Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of seed priming of tomato with salicylic acid, ascorbic acid and hydrogen peroxideon germination and plantlet growth in saline conditions.

In order to improve the germination of tomato seeds in saline conditions, effect of seed priming by various concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) (0, 50, 100and150mg/L), ascorbic acid (ASA) (0, 50, 100and150mg/L) and hydrogen peroxide (HP) (0, 40, 80and120 µM) was investigated. Saline solution of 10 dS/m was applied to impose salinity stress. The results showed that germination and plantlet growth of tomato severely reduced by salinity. Seeds primed with 150 ppm ascorbic acid not only improved germination percent but also reduced germination time under saline conditions. Seedling growth from primed seeds with 150 ppm salicylic acid and 150 ppm ascorbic acid had significantly higher in length of root and shoot than other treated or non-primed seeds under saline conditions. Maximum seed vigor was observed at concentrations of 150 mg/L ascorbic acid and salicylic acid. In this experiment, high levels of hydrogen peroxide pretreatment causes damage to seed germination and plantlet growth. It is concluded that seeds priming has reduced the severity of the effect of salinity and the best alleviation of salinity was achieved by seed priming 150 mg/L ascorbic acid.
Supporting Middle School Language Arts Teachers Through Professional Development

Abstract In this study, language arts teachers in one middle school participated in ongoing professional development. As part of this professional development, participants engaged in face-to-face professional development sessions, observations/classroom walk-throughs and reflections. Researchers examined the participants’ pre- and post- professional development survey responses to determine the professional development’s overall impact. Findings show the participants’ perceptions of literacy and the impact of a sustained professional development program on their practice. Overall, the participants indicated they were more confident in their teaching of literacy skills and strategies as a result of their participation in the professional development; continued professional development is welcome and needed.
Effects of Habitat on Mallard Duckling Survival in the Great Lakes Region

Abstract Habitat provides food and shelter resources for prefledgling waterfowl and thus plays a critical role in their growth, development, and survival. However, few studies have examined whether and how particular elements of habitat affect duckling survival. We investigated relationships of duckling survival rates with distance of overland travel, wetland vegetation composition, water permanency, and surrounding upland vegetation for 116 mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) broods in the Great Lakes region from 2001 to 2003. We found that the probability, on hatch day, that a mallard duckling will survive to 55 days was positively related to the proportion of wetland area that was vegetated and negatively related to the proportion of forest cover within 500 m of duckling locations. We found little support for relationships between duckling survival rates and the proportions of grasslands or seasonal wetlands or to distances traveled overland by broods. Our results suggest that conservation groups and wildlife managers in the Great Lakes region can improve mallard duckling survival rates by managing for, creating, and protecting vegetated wetlands and focusing efforts within lightly-forested areas.
Spatio-temporal variability in western Baltic cod early life stage survival mediated by egg buoyancy, hydrography and hydrodynamics

To disentangle the effects of different drivers on recruitment variability of marine fish, a spatially and temporally explicit understanding of both the spawning stock size and the early life stage dynamics is required. The objectives of this study are to assess the transport of western Baltic cod early life stages as well as the variability in environmentally-mediated survival along drift routes in relation to both spatial (within and between different spawning areas) and temporal (interannual and seasonal) dynamics. A spatially and temporally highly-resolved biophysical model of the Baltic Sea was used to describe mortalities and survival success of eggs and yolk-sac larvae—represented by individual, virtual drifters—as predicted proportions of drifters that either died due to bottom contact or lethal temperatures, or that survived up to the end of the yolk-sac larval stage. The environmental conditions allowing survival of cod and yolk-sac larvae indicate that favourable conditions predominately occurred during the late spawning season, while minimum survival rates could be expected from January to March. The spatial analysis of different spawning areas revealed highest survival chances in the Kattegat, intermediate survival in the Great Belt, and only low survival in the Sound, Kiel Bay and Mecklenburg Bay.
Efficacy of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy compared with botulinum toxin type A injection in treatment of lower extremity spasticity in subjects with cerebral palsy: A randomized, controlled, cross-over study.

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection is more effective than radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy in reducing plantar flexor muscle spasticity in subjects with cerebral palsy. METHODS A total of 68 subjects with cerebral palsy were randomly allocated to BTX-A injection (Group 1) or radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (Group 2) (first experiment; E1). Outcome was evaluated using the Tardieu V1 and V3 stretches, at 3 weeks, 2 months (M2) and M3 after baseline. At M6 subjects in Group 1 received radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy and subjects in Group 2 received BTX-A injection (second experiment; E2); outcome was evaluated as in E1. Treatment success was defined as improvement in foot dorsiflexion ≥10° when performing the V3 stretch at M2 in both experiments. RESULTS In both experiments mean V1 and V3 significantly improved over time. In E1 both treatments resulted in similar treatment success. In E2 fewer subjects treated with BTX-A injection reached the criteria of treatment success than did subjects treated with radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy, which was due to a carry-over effect from E1. No significant complications were observed. CONCLUSION BTX-A injection is not superior to radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the treatment of plantar flexor muscle spasticity in subjects with cerebral palsy.
The digestion, by sheep, of diets containing different physical forms of rapeseed

Summary The effect of including full-fat rapeseed (Brassica napus, cv. Jet Neuf) into diets for mature wether sheep was studied. A 4 × 4 latin square was carried out with diets containing 4% rapeseed oil in different physical forms: as intact seeds; as a mixture of rapeseed oil and rapeseed meal; or as an extruded rapeseed product. A control diet, containing rapeseed meal but no added oil, was also fed. There was no effect of added oil on rumen fermentation or dietary fibre digestibility. Extrusion had the effect of lowering nutrient availability, both in the rumen and in the small intestine. Total nitrogen digestibility for the diet containing the extruded product was 5% lower than any other diet. All diets produced apparent net gains between mouth and duodenum of ether extract; however, the diet containing dispersed oil and meal was the only one that did not show apparent synthesis of long-chain fatty acids in the forestomach. Apparent disappearances of fatty acids in the small intestine were highest, at 56 and 58 g/day respectively, for the diets containing the extruded product and the intact whole seeds. Extrusion had the effect of reducing apparent biohydrogenation of 18:1 in the forestomach. The use of extruded rapeseed in this experiment showed little benefit over that of intact rapeseed, for sheep, owing to the lower digestion of nutrients for the heated supplement. The free-dispersal of rapeseed oil in the diet, however, may inhibit microbial synthesis in the rumen.
Soil drying and nitrogen availability modulate carbon and water exchange over a range of annual precipitation totals and grassland vegetation types

Increased intensity in precipitation events and longer periods of water deficit are predicted as a general trend under future climate scenarios with potentially large effects on terrestrial ecosystem function. The primary objective of this study was to understand how variation in the intensity of precipitation inputs followed by intermittent soil drying events influence leaf and ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO2) and water exchange in a California annual grassland mesocosm experiment. We further examined how nitrogen (N) availability, and differences in plant community composition (grass‐forb combinations) affected gas exchange responses to the precipitation treatments. Net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and evapotranspiration (ET) increased significantly with greater precipitation and were positively correlated with soil moisture. A repeated 10‐day soil drying period, following 11 days of watering, strongly depressed NEE over a range of annual precipitation totals (297, 657 and 987 mm), and plant community types. Ecosystem dark respiration (Re) and leaf level photosynthesis (Amax) showed greater sensitivity to periods of soil drying in the low precipitation plots (297 mm). N additions significantly increased NEE and Re, particularly as water availability was increased. Across the range of precipitation totals and plant community types, intermittent periods of soil moisture deficit and native soil N availability constrained leaf and ecosystem level CO2 exchange, while the influence on water vapor exchange was less pronounced.
Combined Analysis of S-Alleles in European Pear by Pollinations and PCR-based S-Genotyping; Correlation between S-Phenotypes and S-RNase Genotypes

Pollen-pistil incompatibility in european pear (Pyrus communis L.) compromises adequate orchard pollination and fruit set and restricts cross-fertility between cultivars suitable as parents in breeding programs. Genetic control is simple, with a single locus expressed gametophytically in pollen controlling the rejection of the pollen tube in the style. Semicompatible pollination arises when only one allele of a pollen parent matches the pistil. Semicompatible test-crosses using partially S-genotyped european pear cultivars allowed the discrimination of 14 S- alleles (S1 to S14) at the phenotypic level and the assignment of 33 cultivars to 13 incompatibility groups. Partial genomic sequences of the S-RNase gene, spanning between the C1 and C5 conserved regions, were obtained for each new S-allele identified (S6 to S14). These sequences and those reported previously for the S1 to S5 RNases allowed a set of consensus primers amplifying all 14 S-RNase alleles to be designed. Allele-specific PCR allowed discrimination between those S-RNases giving amplification products of similar size with consensus primers. These two approaches provided a method for the molecular identification of all 14 S-alleles in european pear. With this methodology, we demonstrate that the S-RNase genotypes inferred from PCR exactly matches the S-phenotypes deduced from test- crosses. Comparison of the sequences obtained with those of S-RNases already published allowed us to relate S-alleles between studies. This will allow the prediction of cross-incompatibility among an even larger number of european pear cultivars.
Punctuated equilibria, morphological stasis and the palaeontological documentation of speciation: a biological appraisal of a case history in an African lake

The present-day faunas of the great African lakes present some of the world's best examples of ‘explosive speciation’. Lakes Victoria and Malawi each probably have several hundred endemic species of cichlid fishes. Much can be inferred about the evolution of these fishes from morphology, behaviour and intra-lacustrine distribution and from the fact that they include taxa ranging from local races, through sibling species, to forms that display extensive differentiation. The time taken to acquire specific distinctness can sometimes be accurately defined, but fossil lineages are unknown. A recent study of a fossil sequence of molluscs in the Turkana basin throws new light on the history of African lake faunas. It also claims to have resolved events during speciation. While critical analysis based on our knowledge of living molluscs in this area fails to substantiate this claim, the fossil molluscs complement information provided by the biology of extant fishes and invertebrates and emphasize the importance of these lakes in the study of evolution in living and extinct populations.
Aerodynamic analysis and car body optimalization of saving energy “WARAK” using software Ansys Fluent R15.0

Designing vehicle prototype saving energy is a thing should be seriously calculated, which is purpose to produce design are aerodynamic and streamline, also it drag force coefficient and less lift force to minimize the big engine work because the fraction cause of air so it could be saving the fuels. In the laboratory simulations, it test using scale as same as actual is 1:1. The yield of simulation gives coefficient value of drag in Warak is 0,09 as we want to be gained less than 0,1. In this simulation also present coefficient testing average value of lift about 0,17. From this, we can conclude that is very aerodynamic.
EVOLUTIONARY ORIGIN OF GLOEOMONAS (VOLVOCALES, CHLOROPHYCEAE), BASED ON ULTRASTRUCTURE OF CHLOROPLASTS AND MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY 1

Gloeomonas is a peculiar unicellular volvocalean genus because it lacks pyrenoids in the chloroplasts under the light microscope and has two flagellar bases that are remote from each other. However, ultrastructural features of chloroplasts are very limited, and no molecular phylogenetic analyses have been carried out in Gloeomonas. In this study, we observed ultrastructural features of chloroplasts of three species of Gloeomonas and Chloromonas rubrifilum (Korshikov ex Pascher) Pröschold, B. Marin, U. Schlösser et Melkonian SAG 3.85, and phylogenetic analyses were carried out based on the combined data set from 18S rRNA, ATP synthase beta‐subunit, and P700 chl a–apoprotein A2 gene sequences to deduce the natural phylogenetic positions of the genus Gloeomonas. The present EM demonstrated that the chloroplasts of the three Gloeomonas species and C. rubrifilum SAG 3.85 did not have typical pyrenoids with associated starch grains, but they possessed pyrenoid matrices that protruded interiorly within the stroma regions of the chloroplast. The pyrenoid matrices were large and broad in C. rubrifilum, whereas those of the three Gloeomonas species were recognized in only the small protruded regions of the chloroplast lobes. The present multigene phylogenetic analyses resolved that the three species of Gloeomonas belong to the Chloromonas lineage or Chloromonadinia of the Volvocales, and Chloromonas insignis (Anakhin) Gerloff et H. Ettl NIES‐447 and C. rubrifilum SAG 3.85, both of which have pyrenoids without associated starch grains, were positioned basally to the clade composed of the three species of Gloeomonas. Therefore, Gloeomonas might have evolved from such a Chloromonas species through reduction in pyrenoid matrix size within the chloroplast and by separating their two flagellar bases.
Distribution and analysis of the mechanisms of resistance of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) to imidazolinone and quinclorac herbicides

SUMMARY The lack of control of barnyardgrass in flooded rice cultivated with imidazolinone-resistant rice cultivars is challenging the utilization of this system, which is continuously expanding for new rice areas worldwide. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the frequency, distribution and mechanisms of imidazolinone resistance in barnyardgrass to establish the best practices to control and prevent this problem. The distribution of resistance was evaluated in 624 populations collected in Southern Brazil. The frequency of imidazolinone-herbicide resistance was 0·81, broadly distributed in all sampled regions. Resistance to quinclorac was also found in 0·19 of the populations, but all of the evaluated populations were susceptible to cyhalofop-butyl. Further studies were conducted in six populations. The enhanced metabolism was assessed with the metabolic inhibitors that reversed the resistance to quinclorac from 0·54 to 1·00 in two populations and the resistance to imazethapyr from 0·15 to 0·41 in three populations. The acetolactase synthase (ALS) enzyme activity also indicated the occurrence of altered target site resistance in two populations caused by the ALS gene mutations Trp574Leu and Ser653Asn, which is a novel finding in this species. The herbicide resistance in barnyardgrass in Southern Brazil presented a complex basis of resistance because it is associated with resistance to multiple herbicides due to multiple mechanisms and with multiple mutations of the ALS gene. This indicates that it is necessary to adopt specific measures to prevent and control the evolution of multiple herbicide resistance in this species.
Comparison between Closed Suction Drainage and No DrainageFollowing Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty

Objective: To compare the early outcome between closed suction drainage and no drainage following primary total knee arthroplasty. Design of Study: It was a randomized controlled trial. Study Duration and Settings: This study was carried at the Orthopedic Departments of Combined Military Hospital Lahore and Rawalpindi from Jan 2016 to March 2019. Methodology: This study involved 236 patients of both genders, aged between 40 80 years undergoing primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty for degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. These patients were divided into two treatment groups randomly. Patients in Group-A underwent TKR with closed suction drainage while patients in Group-B underwent TKR without post-operative drainage. A signed written consent was taken from every patient. Findings: Of the 236 studied patients, there were 49 (20.8%) males and 187 (79.2%) females with a male to female ratio of 1:3.8. The mean age of the patients was 62.5 ± 8.5 years. Both the study groups were similar in terms of mean pre-operative hemoglobin (p-value = 0.737) and mean pre-operative hematocrit (p-value = 0.524). However, the mean post-operative hemoglobin (10.57 ± 1.16 vs. 9.22 ± 1.02 g/dl; p-value < 0.001) and mean post-operative hematocrit (38.30 ± 1.65 vs. 36.54 ± 1.34 %; p-value < 0.001) were significantly higher in the non-drainage group. Similarly, the mean fall in hemoglobin (1.09 ± 1.97 vs. 2.37 ± 1.66 g/dl; p-value < 0.001), mean fall in hematocrit (2.30 ± 1.57 vs. 3.87 ± 2.47; p-value < 0.001), mean estimated blood loss (947.01 ± 218.98 vs. 1282.19 ± 320.59 ml; p-value < 0.001) and mean length of hospital stay (5.27 ± 1.45 vs. 6.25 ± 1.29 days; p-value < 0.001) were all significantly lower in the non-drainage group. Patients without post-operative drain also had significantly lower need for transfusion (32.2% vs. 46.6%; p-value = 0.024) in the post-operative period. Conclusion: Omission of routine post-operative drainage after primary total knee arthroplasty was found superior to conventional practice of closed suction drainage in terms of decreased blood loss, decreased fall in hemoglobin concentration and lesser need for post-operative transfusion. Therefore, we advocate the drainage after primary TKA to be unnecessary and be avoided as a routine practice.
Integration of immigrant youth in Sweden: does sport participation really have an impact?

ABSTRACT Sport participation for youth with immigrant background is often argued to play an important role for migrant youth integration into their new host society. Although few well sampled longitudinal studies has been conducted. The aim of this study was to study the impact that sport participation has on two integration-related outcomes (problem behaviours and native friends) by using the Swedish version of the longitudinal CILS4EU study. The multi-group latent growth curve models showed that although youth active or starting in sport independent of immigrant background did less problem behaviours and had more native friends than their peers with the same immigrant background that was not engaged in sport. However, the trajectories were very similar and often very close to zero, which makes it difficult to claim that sport participation has any significant impact on integration in the Swedish society.
EFFECT OF LONG-TERM FERTILISATION ON GRAIN YIELD, YIELD COMPONENTS AND QUALITY PARAMETERS OF WINTER WHEAT

The long-term effect of N and P fertilisation on the grain yield, yield components and quality parameters of winter wheat was studied for different sites in the National Long-term Fertilisation Trials in Hungary. This network of small-plot fertilisation experiments has been maintained since 1967 in nine different agro-ecological regions of the country. Increasing P and N doses had a considerable effect on the grain yield, yield components and quality parameters of winter wheat according to the results evaluated in the first 20-year average of the experiments. However, these effects differed depending on the agro-ecological conditions of the sites. Yield increases could be detected at lower fertiliser doses, and improvement in quality parameters at higher rates.
Burrow decorations as antipredatory devices

Animal decorations are normally interpreted as signals of quality. In spiders, however, decorations may have different functions, including the attraction of prey to the web or making the spider cryptic to predators. To date, there is scant evidence for the latter hypothesis. Here we use the burrow-decorating wolf spider Lycosa tarantula to test whether turrets around the burrow serve to prevent burrow invasion and predation from the Occitan scorpion Buthus occitanus. We located spiders and scorpions in field enclosures and manipulated the presence or absence of decorations or turrets. We found that the presence of the turret decreases the rate of burrow invasion and improves spider survival, possibly because the turret makes the burrow cryptic to scorpions. In addition, a field survey showed that burrows with larger decorations had a lower chance of being invaded by scorpions. These results provide evidence that the decoration has an antipredatory function in nature. Copyright 2006.
Chemical composition and functional properties of flour produced from two varieties of tigernut ( Cyperus esculentus )

The chemical composition and functional properties of flour produced from two varieties (yellow and brown) of tigernut (Cyperus esculentus) seeds were studied. The seeds were obtained in dried form, sorted, wet cleaned, dried, milled and sieved to produce flour. The flours were tagged YTF and BTF for yellow and brown varieties, respectively. The protein contents of YTF and BTF were 7.15 and 9.70%, respectively. BTF has higher fat, ash, potassium, magnesium, manganese and iron contents than YTF. On the other hand, YTF has higher carbohydrate, crude fibre, calcium, sodium and copper contents. The zinc and copper levels were low in both flours (0.01 - 0.02 mg/100 g). A low bulk density (0.55 - 0.62 g/cm3), setback viscosity (6.58 - 13.75 RVU) and breakdown viscosity (0.58 - 1.50 RVU) were recorded for the flours.