Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New hypotheses on the systematics of the western Palearctic water frog complex (Anura, Ranidae)

During the past 30 years the number of recognized western Palearctic water frog species has increased from just two at the end of the 1960s to at least 14 today. According to new sequence data from mitochondrial genes (12S rRNA. ND3) undescribed species are believed to occur on Cyprus and in central Asia. Furthermore, genetic data suggest that Anatolian lake frogs represent neither Rana bedriagae nor Rana ridibunda but a separate undescribed species. Due to several specific characters species status may also be awarded to lake frogs from south-western Anatolia which have already been described as Rana ridibunda caralitana. The results of various phylogenetic analyses speak in favour of a very close phylogenetic relationship between Rana saharica and Rana perezi. Both species are clearly separated from the other water frog species, which fall into two clades. One clade includes (Rana lessonae + Rana bergeri + Rana shqiperica), the second comprises the lake frog species Rana ridibunda, Rana bedriagae, the Asian lake frog group, the Cypriote water frogs. Rana cretensis, and Rana epeirotica. While the phylogenetic relationships within the “pool frog clade” are considered to be clear (there is strong evidence that Rana lessonae and Rana bergeri represent sister species), the relationships within the “lake frog clade” remain largely unresolved. However, in all phylogenetic trees obtained Rana epeirotica, Rana cretensis, and the Cypriote lineage branched off earlier than R. ridibunda, R. bedriagae and the Asian lake frog group and therefore seem to represent phylogenetically older taxa.
The formation of the sex glands and germ cells of mammals I. The origin of the germ cells in the albino rat

An early segregation of germ cells and migration through a germ track into the gonad does not occur in the albino rat. The germ cells are produced only from the peritoneum of the genital region and their earliest formation is coincident with the thickening of the coelomic epithelium to form the genital ridge. This takes place eleven days after insemination in embryos of approximately 18 somites. Germ cells continue to form from the peritoneum during the early development of the gonad. The peritoneum of this region also produces mesenchyme, smaller cells of the gonads, and the germinal epithelium.
Analysis and Design of a 17-GHz All-npn Push-Pull Class-C VCO

A push-pull oscillator topology that uses only one type of active device is proposed in this article. A magnetic transformer is leveraged to set positive feedback around a common-collector differential npn transistor pair, implementing the push-pull operation. This results in half the bias current for a given amplitude of oscillation, compared to more standard oscillator topologies. A thorough phase noise analysis of the circuit is carried out, emphasizing the crucial role of the magnetic transformer in the circuit operation and noise optimization. Proof-of-concept prototypes implemented in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology operate at 17 GHz and show a phase noise as low as −116 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset, while drawing 13.7 mA from the 3.3-V supply. The tuning range is 15%. While the circuit is demonstrated in SiGe BiCMOS technology, it lends itself equally well to implementations in other technologies where only one fast device is available, such as SiGe HBT, InP HBT, and GaN HEMT.
Convergence among imagination, social-emotional learning and media literacy: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT An integrative literature review was conducted according to Coopers’ guidelines in order to critique and integrate issues over the convergence among imaginative/Waldorf pedagogy, social-emotional learning and media literacy mindfulness in Primary and Secondary education. A comprehensive analysis of theoretical and empirical articles between 2005 and 2019 was provided. Three research questions were set, discussed and analysed highlighting the followinggaps in the literature: (i) the combination of imagination pedagogies with digital media and social-emotional development is neglected, (ii) there is a lack of longitudinal studies to analyse how social-emotional skills contribute to forming critical media literacy according to student’s developmental stage, (iii) there is urgent need for reconceptualizing media literacy by encompassing and analysing its effects on cognitive, social-emotional and motivational skills development. We provide a framework presenting four perspectives, theoretical, developmental, pedagogical and social, supporting the relationship among imaginative pedagogy, media literacyand social-emotional skills.
Genetic structure of the killifish Aphanius fasciatus, Nardo 1827 (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae), results of mitochondrial DNA analysis

Aphanius fasciatus is a cyprinodont distributed in the salty coastal water of the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea and occasionally in internal fresh water. In this work, the authors have investigated the genetic structure of eight populations of the killifish A. fasciatus from Sardinia and Sicily. The comparison of the mtDNA control region of 237 individuals revealed a total of 49 haplotypes. Several unique haplotypes were present in each population, and no common haplotype was found among Sicilian and Sardinian populations. Almost all Sardinian populations shared a common haplotype, and indeed the four Sicilian populations examined did not share any as determined by the parsimony network analysis. The analysis of molecular variance showed that the percentage of variation among populations is much higher than within each population of A. fasciatus. The overall FST value is very high (0·78) and supports an extensive genetic structure of the populations. The observed genetic differentiations of A. fasciatus populations were discussed taking into account the palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic events that interested the Mediterranean area from Miocenic to Pleistocenic age. The results provide new insight into the knowledge of the pattern of genetic structure and of evolutionary processes occurring in this species.
Nutrient composition of muscles in deer and boar

In trimmed muscle types of four game species the dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, ash, Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn contents were determined. Samples of the m. semimembranosus and m. longissimus dorsi of each of 10 red deer, fallow deer, roe-deer and wild boars from the Southwestern region of Hungary in the end-winter period were analyzed, and mean values, related to dry matter, were compared. The game muscle samples had much lower crude fat, more Ca, P and microelements, especially Cu and Fe, when compared with published data for the respective muscles of domestic animals.
Performance of wheat (Triticum aestivum) to incorporation of organic manure and bioinoculants

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of integrated use of farmyard manure and bio-inoculants on wheat productivity for two years in succession. Increasing levels of farmyard manure (FYM) up to 15 t ha−1 significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the dry matter accumulation, effective tillers per m row length, and grain weight per spike in both the years. Application of 15 t ha−1 FYM caused significant increase in spikelets per spike and grains per spike over control and 5 t ha−1 during two consecutive years. Inoculation with MSX-9 strain of Azotobacter chroococcum produced significantly higher dry matter accumulation to 25.63, 13.33, 7.78 and 23.66, 8.35, 5.50% over uninoculation, Azospirillum brasilense (SP-7) and Azospirillum lipoferum (A-5) at harvest during 1999–2000 and 2000–2001, respectively. Incorporation of 15 t ha−1 FYM significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced grain and straw yield to 62.45 and 38.05%; 56.66 and 36.28%; 59.42 and 37.52% over control in 1999–2000, 2000–2001 and pooled analysis, respectively. The grain and straw yield of wheat significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced to 26.51, 10.10, 7.54 and 14.45, 5.77, 3.16% through A. chroococcum (MSX-9), A. brasilense (SP-7) and A. lipoferum (A-5) over uninoculation.
The Need for Care: A Study of Teachers’ Conceptions of Care and Pupils’ Needs in a Swedish School-Age Educare Setting

This paper presents the findings of a study investigating School-Age Educare (SAE) teachers’ conceptions of care and care practices and how these conceptions of care and actual practices relate to pupils’ needs. The study is based on observations and interviews with two experienced SAE teachers and one young teacher in a Swedish SAE centre, working with pupils between 9–11 years old. The study was undertaken between March 2018 and April 2019, and provides insight into different forms of care and caring practices. The study also shows that pupils nowadays, according to the teachers, have needs that were previously met by their families. The teachers’ conceptions of the importance of a well-functioning group and pupils’ needs to be able to share their feelings, dreams and worries and to value each other’s differences were also salient findings of the study.
Association of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts with fresh, estuarine, and marine macroaggregates

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii infects a large proportion of threatened California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis), and is an important waterborne pathogen in humans. Contamination of coastal waters with T. gondii is thought to occur through delivery of environmentally resistant oocysts to nearshore regions via overland runoff. The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether T. gondii oocysts and surrogate microspheres attach to aggregates (≥ 0.5 mm), and whether the magnitude of aggregation depends on water type, specifically salinity. Laboratory aggregation studies were conducted by adding T. gondii oocysts and surrogate microspheres to riverine, estuarine, and marine waters, and quantifying the proportion of oocysts and surrogates in aggregate‐rich and aggregate‐free water fractions. Attachment of oocysts and surrogates to aggregates occurred in all water types, but was greater in estuarine and marine waters, with concentrations of T. gondii in aggregates enriched 3–4 orders of magnitude. Aquatic aggregates may, thus, significantly influence waterborne transport of terrestrially derived pathogens, both through enhanced settling and subsequent concentration in the benthos, as well as by facilitating ingestion by invertebrate vectors that can transmit pathogens to susceptible hosts, including sea otters and humans.
Is honesty the best policy? Testing signal reliability in fiddler crabs when receiver‐dependent costs are high

Summary 1.Contests between conspecific males are an important method of establishing mating rights or territories, yet the potential costs of injuries are high. To reduce potential risks, males can use signals to convey information about their underlying strength to competitors, and although individuals could signal deceptively to gain an advantage, most signals seem to be reliable. 2.Theory suggests that signal reliability is maintained because individuals that signal unreliably may be punished (i.e. receiver-imposed costs). Manipulative studies support this idea, showing that low-quality individuals that are given high-quality signals bear substantial costs. 3.Here, we explore the importance of receiver-imposed costs in natural, un-manipulated populations. Specifically, we show how the likelihood of being exposed (i.e. potential receiver density) and the potential severity of punishment (i.e. average receiver size) affect the predominance of unreliable signalling among populations. 4.Male fiddler crabs, Uca vomeris, use their enlarged claws as signals and weapons in combat, and the relationship between claw size (signal) and strength (quality) determines whether or not a male is a reliable signaller. We predicted that the prevalence of unreliable signalling among individual males would increase in populations where the receiver-imposed costs of deception were low. That is, males should produce unreliable (large but weak) claws. 5.We show that individual crabs produce more reliable signals of strength in populations with a high biomass, where there are both higher densities and larger average body sizes of potential receivers. Our study provides evidence that receiver-imposed costs can maintain signal reliability in natural un-manipulated populations and supports contemporary models of aggressive signalling.
Enhancement of yield and persistence of perennial ryegrass inoculated with one endophyte isolate in France

L'impact des endophytes du genre Neotyphodium sur les performances agronomiques du ray-grass anglais en Europe est encore mal connu. Une etude en plein champ a ete realisee sur une periode de trois ans en cinq lieux (dont trois pouvant etre consideres comme climatiquement stressants pour le ray-grass) afin de comparer trois varietes, chacune existant sous deux formes: porteuse d'endophyte (E.I.) et indemne (E.F.). Les versions E.I. ont ete realisees par inoculation artificielle des varietes avec une meme souche de Neotyphodium appartenant au second groupe taxonomique des e-endophytes du ray grass-anglais (LpTG-2). Les resultats montrent que la presence de 1' endophyte permet d'augmenter le rendement en matiere seche de la deuxieme annee d'exploitation de toutes les varietes et dans tous les lieux. La perennite des varietes est generalement amelioree par l'endophyte dans les environnements les plus stressants. Il semble donc possible d'utiliser la symbiose pour ameliorer le ray-grass anglais a condition toutefois de disposer de souches hypotoxiques pour les mammiferes.
The Combination of Plasma-Processed Air (PPA) and Plasma-Treated Water (PTW) Causes Synergistic Inactivation of Candida albicans SC5314

Microwave-induced plasma was used for the generation of plasma-processed air (PPA) and plasma-treated water (PTW). By this way, the plasma was able to functionalize the compressed air and the used water to antimicrobial effective agents. Their fungicidal effects by single and combined application were investigated on Candida albicans strain SC5314. The monoculture of C. albicans was cultivated on specimens with polymeric surface structures (PE-stripes). The additive as well as the synergistic fungicidal potential of PPA and PTW was investigated by different process windows of plasma exposure time (5–50 s) and sample treatment time with PPA/PTW (1–5 min). For a single PTW or PPA treatment, an increase in the reduction factor with the indicated treatment time was observed (maximum reduction factor of 1.1 and 1.6, respectively). In comparison, the combined application of PTW and then PPA resulted in antagonistic, additive and synergistic effects, depending on the combination. An application of the synergistically acting processes of PTW for cleaning and PPA for drying can be an innovative alternative to the sanitary processes currently used in production plants.
Natural hybridization in Drosophila, with special reference to species from Hawaii

The few documented cases of natural hybridization in Drosophila species are reviewed. Evidence for introgression between D. pseudoobscura and D. persimilis and between two pairs of Hawaiian species, D. heteroneura and D. silvestris, and between D. setosimentum and D. ochrobasis, are discussed. Gene flow between D. heteroneura and D. silvestris appears to be unidirectional, based on morphological data. It is suggested that the dynamics of sexual selection plays an important role in permitting occasional hybridization in nature and that this allows limited introgression without destroying the genetic integrity of the species. Also, introgressive hybridization, induced by the dynamics of the sexual selection process, may play an important role in the origin of new genetic material in sympatric populations.
Mapping seabed biotopes at two spatial scales in the eastern English Channel. Part 2. Comparison of two acoustic ground discrimination systems

Spatial surveys of marine benthic habitats and biota based on the interpretation of acoustic data were carried out at two sites in the eastern English Channel each representing different scales of geographic area and intensity of survey. A small area (4×12 km) crossing the Hastings Shingle Bank was surveyed at a relatively high intensity (track spacing 400 m) and was nested within a larger area between Hastings and Dungeness (12×40 km), which was surveyed at a lower intensity (track spacing 2 km). Surveys were conducted with two acoustic ground discrimination systems (AGDS), RoxAnn and QTC-VIEW and the primary purpose of the investigation was to compare the performance of the two AGDS using a common approach to analysis of the different data outputs (E1 and E2 for RoxAnn and the Q eigenvectors from QTC-VIEW). Exploratory data analysis using variography indicated that interpolation between tracks was justified for the smaller site to create a complete coverage, but was limited to the creation of a digital image of the track data for the larger area. Grab and video sample data were available for supervised classification of the AGDS data and interpreted sidescan images for comparison with unsupervised classification. Both AGDS gave similar outputs, although RoxAnn consistently gave slightly better levels of performance than QTC-VIEW as measured using error matrices. Although the investigation was not designed to compare the performance of AGDS and sidescan, the outputs from AGDS were similar to the visual interpretation of the sidescan sonar data. It was concluded that despite the inherent limitations of AGDS, they may be suitable for providing distribution maps at a broad scale that can give a context for the interpretation of finer scale survey of smaller, nested areas.
Effects of Diglossia on Classical Arabic: Language Developments in Bilingual Learners

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Arabic diglossia on the development of classical Arabic language acquisition amongst bilingual learners in a private school in Lebanon. The study compares the Arabic language (L1) performance to that of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in accordance with Bialystok’s model. One hundred-forty participants; (n=140), ranged from five to eleven years of age, with a mean of eight years were sampled. A two-stage random sampling technique was applied, while ensuring that students with contrastive academic achievement were included within the study. The participants sampled for this correlational research were learners enrolled at a private middle school. Participants were given two standardized measures so as to establish the trend of development in oral skills for both classical and colloquial Arabic, determine the grade level at which convergence occurs between the two forms of acquisition and finally compare the degree of classical Arabic (L1) acquisition with respect to their EFL acquisition. The findings indicated interrelatedness between Arabic diglossia and the late oral development of classical Arabic, whereas participants showed a higher degree of comfort with English than with their mother language. Recommendations for future directions and research are also given.
Macrophage colony stimulatory factor and interferon‐γ trigger distinct mechanisms for augmentation of β‐amyloid‐induced microglia‐mediated neurotoxicity

Dysregulated stimulation of microglia, the resident macrophages in the brain, can lead to excessive induction of inflammatory agents and subsequently damage to neurons. Fibrillar β‐amyloid peptide (fAβ), a major component of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain, is known to induce microglial‐mediated neurotoxicity under certain conditions. Microglial ‘priming’ by macrophage colony stimulatory factor (MCSF) or interferon‐gamma (IFNγ) appears to be required for this fAβ‐induced microglia mediated neurotoxicity in vitro. We report here that while both MCSF and IFNγ induce microglial‐mediated fAβ neurotoxicity, their mechanisms of toxicity differ. The enhancement of neurotoxicity by IFNγ or MCSF is not due to enhanced Aβ ingestion by microglia or to the direct effect of proinflammatory cytokine production. The neurotoxicity resulting from IFNγ/fAβ treatment was blocked by pretreatment with nitric oxide synthase inhibitor l‐N‐5‐(1‐iminoethyl) ornithine hydrochloride (l‐NIO), consistent with a role for nitric oxide in the IFNγ‐mediated toxicity mechanism. In contrast, no induction of nitric oxide production was detected for microglia treated with MCSF/fAβ. Furthermore, inhibiting the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) using the specific NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin reversed fAβ/MCSF‐induced neurotoxicity while l‐NIO had little effect. As MCSF is endogenously expressed within the brain, and both its level and that of the MCSF receptor are dramatically increased in the AD brain, the neurotoxicity resulting from ROS release by fAβ/MCSF coactivated microglia may be a more appropriate model for assessing fAβ‐induced microglial‐mediated neuropathology in AD.
Spatial Bias in Medium-Range Forecasts of Heavy Precipitation in the Sacramento River Basin: Implications for Water Management

Forecasts of heavy precipitation delivered by atmospheric rivers (ARs) are becoming increasingly important for both flood control and water supply management in reservoirs across California. This study examines the hypothesis that medium-range forecasts of heavy precipitation at the basin scale exhibit recurrent spatial biases that are driven by mesoscale and synoptic-scale features of associated AR events. This hypothesis is tested for heavy precipitation events in the Sacramento River basin using 36 years of NCEP medium-range reforecasts from 1984 to 2019. For each event we cluster precipitation forecast error across western North America for lead times ranging from 1 to 15 days. Integrated vapor transport (IVT), 500-hPa geopotential heights, and landfall characteristics of ARs are composited across clusters and lead times to diagnose the causes of precipitation forecast biases. We investigate the temporal evolution of forecast error to characterize its persistence across lead times, and explore the accuracy of forecasted IVT anomalies across different domains of the North American west coast during heavy precipitation events in the Sacramento basin. Our results identify recurrent spatial patterns of precipitation forecast error consistent with errors of forecasted synoptic-scale features, especially at long (5–15 days) leads. Moreover, we find evidence that forecasts of AR landfalls well outside of the latitudinal bounds of the Sacramento basin precede heavy precipitation events within the basin. These results suggest the potential for using medium-range forecasts of large-scale climate features across the Pacific–North American sector, rather than just local forecasts of basin-scale precipitation, when designing forecast-informed reservoir operations.
Metabolites of Leptographium wageneri, the causative agent of black stain root disease of conifers

The metabolites produced by Leptographium wageneri var. pseudotsugae, the causative agent of black root disease of Douglas fir, when grown on solid (rye) and liquid media have been examinated. Two new xanthones, vertixanthone [2] and hydroxyvertixanthone [5], and two new α-pyrones, vertipyroniol [15] and vertipyronediol [17], have been identified. 1-Hydroxy-8-methoxyanthraquinone [9], not previously reported as a natural product, 1,8-dimethoxynaphthalene [1], β-sitosterol, β-sitosteryl palmitate, isoevernin aldehyde [13] (…)