Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterizing Mold Problem Buildings – Concentrations And Flora Of Viable Fungi

The purpose of this study was to characterize mold problem buildings by determining concentrations and flora of viable fungi. The composition and concentrations of fungal flora in mold problem (n = 9) and reference buildings (n = 9) were determined by means of four different sampling methods: six-stage impactor (Andersen sampler), sedimentation plate, surface and house dust samples. Samples were taken in the fall and in the winter, and the concentrations and flora in mold problem buildings were compared with those of matched reference buildings. The differences between mold problem and reference buildings were most clearly seen with the impactor samples. The total concentrations of airborne fungi were higher in moldy buildings. In addition, the concentrations of the genera Aspergillus and Oidiodendron in the fall and the concentrations of Aspergillus and Penicillium in the winter were higher in mold problem than in reference buildings. In the winter, certain fungal genera (Stachybotrys, Acremonium, Oedocephalum and Botryosporium) were detected only in the problem buildings in impactor samples. These results indicate that there may be an unusual composition of fungal flora in mold problem buildings. The results of the sedimentation plate samples showed a trend similar to that of impactor samples in the winter. In addition, the results of surface samples supported the data on the fungal flora in the winter-time air samples. The house dust samples did not reveal any differences between mold problem and matched reference buildings.
The Molecular Chaperone Hsp90 is required for Actin Dynamics during Sperm Individualization in Drosophila

Heat shock proteins are known not only to function in stress response but also to participate in various developmental activities of the cell. Hsp90 of Drosophila has been shown to be required for spermatogenesis, since a hypomorphic allele of the hsp83 gene, hsp8308445, is male sterile with all stages requiring microtubule functions being affected. But the role of Hsp90 in actin dynamics during male germ cell development has not been investigated so far. We have extended the studies on the hsp83 08445 allele, and show that the sperm flagella are fragile and loosely packed in this allele, and the actin cone assembly and progression during individualization of sperms are badly affected. Further, sperm nuclei are misshapen and not embedded in the F-actin extensions of the head cyst cells, resulting in loss of their alignment and retention at the base of the testis. Thus, our data indicates a critical role for Hsp90 in actin dynamics during sperm individualization. We also provide a comprehensive account of the LacZ reporter gene activity associated with the hsp8308445 allele in comparison to the wild type Hsp90 distribution in various larval and adult tissues. Furthermore, we report an important observation that the chromatin of somatic cyst cells of testis is structured in a characteristic fashion as visualized by DAPI staining, which can be conveniently used as a specific marker for this cell type, eliminating the need for a marker antibody.
Morphological and molecular relatedness of geographically diverse isolates of Coniothyrium zuluense from South Africa and Thailand

Coniothyrium canker, caused by Coniothyrium zuluense, is a serious stem canker disease of Eucalyptus in subtropical parts of South Africa. A Coniothyrium associated with similar symptoms to those in South Africa was observed on E. camaldulensis in 1996 in Thailand. It was previously thought that C. zuluense was restricted to South Africa. This study compares South African isolates of C. zuluense with isolates of the Coniothyrium from Thailand. Results of morphological comparisons indicate that the South African and Thailand isolates are the same. This was further confirmed when all Coniothyrium isolates associated with stem cankers on Eucalyptus spp. grouped together in a single major clade for both rDNA sequence data and AFLP analysis. This clade was distant from isolates of other Coniothyrium spp. included for comparative purposes. Although the Coniothyrium isolates from South Africa and Thailand resided in two separate clades, these were closely related and, we believe that the isolates from Thailand represent C. zuluense. This is the first record of the important Eucalyptus stem canker pathogen outside South Africa.
Chemically mediated multitrophic interactions in a plant–insect vector‐phytoplasma system compared with a partially nonvector species

1 We elucidated the life cycles of two jumping plant lice species (Hemiptera: Psyllidae): Cacopsylla picta, a vector of the apple proliferation phytoplasma (Candidatus Phytoplasma mali), and Cacopsylla melanoneura, a nonvectoring species in Germany and some neighbouring countries, which may transmit the phytoplasma in one region in Italy. 2 The adults of C. picta reproduce exclusively on apple and migrate soon after emergence (emigrants) to conifers in mountainous regions, and return to apple plants in early spring (remigrants). Cacopsylla melanoneura also uses conifers as overwintering host plants but prefers to reproduce on hawthorn, despite its ability to reproduce on apple. 3 Both psyllid species used chemical cues for the identification of their alternate host plants during migration. Remigrants of C. melanoneura preferred the odour of their main reproduction host plant hawthorn to apple but preferred the odour of apple when experienced by feeding and oviposition. Although emigrants of C. picta reportedly prefer the odour of apple trees infected by Ca. P. mali, the remigrants of both species did not distinguish between the odours of infected or uninfected apple plants. 4 Investigating the distribution of Ca. P. mali in plant species involved in psyllid life cycle revealed that the phytoplasma is specialized on apple. 5 Infection of apple by Ca. P. mali increased mortality and resulted in decreased body size of C. picta offspring. 6 Gravid females of C. picta preferred to oviposit on non‐infected plants. 7 It is concluded that Ca. P. mali indirectly promotes its acquisition from infected plants and transmission to non‐infected plants by behavioural manipulation of its vector C. picta.
Environmentally induced variation in body size and condition in hatchling snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina)

We performed an experiment at a field site in north-central Nebraska, U.S.A. , to assess the importance of the nest environment as a determinant of body size and condition in hatchling snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina). The contents of newly constructed nests were manipulated by reciprocal transplant so that each of several nests received a complement of eggs from each of several females. The eggs were recovered from nests after 8 weeks and allowed to complete incubation under standard conditions in the laboratory. Live mass, dry mass and water content of carcasses, and dry mass of unused yolk varied significantly among hatchlings that incubated in different nests. This variation apparently resulted from variation in water exchange by eggs, because embryos in eggs that absorbed water during 8 weeks in the field consumed more of their yolk, grew to a larger size, and were better hydrated at hatching than embryos in eggs that lost water to the nest environment. Phenotypic variation of the magnitude obse.
Practical application of biodiversity surrogates and percentage targets for conservation in Papua New Guinea

A conservation planning study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) addresses the role of biodiversity surrogates and biodiversity targets, in the context of the trade-offs required for planning given real-world costs and constraints. In a trade-offs framework, surrogates must be judged in terms of their success in predicting general biodiversity complementarity values - the amount of additional biodiversity an area can contribute to a protected set. Wrong predictions of low complementarity (and consequent allocation of non-protective land uses) may be more worrisome than wrong predictions of high complementarity (and consequent allocation of protection, perhaps unnecessarily forgoing other land uses benefiting society). Trade-offs and targets work well when predictions of complementarity are based on surrogate information that is expressed as a continuum of variation. The PNG study used hierarchical variation for environmental domains and vegetation types, and a nominated target then dictated the level within those hierarchies that was used. Internationally-promoted targets provide a potential basis for comparative evaluation of biodiversity protection levels among countries or regions. However, conventional application of percentage targets, in focusing on proportions of local area or on proportions of habitat types, does not serve the goal of biodiversity protection or sustainability well because targets can be miss-used to restrict the amount of biodiversity protected. At the same time, recent complaints about percentage targets are equally misguided in claiming. based on species-area curves, that 10% targets imply 50% extinctions. We apply a new approach to percentage targets in PNG, in which the maximum diversity that could be protected by an unconstrained 10% of the total area of the country becomes the working biodiversity target. Reaching that same biodiversity target may then require more than 10% of the area, because of constraints (e.g., existing reserves) and costs. In the baseline analysis for PNG, we found that hierarchical variation at the level of 56A vegetation types, combined with the 608 environmental domains, could be protected in an unconstrained 10% of the country. This process of determining a biodiversity target also revealed some "must-have" areas for any future conservation plan. Such must-have areas were also identified for a 15%-based target. The satisfaction of the 10%-based target in practice required 16.8% of PNG (Faith et al. 2001a). This low-cost proposed protected set corresponded to greater net benefits relative to our application of two conventional targets approaches.
Effect of iron deficiency on diatom cell size and silicic acid uptake kinetics

We studied the silicic acid uptake kinetics of the pennate diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis grown under a wide range of iron concentrations (from Fe‐limiting to Fe‐sufficient conditions) to assess the effect of iron availability on diatom cell size, silicon content, and silicic acid uptake kinetic parameters. As the iron stress increased, the growth rate slowed, cell size decreased, and silicification increased. A series of Si kinetic uptake experiments (from Si‐limiting to Si‐sufficient conditions) performed at different iron concentrations demonstrated the extent of the colimitation domain, where the specific Si uptake rate (VSi) varied as a function of both silicic acid and Fe availability. A decrease in maximal specific uptake rate of silicic acid (VSi‐max) under iron limitation was observed along with a decrease in half‐saturation constant for silicic acid uptake (KSi). Because VSi‐max and KSi vary in the same direction, the specific affinity for silicic acid does not change under iron stress. The variation in cell size is an acclimation to low nutrient concentrations. Our study shows that Si uptake kinetics parameters, especially VSi‐max, are strongly related to cell size, which is itself constrained by the degree of iron limitation. Thus, the surface to volume ratio should be related to silicic acid flows in size‐based biogeochemical models of planktonic ecosystems. Another way to describe the observed variations of Si uptake over the full range of Si and Fe concentrations tested in the present study would be to implicitly take into account the variations in cell size through a scaling of the maximal specific uptake rate (Vmax) by the iron‐limitation term in a multiplicative manner.
Why don't our stands grow even faster? Control of production and carbon cycling in eucalypt plantations

The growth of Eucalyptus stands varies several fold across sites, under the influence of resource availability, stand age and stand structure. We describe a series of related studies that aim to understand the mechanisms that drive this great range in stand growth rates. In a seven-year study in Hawaii of Eucalyptus saligna at a site that was not water limited, we showed that nutrient availability differences led to a two-fold difference in stand wood production. Increasing nutrient supply in mid-rotation raised productivity to the level attained in continuously fertilised plots. Fertility affected the age-related decline in wood and foliage production; production in the intensive fertility treatments declined more slowly than in the minimal fertility treatments. The decline in stem production was driven largely by a decline in canopy photosynthesis. Over time, the fraction of canopy photosynthesis partitioned to below-ground allocation increased, as did foliar respiration, further reducing wood production. The reason for the decline in photosynthesis was uncertain, but it was not caused by nutrient limitation, a decline in leaf area or in photosynthetic capacity, or by hydraulic limitation. Most of the increase in carbon stored from conversion of the sugarcane plantation to Eucalyptus plantation was in the above-ground woody biomass. Soil carbon showed no net change. This study and other studies on carbon allocation showed that resource availability changes the fraction of annual photosynthesis used below-ground and for wood production. High resources (nutrition or water) decrease the partitioning below-ground and increase partitioning to wood production. Annual foliage and wood respiration and foliage production as a fraction of annual photosynthesis was remarkably constant across a wide range of fertility treatments and forest age. In the Brazil Eucalyptus Productivity Project, stand structure was manipulated by planting clonal Eucalyptus all at once or in three groups at three-monthly intervals, producing a stand where trees did not segregate into dominants and one that had strong dominance. The uneven stand structure reduced production 10–15% throughout the rotation.
Identification and characterisation of Arabidopsis systemic acquired resistance mutants isolated by luciferase imaging

Plants have evolved a complex series of integrated defence mechanisms against pathogens. Following recognition of a pathogen avirulence (avr) gene product by the corresponding plant resistance (R) gene product, a complex signalling network is initiated. Local inducible defences are activated and a long-distance signal is released, leading to the establishment of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) to a wide range of pathogens. SAR is marked by the accumulation of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins. Salicylic acid (SA) is a key signalling molecule in SAR, inducing PR gene expression both locally and systemically. However, it is thought that signal transduction leading to acquired disease resistance differs for biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens. Generally, SA is required for resistance to biotrophic pathogens only. SA-independent resistance to necrotrophic pathogens is associated with jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene signalling and is marked by the production of antimicrobial proteins. In order to study further the molecular basis of SAR, we have developed a method of identifying novel SAR mutants by luciferase imaging. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing a PR-ia:luciferase reporter gene were generated and homozygous seed was chemically mutagenised. Mutants with perturbations in PR-1 gene expression were identified and could be divided into various classes. A novel mutant expressing PR-1 constitutively was selected for further study. ciri (constitutively induced resistance 1) expressed both SA-dependent and SA-independent defence genes constitutively, accumulated SA to high levels and produced an increased amount of ethylene. In addition, ciri exhibited resistance to the virulent bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 and the virulent oomycete pathogen Peronospora parasitica Noco2. Genetic analyses indicated that ciri is recessive and defines a mutation in a single gene, ciri mapped to the lower arm of chromosome 4. Double mutants were produced between cirl and SA-, JAand ethylene-insensitive mutants. Analysis of these plants showed that SA, JA and ethylene were required for constitutive defence gene expression and disease resistance in ciri. Thus, the results obtained indicate that CIR1 acts as a negative regulator in the disease resistance signal transduction network, most likely functioning upstream of the branchpoint between the SA-dependent and SA-independent pathways.
LARVAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLEMENTAL MALES IN CHELONIBIA TESTUDINARIA, A BARNACLE COMMENSAL WITH SEA TURTLES

Abstract That some barnacles are obligate commensals of sea turtles has long been known; however, little attention has focused on understanding the details of this association. In particular, early life-history traits of turtle barnacles, which may be key to establishing the association, have not been well studied. Here we present the first complete description of larval development in a turtle barnacle. Embryos were collected from Chelonibia testudinaria, a cosmopolitan and conspicuous species, and reared through metamorphosis in the laboratory. We followed sequential molting and described each stage using light microscopy. Development proceeded over nine days at 25°C and the characteristic cirriped pattern of six naupliar stages followed by a cyprid larva was observed. Implications for the association of barnacles with sea turtles are discussed relative to spatio-temporal aspects of cyprid attachment and the life history of sea turtles. Barnacle reproduction typically involves cross-fertilization between hermaphrodites but small complemental males occur in some species. In C. testudinaria, small individuals attached to hermaphrodites were confirmed to be exclusively male. They were located in the external depressions between the shell plates of hermaphrodites, within pits perhaps specialized for their settlement. This attachment location, external to and below the orifice of the hermaphrodite shell, is unique for complemental males. It is not known whether the males of C. testudinaria remain small permanently or eventually grow to become hermaphroditic, as do protandric complemental males in C. patula. Their small size may provide advantages in reducing drag and their attachment location may afford protection from removal.
Nutritive and economic value of guineafowl (Numida meleagris) production in developing countries.

Eighty broiler guineafowls (Numida meleagris) and 80 broiler chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were raised from 1 day old to 12 weeks on the same starter and finisher diets. Weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, cost of production, nutritive quality and mortality were compared between the two types of bird. It was found that the broiler chickens consumed nearly twice as much feed, gained more than twice as much weight and had significantly (P < 0.01)better feed efficiency than the guineafowl. It cost significantly (P < 0.01)less to produce a kilogram of flesh from the broiler chickens than from the guineafowls. However, the guineafowl carcass excelled in nutritive quality. It had significantly (P < 0.05)more protein and ash, particularly calcium and phosphorus. The fat content of the guineafowl carcass was significantly (P < 0.05)less than that of the chickens. Mortality was less for the guineafowl than for the chickens.
PHYLOGENETIC AND PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS OF YAMINUECHELYS MAIOR (STAESCHE, 1929) NEW COMB., A LARGE LONG-NECKED CHELID TURTLE FROM THE EARLY PALEOCENE OF PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

Abstract New and more complete specimens of pleurodiran turtles from the Salamanca Formation (lower Paleocene) of Patagonia are described. The shell sculpturing, size, and morphology of these specimens match with the characteristics of the largest of Staesche's species (? Najadochelys maior Staesche, 1929 and Osteopygis sculptus Staesche, 1929). Osteopygis sculptus is considered a junior synonym of ? Najadochelys maior. This taxon is the only valid one of Staesche's large species, and is assigned to the chelid genus Yaminuechelys de la Fuente et al. 2001 as Y. maior (Staesche, 1929) new comb. The phylogenetic hypothesis proposed supports a sister-group relationship between Yaminuechelys and Hydromedusa. This clade plus the Australasian genus Chelodina form a monophyletic group supported by cranial and postcranial derived characters, and differentiated in Patagonia at least as early as the upper Cretaceous.
When to farrow? Genetic correlation between gestation length and piglet survival

The study is based on 18913 sows from nucleus herds and 1037 sows from an experimental herd. All sows were primiparous Swedish Yorkshire sows with purebred litters. Gestation length was analysed together with no. born alive, no. stillborn and no. dead before weaning. A sire-dam model was used to estimate direct and maternal genetic effects. Gestation length had a mean of 115.5-115.8 days (SD 1.5). The direct heritability for gestation length was estimated at 0.33 and 0.24 in the two data sets. The maternal heritability was estimated at 0.18 and 0.40. The genetic correlations estimated between gestation length and no. stillborn were low. The direct genetic correlation between gestation length and no. dead before weaning was positive (0.19; longer gestation - higher mortality) and the corresponding maternal correlation was negative (-0.37; longer gestation - lower mortality). We conclude that gestation length is influenced by the genotype of the litter as well as the genotype of the sow, and that gestation length could be an important trait when breeding for improved piglet survival.
Effects of experimental crude oil spills on subarctic boreal forest vegetation near Norman Wells, N.W.T., Canada

Data are presented on the effects of experimental crude oil spills made on two subarctic boreal forest plant communities near Norman Wells, N.W. T. Spray spills of fresh unweathered crude oil at an intensity of 9.1 l/m2 had a general herbicidal effect and caused the death of any green tissue coming in direct contact with the oil. Death of lichens and mosses was rapid and complete. For some higher plants, a considerable lag period occurred between the time of the spill and the time of death (up to 4 years for some individuals of Picea mariana). For others, death occurred during the first winter, with marked effects on cover values in the spring. These effects resulted in large decreases in total plant cover and frequency at spill sites. However, within a few weeks, and in subsequent years, some species developed regrowth shoots. Other species survived as underground rhizomes for a number of years prior to their reappearance above ground (i.e., Equisetum scirpoides). Limited seedling establishment by vascula.