Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Snowhite475 hard white spring wheat

In 2001–2003, cooperative testing Snowhite475 hard white spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yielded grain in the range of the checks and was 3.4 and 3.3 d earlier maturing than AC Vista and AC Crystal, respectively. Snowhite475 had heavier test weight than AC Vista and larger seed size than AC Crystal and AC2000. Snowhite475 had higher protein content than the checks except 5701PR. It yielded more flour and had higher Agtron flour colour values than AC Crystal and AC Vista. Snowhite475 had intermediate kernel hardness, combined with yellow alkaline and white salted noodle colour and textural attributes better than AC Crystal, AC2000 and Snowbird. Key words: Triticum aestivum L. , cultivar description, grain yield, maturity, milling properties, noodles
How does FDI inflow affect productivity of domestic firms? The role of horizontal and vertical spillovers, absorptive capacity and competition

This paper examines the existence of externalities associated with foreign direct investment (FDI) in a host country by exploiting firm-level panel data covering the Polish corporate sector. We distinguish between horizontal spillovers (from foreign to domestic firms operating in the same industry) and two types of vertical spillovers: backward (from FDI in downstream industries) and forward spillovers (from FDI in upstream industries). The main findings are as follows. Local firms benefit from foreign presence in the same industry and in downstream industries. The absorptive capacity of domestic firms is highly relevant to the size of spillovers: vertical spillovers are larger for R&D-intensive firms, while firms investing in other (external) types of intangibles benefit more from horizontal spillovers. Competitive pressure facilitates backward spillovers, while market power increases the extent of forward spillovers. Horizontal spillovers are particularly strong in services, while the remaining results, including backward spillovers and the role of absorptive capacity and competition, are mainly driven by manufacturing. Host country equity participation in foreign firms is consistent with higher unconditional productivity spillovers to domestic firms. A number of robustness checks yield results qualitatively similar to those obtained in the baseline specification.
Removing Spatial Variation from Wheat Yield Trials: A Comparison of Methods

Most cultivar evaluation trials use blocked designs and are analysed using classical analysis of variance; however, a standard analysis for blocked designs often does not adequately account for spatial variability. Recent advances in spatial statistics suggest that there are better alternatives. The primary objective of this research was to compare randomized complete block (RCB) analysis with two nearest neighbor adjustment (NNA) methods; a random field procedure was also examined, as another way to remove spatial variability. Yield data from three replicated breeding nurseries involving diverse adapted and unadapted germplasm, each grown at four locations in Nebraska during 1988-1989, were used for the comparisons
Oat‐based Symbiotic Beverage Fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. casei, and Lactobacillus acidophilus

Oats and probiotics have long been recognized for their health benefits. The objectives of this study were (1) to study the ability of Lactobacillus plantarum (B-28), Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. casei (B-29) isolated from a traditional Bulgarian cereal-based fermented beverage, and Lactobacillus acidophilus from Chr. Hansen, Milwaukee, Wis. , U.S.A. , to remove cholesterol from the media and to adhere to the Caco-2 cell line, (2) to optimize the fermentation conditions to develop a beverage using these probiotics and oats with acceptable sensory and nutritional qualities, and (3) to assess the quality and shelf-life of this beverage and survivability of probiotics in the beverage. Lactobacillus acidophilus, B-28, and B-29 were found to remove 70.67% ± 2.35%, 20.26% ± 2.63%, and 16.75% ± 3.83% of cholesterol from media and the percentage of adhesion was 4.69% ± 0.78%, 1.92% ± 0.78%, and 8.36% ± 0.78%, respectively. The blend of oat flour, sugar, inulin, and whey protein concentrate was cooked in water and fermented for 12 h at 37 °C by 2 x 10 6 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL each of B-28 and B-29 and 2 x 10° CFU/mL of L. acidophilus. The beverage had 0.87% ± 0.03% of dietary fiber and had better sensory qualities compared with the commercially available similar product. The probiotics survived for 10 wk of storage at 4 °C, except for L. acidophilus, which survived for about 4 wk. The population of B-28 was 1.77 x 10 6 to 1.29 x 10 7 CFU/mL and that of B-29 was 7.39 x 10 7 to 4.49 x 10 8 CFU/mL throughout the storage period. The oat-based symbiotic beverage is a functional drink providing both probiotics and prebiotics at the same time.
Lipid and DNA Evidence of Dominance of Planktonic Archaea Preserved in Sediments of the South China Sea: Insight for Application of the TEX86 Proxy in an Unstable Marine Sediment Environment

The marine planktonic archaea are dominated by Thaumarchaeotal Marine Group I, which is characterized by the lipid biomarker thaumarchaeol. The marine benthic archaea are characterized by greater diversity of currently unknown species whose lipid biomarker signatures are uncertain. In this study, a sediment core from the northwestern part of the South China Sea (SCS) (water depth 1474 m) was analyzed using molecular DNA and lipid biomarker approaches. While 16S rRNA gene analysis showed changing archaeal community structures with sediment depth, this change had little impact on the fossil record of archaeal lipids that are characteristic of the planktonic community. As a result, the fossil archaeal lipids recorded paleo sea surface temperature of the SCS since the last glacial maxima by the TEX86 proxy, which agreed generally with the winter temperature recorded by planktonic foraminiferas collected from the same area of the SCS that hosted mass-transported deposits. This suggests that this deep water deposit may have partially preserved paleoclimate record reflecting seasonal temperature variation in a near shore setting, which is in contrast to annual sea surface temperature or sub sea surface temperature variation recorded by TEX86 in the open ocean.
Cultivated and wild host plants supporting populations of the cabbage root fly

SUMMARY To determine the relative importance of different potential host plants for supporting populations of the cabbage root fly, wild and cultivated crucifers were sampled for pupae at four locations during 1971-3. In addition, eighty-three species of Cruciferae native to or naturalized in the British Isles were inoculated with cabbage root fly eggs in a glasshouse to determine which species could support the larvae. In the field, most pupae (28-7/plant) were collected from untreated cauliflowers. Fewer pupae (i-7–8-6/plant) were obtained from untreated crops of Brussels sprout, cabbage and swede. Applications of chlorfenvinphos reduced populations to two or less pupae per plant on all crops. Of five common weed species sampled, only Raphanus raphanistrum produced as many pupae as certain of the untreated brassica crops. Pupae did not occur in samples from Capsella bursa-pastoris but Sisymbrium officinale, Thlaspi arvense and Sinapis arvensis usually supported low numbers. In the glasshouse, only forty-four of the eighty-three cruciferous species tested supported larval development. Most pupae were obtained from 12-wk-old plants of Barbarea intermedia. B. stricta, Brassica napus, Cochlearia officinalis and R. raphanistrum and from 24-wk-old plants of Brassica rapa, Erysimum aureum, Cochlearia anglica and C. officinalis. Plant age considerably affected pupal production. Plants within a genus often gave similar results, pupae not being recovered from any of the Diplotaxis or Arabis species tested, or from young plants of Erysimum spp. In other families, Reseda lutea and R. luteola supported larval development, but the widely-separated Plantago major did not. Arguments for and against the removal of cruciferous weeds from the vicinity of cruciferous crops are discussed.
Modificações texturais de tomates heterozigotos no loco alcobaça

Textural changes occurred during ripening of three pairs of plurilocular tomato's hybrids, nearing isogenics, excepting the alcobaca loci, were studied. The trial was carried out in Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), MG, Brazil, with a randomized complete block design. The pairs of hybrids (Stevens x Flora Dade e Stevens x TOM-559; Piedmont x Flora Dade e Piedmont x TOM-559; NC-8276 x Flora Dade e NC-8276 x TOM-559) were evaluated in four stages of ripening (breaker, pink, light-red and red), in four replications. Hybrids whose common genitor was Flora Dade corresponded to the normal genotype (+/+), whereas the alcobaca heterozygous hybrids (+/alc) were originated from the common genitor TOM-559. Texture was not affected by the alcobaca allele in the predetermined stages of ripening. On the other hand, the solubilization percentage of pectic substances as well as the activity of pectinmethilesterase and polygalacturonase were influenced by the alcobaca allele which determined its contention. Tomato ripening, (+/+) and (+/alc), was characterized by intense softening associated with an increase in polygalacturonase activity and solubilization of pectic substances.
The Effect of Bioturbation on Roxann®, a Remote Acoustic Seabed Discrimination System

Whilst evaluating the use of RoxAnn® for benthic biotope mapping it was noted that over certain visually similar sediments differences were observed in the acoustic signature. To assess this phenomenon a number of physical parameters were determined (mean sediment grain size, sediment sorting, sediment organic carbon content and the percentage of sand, silt and clay present in the substratum) from within a survey area in the North Minch. Investigation of the epifaunal and burrowing megainfaunal communities was also carried out using towed underwater television (TV) techniques. Generalized linear modelling showed that changes in Nephrops norvegicus burrow density could account for 94·7% of the variability in the RoxAnn® E1 signal. The model, however, appeared to be improved when both the percentage of silt present and the sorting of the sediment were also taken into account, with 984% of the variance in El being explained. Although improving the original model, the addition of these extra variables was, however, considered insignificant in terms of the variability accounted for by N. norvegicus density alone. The findings of this study are discussed in relation to possible shellfish management.
Desiccation Tolerance and Its Relationship to Assimilate Partitioning in Winter Wheat

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is frequently subjected to stress that causes early senescence of plants and cessation of grain filling. This research evaluated chemical desiccation for selecting genotypes for tolerance to postanthesis stress and determined the relationship of chemical desiccation tolerance to carbohydrate and N partitioning. Twenty-eight cultivars with a wide range of stress tolerance and yield potential were treated with 0 and 0.19 mol L⁻¹ NaCIO₃ 14 d after anthesis. The 2-yr study was on a Eudora silt loam (coarse-silty, mixed, mesic Fluventic Hapludoll); treatments were in randomized-complete blocks with four replications. Ten cultivars representing a range of treatment responses were evaluated further at two locations on dryland and irrigated Eudora silt loam and Pratt loamy fine sand (sandy, mixed thermic Psammentic Haplustalf) in split plots with three replications. Cultivars that had high kernel weights and early release dates were generally more tolerant of chemical desiccation than cultivars with low kernel weights and recent release dates. Grain yields of chemically desiccated plants under irrigation correlated significantly with yields of untreated plants at one location but not at another location. Losses of dry matter and soluble carbohydrates, but not of N, from stems were related to grain yield response to chemical desiccation. We concluded that chemical desiccation effectively selects for postanthesis stress resistance, and that combining high carbohydrate reserves with efficient translocation to the grain should improve wheat performance in unfavorable environments. Contribution no. 88-392-J of the Kansas Agric. Exp. Stn.
A novel growth model evaluating age–size effect on long‐term trends in tree growth

Summary One of the major problems in understanding growth trends in long-lived trees is the difficulty of separately quantifying the effects of tree size and age. Careful statistical control of the axiomatic age×size covariation is therefore required to identify long-term trends in tree growth and their drivers, and to predict forests' responses to environmental changes reliably. To address this issue, we present a novel tree growth model: a ‘two-dimensional log-normal growth model’. This is an extension of the one-dimensional log-normal growth model, in which tree growth is modelled primarily as a function of size. Our model assesses the trend in tree growth over time by explicitly partitioning the effects of age and size, controlling the covariation. The model is then extended to incorporate the effects of neighbourhood crowding and individual tree variation. To demonstrate our model, we apply it to long-term monitoring data from a mature (104-year-old) plantation of Japanese cedar. Thinning operations of various intensities have been applied to this plantation, and the diameter of each individual tree has been measured repeatedly. We observed a pronounced age-related decline in diameter growth. However, at each age, greater tree size was associated with a higher growth rate. The growth–size curve predicted from the model became flatter with tree age, and the curve's peak shifted rightwards as tree age increased. The model reveals that the sensitivity of a target tree to neighbourhood crowding depends strongly on neighbours' size and also provides an estimate of among-tree variation in growth performance. Although the relationships between growth, size and age in long-lived trees are very complex, our growth model supports the conclusion that it is possible to predict long-term trends in tree growth reliably with respect to both age and size. In addition, the model's flexibility will facilitate more robust testing of species-specific responses to long-term environmental changes.
POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION AND FRUIT PRODUCTION OF PAGE CITRUS ON A PUNSIRUS ROOTSTOCK: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE TRAITS

Determination of optimum rates of potassium (K) for high citrus production with great qualitative traits is of both agricultural and economical significance, particularly when performing long–term experiments. A five–year field experiment was conducted in the Citrus Research Center of Tonekabon, Iran in a silty clay loam. The objectives were to: 1) to apply different rates of K fertilizer and determine the optimum rates for citrus high production, and 2) to evaluate the effects of K fertilization on the fruit quantitative and qualitative traits for the production of tasty and great quality fruits for fresh or long consumption. Fifteen–year citrus trees were fertilized with five rates of potassium at control, 750, 1500, 2250 and 3000 g tree−1 on the basis of a completely randomized block design in five replicates. Fruit parameters were determined. Potassium significantly increased fruit yield and qualitative traits at the optimum amount of 1500 g tree−1.
Caddisfly egg mass morphology mediates egg predation: potential costs to individuals and populations

Summary Egg predation is seldom considered in life-history studies of freshwater insects, but could be an important source of mortality with potential to limit population numbers. Costs of egg predation to prey can be considered at two levels: (i) fitness costs to individuals via reduced reproductive output; and (ii) population costs via reduced recruitment of benthic larvae. Larvae of Orthotrichia armata (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae) feed on the egg masses of caddisflies in the Little River, central Victoria, Australia, but the small size of O. armata suggests that they may be unable to penetrate egg masses that are covered with a thick layer of spumaline jelly. We predicted that predation by O. armata would be more severe for egg masses with thinner spumaline. With field surveys throughout the peak caddisfly oviposition period (summer), we compared predation by O. armata on the egg masses of nine caddisfly taxa. Egg masses were categorised, according to the thicknesses of spumaline, into bulbous (thickly jellied), thinly jellied and jelly-free morphotypes, with three species per morphotype. Bulbous egg masses were rarely consumed. Thinly jellied egg masses comprised just 4–13% of all egg masses in each survey, but attracted 52–93% of all egg predators. Jelly-free egg masses were readily consumed, but O. armata were disproportionately scarce on them. In a second survey, we compared the proportions of eggs that were consumed from egg masses with small and large clutch sizes, by monitoring the thinly jellied egg masses of Taschorema sp. (598 ± 95 eggs per mass) and Ethochorema turbidum (1195 ± 192 eggs per mass) to eclosion. More than 25% of Taschorema sp. egg masses were entirely consumed, causing complete reproductive failure of parent females (fitness costs to individuals). Consumption rates were < 25% for most egg masses of E. turbidum. Orthotrichia armata consumed 48% of all Taschorema sp. eggs and 20% of E. turbidum eggs, suggesting that egg predation may substantially curb larval recruitment (costs to populations), particularly for species with small clutch sizes. Our results demonstrate that egg mortality varies for aquatic insect species that package their eggs in different ways. Combined with recent data from the same system, our results suggest egg mass morphology–mortality trade-offs, with bulbous egg masses particularly vulnerable to flow forces (shear) and thinly jellied/jelly-free egg masses particularly vulnerable to predation. Given the wide array of aquatic invertebrate species that lay single egg masses on hard substrata, it is feasible that this is a common trade-off that warrants more research on the impacts of egg predation on aquatic species.
Describing and quantifying interspecific interactions: a commentary on recent approaches

There has been a recent resurgence of attempts to measure the strengths of interspecific interactions in biological communities. Two recent reviews have compared the performances of different measures of interaction strength using simulations. The goal of obtaining measures of interaction strength is based on the premise that such measures will achieve a closer connection between theory and experiment in community ecology. The present article disputes this premise. Because interactions are typically nonlinear, single numerical measures are generally poor characterizations. Typically, the functional dependencies of growth rates on population densities are unknown. Lacking more information about the form of these functions, the results of most population manipulations make very limited contributions to the construction of dynamic models of communities. Even if all effects of population densities on per capita growth rates were linear, performing all possible removal experiments will frequently fail to identify the constants of proportionality. Many misconceptions about the meaning and measurement of interaction coefficient persist. More extensive natural history observations and use of more flexible short-term experiments are advocated as approaches that will aid in constructing mathematical models of interspecific interactions.
Cold-adapted rhizobia for nitrogen fixation in temperate regions

Rhizobia from Canadian soils were selected for cold adaptation with the aim of improving productivity of legumes that are subjected to cool temperatures during the growing season. One approach was to use rhizobia associated with legume species indigenous to arctic and subarctic regions: (i) Mesorhizobium sp. isolated from Astragalus and Oxytropis spp. and (ii) Rhizobium leguminosarum from Lathryrus spp. The majority of these rhizobia are considered psychrotrophs because they can grow at 0 °C. The advantages of cold adaptation of arctic Mesorhizobium to improve legume symbiosis were demonstrated with the temperate forage legume sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia). In laboratory and field studies, arctic rhizobia were more efficient than temperate (commercial) rhizobia in improving growth of sainfoin and were more competitive in forming nodules. Biochemical studies on cold adaptation showed higher synthesis of cold shock proteins in cold-adapted than in nonadapted arctic rhizobia. Since arctic Mesorhizobium ca.
AUDITORY BRAINSTEM IMPLANTATION AS AN OPTION TO IMPROVE HEARING AND REDUCE TINNITUS: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF FOUR CASES

Background: Auditory brainstem implantation (ABI) is a modern method of treating hearing impairment, directed especially to patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). One of the co-occurring symptoms in these patients is tinnitus; however, little is known about its prevalence and severity. This study evaluated the self-reported hearing ability, hearing-related quality of life, and tinnitus severity in 4 adult ABI users. Material and methods: The study was a retrospective design. A series of 6 patients who underwent ABI in a single tertiary referral center were asked to fill in two sets of questionnaires referring to their preand postoperative experiences. The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) was used to evaluate self-perceived hearing ability and Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ) to assess hearing-related quality of life. Tinnitus perception was evaluated using Tinnitus and Hearing Survey and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). Results: Of the 6 patients who initially agreed to participate, 4 returned questionnaires. Based on the self-reported results, it was found that each patient noticed an improvement in hearing ability (mean improvement in APHAB score of M = 25; SD = 27), which was greatest in background noise conditions. A considerable improvement was also noted in the patients’ hearing-related quality of life (mean improvement in NCIQ score of M = 38; SD = 13), which was most pronounced for basic and advanced sound perception. Tinnitus disappeared completely in two patients and was reduced in one patient (mean improvement in THI score for these patients of M = 25; SD = 21). An increase in tinnitus severity from 26 to 84 points in THI was observed in the remaining patient, who had the greatest intensity of NF2 symptoms in the postoperative period and reported the smallest benefits with ABI. Conclusion: Brainstem implantation has the potential to improve self-reported hearing ability, hearing-related quality of life, and reduce tinnitus in NF2 patients. However, more prospective studies are needed to confirm and further explore this potential.