Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization Studies of an Anaerobic, Pentachlorophenol-Dechlorinating Enrichment Culture

Dechlorination studies were conducted using microbial cultures developed in a fluidized-bed reactor (FBR) that dechlorinates pentachlorophenol (PCP) to 3,4-dichlorophenol (3,4-DCP) and 4-monochlorophenol (4-MCP). Electron donor experiments demonstrated that lactate, propionate, and H2 can serve as electron donors for chlorophenol (CP) dechlorination in mixed, anaerobic, PCP-enriched cultures. Dechlorination did not proceed in the absence of an electron donor. Acetate, which resulted in little H2 production, was a poor electron donor. The results of inhibition studies using vancomycin and 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid implicate members of the domain bacteria in the dechlorination of CPs, whereas methanogens do not appear to be involved in dechlorination. Brief heat treatment (80°C for 90 min) of the FBR enrichment cultures implicated endospore formers in the dechlorination of CPs, primarily at the ortho position, where PCP was dechlorinated to 3,4,5-trichlorophenol (3,4,5-TCP) (the sole TCP detected) and subsequently to 3,4-DCP. Both lactate and H2 served as electron donors in the heat-and oxygen-treated cultures. In contrast, a lactate-fed anaerobic spread-plate enrichment culture exhibited solely meta-dechlorination, where PCP dechlorinated solely to 2,4,6-TCP. The separation of ortho- and meta-specific dechlorination reactions provides evidence that PCP dechlorination in the FBR enrichment culture was catalyzed by at least the following two separate groups of CP-dechlorinating bacteria: one meta-dechlorinating group and one primarily ortho-dechlorinating group.
Flea species richness and parameters of host body, host geography and host ‘milieu’

Summary 1 We have assessed how different host parameters affect species richness of flea assemblages using the independent contrasts method. Three groups of host parameters were examined. The first group included host body parameters (body size, basal and average daily metabolic rates), the second group included parameters of geographical range size and position of this range in relation to the equator (latitude) and the third group comprised parameters related to the number of sympatric closely related species. 2 None of the host body parameters correlated with species richness of flea assemblages. 3 Flea species richness increased with an increase in latitude of the geographical range centre of a host as well as with an increase in a composite variable that described the size of the geographical range. 4 The number of sympatric closely related species both across the entire geographical range and locally was correlated positively with species richness of fleas. 5 Our results show that species richness of ectoparasites is affected little by parameters of the host body and to a greater extent by parameters related to the host environment.
Since turtles cannot talk: what beak movement sensors can tell us about the feeding ecology of neritic loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta

Understanding the role that consumers play in an ecosystem requires knowledge about food selection and intake rates. However, such basic data are often difficult to obtain, particularly for marine animals that are not easy to observe. To overcome this problem, a beak movement sensor was employed on a freeranging loggerhead turtle in a neritic foraging habitat at the Domitian littoral (SW Italy). In combination with gastrointestinal content analysis from six turtles found dead in the same area we sought to identify which beak movement patterns were associated with which prey type, and to quantify the ingestion of the various prey types. Brachyuran crabs (100% occurrence), in particular Liocarcinus vernalis, and small molluscs (66% occurrence) were found most frequently in the stomach and intestine of the turtles. Beak movements revealed average ingestion rates of (mean ± SE) 0.27 ± 0.13 food items per minute and that feeding occurred predominantly during dives >4 m and during early morning and evening. Interestingly, the time spent feeding amounted to only 2.2% of the total observation time, whereas feeding-associated dives added up to just above 10% of the total time. We thus established that loggerhead turtles in this area are specialised on brachyuran crabs, on which they prey with high success during the short time dedicated to foraging. This information strengthens our knowledge about turtle–prey and turtle–habitat interactions, which are essential data to delineate the role that turtles play in this and similar marine ecosystems. Moreover, since the same area is also intensively used by the regional bottom trawl fishery, our results have important conservation implications, because they clearly show the time of day and water depths for which fishing activity should be regulated to reduce the number of turtles that are currently being incidentally caught in this area.
Phenotypic and genotypic analyses of drought tolerance in Korean and Tunisian wheat cultivars.

Common wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and durum wheat ( T. turgidum L. subsp. Durum ) are major staple food crops in the world. However, their production are limited by environmental stress such as drought. In order to evaluate wheat’s response to drought, a total of 77 common wheat and durum wheat consisted of 19 Korean common wheat, 30 Tunisian common wheat and 28 Tunisian durum wheat were used in this study. Drought stress was applied for 21 days by suspending water application starting at the third leaf-expansion stage, followed by watering for the recovery of wheat until harvesting. Phenotypic parameters such as plant height, leaf length, tiller number, chlorophyll content, days to flowering and dry weight were scored during and after the treatment. Drought tolerance trait index (DTTI) and drought tolerance index (DTI) were calculated and used as criteria for selection of drought tolerance. At the end of treatment, most of the parameters except tiller numbers significantly decreased. Even after re-watering, plant height, leaf length, and dry weight continuously decreased. However, leaf chlorophyll content, and days to flowering of both stressed and non-stressed plants showed no significant differences. A total of 17 drought tolerance related simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers were used to identify genetic distance between Korean and Tunisian cultivars and elucidate possible use of marker systems for drought resistance. The common wheat and durum wheat cultivars formed different clusters for drought tolerance (resistance, moderate resistance, susceptible) using the SSR data. The results obtained in this study could help to increase genetic resources and breeding program for drought tolerance.
Épocas de semeadura do milho com menor risco de ocorrência de deficiência hídrica no município de Santa Maria, RS, Brasil

The aim of this work was to determine the corn sowing date (ES) with the least and the highest risk of water deficit in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. Daily data during 34 years collected at a meteorological station in Santa Maria were used to calculate the daily water balance (BH), based on the Thornthwaite and Mather adapted model. Forty two ES were simulated, from August to February, for three corn maturation groups. The duration of the subperiods and cycle was estimated by residual growing degreedays with 10oC as base temperature for development. The BH was calculated considering the fraction of available water in the soil, a threshold below which water deficit starts. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated with the adjusted Penman model. It was concluded that the water deficiency occurrence probability are great in October, November and the first half of December sowing dates, considering all the crop cycle. December and the beginning January sowing dates present the least risk of water stress during the most critic period, assuming enough soil moisture at sowing and emergence.
Localization of Artemisinin and Artemisitene in Foliar Tissues of Glanded and Glandless Biotypes of Artemisia annua L.

The tissue localization of the antimalarial sesquiterpenoid compound artemisinin in annual wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) was determined by differential extraction of a glanded biotype and through the use of a glandless biotype. A 5-s dip in chloroform extracted 97% of the artemisinin from glanded A. annua leaf tissue. In addition, all of the detectable artemisitene, an artemisinin analog, was extracted. This extraction method caused collapse of the subcuticular space of the capitate glands on the leaf surface, whereas no other damage to the leaf surface was observed with SEM. Light microscopy and TEM revealed that this extraction method, despite causing some organelle structural changes, did not disrupt cell membranes. An A. annua biotype without glands contained neither artemisinin nor artemisitene. These results indicate that artemisinin and artemisitene present in foliar tissue are localized entirely in the subcuticular space of capitate glands of A. annua.
Critical period of weed interference in corn crop based on crop phenology

A field experiment was carried out to determine the critical period of weed interference in corn, under a no-tillage system, based on the phenological stage of corn crop growth, at the Gralha Azul Experimental Farm/PUC PR - Brazil, during the growing season of 2000/2001. The experimental design was a randomized complete block arranged in a 2x7 factorial, with four replications. The fourteen treatments evaluated resulted from two series of treatments: with the crop weed free during the initial crop development and with the crop weedy during the initial crop development, in five phenological stages of corn crop growth: V2, V4, V6, V8 and V10 and two checks. The experiment was carried out on an area under no-till system. Seeding, fertilization, and insect and disease control were conducted according to crop technology. Weed interference critical period was between V2 and V7 phenological stages of growth, and corn yield was reduced in 87% when the crop was kept weedy during all the cycle, compared to the weed free crop. The dicotyledon species represented 22.3% of the community, with Taraxacum officinale, Senecio brasiliensis, Rumex obtusifolius and Bidens pilosa being most prevalent. Monocotyledons species represented 77.7%, and Brachiaria plantaginea was the most prevalent. Biomass accumulation of corn, final population and ear per plant were not affected by weed interference.
Monitoring bait removal in vertebrate pest control : a comparison using track identification and remote photography

The removal of non-toxic fox baits was monitored simultaneously using identification of tracks in sand plots and an inexpensive method of remote photography. During 1126 bait-nights carried out using both methods at sites in the central and northern tablelands of New South Wales, 106 baits were removed by a variety of target and non-target animals. Whereas the results of sand plots may be inaccurate or unreliable, particularly during poor weather conditions, remote photography provides results that are less open to misinterpretation.
Phylogenetic Relationships of the White-Throated Barbtail, Premnoplex tatei (Furnariidae), an Endemic of the Northeastern Mountain Range of Venezuela

Abstract. The White-throated Barbtail, Premnoplex tatei, is a poorly known furnariid endemic to the northeastern mountain ranges of Venezuela. Although currently considered a distinct species, it has often been treated as a subspecies of its widespread congener, the Spotted Barbtail, P. brunnescens. Here we use mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences to assess the taxonomic status of P. tatei and its phylogenetic relationships. We found P. tatei to be the sister species of P. brunnescens, but the genetic divergence between the two species is large in comparison to that within other genera of the Furnariidae. This result is consistent with the plumage, vocal, and ecological differences used to support the recognition of P. tatei as a distinct species. Our results also corroborate previous studies in finding Premnoplex and Margarornis as sister genera. A close relationship between P. tatei and Roraimia adusta, a scenario hypothesized from the systematic affinities of taxa distributed in the northeastern mountain region of Venezuela and the Pantepui region, was not supported by this study.
Fatty acid signatures as indicators of diet in great skuas Stercorarius skua, Shetland

Fatty acid signatures (FAS) were determined in plasma and adipose tissue of great skuas Stercorarius skua from Shetland in order to test the applicability of this biomarker in estimat- ing diets of wild scavenging seabirds. The plasma FAS were compared with those of captive herring gulls Larus argentatus, which were fed typical Northeast Atlantic demersal and pelagic fish. The individual fatty acids that showed the largest proportional changes in FAS due to changes of dietary fish in herring gulls also varied the most in wild great skuas, suggesting a dietary origin of these changes in FAS. Thus, great skuas that had recently been feeding largely on a demersal or terrestrial diet were distinguished from individuals feeding mainly on a pelagic diet. Pronounced variation in the plasma FAS of great skuas suggests either very flexible feeding behaviour or individual dietary specialisation, which concurs with previous studies based on pellets. Individuals that regurgitated pellets consisting only of demersal fish, bird or rabbit showed larger values of a specific polyunsatu- rated fatty acid ratio (20:4n-6/18:3n-3+18:4n-3+20:5n-3) than birds whose pellets also contained remains of pelagic fish. Although pellet data showed a clear dominance of demersal fish in the sum- mer diet of the great skua, the large proportions of long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids (e.g. 20:1n-9 and 22:1n-11) in adipose tissue of the great skua suggest that a considerable part of fat accumulated outside the breeding season comes from fatty pelagic fish.
Effect of Oxygen Tension on the Developmental Potential of Parthenogenetic Oocytes and Nuclear-Transferred Porcine Oocytes Receiving Fetal Fibroblast Cells

The effects of oxygen tension (5% and 20%) during in vitro culture of oocytes and fetal fibroblast cells on the developmental potential of parthenogenetic and nuclear-transferred porcine oocytes were examined. The potential of parthenogenetic oocytes matured and cultured under different oxygen tensions to develop into blastocysts was not significantly different (5 to 16%). The proportions of enucleated oocytes receiving fetal fibroblast cells that developed into blastocysts were significantly lower when somatic cells were cultured under low oxygen tension (2 and 3%) than under high oxygen tension (7%). The effects of oxygen tension during culture of oocytes and somatic cells on the developmental potential of parthenogenetic and nuclear-transferred oocytes is discussed.
Notes on age determination, growth and measurements of Brown Hyaenas Hyaena Brunnea from the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park

Brown hyaenas were aged on the basis of tooth eruption and wear and five age-classes were recognised. Weights and seven different body measurements were recorded from 38 immobilised hyaenas. Full size is reached at the age of 30 months, but age-class 5 animals were significantly lighter than were animals from the other adult age-classes. This was probably due to the worn down premolars of old animals resulting in less efficient bone chewing. With a few puzzling exceptions the sizes of brown hyaenas from different parts of their distribution range are similar.
Governance and financing of dual VET: foundation of an evaluation framework and findings of a comparative research in five European countries

In the past few years, initiatives in European policy making have been characterised by a renewed interest in concepts of vocational education and training [VET] that build upon the formal connection of workplace training and classroom teaching and which are commonly known as 'dual VET' or 'apprenticeship'. In 2013, [the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training] CEDEFOP awarded a project on governance and financing of [technical and vocational education and training] TVET in five European countries (Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) to a consortium led by Bremen University. Within the frame of this project, three major objectives have been addressed, that are: (1) a definition of favourable governance structures and financing arrangements; (2) a review of the realisation of the governance model in different country settings; and (3) developing visions and strategies for advancing the governance structures. The authors of this paper will focus on the elaboration of the governance model and the methodological design of the study.
Comment on “A meta‐analysis of the heritability of developmental stability” by Møller and Thornhill

I found this a very stimulating paper. I share Mailer and Thornhill’s conviction that the inheritance of FA is an ideal topic for a meta-analysis. I find it quite surprising that the additive genetic variance of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) can be as high as Mailer and Thornhill (hereafter M&T) have found. This has led me to question whether FA dominates the phenotypic variance in symmetry, as virtually everyone who has written on this topic assumes. In addition, I find the explanations put forward by M&T for the patterns of genetic variance unconvincing. Fluctuating asymmetry is usually modelled by assuming that each member of a pair is drawn independently from identical normal distributions (i.e., Palmer and Strobeck, 1986), with variance a2/2. In this case, the expected difference between the paired structures is normally distributed with mean 0 and variance g2. A very important feature of this model is that the variance of FA values is so large that the FA value of any particular individual will be a poor predictor of the mean FA value of the population. The expected value of FA over the population is
Larval‐damaged plants: source of volatile synomones that guide the parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris to the micro‐habitat of its hosts

Single and dual choice tests in a flight tunnel revealed that plants damaged by host larvae are the main source of the volatiles that attract females of the parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson) to the microhabitat of its hosts. Frass and host larvae, the other two major components of a complete plant‐host complex, were significantly less attractive than the damaged seedlings; frass alone was more attractive than larvae alone. However, a recombination of larvae with the damaged seedlings was significantly more attractive than the damaged leaves alone, or damaged leaves with frass. This was due to the additional feeding damage done by the larvae. The role of plants in the host‐finding behaviour of parasitoids is discussed.
Modeling the Effects of Fishing and Implications for the Design of Marine Protected Areas: Juvenile Fish Responses to Variations in Seafloor Habitat

Abstract: A number of recent studies have linked post‐settlement survivorship of Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua) with the complexity of the seafloor to which fish settle. Survivorship is greater in habitats of higher complexity (e.g., pebble‐cobble substratum with emergent epifauna> pebble‐cobble> sand), where cover provides shelter from predators. Fishing with mobile gear such as bottom trawls and dredges reduces the complexity of seafloor habitats. We used a dynamic model to (1) link patterns in habitat‐mediated survivorship of post‐settlement juvenile cod with spatial variations in habitat complexity, (2) simulate habitat change based on fishing activities, and (3) determine the role of marine protected areas in enhancing recruitment success. Density‐dependent natural mortality was specified as three alternative functional response curves to assess the influence of different predator foraging strategies on juvenile survivorship during the first 12 months of demersal existence. We applied the model to a theoretical patch of hard‐bottom substrata and to a case study based on seafloor habitat distributions at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Gulf of Maine, Northwest Atlantic). Our results demonstrate that patterns in the shape of response surfaces that show the relationship between juvenile cod survivorship and density as well as movement rate were similar regardless of functional response type, that juvenile cod movement rates and post‐settlement density were critical for predicting the effects of marine protected‐area size on survivorship, and that habitat change caused by fishing has significant negative effects on juvenile cod survivorship and use of marine protected areas can ameliorate such effects.
Response of Early‐ and Late‐Flowering Plants to Fire Season in Experimental Prairies

Fire maintains tallgrass prairies, but fire season is virtually unexplored as a formative influence of prairie floristics. Replicated mid—July burns, simulating the peak of lightning—caused fire in natural grasslands, strongly influenced species composition and cover in experimental restorations in southern Wisconsin. Perennials that flowered before mid—July showed only 17% cover in unburned plots and 6% in plots burned in March, but 46% cover in plots burned in mid—July. Late—flowering species dominating the remnants managed with dormant—season burns accounted for 80% cover in unburned plots and 92% cover in plots burned in March, but only 47% cover in plots burned in July. Management practices that employ dormant—season burns may produce quite different communities than those maintained by midsummer burns that simulate the timing of lightning fires. See full-text article at JSTOR
Effect of Low Nitrogen and Sulfur Supply on Their Accumulation in the Cotton Plant

1. Nitrogen and sulfur accumulation in the leaves, chloroplast fragments, and bark of cotton plants grown at deficient levels of the two elements were compared with those of plants grown at nondeficient levels of supply. The two deficiencies were alike in effecting lower concentrations of soluble S, protein N, and protein S, and higher concentrations of amino and amide N in the leaves. Chloroplastic protein N and protein S, and also chlorophyll, were reduced by both N and S deficiency. The proportion of the leaf's protein S in the chloroplasts was lower under N deficiency and higher with S deficiency than in the controls. Under conditions of S deficiency, nitrates and soluble organic N accumulated excessively in the leaves, in contrast to reduced accumulation of soluble sulfate and organic sulfur in the leaves of N-deficient plants. 2. Leaf color of N-deficient plants graded from yellowish-green in the bottom to green in the upper leaves, while the converse characterized S-deficient plants. From data on cotton and many other plants the conclusion is indicated that sulfur of proteolytic origin, in contrast to nitrogen, is not readily available for re-use in meristems.
Seleção de cultivares de laranja doce de maturação precoce por índices de desempenho.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi selecionar cultivares de laranja doce de maturacao precoce, adequadas para o mercado de frutas in natura e para o processamento industrial, por meio de indices de desempenho. Indices de desempenho para citros foram estabelecidos com base em dados coletados em experimento conduzido na regiao sudoeste do Estado de Sao Paulo, envolvendo 12 cultivares de laranja doce de maturacao precoce. Resultados pioneiros foram obtidos na identificacao de cultivares superiores. Em comparacao com a laranja 'Hamlin', cultivar padrao de maturacao precoce, identificaram-se as laranjas 'Valencia 2' e 'Salustiana' com potencial para o mercado de frutas in natura, e a laranja 'Westin', para o processamento industrial.