Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organic Matter in Volcanic Ash Soils under Forest and Páramo along an Ecuadorian Altitudinal Transect

The volcanic ash soils along an altitudinal transect in Guandera Biological Station in northern Ecuador have been developed under varying vegetation around the upper forest line. Generally, the soils currently covered by forest are composed of Fulvic Andosols (melanic index >1.7) while those under paramo (tropical alpine grasslands) have developed into Melanic Andosols. This vegetation effect on soil formation is believed to be associated with differences in organic matter composition. In this study, we examined whether Fulvic Andosols differed from Melanic Andosols in organic matter composition. Using analytical pyrolysis techniques, we found hardly any differences in the organic matter characteristics related to vegetation cover, not even between soils that supposedly have been covered by forest and paramo for millennia. Small differences were found within the lipid compounds, while the polysaccharides and lignin were virtually absent from the (deeper) mineral soil horizons. The low abundance of polysaccharides in soils that have undergone severe organic matter decomposition is not unusual for most soils, but is uncommon in other Andosols studied with the same pyrolysis techniques.
An investigation of species diversity of ectoparasite fleas on rodents in residential areas in Yunnan province, southwestern China.

【Aim】To understand the characteristics of community structure and spatial distribution of ectoparasite fleas on rodents in residential areas in Yunnan province,southwestern China. 【Methods】 The systematic investigation on the fauna and community ecology of ectoparasite fleas on rodents were carried out in residential areas of 17 counties of Yunnan province,southwestern China with different longitude,latitude and elevation from May 2007 to November 2012. The characteristics of the spatial distribution of flea communities along environmental gradients were analyzed using community structure indexes. 【Results】A total of 521 fleas were collected from the body surface of rodents from residential areas in the seventeen counties,and these fleas were classified into 12 species of 9 genera in 7 subfamilies of 4 families. The vertical and latitudinal distributions of fleas were similar in residential areas. The number of flea species was relatively less in the low latitude and altitude range,and Xenopsylla cheopis and Leptopsylla segnis were the dominant species of indoor parasitic fleas. However,in the high latitude and altitude region,although more species were found,the dominant species was not prominent. The horizontal distribution of flea species richness showed one peak along the longitudinal gradient,and the highest richness was observed at the longitude 99°- 101° E. The indoor dominant species X. cheopis and L. segnis can be distributed in almost all longitudes,displaying a wide ecological amplitude feature. In addition,the richness and diversity spatial distribution patterns of fleas showed the similar trends of leaning peak curves,first gradually increasing and then decreasing with the increase of latitude and elevation. The geographical distribution of flea species diversity,however,showed gradually decreasing tendency from west to east in longitude distribution. 【Conclusion】The spatial patterns of fleas communities in residential areas show unique geographic characteristics in Yunnan, and thecharacteristics are affected by different habitats of fleas which are influenced by a variety of factors such as climate,forest vegetation and human activities.
Association of Objective Sleep Characteristics and Incident Angina Pectoris: A Longitudinal Analysis from the Sleep Heart Health Study

Purpose While prior research has highlighted a significant association between sleep characteristics and angina pectoris (AP) incidence, the link between sleep efficiency (SE) and angina remains unexplored. This study seeks to elucidate the relationship between AP and objectively quantified SE. Patients and Methods We examined a cohort of 2990 participants (1320 males and 1670 females; mean age 63.69 ± 13.2 years) from the Sleep Heart Health Study. The main exposure variable was SE, as determined by baseline home polysomnography, while the primary outcome was the first incidence of angina pectoris (AP) during the period between the baseline polysomnography and the end of follow-up. A multivariate Cox regression model was utilized, controlling for factors such as age, gender, BMI, smoking and alcohol consumption habits, diabetes, hypertension, sleep duration, triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, apnea-hypopnea index, nocturnal oxygen saturation, to analyze the relationship between SE and AP. Results During an average follow-up of 11 years, 284 patients developed AP. The unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analysis identified the 2nd quartile of SE as having the lowest AP risk. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated a higher risk of AP in quartile 1 (HR, 1.679; 95% CI, 1.109–2.542; P <0.014) and quartile 3 (HR, 1.503; 95% CI, 1.037–2.179; P <0.031), compared to quartile 2 of SE. Upon stratified analysis, this relationship was particularly pronounced in hypertensive individuals. Conclusion Our results highlight the critical role of optimal sleep efficiency in mitigating the risk of angina pectoris, especially among hypertensive individuals.
Estimating groundwater evapotranspiration from streamflow records

Methods for determining groundwater outflow from a drainage basin following sudden or constant recharge were presented by Rorabaugh in 1964. He then developed, but did not publish, a method for computing outflow from an aquifer underlain by a leaky boundary. This method can be extended to determine outflow from an aquifer subjected to constant evapotranspiration (ET). The unaffected aquifer outflow (streamflow) recession following recharge becomes a straight line on a semilogarithmic graph after sufficient time has elapsed. The slope of this recession is, in logarithm to base 10 form, − Tt/0.933a2S, where T and S are the transmissivity and storage coefficient of the aquifer, a is the distance from the stream to the groundwater divide, and t is the time since recharge occurred (sudden case) or began (constant case). A set of dimensionless type curves are developed for the case of constant ET (leakage) which diverge from and lie below the unaffected case. Streamflow records for the basin, Indian Creek near Troy, Alabama, were analyzed by using the method described. A constant ET rate of 0.037 m3/s was computed for the 23.00-km2 basin during the period April through June 1963.
High blood pressure mediated the effect of fasting insulin level on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease risk: A Mendelian randomization study

Objective The interactions between fasting insulin levels, high blood pressure and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are still unclear. We examined the causal mechanisms between these three cardiometabolic traits using Mendelian randomization (MR) approach by utilizing genetic instruments. Methods Three different genome-wide association studies resources of European ancestry were utilized for the present study. Two-sample MRs were used to assess causal effects between fasting insulin levels, high blood pressure and NAFLD. Multivariate MR was used to calculate the mediating effect. The inverse variance-weighted method was used as the main analysis method. Results Our study confirmed a causal effect of fasting insulin levels (IVW-OR = 9.54, P = 0.001) and high blood pressure (IVW-OR = 3.926, P = 0.005) on NAFLD risk. And fasting insulin level was positively casually associated with high blood pressure risk (IVW-OR = 1.170, P < 0.001). However, the impact of high blood pressure on fasting insulin levels was still uncertain because of the presence of horizontal pleiotropy. Reverse MR showed NAFLD had a positive correlation with fasting insulin levels (IVW-OR = 1.010, P < 0.001) and a negative causal effect on high blood pressure risk (IVW-OR = 0.997, P = 0.037). Combined the multivariate MR result revealed high blood pressure partially mediated the contribution of fasting insulin level to NAFLD risk (proportion mediated: 9.091%). Conclusions Our study suggests there is a bidirectional causal relationship between fasting insulin levels and NAFLD. High blood pressure seems to play a mediating role in the development of NAFLD caused by changes in fasting insulin levels. However, it is uncertain whether high blood pressure is a mediator between NAFLD and the risk of fasting insulin level.
Multidecadal fluctuations of the North Atlantic Ocean and feedback on the winter climate in CMIP5 control simulations

This study examines the relationship between the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) and the wintertime atmospheric circulation of the North Atlantic in simulations of the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Comparisons of internal (using preindustrial control simulations) and externally forced (using historical and Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 simulations) simulated AMV with observations suggest that the CMIP5 models lack internally generated AMV, except for two models (GFDL‐ESM2G and HadGEM2‐ES). A long‐term influence of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the AMV is identified, but no consistent feedback of the AMV onto the atmospheric circulation is found among the models. However, GFDL‐ESM2G and HadGEM2‐ES show a small lagged NAO signal that suggests a driving role of the ocean on decadal fluctuations of the atmosphere, with two different potential mechanisms. HadGEM2‐ES exhibits a latitudinal shift of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone that can modulate the NAO through a Rossby wave train emanating from the tropics. In GFDL‐ESM2G, the AMV is associated with a decrease in storm track activity and a shift of the intraseasonal weather regimes toward the negative NAO regime. These results raise hope that some long‐term predictability of the winter climate over the North Atlantic and surrounding continents could be extracted from long‐term oceanic fluctuations of the North Atlantic Ocean, provided that the AMV is correctly represented in coupled ocean‐atmosphere models.
IDE-Integrated Microneedle Arrays as Fully Biodegradable Platforms for Wearable/Implantable Capacitive Biosensing

Microneedle biosensors have emerged as a promising tool for in situ biomarker detection due to their minimally invasive nature and ability to interface with interstitial fluid (ISF). However, most previously demonstrated ones are limited to in situ detection of small molecules and ions, employing amperometry or potentiometry measurement techniques with electrical current or voltage output metrics, respectively, which may not be suitable for detecting large molecules, such as proteins. This letter presents an innovative approach utilizing a microneedle array integrated with an interdigitated electrode (MAIDE), enabling in situ capacitive detection and quantification of protein biomarkers. Following microneedle penetration, the interdigitated electrode array establishes direct contact with the solution, enabling real-time monitoring of interfacial capacitance modulations as the result of the binding reaction, leading to the acquisition of rich molecular data. Equivalent circuit model extraction followed by impedance spectroscopy for different concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) indicated the suitability of the proposed platform in tracking the interfacial capacitance variations with respect to different BSA concentrations of 100, 10, and 1 µg/mL with a detection limit of 21 ng/mL. Furthermore, the device showed satisfactory results for biodegradability experiments where it disintegrated for a duration of 10 h. In addition, in vivo experiments show stable capacitance readings with (dC/C)% deviations less than 0.5%, indicating its potential for biodegradable wearable/implantable capacitive biosensing applications.
Palaeobiology and evolution of the earliest agglutinated Foraminifera: Platysolenites, Spirosolenites and related forms

Tubular agglutinated fossils of Platysolenites antiquissimus Eichwald, 1860, P. cooperi n.sp. and Spirosolenites spiralis Glaessner, 1979 are examined from selected lower Cambrian successions in Avalonia (England; Wales; Newfoundland) and Baltica (Russia and Estonia). Platysolenites cooperi n.sp. is shown to extend below the first appearance of P. antiquissimus in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian boundary stratotype region, SE Newfoundland, and to occur at higher stratigraphic levels in Wales and Finnmark. Taphonomic, teleological and ultrastructural studies on well-preserved material are consistent with a similar grade of organization and mode of life for P. antiquissimus and the living astrorhizacean foraminiferid Bathysiphon. However, agglutinated proloculi are here described from both rectilinear P. antiquissimus and coiled S. spiralis, which suggests that neither were typical astrorhizaceans.
Organic matter characteristics under native forest, long-term pasture, and recent conversion to Eucalyptus plantations in Western Australia: microbial biomass, soil respiration, and permanganate oxidation

The influence of land-use management on Walkley-Black soil carbon (C) concentration, 3 concentrations of permanganate oxidisable C (33, 167, and 333 mm), microbial biomass, and soil respiration in a laboratory incubation was tested in surface soil from 10 sites in south-western Australia. The sites ranged in total C concentration from 1.9 to 8.3%, and represented a broad climatic and soil-type distribution across south-western Australia. At each of the sites, 0-10 cm soil was collected from plots in pasture (20-71 years old), Eucalyptus globulus plantation (7-10 years old, established on ex-pasture), and native vegetation. Soil profiles and position in the landscape for each of the land-use types were matched as closely as possible at each site to minimise influences other than land use. Total C was highly correlated with clay content. Land use caused no significant change in the relationship between total C and soil texture, and land use had little effect on total C concentration. Permanganate-oxidisable C was highly correlated with Walkley-Black organic C (R2 > 0.90) for all 3 concentrations that were investigated. Only the most dilute concentration of permanganate-oxidisable C (33 mm) was sensitive enough to detect small changes in soil organic matter with land use (P = 0.045). Microbial biomass and respiration at 25 kPa matric potential moisture content and 35°C temperature were used as biological indicators of soil organic matter lability. Cumulative respired C was more sensitive to land use than Walkley-Black organic C, with lower respiration in native soils compared with managed soils with low C concentrations, but higher than the managed soils at sites with high C concentrations. Microbial biomass was not significantly affected by land use. Microbial biomass and cumulative respired C were strongly influenced by soil texture, with the microbial quotient (proportion of microbial biomass in total carbon) and the proportion of total C respired significantly lower in soils with higher silt and clay contents. Land use had no significant effect on these relationships. Overall, land use caused only minor differences in the biological and chemical indicators of organic matter quality across a broad range of sites in south-western Australia.
Utility of a psychological framework for carnivore conservation

Abstract Conserving threatened carnivore species increasingly depends on the capacity of local people to cohabit with those species. To examine such capacity we developed a novel psychological framework for conservation in regions of the world where there are human–carnivore conflicts, and used the Endangered tiger Panthera tigris to explore the utility of this framework. Specifically, we tested three hypotheses in Chitwan National Park, Nepal, where increasing human–tiger conflicts potentially jeopardize long-term coexistence. We administered a survey to 499 individuals living < 2 km from the Park and in nearby multiple-use forest, to record preferred future tiger population size and factors that may influence preferences, including past interactions with tigers (e.g. livestock predation) and beliefs and perceptions about tigers. Over 17% of respondents reported that a tiger had attacked their livestock or threatened them directly. Results from a structural equation model indicated that respondents who preferred fewer tigers in the future were less likely to associate tigers with beneficial attributes, more likely to associate tigers with undesirable attributes, and more likely to believe that government officials poorly manage tiger-related risks and that people are vulnerable to risks from tigers. Our framework can help address current and future conservation challenges because it (1) integrates an expansive and generalized set of psychological concepts, (2) enables the identification of conservation interventions that foster coexistence between people and carnivores, and (3) is suitable for broad application.
Effects of Fulvic Acid on Growth and Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency in M9T337 Seedlings

Both fulvic acid (FA) and nitrogen (N) play important roles in agricultural production in China. Plants typically show a higher nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE) under FA application. However, the role of FA application in apple growth and NUE remains unclear. A hydroponic culture experiment was performed, and M9T337 seedlings (a dwarf apple rootstock) were used as the experimental subjects. The biomass, photosynthesis, accumulation, and distribution of photosynthates, N absorption and assimilation, and relative gene expression in the seedlings were examined after treatment with five different concentrations of FA (0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 mg·L−1, represented by CK, FA1, FA2, FA3, FA4, respectively). The results showed that the seedling dry weight and 15NUE were enhanced by FA, and both were highest under the FA2 (the concentration of fulvic acid is 120 mg·L−1) treatment. Further analysis revealed that under the FA2 treatment, the root morphology was optimized, and the root activity was relatively high. Compared with CK (control, the concentration of fulvic acid is 0 mg·L−1), the FA2 treatment strengthened photosynthesis, elevated the key enzyme activities related to C metabolism, upregulated the gene expression of sugar transport proteins, and increased the root sorbitol and sucrose contents, which suggested that the FA2 treatment optimally affected the root growth and N absorption because it enhanced photosynthate synthesis and the leaf-to-root translocation of photoassimilates. The seedlings in the FA2 treatment group also showed a significantly higher NO3− influx rate and NRT (nitrate transporter) gene expression in the roots. Moreover, relatively high N metabolism-related enzyme activities in the leaves and roots were also observed under the FA2 treatment. The isotope labeling results showed that the optimal FA2 supply not only promoted seedling 15N absorption but also optimized the distribution of C and N in the seedlings. These results suggested that an optimal FA supply (120 mg·L−1) enhanced seedling NUE by strengthening photoassimilate synthesis and transport from leaves to roots, regulating N absorption, assimilation, and distribution.
The Subtype Selectivity in Search of Potent Hypotensive Agents among 5,5-Dimethylhydantoin Derived α1-Adrenoceptors Antagonists

In order to find new hypotensive drugs possessing higher activity and better selectivity, a new series of fifteen 5,5-dimethylhydantoin derivatives (1–15) was designed. Three-step syntheses, consisting of N-alkylations using standard procedures as well as microwaves, were carried out. Crystal structures were determined for compounds 7–9. All of the synthesized 5,5-dimethylhydantoins were tested for their affinity to α1-adrenergic receptors (α1-AR) using both in vitro and in silico methods. Most of them displayed higher affinity (Ki < 127.9 nM) to α1-adrenoceptor than urapidil in radioligand binding assay. Docking to two subtypes of adrenergic receptors, α1A and α1B, was conducted. Selected compounds were tested for their activity towards two α1-AR subtypes. All of them showed intrinsic antagonistic activity. Moreover, for two compounds (1 and 5), which possess o-methoxyphenylpiperazine fragments, strong activity (IC50 < 100 nM) was observed. Some representatives (3 and 5), which contain alkyl linker, proved selectivity towards α1A-AR, while two compounds with 2-hydroxypropyl linker (11 and 13) to α1B-AR. Finally, hypotensive activity was examined in rats. The most active compound (5) proved not only a lower effective dose than urapidil but also a stronger effect than prazosin.
23. UPPER QUATERNARY VEGETATION AND CLIMATE HISTORY OF THE AMAZON BASIN: CORRELATING MARINE AND TERRESTRIAL POLLEN RECORDS 1

Pollen analysis of 37 samples from the Amazon Fan (Sites 930, 931, 932, 936, 938, and 946) show changes in pollen frequencies that may reflect vegetational changes in the Amazon Basin through at least the last 105 k.y. Through most of the records, the relative percentages of pollen and spores exhibit fluctuations that correspond to cyclic changes in climate and se a level. Comparisons with modern Amazon River pollen assemblages suggest that the increase in cold-adapted arboreal taxa such as Podocarpus, Alnus, and Hedyosmum, throughout the last glacial, peaking between 21,000 and 17,000 BP, may represent an expanded distribution of these taxa within the basin in response to a colder climate. Between 36,000 and 28,000 BP, coldadapted taxa show reduced percentage representations, comparable to levels found in postglacial samples, suggesting a contraction of these taxa in response to a warmer climate. The pollen record suggests that there are only moderate changes in the exte nt of savanna at times of fluctuating temperature during the last glacial period. This highlights the complex interaction of contr olling factors such as precipitation, temperature, and atmospheric CO 2 for historical plant distribution in the lowland Amazon Basin as well as in the Andes.