Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Species and stand response to catastrophic wind in central New England, U.S.A

(1) The effect of catastrophic hurricane wind on forest vegetation in central New England was examined at the species and stand level. (2) Species susceptibility to wind is largely explained by canopy position: fast-growing, pioneer species that form overstorey dominants (Pinus strobus, P. resinosa, Populus spp. and Betula papyrifera) suffered much greater damage than slower growing, or tolerant species occurring primarily in codominant, intermediate and suppressed canopy positions (Carya spp., Acer rubrum, Quercus alba, Q. velutina and Tsuga canadensis). Uprooting was much more important than breakage as the primary form of damage. This result, which contrasts with the findings of most studies of wind damage, may perhaps be explained by the very high levels of precipitation that accompanied the storm, saturating the soil and loosening the roots. (3) Damage to forest stands exhibits a positive, linear relationship with stand age and height and negative relationship with density. Conifer forests are significantly more susceptible than hardwood forests. Pinus strobus and P. resinosa stands are susceptible to wind at 15 years of age and are completely destroyed at 30 years; hardwood stands exhibit increasing damage from age 20 years, but are not completely blown down until age 80-100 years. (4) Within stands, damage shifts progressively from the dominant trees in young stands to include trees in the codominant, intermediate and suppressed layers in older forests. Parallel changes with age in the type of damage include a decline in the number of leaning trees and increase in uprooting. (5) Damage to species and stands from a catastrophic windstorm occurs quite predictably and specifically within the forests studied. This discriminating impact of wind has profound consequences on the vegetation at a range of spatial scales and is largely mediated by historical factors and structural and compositional aspects of the vegetation mosaic.
HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN SOILS AND DATE PALMS IRRIGATED BY GROUNDWATER AND TREATED WASTEWATER

Agricultural management of wastewater is a sustainable approach for arid- and semi-arid regions of the world. This research was conducted to evaluate the suitability of treated waste water for irrigating date palms and monitoring the partitioning of some heavy metals (e.g., Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb, Mn, Fe, Zn etc.) among soil, plant and fruits. Soil and plant samples including leaves and fruits were collected from different locations of the date palm plantations at the Sultan Qaboos University, AlHamra and izki which have been irrigated with treated water or ground water for seven years. Results showed that the concentrations of heavy metals in both groundwater and treated waste water were within the international standards. There were significant variations in heavy metal concentrations in soil at studied locations. In most of the cases, the concentrations of heavy metals were relatively higher in soils irrigated with treated waste water compared to the soils irrigated with groundwater. Generally, the concentrations of heavy metals in date palm leaves were not significantly different in plants irrigated with treated waste water or groundwater. However, there were significant differences in the concentrations of heavy metals in date fruits irrigated with different sources of water. The concentrations of some metals (Fe, Zn, and Ni) in date fruits were higher in waste water irrigated plants whereas other metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, and B) were higher in ground water treated plants. In all cases the concentration were within the permissible limits. Thus, the long-term effects of treated waste water did not indicate any adverse effects of irrigation using groundwater and waste water on fruit mineral composition, including heavy metals.
Effects of Microcystis aeruginosa and purified microcystin‐LR on the feeding behavior of Daphnia pulicaria

We investigated the mechanisms behind the negative effects of cyanobacteria on zooplankton by comparing the effects of Microcystis aeruginosa single cells, colonies, and toxins on the feeding behavior of Daphnia pulicaria in three independent experiments. The animals were fed a mixture of Scenedesmus supplemented by increasing proportions (0, 20, 50, 80, 100%) of Microcystis or concentrations (0, 50, 500, 5,000 ng ml−1) of purified microcystin‐LR. The changes in feeding behavior, as indicated by the appendage beat, mandible or labrum movement rates were evaluated by a direct observation method that coupled video recording and computerized image analysis. Daphnia responded in a different manner to the presence of single cells and colonies. In the case of the single cells, the mandibular movement rate (MMR) declined more than appendage beat rate (ABR), suggesting that Daphnia have the ability to discriminate between Microcystis and Scenedesmus. Colonies, on the other hand, produced a typical feeding interference response: the animals increased their labral rejection rate (LRR) and showed starvation signs. LRR increased in the presence of both unicellular and colonial Microcystis. In both cases, the changes in MMR and ABR were rapidly reversible and hence unlikely to be caused by intoxication from the presence of cellbound microcystins. In contrast, the addition of purified microcystin‐LR at the concentration of 5,000 ng ml−1 produced a nonreversible impairment of Daphnia feeding behavior.
What makes pelagic copepods so successful

Three features that are unique or almost unique to pelagic copepods among zoo-plankton may account for their numerical dominance in the pelagic realm of the oceans: (i) the torpedo-shaped body, the sensory armed antennules and the 'gearing' of the muscle motor make pelagic copepods very efficient in detecting and escaping predators. The specific force production and velocities during escape jumps are both about an order of magnitude higher than for other similarly sized organisms. (ii) The capability to remotely detect prey and to either capture these as they arrive in a scanning current, or as they swim through the perceptive sphere of the copepod, releases the copepods from the penalties associated filtering sticky water for prey particles. Scanning currents and active attack jumps are found in only few other zooplankters. (iii) Efficient mate finding in a mate-dilute environment allows for sexual reproduction with actual mating in each generation, otherwise uncommon in the plankton, and yields advantages in terms of deleting bad mutations and promoting 'good genes' through sexual selection.
PAPER PRESENTED AT INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON INCREASING WHEAT YIELD POTENTIAL, CIMMYT, OBREGON, MEXICO, 20–24 MARCH 2006 Association of source/sink traits with yield, biomass and radiation use efficiency among random sister lines from three wheat crosses in a high-yield environment

For many years yield improvement reported in wheat was associated with increased dry matter partitioning to grain, but more recently increases in above-ground biomass have indicated a different mechanism for achieving yield potential. The most likely way of increasing crop biomass is by improving radiation use efficiency (RUE); however there is evidence that sink strength is still a critical yield limiting factor in wheat, suggesting that improving the balance between source and sink (source/sink (SS)) is currently the most promising approach for increasing yield, biomass, and RUE. Experiments were designed to establish a more definitive link of SS traits with yield, biomass and RUE in high-yield environments using progeny deriving from parents contrasting in some of those traits. The SS traits formed three main groups relating to (i) phenological pattern of the crop, (ii) assimilation capacity up until shortly after anthesis, and (iii) partitioning of assimilates to reproductive structures shortly after anthesis. The largest genetic gains in performance traits were associated with the second group; however, traits from the other groups were also identified as being genetically linked to improvement in performance parameters. Because many of these traits are interrelated, principal component analysis (PCA) multiple regression and path analysis were used to expose these relationships more clearly. The trait most consistently associated with performance traits was biomass at anthesis (BMA). The PCA indicated a fairly close association among traits within this group (i.e. assimilation-related traits) while those from the other two groups of SS traits (i.e. phenological and partitioning) appeared to have secondary but independent effects. These conclusions were partially born out by stepwise multiple regression for individual crosses where BMA was often complemented by traits from the two other groups. Taken together, the data suggest that the assimilation traits biomass in vegetative stage (BMV) and BMA have partially independent genetic effects in this germplasm and were complementary to achieving improved performance. The identification of a number of SS traits associated with yield and biomass, which both PCA and multiple regression suggest as being at least partially independent of one another, support the idea that additive gene action could be achieved by adopting a physiological trait based breeding approach where traits from different groups are combined in a single background. A second breeding intervention based on these results would be in selecting progeny for BMA and BMV using spectral reflectance approaches since those traits that lend themselves to large-scale screening. Path analysis confirmed the importance of the spike primordial stage in the genotype by environment interaction for these traits.
Feeding whole or rolled corn with pelleted supplement to Holstein steers from weaning to 190 kilograms

Abstract Performances of two groups of 36 weanling 39-d-old Holstein steer calves (50kg BW) were evaluated when fed either whole or rolled corn at a constant 3:1 ratio with a pelleted 29% CP supplement for 127 d. Steers were fed diets containing either rolled or whole corn for the entire feeding period or a diet based on rolled corn fed for 56 d replaced by whole corn for the remaining 71 d. Average daily gain and feed:gain ratio for the first 56 d were . 87, 2.68; . 81, 2.69; and . 86kg, 2.72 for calves assigned to the whole, rolled, and rolled-whole diets, respectively. From d 57 to 127, calves fed the whole corn gained 7.2% faster than those fed the rolled corn. Average DMI, average daily gain, and feed:gain ratio for the 127-d study were 3.41, 1.12, 3.08; 3.27, 1.05, 3.11; and 3.45kg, 1.10kg, 3.14 (wt/wt) for calves fed the whole, rolled, and rolled-whole diets, respectively, Whole corn and pelleted supplement promoted good calf performance during the growing period to 191kg BW, which precluded the need for processing the grain.
Screening of some seaweeds species from South Sinai, Red Sea as potential bioinsecticides against mosquito larvae; Culex pipiens

On searching for bioinsecticides virulent to mosquito larvae; Culex pipiens, nineseaweeds species were screened. In this study, different dried seaweeds were appliedinto the mosquito larvae rearing jars. The effect of these seaweeds on the survival,larval development and growth rate of the mosquito Culex pipiens larvae wasmeasured. The percentage of dead larvae fed with seaweeds species after 10 and 15days were 50%, 90% respectively. Delayed pupation and body size reduction of themosquitoes larvae fed with seaweeds were observed. The study showed that Caulerpaprolifera, Caulerpa serrulata, Jania rubens, Nitophyllum punctatum, Cystoseiramyrica and Padina pavonica have potential to be used as larvicidal agents actingmainly to increase life cycle intervals and pupation delay.
Occurrence of multiple combinations of G and P types of group A bovine and human rotaviruses in Uttarakhand and Nagaland states, India

The present study describes the distribution of RV in bovine and human population from Uttarakhand and North eastern region of India. Group A rotavirus (RVA) was detected in 17.33% and 15.68% diarrhoeic cases from bovine and humans, respectively. All bovine RVA isolates were long electropherotypes whereas, in human RVA isolates both long and short electropherotypes were detected. Genotyping by multiplex RT-PCR revealed presence of G3 and G10 genotypes in bovine and G1 and G3 in humans. Among P types, P[1] and P[11] in bovine and P[4] and P[8] in human were detected. The G and P type combinations present were G3P[11], G10P[1], G3P[1]P[11], G10P[1]P[11], G3G10P[1]P[11], G3G6G10P[1] and G3G6G10P[11] in bovine, while G1P[4], G3P[8] and G1G3P[8] in human samples.
Calcium Requirements of Bovanes Hens

Calcium requirements of laying hens have been widely studied yet keep challenging nutritionists as a result of new genetic make-ups of commercial strains, farm management techniques, environmental concerns, and economics considerations. The present research was conducted to determine the calcium requirement of "Bovines" hens that represent about 17% of US layer industry. Increasing dietary level of calcium from 2.5 to 5.0% in hens' diets in increments of 0.5% had a significant positive linear effect on egg production and egg specific gravity. Increasing dietary calcium level from 2.5 to 5.0% increased egg production from 75.3 to 82.4% and egg specific gravity from 1.078 to 1.083 units. Calcium level had no effect on feed consumption or egg weight. "Bovines" hens required 5.57 g calcium/h/d for a maximum egg specific gravity index of 1.083 units (high shell quality). The decision to feed this level of calcium to achieve maximum shell quality however depends upon the nature and cost-benefits analysis of the layer operation.
E-books or print books, “big deals” or local selections—What gets more use?

Abstract This paper tracks the use of several hundred books at Oakland University that were made available both in print and electronically. This study attempts to determine if there are discernable differences in usage based on format. It also examines usage to determine if collections of books that were locally selected exhibit different usage than those purchased through a consortium. The author concludes that locally selected collections receive greater usage than consortially selected collections. Furthermore, the author finds that usage of a particular title in one format does not correlate to usage of that title in the other, but that there is a relationship between the formats when you compare aggregate circulations/accesses of books based within NetLibrary subject areas.
Prey preferences of sympatric fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales revealed by stable isotope mixing models

Over-exploitation of top predators and fish stocks has altered ecosystems towards less productive systems with fewer trophic levels. In the Celtic Sea (CS), discards and bycatch levels have prompted concern about some fisheries, while fin and humpback whales are recovering from centuries of over-exploitation. A lack of empirical evidence on the preferred diet of some predators such as whales in the CS has hindered the implementation of effective conservation measures using an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. Using a Bayesian framework (SIAR), stable carbon (d 13 C) and nitrogen (d 15 N) isotope mixing models were used to assign proportionate diet solutions to fin and humpback whales (skin biopsies) and putative prey items: herring (Clupea harengus), sprat (Sprattus sprattus), and krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica and Nyctiphanes couchii) in the CS. Krill was the single most important prey item in the diet of fin whales, but one of the least important for humpback whales (albeit based on a small sample of humpback whale samples). Age 0 sprat and herring comprised a large proportion of the diet of both species, followed by older sprat (age 1–2) and older herring (age 2–4). An ecosystem based approach to fisheries management will be required in the CS if we seek effective conservation of both fin and humpback whales, and sustainable fisheries.
Does parasitic infection by the body cavity dwelling Philometra ovata (Nematoda) impair swimming performance of male European minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)?

Abstract The influence of trophically transmitted parasite infection on fitness-related locomotor performance in fish as definite hosts has been studied relatively rarely and is thus mostly unknown. In this study, we examined the effect of body cavity dwelling nematode Philometra ovata on the swimming performance, fitness-related traits (male body quality) and male sexual ornamentation of their definitive host, European minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus). Despite the fact that P. ovata is relatively large in body size and thus presumably costly for their host minnows, we found that the abundance of the parasite did not correlate with the swimming performance of the male minnows. Neither did the infection of P. ovata impair the male sexual ornamentation or the male body quality. These partly unexpected results highlight the fact that the P. ovata induced impairment on fitness-related traits of host male minnows is not straightforward, and thus additional physiological studies in infected minnows are needed before final conclusions about the actual harmfulness of the parasite can be made.
ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES OF SEED OIL OF NEEM (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.)

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) seed oil on four fungi, namely: Fusarium sp. Rhizopus sp. Curvularia sp. and Aspergillus sp. which are pathogenic in nature. The crude extract of neem seed was obtained using petroleum ether. The extract inhibited the growth of all the fungi tested. The extent to which the extract inhibited the growth of the fungi was observed to be different for each of the fungi. Growth inhibition was highest in Curvularia sp. (which did not grow beyond the initial point of its radial growth before introduction of the extract), while the lowest effect was observed in Rhizopus sp.
Kalman Filtering-Aided Hybrid Indoor Positioning System With Fingerprinting And Multilateration

In this work we resort to the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beaconing mechanism to propose an hybrid indoor positioning system (H-IPS) that fuses both multilateration (MLT) and fingerprinting (FP) RSSI-based approaches. The aim is to estimate the localization of an indoor target node, which is assumed to follow a uniform motion model. We adopt Kalman Filtering (KF) to diminish the MLT and FP errors while performing a track-to-track fusion (TTF) of the two KF outputs to further improve the performance. Our results indicate that the proposed H-IPS improves the estimation accuracy when individually compared to the standalone FP scheme in up to 46% in the considered scenarios, while the standalone MLT is outperformed in approximately 54%. Moreover, we also provide some insights on the influence of parameters such as the FP grid size, number of access points (APs) and number of samples on the accuracy of the proposed scheme. Finally, we show that the probability that the distance error of the proposed H-IPS is lower than 2 m is 92%, while for the FP and MLT the same probability is 43% and 47%, respectively.
Laser-induced Flexible Graphene Bioelectrodes for Enzymatic Biofuel Cell

Herein, a cost-efficient, easy realizable and customized laser-induced flexible graphene (LIFG) have been explored as Enzymatic Biofuel Cell (EBFC) bioelectrodes. These LIFG bioelectrodes were created on a polyamide substrate directly by irradiation with a CO2 laser at optimized laser properties (speed and power). The bioelectrodes were rigorously characterized using Raman spectroscopic technique. Further, the surface morphological study of polyamide film, LIFG, and LIFG with the relevant enzymes modified bioelectrodes has been accomplished using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Subsequently, the voltammetric electrochemical analysis of modified bioelectrodes has been carried out using Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Open Circuit Potential (OCP). Such electrochemical characterizations have shown excellent performance and further motivate us towards future studies at the microfluidics level.
C-abl Phosphorylates Alpha-synuclein And Regulates Its Degradation, Implication For Alpha-synuclein Clearance And Contribution To The Pathogenesis Of Parkinson's Disease

Increasing evidence suggests that the c-Abl protein tyrosine kinase could play a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurodegenerative disorders. c-Abl has been shown to regulate the degradation of two proteins implicated in the pathogenesis of PD, parkin and alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn). The inhibition of parkin's neuroprotective functions is regulated by c-Abl-mediated phosphorylation of parkin. However, the molecular mechanisms by which c-Abl activity regulates -syn toxicity and clearance remain unknown. Herein, using NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, in vitro enzymatic assays and cell-based studies, we established that alpha-syn is a bona fide substrate for c-Abl. In vitro studies demonstrate that c-Abl directly interacts with alpha-syn and catalyzes its phosphorylation mainly on tyrosine 39 (pY39), and to a lesser extent on tyrosine Y125 (pY125). Analysis of human brain tissues showed for the first time that pY39 alpha-syn is detected in the brains of healthy individuals and those with PD. Interestingly, whereas Nilotinib, a specific inhibitor of c-Abl kinase activity, induces alpha-syn protein degradation via the autophagy and proteasome pathways, the overexpression of alpha-syn in the midbrain of rats enhances c-Abl expression. Together, these results suggest that changes in c-Abl expression and/or activation play important roles in regulating alpha-syn clearance and contribute to the pathogenesis of PD. Thus, targeting c-Abl kinase activity represents a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PD and related synucleinopathies. This work was funded by ERC, NIH (#R37-AG019391 and #R24AA012725) and the Swiss cancer league (KLS-3132-02-2013, KLS-3132-02-2013). Our work was recently published in Hum Mol Genet. 2014 Jun 1;23(11):2858-79.