Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Irrigation Method and Container Type on Northern Red Oak Seedling Growth and Media Electrical Conductivity

Container production of hardwood seedlings has not been extensively practiced. Efficient nursery production of hardwood seedlings in containers can be limited by formation of a broad foliar canopy, which limits irrigation uniformity. This study was established to investigate suitability of subirrigation, a method of irrigating seedlings from the container base that relies on rise of water through capillary action, for production of broad-leaved hardwood seedlings. Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L. [Fagaceae]) seeds were sown into 4 container types, and seedlings were grown in a controlled greenhouse environment under either traditional overhead irrigation or subirrigation. Media electrical conductivity (EC) was measured at container depths of 1, 5, and 10 cm (0.4, 2, and 4 in) after 57 d. Subirrigated seedlings had significantly higher EC at each depth compared with overhead irrigated seedlings, with a trend of decreasing EC with increasing measurement depth. A significant container type x irrigation method interaction suggested potential for toxic EC levels in some subirrigated containers, which can be alleviated by periodic leaching using clear water to dissipate salts from the top 1 cm (0.4 in). At the end of the growing period, seedling height and root-collar diameter were not influenced by irrigation method or container type, indicating that subirrigation is suitable for hardwood seedling production.
Gradients within gradients: The mesoscale distribution patterns of palms in a central Amazonian forest

Questions: What are the relative contributions of environmental factors and geographic distance to palm community structure at the mesoscale, and how do they depend on the length of the environmental gradient covered? How do soil and topography affect variation of the canopy and understory palm community structure at the mesoscale? How does fine-scale variation within the broad edaphic/topographic classes affect palm community composition? Location: Reserva Ducke, terra-firme forest, Manaus, Brazil. Methods: Palms were sampled in 72 plots 250 m × 4 m, systematically distributed over an area of 100 km2. Soil, topography and distance to watercourses were measured for all plots. The relationship between community structure axes, summarized by NMDS ordinations, and environmental predictors, was analysed with multivariate regressions. Matrix regressions were used to determine the proportions of variance explained by environmental and geographic predictors. Results: Floristic variation at the mesoscale was mostly related to environmental variation, and the proportion of variance explained depended on the amplitude of the environmental gradient. Soil was the main predictor of floristic change, but its effects differed between life forms, with the understory palm community structured within one of the edaphic/topographic classes, in association with distance to watercourses. Conclusions: Dispersal limitation does not explain palm composition at the mesoscale, and the amplitude of environmental gradients covered by the analysis can be as important as the scale of analysis, in determining the relative contributions of environmental and geographical components to community structure. Soil and topography can predict a large proportion of palm composition, but gradients differ in scale, with some environmental gradients being nested within others. Therefore, although all environmental gradients are nested within distance, they do not necessarily coincide.
GUERRILLA MARKETING TRENDS FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS: 
 EVIDENCE FROM SEM-BASED MULTIVARIATE AND CONDITIONAL PROCESS APPROACHES

In today’s competitive environment, the marketing is an imperative tool for the survival and sustainable growth of any business or product. The objective of the undertaken research is to investigate the guerrilla marketing techniques for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and their impact on consumers’ purchase decision. Researchers have also the aim to examine the impact of brand awareness and technology as mediating and moderating variables respectively in the guerrilla marketing process. A survey is undertaken by potential consumers through structured questionnaire via a quantitative method of inquiry. The data is analyzed mainly through; SEM-based structural modelling such as exploratory and confirmatory factors analysis, and conditional process analysis. The results unveil that guerrilla marketing techniques consisting of viral marketing, strange occurrences, street graphics, and memorable events have a positive and significant influence on the purchase decision. Findings of the undertaken research further demonstrated that brand awareness is a potent mediating variable that significantly enhances the influence of purchase decision, and technology played a vital role as a moderator that has a cogent impact between guerrilla marketing techniques and purchase decision of consumers. Thus, the empirical testing confirmed the importance of modified model of guerrilla marketing, which will be benefitted to both marketing practitioners and future researchers.
HIBERNATION IN FREE-LIVING MOUNTAIN PYGMY-POSSUMS, BURRAMYS PARVUS (MARSUPIALIA:BURRAMYIDAE)

The long-term pattern of hibernation was studied in free-living mountain pygmy-possums, Burramys parvus, using temperature-sensitive radio-collars. Most males and females began to hibernate in early June within one week of their release. Hibernation was interrupted by spontaneous arousals that were followed by short normothermic periods and re-entry into torpor. The duration of multiday torpor bouts averaged 8 . 0 days (range 3-17 days) and arousal periods averaged 19 . 1 h. Single-day torpor bouts were observed occasionally. The duration of torpor bouts lengthened with the progress of the hibernation season and normothermic periods became shorter. The pattern of hibernation in free-living B. parvus was similar to that of captive individuals maintained under temperature regimes that were similar to those in the wild.
Becoming a Digital Ecosystem Orchestrator - The Sydved Case

Ecosystems are arenas where firms build, nurture and exploit relationships to create, share and appropriate value. Some actors have particular control over how ecosystems perform and evolve, becoming their intermediary centers of gravity. They are often referred to as orchestrators. While it is increasingly clear what digital orchestration is and how it is exercised, we still know little about the process of becoming a digital orchestrator. Filling this void is important, since incumbent firms face major competing concerns as they transform themselves for digital orchestration. Unless learning to overcome such challenges, an incumbent may lose its dominant position, ultimately making it an existential issue. In this research, we seek to better understand how incumbent firms reorganize for becoming digital orchestrators. In doing so, we draw on the literature about digital platforms and digital innovation to derive a framework where we articulate three characteristics of digital orchestration. We then make a deep-dive into an incumbent firm in the forest industry, applying the framework to analyze how it is exploring different organizational forms in becoming a digital orchestrator. We contribute to the ecosystem literature by outlining three specific tactics for how to reorganize for digital orchestration: cross-functional, inter-organizational and cross-geographical reconfiguration.
Reproduction and reproductive isolation in Fucus radicans (Phaeophyceae)

Abstract Recent morphological and genetic studies show that Fucus radicans is a separate species from the sympatric F. vesiculosus. Fucus radicans recently diverged from F. vesiculosus in the Baltic Sea where populations grow in mixed stands. Thus, strong reproductive barriers are expected to be in place to prevent introgression. The seasonal timing of reproduction of the two species in Estonia was shown to be different, likely forming an effective pre-zygotic reproductive barrier. In Sweden, however, no such temporal difference was found. We artificially crossed Swedish F. radicans and F. vesiculosus to identify other potential reproductive barriers. Fertilization success and survival was equally high within and between species in the artificial crossings, suggesting no early post-zygote barriers. Both species recruit new thalli both sexually and asexually, but F. radicans is generally more asexual than F. vesiculosus. By studying their reproductive efforts we found that Swedish F. radicans allocates more resources to adventitious branches than to gamete production compared to F. radicans in Estonia and F. vesiculosus in both Sweden and Estonia. This indicates that Swedish F. radicans has an asexual reproductive strategy while Estonian F. radicans and F. vesiculosus have sexual reproductive strategies.
Seasonal distribution of loline alkaloid concentration in meadow fescue infected with Neotyphodium uncinatum

Loline alkaloids are present in meadow fescue containing the endophyte (Neotyphodium uncinatum Gams, Petrini and Schmidt) (Clavicipitacae). Root, crown and shoot loline alkaloid concentrations in 10 selected lines from meadow fescue ecotypes are reported for the first time, from a Canterbury farm during 2004–05. The concentrations of four loline alkaloid derivatives, N-formyl loline (NFL), N-acetyl loline (NAL), N-acetyl norloline (NANL) and N-methyl loline (NML), in these lines (each line represented by one genotype) were determined at four harvest dates during late spring, late summer, and early and late autumn. There were marked differences in loline alkaloid concentration between lines and seasons. Maximum shoot loline concentration was recorded in summer (up to 2860 µg/g in Fp408). Root loline alkaloid concentration was substantially higher in late autumn (up to 790 µg/g in Fp408) and the shoot concentration correspondingly lower than in spring, summer and early autumn suggesting loline alkaloid transportation from shoots to roots. In the lines tested at each of the four harvest dates in spring, summer, and autumn, the root, crown, and shoot alkaloid concentration with minor exceptions was NFL > NAL > NANL > NML.
THE NUTRITION OF PHYTOPHTHORA

Phytophthora cactorum grew well in ammonium–salt media but not in nitrate. Conversely, P. megasperma grew well in nitrate but not in ammonium–salt media. P–parasitica and P. erythroseptica grew well in both, but better in that containing nitrate. All species grew better in the presence of organic nitrogen. Evidence is presented that iron, zinc, copper, and manganese are essential trace metals and that zinc is required in greater concentrations than iron. The optimum requirement for glucose or sucrose was found to be approximately 4%, and the residual sucrose was converted into reducing sugars by all species except P. cactorum. Approximately 50% of the residual sugar remained unchanged in the cultures of this species. The growth rate and sugar consumption increased as the thiamine level was increased from 0.2 to 0.8 mgm. per liter, but the coefficient of sugar utilization remained constant. On the other hand, the percentage of nitrogen in the mycelium decreased markedly as the thiamine content of the mediu.
The effect of nepotism on tolerance to workplace incivility: mediating role of psychological contract violation and moderating role of authentic leadership

This multilevel study investigates the effect of employees' perception of nepotism on tolerance to workplace incivility through the mediating role of psychological contract violation and the moderating role of authentic leadership in organizations. ,Using time-lagged data from 547 frontline employees working in four- and five-star hotels, this study's hypotheses were analyzed by conducting hierarchical regression analysis and hierarchical linear modelling. ,The findings indicate that non-family members' perception of nepotism triggered perceived tolerance to the uncivil behavior of family members by the management and that this relationship between nepotism perception and tolerance to workplace incivility was mediated by psychological contract violation. In line with expectations, authentic leadership moderated the effect of nepotism perception on tolerance to workplace incivility. ,This study is among the first to examine the effects of nepotism perception on tolerance to workplace incivility by focusing on the mediator role of psychological contract violation at the individual level and the moderator role of authentic leadership at the group level.
Modern Nursery Practices in the Production of Quality Seedlings of Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.)— Stage of Host Requirement and Screening of Primary Host Species

Abstract Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) considered threatened in its habitat is a hemi-root parasite tree, highly valued for its heartwood and oil. It requires a primary host at the nursery stage and secondary host in field. Over exploitation and complex silvicultural systems have posed problems for its survival. The study on the stage of primary host requirement revealed that providing Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp, as a host immediately after transplanting sandalwood seedlings (2 leaf stage) in containers to be the optimal stage for boosting the growth of seedlings. Three different trials were performed to investigate the effect and select the best primary host out of six leguminous and five non-leguminous host species. Sandalwood seedlings in general exhibited better growth when grown in the same container with a leguminous host. Mimosa pudica L. proved the best host, significantly enhancing growth and nutrient status (NPK) of S. album seedlings. Among non-leguminous host species, the best growth of sandalwood seedlings was exhibited with a host of Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R. Br. ex. Dc. Host species were found to influence haustorial number, connection, size and chlorophyll contents. Maximum number of haustoria and effective haustorial connections were observed with A. sessilis and minimum with Cassia fistula L. Haustorial size was larger with C. cajan and M. pudica.
The effect of inbreeding and cross-breeding on dairy traits in cattle

Summary A total of 886 cows of two herds belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt, were used in this study to investigate the effects of inbreeding and cross-breeding on dairy traits. The first herd consisted of the native breed Domiatty (D), Shorthorn (S) and different grades between them while the second of Jersey (J) and its different crosses with D. There were 1027 lactations from the first herd and 460 from the second. Inbreeding coefficient (F) averaged 0·06 in the first herd and 0·08 in the second, both ranging from 0·00 to 0·30. The range was partitioned into three classes: the first with 0·0 ≤ F ≤ 0·1, the second 0·1 ≤ F ≤ 0·2 and the third F ≥ 0·2. Traits studied were first and second lactation 305-day milk yields, age at first calving, first calving interval and first dry period. Inbreeding had no statistically significant effect on any of the traits except dry period in the first herd. Inbreeding was not associated with decrease in yield when F ≤ 0·2 in the first herd, while there was consistent decrease with inbreeding in the second herd. No clear trend could be observed on the effect of inbreeding on any of the other traits in the first herd whereas in the second the rise in inbreeding was always associated with greater age at first calving, with wider calving interval and with longer dry period.
Impact of Big Vehicle Shadowing on Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications

Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications using dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) are considered a promising technology for enhancing road safety. However, in V2V communications, passenger cars suffer from obstruction of bigger vehicles such as buses or trucks. Based on our measurement, a big vehicle can cause a signal loss from 10 to 15 dB due to shadowing. This results in a shorter communication range and reduces the safety message dissemination capability. In this paper, we analyze the impact of shadowing caused by multiple big vehicles on the V2V communication of passenger cars. We propose a model that takes into account both geometric and stochastic shadowing of multiple big vehicles. In order to cope with the physical size of vehicles and safety distance between them in the real world, we propose to use a repulsive point process called hardcore repulsive Poisson point process (PPP) to model the locations of vehicles. Generating procedure and some basic properties of this process are introduced. Based on the proposed model, we derive the average length of the shadow region and the shadowing loss caused by multiple big vehicles. We show that when the number of big vehicles increases from 10% to 80% of total vehicles in one lane, the shadow region increases from 50 m to 450 m on the road. Furthermore, the shadowing loss causes the relative number of cars within communication range of a typical car to reduce from 90% to between 15% and 50%, depending on whether the big vehicles are in the same or the adjacent lane of the consider car. We analyse the packet collision probability while taking into consideration the big vehicle shadow region and observe significant packet collisions without dedicated bus lanes.
Análise comparativa da criação dos camarões-rosa Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis e FarfantePenaeus paulensis criados em gaiolas em ambiente estuarino

The cage culture of Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis and Farfantepenaeus paulensis was analyzed in the Patos Lagoon estuary using juveniles produced in captivity. Mean initial weight of the juveniles was approximately 1.2g. The experiment was conducted in 6 cages (3 per treatment), with mesh size of 5mm and bottom area of 4m2, during 65 days. The individuals were randomly distributed into two treatments (F. brasiliensis e F. paulensis), keeping the stocking density of 20 shrimps m-2 in the experimental units (cages). Each 15 days shrimps were weighted to adjust the amount of feed and to evaluate growth. In the end of the experiment, all the shrimp were weighed and counted to determine the survival. Survival did not differ significantly between F. brasiliensis (94.17±9.04) and F. paulensis (98.50±0.71). Although the mean final weight was significantly higher for F. brasiliensis (7.98±0.94g), there were no significant differences in terms of total biomass production (127.81±17.93 e 126.65±1.74g m-2) and apparent feed conversion ratio (1.39±0.27 e 1.57±0.09) between F. brasiliensis and F. paulensis, respectively. The results indicate that F. brasiliensis show potential to be cultured in alternative systems and motivate the development of the technological package for culture of this species in the Patos Lagoon estuary.
Skin Gland Morphology and Secretory Peptides in Naturalized Litoria Species in New Zealand

Abstract The defensive secretions of anurans contain a large array of chemical compounds that are synthesized in the granular glands and released onto the skin. We used histological and peptidomic analyses to investigate the skin glands and their products in Litoria aurea, Litoria ewingii, and Litoria raniformis, which were introduced to New Zealand from Australia approximately 150 yr ago. The skin glands were induced to release their product by either norepinephrine or electric stimulation. Granular glands in all three species are distributed evenly in both dorsal and ventral skin and share morphological features common in other anurans, such as a contractile myoepithelium that surrounds the syncytial secretory unit. However, differences are observed in the granular ultrastructure between L. ewingii and the more closely related L. aurea and L. raniformis. The latter have larger glands with granules that are opaque and contain homogeneously spaced, diaphanous vesicles, whereas the substructure of the granules in L. ewingii is homogeneous and consists of miniscule vesicles that are either electron opaque or diaphanous. Comparatively large mucous glands in the small-bodied L. ewingii may be attributed to increased mucous requirements due to differences in microhabitat use. Nanospray mass spectrometric analyses confirmed the presence of several unidentified peptides, as well as 11 peptides described previously. Both exposure to norepinephrine and mild electric stimulation of the skin triggered the bulk discharge of gland contents. We discuss potential functional specializations of gland structure and peptide content as mechanisms for predator or pathogen defense.
Identification of quantitative trait loci for growth-related traits in the Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino

The locations and effects of quantitative trait loci (QTL) were estimated for nine characters for growth-related traits in the Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino) using a randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplification fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and SSR genetic linkage map. Twenty-eight putatively significant QTLs (LOD > 2.4) were detected for nine traits (shell length, shell width, total weight, shell weight, weight of soft part, muscle weight, gonad and digestive gland weight, mantle weight and gill weight). The percentage of phenotypic variation explained by a single QTL ranged from 8.0% to 35.9%. The significant correlations (P < 0.001) were found among all the growth-related traits, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were more than 0.81. For the female map, the QTL for growth were concentrated on groups 1 and 4 linkage maps. On the male map, the QTL that influenced growth-related traits gathered on the groups 1 and 9 linkage maps. Genetic linkage map construction and QTL analysis for growth-related traits are the basis for the marker-assisted selection and will eventually improve production and quality of the Pacific abalone.
Functional Feeding Groups as a Taxonomic Surrogate for a Grassland Arthropod Assemblage

ABSTRACT Considering the precarious conservation status of the grassland biome in South Africa, effective assessment and monitoring is imperative. The potential use of terrestrial arthropods in ecological assessment has received much attention, but little headway has been made in formulating standardised bioassessment protocols. A suggested reason for this lack of progress is the high diversity of terrestrial arthropods and the high taxonomic expertise required. Sampling was carried out across 12 months in the Bloemfontein Dry Grassland vegetation type and the potential of using functional feeding groups (FFG) as taxonomic surrogates for family level arthropods was investigated. An F-test associated with an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) found a significant correlation between FFG and families for measures of richness, Shannon and Simpson diversity. Accumulation curves indicated that a higher proportion of FFG than families could be assessed with the same sampling intensity. Both families and FFG best fitted the stochastic normal and geometric series relative abundance distribution models, implying that there is no distinction between the taxonomic units with regard to abundance distributions. The reality remains that information does become lost when using surrogacy, so there will continue to be a need for specialist ecological proficiency for the highest risk assessments. It was concluded that for rapid monitoring and snap-shot assessments, FFG could be used as a valuable and reliable taxonomic surrogate.