration,and the leaf chlorophyll content,the primary photochemical efficiency(Fv/Fm),photosynthetic electron transport rate(ETR) and quantum yield of PSⅡ(ΦPSⅡ) are decreased as well,while the ratio of Chl a and Chl b and the minimum fluorescence(Fo) are increased with the increase of calcium concentration.Under the condition of excessive calcium fertilization,the chloroplast structure is destroyed.Meanwhile the growth of tea is restrained.The burl interval,the length of treetop,the amount of leaves and leaf area are lower than those of the control(CK). On the basis of above results,it is concluded that excessive calcium fertilization could damage the membrane of photosystem,and then block the electron photosynthetic rate and decrease light use efficiency of tea leaves,and finally slow down the growth rate of tea shoots.
Initiation of Aggregation by Dictyostelium discoideum in Mutant Populations Lacking Pulsatile Signalling

The proportion of a wild-type population capable of initiating aggregation centres in starving fields of Dictyostelium discoideum was investigated using mixed populations of a few wild-type amoebae and a large excess of a mutant incapable of initiating aggregation signals but fully capable of responding to them. For this purpose an aggregation-deficient mutant (designated NP160) was isolated that showed high sensitivity to wild-type strains in synergy tests. This mutant formed normal cell-surface cyclic AMP receptors and phosphodiesterases and was fully capable of chemotaxis to cyclic AMP. Although it had an active adenylate cyclase and formed cyclic AMP, it was deficient in the pulsatile regulation of this enzyme and did not initiate or relay pulsatile cyclic AMP signals and did not form cell adhesive ‘contact sites A’ unless given artificial cyclic AMP pulses. When synergistic mixtures of this mutant and the wild-type were made, the mutant formed fruiting bodies at frequencies indicating that up to 1 in 5 of the wild-type cells could initiate aggregation centres when present at a ratio of between 1 in 500 and 1 in 10000 of the mixed amoebal population.
Evolution and phylogeny of the genus Natrix (Serpentes: Colubridae)

Some aspects of the natural history of snakes of the colubrid genus Natrix have been well studied. With their extensive European distribution and relative abundance, their ecology, reproduction and behaviour are well known. Yet other facets of their biology remain poorly understood. These include knowledge of Natrix phylogeny, hypotheses explaining the current distribution of the three extant members of the genus, and their evolution and relationships. In this study we used molecular data, the nucleotide sequences of four protein-coding mitochondrial genes (3806 bp total), to provide a well-supported phylogeny for the genus Natrix. With these molecular data, evidence from the fossil record, and knowledge of palaeogeological events, we used two approaches in designing a time scale which we used to date the major events in Natrix speciation and intraspecific variation. Our data strongly support a phylogeny for the genus in which N. maura is basal with N. natrix and N. tessellata being sister species. The calibrated molecular clock suggests that N. maura diverged from the common ancestor of the three species 18–27 mya and that N. natrix and N. tessellata diverged 13–22 mya. Although the ranges of these estimates are large they support an early Miocene to late Oligocene origin for the three species. Intraspecific divergence is estimated to have commenced 5.3, 6.0 and 6.7 mya with evolutionary rates of 1 : 1.25 : 1.35% per million years for N. maura, N. natrix and N. tessellata, respectively. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 87, 127–143.