Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF HOMO - AND HETERO - FERMENTATIVE LACTIC ACID BACTERIA MIX ON THE ENSILED LUCERNE FERMENTATION CHARACTERISTICS AND AEROBIC STABILITY IN BIG BALES

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of homo- and hetero-fermentative lactic acid bacteria mix on the ensiled lucerne fermentation characteristics and aerobic stability in big bales. The lucerne was ensiled without additives (C) and treated with a mix of bacterial inoculant that contains Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus buchneri (50:50) (I). Silage was treated with bacterial inoculant, which significantly increased the total organic acids concentration by 69 %, lactic acid by 92% and acetic acid by 76 %. If the results were compared with the C silage, the inoculation significantly decreased the concentrations of butyric acid by 73 %, ethanol by 53 % and ammonia - N concentration by 33%. Inoculated silage had significantly lowered the yeast count by 59 % and moulds count by 34 %. Compared to the inoculated silage and during the aerobic exposure, the untreated silage maximum temperature was significantly higher (13.9 0 C vs 4.6 0 C) (P < 0.05). Therefore, the bacterial inoculant improved the quality of fermentation and aerobic stability in lucerne silages. Keywords: aerobic stability, lactic acid bacteria, lucerne, silage Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017. 029
Mechanical characterization of therapeutic cells and physical property-based sorting in microfluidic systems

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells (MSCs and HSCs) have rapidly become the leading cells for consideration to aid tissue regeneration following injury. However, potential HSCs and MSCs migration to the injured tissue after infusion is impeded by cell trap within the upstream vessels, where physical and mechanical properties of cells play an important role. Microfluidic system has a potential to sort cells/particles based on their mechanical properties. It is hypothesized that such sorting system could be utilized to separate smaller and more deformable SCs from a cell population, infusion of which might be able to enhance the recruitment of the cells. The mechanical properties of murine HSCs were determined using micromanipulation and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Microfluidic devices were fabricated to separate sub-set of HSCs, followed by the infusion of the isolated cells into ischemia-reperfusion injured animals. HSCs as a whole became weaker and more deformable after pre-treatment with SDF-la and H 2 02, but HSC surface stiffened after the same pre-treating, accompanied by the expansion and polymerization ofF-actin interacting with the plasma membrane. A spiral microfluidic system with channel width 300m and height 40m was found to effectively isolate smaller and more deformable HSCs from a cell population, resulting in a significant increase of free flowing cells in vivo. This study comprehensively characterized cell mechanics at different levels using micromanipulation and AFM, determining mechanical markers of therapeutic cells. Most importantly, a simple cell sorting system was successfully developed to isolate target cells without introducing any chemical modification, and the possible underlying mechanism was discussed, which can be valuable to cellular therapy.
The Functional effects of voluntary and involuntary visual phantom color on conscious awareness

The constructive nature of vision is perhaps most evident during hallucinations, mental imagery, synesthesia, perceptual filling-in, and many illusions in which conscious visual experience does not overtly correspond to retinal stimulation: phantom vision. However, the relationship between voluntary and involuntary phantom vision remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated two forms of visual phantom color, neon phantom color spreading and voluntary color mental imagery and their effect on subsequent binocular rivalry perception. Passively viewing neon phantom color induced time sensitive, suppressive effects on spatially non-overlapping subsequent binocular rivalry. These effects could be attenuated by rotating the color-inducers, or like color imagery, by concurrent uniform luminance stimulation. The degree of neon color induced rivalry suppression predicted the degree of voluntary color imagery facilitation, both on subsequent rivalry perception. Further, these suppressive and facilitative effects were additive when experienced successively. Our results suggest potential sensory mechanistic commonalities between voluntary and involuntary phantom vision.
Twenty years of change in riverside vegetation: what role have invasive alien plants played?

Question Which environmental factors influence the occurrence of invasive alien plants (IAPs) in riparian habitats and how much can IAPs account for change in native vegetation compared with other environmental variables? Location Rivers distributed throughout mainland Britain. Methods We quantified change in river bank vegetation using survey data collected approximately 20 years apart and assessed the contribution of major IAPs (Impatiens glandulifera, Heracleum mantegazzianum and Fallopia japonica) to these changes, and determined the importance of abiotic factors such as flow regime and land use in driving these changes. Results Comparing data from pre- and post-1990 surveys revealed that IAPs occurred mainly on lowland rivers (altitude <200m), regardless of time period, and their probability of occurrence increased over time and with rising frequency of high flows. Native plant species diversity declined over time with increasing IAP cover, along lowland rivers, and along all rivers experiencing extended low flows during the growing season. These conditions particularly favoured native dominant species, whereas native subordinate species responded both positively and negatively to increased flood frequency depending on survey period. Over time, native subordinate Salix spp. and larger hydrophilic species, such as native dominant Sparganium erectum, increased along lowland rivers, replacing smaller-statured ruderal species, and driving a shift towards increased shade tolerance of sub-canopy and groundcover species. Smaller compositional changes occurred in the uplands and these changes lacked a clear environmental signature. Conclusions National scale changes in native riparian vegetation are likely driven primarily by environmental changes and land-use effects, rather than invasion by IAPs. However, IAPs, and indeed native species that benefit from abiotic changes, in turn, likely exert secondary effects on native riparian vegetation. The trend towards reduced diversity, increased shade tolerance and increased dominance of some native species and IAPs is likely linked to a set of interacting factors including drier summers, wetter winters, increased riparian tree cover, reduced livestock access to river banks and increased fine sediment input. Determining combined effects of land use, IAPs and climate-related changes in flow regime over decadal time scales (i.e., ~30 years) is important for predicting ecological responses of vulnerable habitats under future disturbance scenarios. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Partner Control and Environmental Fouling in the Crayfish-Branchiobdellid Symbiosis

Previous research found that crayfish (Cambarus chasmodactylus) may be engaged in a cleaning mutualism with ectosymbiotic worms (Annelida: Branchiobdellidae), yet mechanisms for symbiosis establishment and maintenance remain unknown. In addition, it is unclear why a co-occurring crayfish species (Orconectes cristavarius) hosts almost no worms. The research in this thesis seeks to answer some of these questions by incorporating field surveys with laboratory and field experiments to assess the influence of both partner control behaviors and environmental fouling on the interaction between crayfish and branchiobdellid worms.
Large Scale Long-tailed Product Recognition System at Alibaba

A practical large scale product recognition system suffers from the phenomenon of long-tailed imbalanced training data under the E-commercial circumstance at Alibaba. In addition to images of products at Alibaba, plenty of related side information (e.g. title and tags) reveal rich semantic information about images. Prior works mainly focus on addressing the long tail problem from the visual perspective only, but lack of consideration of leveraging the side information. In this paper, we present a novel side information based large scale visual recognition co-training (SICoT) system to deal with the long tail problem by leveraging the image related side information. In the proposed co-training system, we firstly introduce a bilinear word attention module which aims to construct a semantic embedding from the noisy side information. A visual feature and semantic embedding co-training scheme is then designed to transfer knowledge between those classes with abundant training data (head classes) to classes with few training data (tail classes) in an end-to-end fashion. Extensive experiments on four challenging large scale datasets, whose numbers of classes range from one thousand to one million, demonstrate the scalable effectiveness of the proposed SICoT system in alleviating the long tail problem.
PGPRs of plum (Prunus domestica) rhizosphere enhance plant growth and antagonise fungal activity in vitro

ABSTRACT Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) promote the plant growth by various direct and indirect mechanisms. The present study was undertaken to isolate and characterise the PGPRs of plum (Prunus domestica) rhizosphere in Pakistan. A total of 95 rhizobacteria were isolated, out of which 40 strains were selected on the basis of morphological, biochemical and Gram staining characteristics. The selected isolates were screened for in vitro plant growth promoting potential and were subsequently evaluated for host plant growth promotion. The selected isolates demonstrated strong lytic enzymatic activities and were able to produce ammonia, siderophore, Hydrogen cyanide along with capability of phosphate solubilisation. Moreover, the results showed a significant growth suppression of pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani in an in vitro assay. The plant microbe interaction study was carried out using 11 most efficient rhizobacterial strains inoculated to roots of plum plants. The inoculated PGPRs significantly augmented the leaves number per shoot, shoot diameter, shoot length and plant height. The inoculation also significantly increased the chlorophyll contents of leaves, concentration of micro and macro nutrients compared with control. The current study shows the importance of these selected PGPRs as bio-fertilizer to improve the health and productivity of plum species in Pakistan.
The use of focus group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation

Focus group discussion is frequently used as a qualitative approach to gain an in‐depth understanding of social issues. The method aims to obtain data from a purposely selected group of individuals rather than from a statistically representative sample of a broader population. Even though the application of this method in conservation research has been extensive, there are no critical assessment of the application of the technique. In addition, there are no readily available guidelines for conservation researchers. Here, we reviewed the applications of focus group discussion within biodiversity and conservation research between 1996 and April 2017. We begin with a brief explanation of the technique for first‐time users. We then discuss in detail the empirical applications of this technique in conservation based on a structured literature review (using Scopus). The screening process resulted in 170 articles, the majority of which (67%, n = 114,) were published between 2011 and 2017. Rarely was the method used as a stand‐alone technique. The number of participants per focus group (where reported) ranged from 3 to 21 participants with a median of 10 participants. There were seven (median) focus group meetings per study. Focus group discussion sessions lasted for 90 (median) minutes. Four main themes emerged from the review: understanding of people's perspectives regarding conservation (32%), followed by the assessment of conservation and livelihoods practices (21%), examination of challenges and impacts of resource management interventions (19%) and documenting the value of indigenous knowledge systems (16%). Most of the studies were in Africa (n = 76), followed by Asia (n = 44), and Europe (n = 30). We noted serious gaps in the reporting of the methodological details in the reviewed papers. More than half of the studies (n = 101) did not report the sample size and group size (n = 93), whereas 54 studies did not mention the number of focus group discussion sessions while reporting results. Rarely have the studies provided any information on the rationale for choosing the technique. We have provided guidelines to improve the standard of reporting and future application of the technique for conservation.
Truth be Told: Fake News Detection Using User Reactions on Reddit

In this paper, we provide a large dataset for fake news detection using social media comments. The dataset consists of 12,597 claims (of which 63% are labelled as fake) from four different sources (Snopes, Poltifact, Emergent and Twitter). The novel part of the dataset is that it also includes over 662K social media discussion comments related to these claims from Reddit. We make this dataset public for the research community. In addition, for the task of fake news detection using social media comments, we provide a simple but strong baseline solution deep neural network model which beats several solutions in the literature.
How fast is neural winner-take-all when deciding between many options?

Identifying the maximal element (max, argmax) in a set is a core computational element in inference, decision making, optimization, action selection, consensus, and foraging. We show that running sequentially through a list of N fluctuating items takes Nlog(N) time to accurately find the max, prohibitively slow for large N. The power of computation in the brain is ascribed to its parallelism, yet it is theoretically unclear whether, even on an elemental task like the max operation, leaky and noisy neurons can perform a distributed computation that cuts the required time by a factor of N, a benchmark for parallel computation. We show that conventional winner-take-all circuit models fail to realize the parallelism benchmark and worse, in the presence of noise altogether fail to produce a winner when N is large. If, however, neurons are equipped with a second nonlinearity so that weakly active neurons cannot contribute inhibition to the circuit, the network matches the accuracy of the serial strategy but does so N times faster, partially self-adjusting integration time for task difficulty and number of options and saturating the parallelism benchmark without parameter fine-tuning. Finally, in the regime of few choices (small N), the same circuit predicts Hick's law of decision making; thus Hick's law behavior is a symptom of efficient parallel computation. Our work shows that distributed computation that saturates the parallelism benchmark is possible in networks of noisy and finite-memory neurons.
Occurrence and Distribution of Urban Dust-Associated Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance in Northern China

The occurrence and distribution of 20 subtypes of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), conferring sulfonamide, tetracycline, macrolide, β-lactam, aminoglycoside, or quinolone antibiotic resistance, were investigated in urban dust samples collected from the surfaces of three megacities (Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang) of northern China. Real-time polymerase chain reaction indicated that the abundance of ARGs and 16S rRNA genes was significantly higher in the summer than in the winter. A total of 80 antibiotic-resistant bacteria were isolated and identified, and 12 of those species were identified as opportunistic pathogens. An isolated pathogen Acinetobacter sp. was proven to be able to transfer antibiotic resistance, which highlights the potential risk that an urban dust-associated ARG poses to public health. Deep 16S rRNA sequencing indicated high heterogeneity of bacterial communities among cities in the summer, but great homogeneity in the winter. In the summer, Enterococcus, Massilia, and Anthrobac.
Two cases of probable hybridisation between the pufferfishes Arothron meleagris (Anonymous 1798) and A. nigropunctatus (Bloch and Schneider 1801) on a fringing reef at Réunion Island

Two individuals displaying mixed features of the colour patterns distinctive of Arothron meleagris and A. nigropunctatus were observed on the fringing reef at Réunion Island, between September 2012 and August 2013. Because many hybrid fish have been first identified through colour patterns that are intermediate between two known species, these pufferfish individuals were suspected to be hybrids. However, since no specimen was collected for examination, a hypothesis that the observed individuals could be hybrids is based on comparison of their colouration with colour patterns documented for A. meleagris and A. nigropunctatus. Several factors favouring hybridisation are met on this reef, particularly a difference in abundance between the two putative parental species. Since larval retention and self-recruitment are considered probable at Réunion, these individuals could be the progeny of interbreeding populations of these species on this reef. To our knowledge, only one hybrid has ever been reported in the genus Arothron, although without genetic confirmation. This implies that the existence of potentially interfertile species in this genus remains a hypothesis. Our field observations provide additional data supporting this hypothesis.
Correlation and path analysis studies in Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybrids Hort.)

Correlation and path analysis were carried out in 12 varieties of gladiolus for different yield attributing traits at the Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Yercaud. The results indicated that the Rachis length was positive and significantly correlated with mother corm weight (g), plant height at 60th days after planting (DAP) (cm), number of leaves per plant at 60th (DAP), length of spike (cm), weight of daughter corm (g) and vase life (days). But, it is negative and significantly correlated with number of days taken for first floret opening (rg: -0.714 & rp: -0.664), number of daughter corms per plant (rg: -0.826 & rp: -0.724) and marketable spikes per plant (rg: -0.561 & rp: -0.418) at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. For path analysis the residual effect was 0.174 and it was evident that the highest direct effect on length of rachis was observed in case of mother corm size (0.951) and weight of the daughter corm (0.943), followed by number of daughter corms per plant (0.859), number of florets per spike (0.849), length of first floret (0.832), marketable spikes per plant (0.385), number of leaves per plant at 60th DAP (0.384), diameter of first floret (0.374) and length of spike (0.221) under Shevaroys conditions
Isolation and screening of fungi associated with eggs and females of root-knot nematodes and their biocontrol potential against Meloidogyne incognita in Bangladesh

Abstract A total of 297 fungal isolates belonging to 20 genera and 33 species were isolated and identified from eggs and females of Meloidogyne spp. in Bangladesh. The predominant genera were Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium; and the significant ones were Purpureocillium, Trichoderma and Pochonia. The 24 well tissue culture plate screening technique was applied for pathogenicity tests against Meloidogyne incognita in vitro. The average percentages of egg parasitism, egg hatch inhibition and juvenile mortality varied significantly and were ranged from 8.2 to 64.9% (p = 0.05), 24.8 to 72.4% (p = 0.05), and 2.3 to 33.1% (p = 0.05), respectively. Two isolates of Purpureocillium lilacinum (PLSAU 1 and PLSAU 2) and one isolate of Pochonia chlamydosporia (PCSAU 1) reduced more than 60% average root galls of tomato, eggplant and cucumber in greenhouse experiments. This is the first investigation of fungi associated with nematodes in the country and their biological control potential against M. incognita.
The contribution of dichotomous keys to the quality of biological-botanical knowledge of eighth grade students

Abstract The aim of the research is to examine the contribution of applying author-generated dichotomous keys (digital key - DDK and print key - DPK) to the quality and durability of the knowledge of eighth grade students about the Systematic and classifications of plants (Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms), as compared to traditional teaching. The study included 180 eighth grade students from Montenegro (12–13 years old) divided into three groups: E1 (where content was learned through DPK), E2 (where content was learned through DDK) and K (where content was learned through the verbal-textual method). Dichotomous keys contributed to increasing the quality and durability of the knowledge acquired in comparison to traditional teaching at the cognitive levels of analysis, evaluation and synthesis. DDK contributed to the higher quality and durability of student knowledge in comparison to DPK at the cognitive levels of evaluation and synthesis.
Genetic diversity of bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) determined by RAPD markers.

RESUMEN La clasificacion de germoplasma y la identificacion de genotipos de bananos y platanos ( Musa spp.) con los metodos tradicionales (morfologicos) han conducido a tener duplicidad e interpretaciones erroneas. Actualmente la combinacion de estas herramientas con metodos moleculares ha clarificado la taxonomia e identificacion de genotipos de Musaceas. En este estudio se planteo caracterizar gene-ticamente a 17 cultivares pertenecientes a cuatro subgrupos genomi-cos (“Cavendish”, “Red”, “Plantain”, “Ibota” y “Silk”) y cinco hibridos de bananos y platanos, los cuales conforman un banco de germoplasma del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agricolas y Pecuarias en Tecoman, Colima, Mexico. Se identificaron 90 marcadores RAPD (polimorfismos en el ADN amplificados al azar) entre las 22 accesiones analizadas, de los cuales 83 fueron po-limorficos. Se registro una estrecha relacion entre la clasificacion morfologica y diversidad molecular detectada entre los subgrupos analizados. El analisis filogenetico genero dos grupos diferentes iden-tificados como A y B. El grupo A se conformo por 10 accesiones per-tenecientes solamente al subgrupo “Cavendish”, y como excepcion se integro el hibrido ‘FHIA 03’. Al grupo B se integraron accesiones pertenecientes a diferentes subgrupos, los cuales fueron “Red”, “Plantain” y “Cavendish”, asi como los hibridos ‘FHIA 01’, ‘FHIA 20’, ‘FHIA 2’ y ‘SH-3640’. Las accesiones ‘Yangambi km 5’ y ‘Manzano’ pertenecientes a los subgrupos “Ibota” y “Silk”, respec-tivamente, no se ubicaron en estos dos grupos. Palabras clave: