Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The ecology and evolution of Aspergillus spp. fungal parasites in honey bees

Evolution of virulence in parasites has profound effects on both host-parasite co-evolution and ecology and is influenced by environmental factors and the genotypes involved. Many parasite infections consist of multiple strains or species that are predicted to result in the evolution of more virulent strains that exploit the host less prudently. In opportunistic parasites, the dynamics and evolution of virulence are poorly understood as traditional epidemiological models do not adequately describe parasites capable of persisting outside of the host. In addition, as microbial pathogenicity may shift from opportunistic to obligatory strategies with time, knowledge of the evolutionary dynamics of opportunistic pathogens is crucial for predicting and understanding disease emergence. Aspergillus species of fungi have a ubiquitous distribution and are the etiological agents of stonebrood disease in honey bees. It is generally considered that stonebrood occurs rarely in honey bees, but the epidemiology and predisposing conditions for the disease are almost entirely unknown. In this study, I examine the occurrence, pathogenicity and competitive ability of Aspergillus spp. when infecting honey bees, as well as the effect of nutrition on host susceptibility and the adaptation of the fungi over the course of experimental evolution. A high prevalence and diversity of Aspergillus spp. isolates were identified following the screening of an apiary, and the pathogenicity of three species (A. flavus, A. nomius and A. phoenicis) was established. Further, in laboratory-reared larvae a nutritionally limited diet increased susceptibility to A. fumigatus. In a series of single-generation interspecific competition experiments between Aspergillus spp. and the obligate pathogen chalkbrood (Ascophaera apis), the virulence and fitness of dual infections were influenced by complex within-host interactions depending on the species involved, which ranged from synergistic to inhibitory effects. Finally, following serial passage of A. flavus and A. phoenicis in the honey bee larval hosts to determine the evolution of virulence and fitness, no evidence of host adaptation was observed, revealing the unpredictability of these asexually reproducing opportunistic pathogens. These findings illustrate a complex relationship between Aspergillus spp. and honey bees and emphasises the significant influence these ubiquitous organisms can have on the ecology and evolution of honey bees.
Life History Studies of Mycosphaerella Tassiana and M. Typhae

Two species of Mycosphaerella, M. tassiana (de Notaris) Johanson and M. typhae (Lasch) Lindau, were grown in agar culture and produced mature fruiting bodies. The strain of M. tassiana was isolated as a single-spore culture from an ascostroma on a species of Pedicularis (659a) collected in Garibaldi Park, British Columbia. The strain of M. typhae was isolated also as a single-spore culture, from an ascostroma on leaves of Typha sp. (1536a) collected in Michigan.
Thermal Dependency of Field Locomotor and Vocal Performance of High-elevation Anurans in the Tropical Andes

To investigate whether ambient temperature constrains behavioral performance in high- elevation anurans I studied the thermal dependency of field calling rate and locomotor performance of four Colombian Andean frogs at 2900-3500 m (Atelopus sp. nov., Colostethus subpunctatus, Eleuthero- dactylus bogotensis, and Hyla labialis), and compared them with low-elevation (<350 m) congener species (A. varius, C talamancae, E. diastema, and H. microcephala). Apparently low temperatures constrain only high levels of sustained performance. Body temperature explained 40% of the variance in calling rate of high-elevation frogs that call vigorously (H. labialis and C subpunctatus), but did not affect the lower calling rates of A. sp. nov. and E. bogotensis. High-elevation frogs in the genera Eleutherodactylus, Ate- lopus, and Colostethus may exhibit less energetically demanding vocal behaviors than low-elevation congenerics. Both high-elevation and low-elevation frogs moved at low speeds with sporadic bursts of activity. Body temperature did not correlate with the time, speed, or distances that high-elevation frogs moved, which were similar to those of low-elevation congenerics. Reliance on glycolysis, presumably less sensitive to temperature than aerobic metabolic pathways, may partially explain the thermal independence of field locomotion patterns in high-elevation anurans.
Hydrographic conditions off the northeast coast of Iceland in relation to meteorological factors

The relationship between oceanographical and meteorological variables off northeast Iceland is re-examined and analyzed statistically. The analysis confirms the previous hypothesis of a strong connection between the oceanographical conditions east of Langanes, northeast Iceland, and air temperature and N-S winds about 90 days prior to the observations. Since hydrographic conditions north of Iceland are known to depend largely on the influx of Atlantic Water from the Irminger Sea, and the average travel time of this water from the northwest coast to the region east of Langanes is about 3 months, this time lag corresponds closely to the expected one. The results of the numerical analysis indicate that the air temperature is a more important factor than the winds, although the hypothesis of an independent effect of the wind cannot be rejected. The effect of air temperature on the influx of Atlantic Water is believed to be indirect: air temperature variations leading to corresponding variations in horizontal density gradient across the shelf whereby the coastal circulation is affected. Some evidence for this is provided. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1969. tb00436.x
The Classification of Snow Metamorphism

Abstract A new classification of snow on the ground is based on the major physical processes involved in the metamorphism of a snow cover. The major divisions are based on (I) the mechanical damage to snow crystals during precipitation, (II) the transport of water vapor at constant temperature because of surface-energy differences, (III) the transport of water vapor along a thermal gradient, and (IV) firnification because of melting and refreezing, and pressure consolidation.
Genetic variation of ApoB 3' hyper variable region polymorphism among Brahmins of North India

ApoB 3′ ′ hyper variable region (ApoB 3′HVR) is highly polymorphic and hence an informative marker. It could be an ideal candidate to study the genetic heterogen eity among different population groups of the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the markers for which popu lation data are available. This makes the ApoB 3′HVR an ideal locus for a pilot study to investigate the rel ationships between different populations and the microevolutionary processes leading to their present-day distribution. In the present investigation, we have stu died ApoB 3′HVR in three endogamous groups of North India and have compared these populations on the basis of inter- and intra-group diversity. The sub-populations chosen were Bhargavas, Chaturvedis, and non-Bhargava non-Chaturvedi Brahmins of Uttar Pradesh. Nineteen segregating alleles were detected in our population groups. The average observed heterozygosity was quite high (0.717), suggesting high diversity at the ApoB 3′HVR locus. Low value of a verage GST (0.0126) and FST (0.002) reflects non-significant deviation of heterozygosity between the three subgroups. On comparing the three study groups with ApoB 3′HVR of other Indian and world populations, it was clear that grea ter diversity was observed for Africans followed by Europeans and Asians. There was relative homogeneity among the continental groups. In our study it was observed that there was high heterozygosity, an e xtended range of allele size, a quasi un imodal allele size distribution, centred on HVE 37. These findings indicate that our populations may be characterized as ancestral, since similar features are observed in the African population. ApoB 3′HVR polymorphism suggests that despite practising restricted marital patterns, these groups or castes do not significantly differ from each other at the genetic level. This may be b ecause of the fact that divergence time may not be enough to cause genetic variation in these groups. However, it may not be ruled out that the ApoB 3′HVR polymorphism probably predates the divergence of these sub-castes. We are further testing this observation, using mt -DNA for maternal lineages and Y-chromosome markers for paternal lineages.
Shapley explainability on the data manifold

Explainability in AI is crucial for model development, compliance with regulation, and providing operational nuance to predictions. The Shapley framework for explainability attributes a model's predictions to its input features in a mathematically principled and model-agnostic way. However, general implementations of Shapley explainability make an untenable assumption: that the model's features are uncorrelated. In this work, we demonstrate unambiguous drawbacks of this assumption and develop two solutions to Shapley explainability that respect the data manifold. One solution, based on generative modelling, provides flexible access to data imputations; the other directly learns the Shapley value-function, providing performance and stability at the cost of flexibility. While "off-manifold" Shapley values can (i) give rise to incorrect explanations, (ii) hide implicit model dependence on sensitive attributes, and (iii) lead to unintelligible explanations in higher-dimensional data, on-manifold explainability overcomes these problems.
Bacterial uptake of photosynthetic carbon from freshwater phytoplankton

Microheterotrophic uptake of algal extracellular products was studied in two eutrophic lakes in southern Sweden. Size fractionation was used in H14CO3 uptake experiments to measure l4C fixation in total particulate, small particulate and dissolved organic fractions. Carbon fixed in algal photosynthesis was recovered as dissolved and small particulate 14C, representing excretion and bacterial uptake of algal products. Estimated gross extracellular release was low in these eutrophic systems, 1 to 7% of total 14C uptake per m2 lake surface. From 28 to 80% of 14C released was recovered in the small particulate fraction after ca. 4 h incubation. This percentage was uniform within each depth profile, but varied directly with in situ water temperature. Laboratory time-series incubations indicated steady state for the pool of algal extracellular products on one occasion, while increasing pool size was indicated in the remaining two experiments. Uptake of photosynthetic carbon to small particles in situ was 32 to 95% of estimated heterotrophic bacterial production (as dark '4C02 uptake) on four occasions. While excretion apparently was not an important loss of carbon for phytoplankton, it may have represented an important carbon source for planktonic bacteria.
Effects of Food Abundance on Individuals and Populations of the Rock Mouse (Peromyscus difficilis)

We examined individual and population responses of the rock mouse, Peromyscus difficilis , to experimental changes in food abundance. Two food addition experiments lasting 4 months were carried out during breeding and non-breeding seasons to test the hypothesis that females are more responsive to food resources than are males, especially during reproduction. On two grids, we added food on relatively widely spaced point sources to compare effects within grids on fed and unfed mice. We also compared populations on two treatment grids and a control grid. Food addition resulted in increased immigration, earlier breeding, and increased reproduction in contrast to the control grid. Improvement of summer survival was evident only when analysis was undertaken at a fine scale; fed individuals showed longer residence times. Females gained weight and had improved reproduction, and improved survival, during both wet and dry seasons. Males responded less consistently than did females.
NATURAL HISTORY OF SHIPWORM, TEREDO NAVALIS, AT WOODS HOLE, MASSACHUSETTS

Teredo navalis occurs in abundance at Woods Hole and vicinity and has been known there for many years.The breeding season extends from about May 10 to October 10. Spawning begins in the spring when the water reaches a temperature between 11° and 12° C. Spawning by each female occurs several times during the season. No lunar periodicity in spawning occurs and there are no broods caused by synchronous spawning.The eggs are retained in the gills of the mother during cleavage and early larval development.The time required for the fertilized egg to complete larval development to metamorphosis is approximately five weeks at Woods Hole. About half of this time is passed in the brood pouch and half as a free swimming veliger.When eggs and early embryos are removed from the gills they do not develop normally.The trochophore of Teredo is non-motile, having either a feebly developed protroch or none.Teredo navalis reaches sexual maturity in six weeks or two months after metamorphosis when it measures four or five ce.
Rhythmic foraging in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes (L.) (Formicidae: Attini)

The foraging behaviour of leaf-cutting ants can be divided into three broad aspects; namely, the spatial distribution of foraging around nests, the type and amount of vegetation collected by foragers, and the timing of activity during each 24-h cycle. The first two topics have been studied extensively for Atta cephalotes (L.) in tropical forest (Cherrett 1968, 1972) and in laboratory tests (Barrer & Cherrett 1972), and fairly consistent patterns of behaviour established. By contrast, the accounts of rhythmic foraging are confusing, the ants apparently behaving inconsistently. For example, in different parts of South and Central America, Beebe (1921), Weber (1941, 1946) and Cherrett (1968) recorded predominantly nocturnal foraging, whereas Lutz (1929) and Hodgson (1955) observed foraging only in daylight; in Trinidad, Panama and Belize we have seen this species foraging by both day and night. The most striking feature of foraging from day to day is its rhythmic sequence. A particular nest observed at the same time in each 24-h (diel) period usually shows a similar degree of foraging activity for weeks, or even months, at a time. Because most of the observations made hitherto have lasted only a few days or weeks the diel rhythms of the individual nests studied have appeared fairly regular. But over longer periods of time the rhythms change, often quite suddenly and inexplicably, so that a nest which has foraged during daylight for several months reverts to foraging at night and vice versa. Nests within a few hundred metres of each other may forage at the same or at different times within a 24-h period; over a wider area of several thousand hectares some nests can usually be found foraging whatever the time of day or night, although each has its own distinct rhythm. The main object of this paper, considered in Part II, is to describe the collective aspects of foraging, especially diel and long-term rhythms, to see whether the ants' characteristic cyclical behaviour depends on widespread physical changes in their environment. But, as a background to the study of collective rhythms, Part I of the paper describes individual aspects of behaviour showing how far, how rapidly, and how often foraging ants walk along their trails, and the role of different individuals on the trail.
Effect of bovine neutrophil maturity on phagocytosis.

: The ability of immature circulating neutrophils to phagocytose foreign particles was determined. One quarter of each of 4 cows, which were free of mastitis and pathogens and had milk somatic cell counts of less than 1 X 10(6) cells/ml, was infused with endotoxin of Escherichia coli (0.5 mg in 3 ml of saline solution) to induce a milk leukocytosis and a shift to the left in circulating leukocytes. Milk samples were taken from the infused and one uninfused quarter before and after infusion. Blood samples were collected at 9 hours after infusion, at 2-hour intervals from 13 to 21 hours, and at 36 hours after infusion. Phagocytosis was determined by incubating whole blood with yeast cells and determining the precentage of neutrophils phagocytosing and the number of yeast cells per neutrophil. Milk somatic cells increased from an average of less than 1.0 X 10(6) cells/ml before infusion to 37.0 X 10(6) cells/ml at the next milking (postinfusion hour 11). Circulating immature neutrophils increased from 7.6% before infusion to 56.6% at postinfusion hour 21. The percentage of neutrophils phagocytosing was 99 to 100 throughout the study. Number of yeast cells per neutrophil (mean phagocytosis) decreased from 6.5 before infusion was done to 5.2 after infusion. However, there was no correlation between percentage of immature neutrophils and mean phagocytosis. The decrease in yeast cells per neutrophil was attributed to the decrease in concentration of neutrophils and yeast cells in the in vitro procedure (r = 0.50). Apparently the immature neutrophils that appear after depletion of the mature form are as phagocytic as the mature neutrophils.
EFFECTS OF ICE STORAGE ON THE BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots, 1857)

Changes in biochemical properties of freshwater prawn stored with two ice conditions Without Direct Contact with Ice (DCI) and Without Direct Contact with Ice (WCI) for day 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 were investigated. Proximate composition defined in terms of moisture increased for the DCI as storage days increases but relatively constant with treatments with WCI. Values of TVB-N (mgN/100g) in prawn stored with DCI had inverse relationship with storage days but increased with storage days in the WCI. Changes in the values of ash and crude protein were relatively constant as the storage days increased in both treatments. Ice treatments recorded little changes in between storage days for fats. Values of NPN mgN/100g decreased with days of storage with DCI but increased as the storage increased with WCI. These results obtained in this study showed that ice storage may have contrasting values and importance on the biochemical properties of the freshwater prawn.
A Nonequilibrium Theory for the Rate-Control of Speciation and Extinction and the Origin of Macroevolutionary Patterns

Cracraft, J. (Department of Anatomy, University of Illinois at the Medical Center, P.O. Box 6998, Chicago, Illinois 60680, and Division of Birds, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605) 1982. A nonequilibrium theory for the rate-control of speciation and extinction and the origin of macroevolutionary patterns. Syst. Zool. , 31:348-365. -Macroevolutionary analysis focuses on the explanation of general patterns of diversity among monophyletic groups. Three general patterns can be recognized: radiation diversity in which species richness increases through time, reduction diversity in which richness decreases, and steadystate diversity in which it remains relatively constant. Most clades show some combination of these three patterns. Clades also exhibit a pattern of phenotypic change that can be superimposed on the pattern of diversification. With speciation, descendant species can become either markedly apomorphic or remain plesiomorphic relative to the ancestral condition. There is no necessary correlation between a particular phenotypic pattern and a specific pattern of diversity. Explanations of macroevolutionary patterns have been of two principal types: adaptationist and species selectionist. The adaptationist approach has explained patterns of diversity in terms of the occupation of "adaptive zones," driven by natural selection. "Adaptive zones" are tautological constructs and lack ontological status. The other macroevolutionary explanation, species selection, is a pattern of species survival through time and as such is neither a process nor a theory of macroevolutionary change. A deterministic theory of macroevolution lies in explaining inter-cladal diversity patterns by variation in the rate-controls of speciation
Old Nest Material in Nest Boxes of Tree Swallows: Effects on Nest-Site Choice and Nest Building

ABSTR•CT. --In natural cavities, old nest material accumulates with successive use, thereby reducing the size of the cavity, and allowing the numbers of certain haematophagous ectoparasites to increase. For this reason and because researchers tudying birds breeding in nest boxes typically remove old nests from boxes, the results of such studies have been questioned. The accumulation of old nest material might affect nest-site selection and nest building by hole-nesting birds, so we tested this hypothesis by manipulating the presence and amount of old nest material in nest boxes of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Our experiment also allowed us to examine whether costs are incurred by females due to nest building in terms of their subsequent reproductive output. When a choice of boxes was available, swallows preferred empty and clean boxes, or those where the old material had been microwaved, over those with old, untouched material. Clean boxes and those with microwaved material had more space inside, so our experiments support two hypotheses: swallows avoid potentially high numbers of parasites in nests with old material; or they prefer large cavities. Empty boxes affected nest building. The mass and volume of nests built in clean boxes were greater than for nests built on old material. Females did not add more feathers to the nest lining in boxes with old material as compared with clean boxes. Correlation analyses uggested that females building large nests began egg laying earlier in both years. Otherwise, there were no associations between the sizes of nests built by females and subsequent reproductive output (e.g. clutch size) or nestling size (e.g. body-condition index). Our results show that the common habit of removing old nests from boxes can affect nest-site choice and nestbuilding behavior. Nest building does not influence reproductive output by Tree Swallows. Received 16 May 1995, accepted 21 August 1995.
Identification of Modified High-Lysine Maize Genotypes by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography!

Cereal Chern. 68(4):361-365 High-lysine opaque-2 (02) lines of maize have floury endosperm textures. Maize breeders are developing modified 02 hybrids with hard, vitreous endosperm. Modified 02 kernels are similar in appearance to normal kernels. This article presents a rapid reversed-phase high­ performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method to differentiate normal, 02, and modified 02 maize genotypes based on alcohol-soluble