Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MOISTURE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE EGG OF THE SOUTHERN CORN ROOTWORM, DIABROTICA UNDECIMPUNCTATA HOWARDI (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE)

The weight of eggs of the southern corn rootworm, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, nearly doubled during embryogenesis (7–8 days). Most of the water uptake of the eggs occurred between 24 and 72 hr of age. The period of maximal permeability of the egg and the time of maximum susceptibility to death from desiccation corresponded to the period of rapid water uptake. It is suggested that these phenomena are causally related.
Interaction of net blotch and scald on barley

Abstract Net blotch caused by Pyrenophora teres f. sp. teres and scald caused by Rhynchosporium secalis are major foliar diseases of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and often occur together in the same fields in central Alberta, Canada. The differential development of these two diseases in relation to seeding date was investigated in five field trials in 2001 and 2003 under natural infection conditions. Significantly higher scald severity on barley was observed in all trials with early seeding (from early to mid May) as compared with late seeding (from late May to early June). Scald severity tended to be higher than net blotch severity in the early seeding date trials, whereas net blotch severity was generally higher than scald severity with late seeding. The differential development of disease severity between net blotch and scald was likely affected by temperature, host resistance, and natural inoculum. The interaction of the development of P. teres and R. secalis on barley ‘Harrington’ was investigated in artificially inoculated field plots in 1993 and 1995. In 1995, a mixture of both inocula induced a greater area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) and caused a greater grain yield reduction than either inoculum alone in both seasons. No difference in grain yield was observed among plots in which P. teres or R. secalis were inoculated separately for either season. The disease progression and yield reductions observed in the present study indicate an additive effect as a result of the interaction between the two pathogens attacking the same plant. Early seeding of scald susceptible barley cultivars should be avoided in scald-infested fields in central Alberta. Scald susceptible cultivars may be seeded late for swath grazing of barley to escape scald infection.
Influence of ad libitum feeding of urea-treated wheat straw with or without corn steep liquor on intake, in situ digestion kinetics, nitrogen metabolism, and nutrient digestion in Nili-Ravi buffalo bulls

Influence of different levels of corn steep liquor (CSL) on chemical composition of urea-treated wheat straw (UTWS), feed intake, ruminal characteristics, digestion kinetics, nitrogen (N) metabolism, and nutrient digestibility by ruminally cannulated buffalo bulls was studied using 4 × 4 Latin square design. Wheat straw was treated with 5% urea and ensiled with 0, 3, 6, and 9% CSL on a dry matter (DM) basis and was ensiled in laboratory silos for 5, 10, and 15 days. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) contents of UTWS ensiled with 0, 3, 6, and 9% CSL were 74.01, 76.16, 77.34, and 78.93%, respectively. Acid detergent fibre (ADF), cellulose, and lignin were similar across treatments. The increase in NDF content was due to increased neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen (NDIN), as when NDF was calculated on crude protein (CP)-free basis (NDF - NDIN × 6.25), its concentration was same for UTWS ensiled with or without CSL. Four diets were formulated to contain 20% concentrate and 80% UTWS ensiled with or without CSL. Dry matter, digestible DM, organic matter (OM), CP, ADF, and NDF intakes were higher in bulls fed UTWS ensiled with CSL. Significant increases in both DM disappearance and rate of disappearance and a reduction in lag time of UTWS ensiled with CSL was noticed. There were significant differences in ruminal ammonia concentrations between diets containing UTWS ensiled with or without CSL at 3, 6, and 12 h postprandial. Higher digestibilities for DM, OM, CP, ADF, and NDF were noted with UTWS ensiled with CSL. Nitrogen balance was positive for all animals; however, the animals fed UTWS ensiled with CSL retained higher amount of N. These results indicated that CSL was very effective in enhancing the utilisation of ammoniated straw for buffaloes by minimising the nutrient loss at ruminal and cellular levels. AR M. N et al Nut ti a
Genotype-by-Environment Interaction and Plasticity: Exploring Genomic Responses of Plants to the Abiotic Environment

There is considerable interest in the occurrence and molecular mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity and genotype-by-environment interactions (G×E) in plant populations. The emergence of genomic tools, including quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and transcriptome studies, provides opportunities to identify G×E patterns and mechanisms across a diversity of phenotypes, species, and environments. We review progress in evaluating the presence and characterizing the mechanisms of G×E using genomic studies of abiotic responses in plants. Our review reveals that G×E is common, often caused by changes in the magnitude of genetic effects in response to the environment, and associated with diverse genetic factors and molecular variants. We illustrate this diversity with an examination of transcriptome studies and discussion of cloned genes underlying G×E. We discuss the caveats associated with existing studies and outline future directions for better understanding G×E and its impact on local adaptation and plant.
Autotomy in a Stick Insect (Insecta: Phasmida): Predation Versus Molting

mental mechanisms and tradeoffs associated with autotomy and regeneration, promise to bring a better understanding of this phenomena. Autotomy is common in many arthropods, and can be due to predation avoidance and/or complications during molting events. This study evalu- ated the effects of both on rates of leg autotomy in a population of Didymuria violescens , the spur- legged phasmatid. The results suggest that in natural habitats, these insects experience leg loss due to molting complications approximately 20% of the time.
ECOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON DIURNAL BIRDS IN INDONESIAN OIL PALM PLANTATIONS

The nocturnal barn owl, Tyto alba, has been studied and used as a biological agent for the control of rats in oil palm plantations, but diurnal birds have never been investigated for their impact on oil palm pests. Only birds which damage the fruits have been recorded. However, many species are present from soon after planting up to mature oil palms. At the Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute, Sumatra, we have carried out an inventory of these birds in two plantations and on blocks of different age. Their population and composition vary according to the time since planting and availability of food supplies. Whilst some are granivores feeding on seeds of grasses, or fruit-eaters feeding on weed berries and oil palm fruits, most of them are insectivores with their population fluctuating with caterpillar outbreaks. Their biology has been studied, especially the feeding and nesting behaviour. Their gut contents have been analysed and the amount of insects found in some species is astonishing and may have an important impact on oil palm pests, especially caterpillars. Among the 29 species observed, their dominance varies according to plantations: Pycnonotus goiavier between 24.4% to 28.7% of all individual birds, Prinia spp. between 27.59% to 34.4%, Parus major 9.54% to 10.56%, Copsychus saularis 4.47% to 8.62%, and Halcyon smyrnensis 5.07% to 6.90%. Parus is found on higher palms, Copsychus and Prinia more common on younger planting, Pycnonotus on both older and younger palms, as well as others such as Centropus bengalensis only at the level of the lower strata among the cover crops. These dominant insectivorous species feed on caterpillars, small beetles, grasshoppers and ants. For example, a pair of Parus major providing food for their young (2 or 3) collects up to 139 insects, mostly nettle caterpillars, per day from 6.55 am to 18.15 pm, with the male and female bird catching 60 to 79 of these limacodid larvae respectively. The Centropus feeding at the level of the soil breaks the nettle caterpillar cocoons and up to 12 pre-pupae and pupae of Setothosea asigna can be found in the gut of a single bird. Pycnonotus and Cosyphus are less specific, catching a wider range of insects including small beetles, caterpillars and ants. Halcyon catches bigger insects in flight such as grasshoppers and beetles. The Orthotomus, one of the species which is increasing in population, has modified its feeding behaviour by preying only on Elaeidobius kamerunicus. This may result in a reduction of the population of this pollinator, with the consequence of decreasing the oil palm fruit-setting during the first years of production.
Physicochemical properties of lignocellulosic biofibres from South Eastern Nigeria: Their suitability for biocomposite technology

Five plant raw materials collected from South Eastern part of Nigeria were used for biofibre extraction and analysis to assess their suitability for biocomposite production. Lignocellulosic biofibres were extracted from young stems of Adenia lobata, Ampelocissus leonensis, Cissus palmatifida, Morinda morindoides and Urena lobata through natural water retting process for a period of 14 - 16 days and the resulting fibres were uniform with almost flat or circular cross sections. Phytochemical contents and extractives were determined on the untreated and treated fibres respectively. The %w/w cellulose contents of the pretreated biofibres were found to be 48.97± 1.33% for A. leonensis and 43.22±0.95% for A. lobata. The cellulose content of M. morindoides and C. palmitifida were found to be 55.76±1.40% and 55.20±1.59%, respectively. In all the plants studied, U. lobata had the greatest %w/w cellulose content of 58.94±1.05% while A. lobata had the least cellulose content of 43.22±0.95%. Estimation of %w/w hemicellulose contents showed A. leonensis to be 21.22±0.89% whilst the hemicelluloses content in A. lobata and U. lobata were observed to be 18.22±2.18% and 12.38±0.33% in that order. Lower hemicelluloses contents were obtained in C. palmitifida and M. morindoides as 10.32±1.27, 9.32±0.58 and 8.62±1.67%, respectively. The klason lignin contents were found to be 31.33±1.05% for C. palmitifida, 31.22±0.97% for M. morindoides, 28.22 ± 1.96% for A. lobata, and 24.91±0.61% for A. leonensis. The lignin content of U. lobata was found to be the least at 22.26±0.55%. Acid soluble lignin (ASL) content was greater in A. lobata (2.17±0.08%) while A. leonensis had the least value of 1.74±0.34%. ASL-derived products (vanillin, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid) ranged between 0.50±0.12% and 1.41±0.02% for vanillin; 0.03± 0.02% and 0.65±0.14% for p-coumaric acid; and ferulic acid was only detected in A. leonensis as 0.41±0.11%. The mechanical properties of most fibres used in this study are comparable to those of other biofibres already used in manufacturing and can even match those of some synthetic fibres. Results obtained revealed that fibres used in this study had comparable properties with those already established for manufacturing in biofibre industries. Key words: Biofibre, biocomposite, cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses.
A dynamic analysis of windthrow of trees

This paper considers the dynamics of the tipping of a tree due to a gust of wind superimposed on a steady wind. The resistance of the root system to the rotational motion of the tree is known from tree-pulling experiments. A gust of wind generates an impulsive load on the system and hence the dynamics of the tree may be modelled. An empirical formula which relates the speed of a gust of wind and its duration to the mean wind speed is used to determine the mean wind speed necessary to overturn a tree. Realistic mean wind speeds are found for trees such as Sitka spruce.
The potential to reduce poultry nitrogen emissions with dietary methionine or methionine analogues supplementation

One of the environmental challenges that the poultry industry has been faced with is manure utilization or disposal. Poultry manure and its nitrogenous compounds can be a potential pollutant causing eutrophication, nitrate or nitrite contamination of water, ammonia volatilization, and acid deposition in the air. Therefore, reducing nitrogen excretion and emissions in poultry manure is important to maintain a clean environment. Proper nutrition is an important first step to optimize performance and growth in animals as well as to reduce the negative impacts on the environment. Amino acids are components of protein nutrition that greatly influence growth and one of the essential amino acids is methionine, which is often first limiting amino acid in high protein diets for poultry. However, excess or insufficient methionine supplementation into diets increases nitrogen excretion and emissions to the environment. One way to reduce nitrogen excretion and emissions is reducing crude protein level and supplementing analogues of amino acids to meet the amino acid requirements. Several analogue forms of methionine are commercially available as economic alternatives for the animals now. Supplementation of hydroxy analogues into low protein diets can minimize excess amino nitrogen in the diets and reduce nitrogen excretion. In order to use these dietary strategies effectively, a well-balanced feed formulation and a precise way of rapidly quantitating the bioavailable sulphur amino acid in feeds remains to be developed.
Traditionally Protected Forests and Nature Conservation in the North Pare Mountains and Handeni District, Tanzania

ABSTRACT A total of 920 traditionally protected forests have been found in sample areas in Handeni District (23 villages) and Mwanga District (Usangi and Ugweno Divisions). The size of the forests is between 0.125 and 200 ha. In earlier times sacred forests (one of the seven different types of traditionally protected forests in Handeni) were never abused, and as a result the biodiversity of whole forest ecosystems has been protected. In many parts they are the last remaining natural forests. About 40 % of the forests are severely degraded, partly because a rapid process of change in the villages. The abuse of the traditionally protected forests should be discussed publicly. The total area of forested land requiring protection could be over 4,000 ha in Handeni District and 400 ha in the North Pare Mountains. These forests are effective way to save locally the best areas for biodiversity.
The Effect of Perceived Similarity on Sequential Risk Taking

The authors examine how perceived similarity between sequential risks affects individuals’ risk-taking intentions. Specifically, in six studies, the authors find that, in sequential choice settings, individuals exhibit significant positive state dependence in risk-taking preferences, such that they are more likely to take a risk when it is similar to a previously taken risk than when it is dissimilar. For example, if an individual has previously taken a health/safety risk, that individual is more likely to take a second health/safety risk than a second risk that is in the financial domain. The authors show that because similarity between risks is malleable and can be determined by situational and contextual variables, subsequent risk-taking intentions can be changed in a predictable manner when similarity is manipulated through framing. The authors establish that increased feelings of self-efficacy and self-signaling through the prior risk-taking experience drive state-dependent risk-taking preferences. The authors further show that the effect of similarity on preferences is not moderated by the outcome received in the prior risk and holds when controlling for individual-level and domain-specific heterogeneity. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the similarity structures that exist between risks have a significant effect on risk-taking preferences in dynamic choice settings.
A reinterpretation of stomatal responses to humidity

The stomatal conductance (g) for single leaves and the equivalent canopy conductance for stands of vegetation are often represented in models as empirical functions of saturation vapour pressure deficit or relative humidity. The mechanistic basis of this dependence is very weak. A reanalysis of 52 sets of measurements on 16 species supports the conclusion of Mott & Parkhurst (1991, Plant, Cell and Environment 14, 509–515) that stomata respond to the rate of transpiration (E) rather than to humidity per se. In general, ∂g/∂E is negative and constant so that the relation between g and E can be defined by two parameters: a maximum conductance gm obtained by extrapolation to zero transpiration, and a maximum rate of transpiration Em obtained by extrapolation to zero conductance. Both parameters are shown to be functions of temperature, CO2 concentration, and soil water content. Exceptionally, transpiration rate and conductance may decrease together in very dry air, possibly because of patchy closure of stomata.
A weight‐of‐evidence approach for Northern river risk assessment: Integrating the effects of multiple stressors

Northern river ecosystems are subject to a variety of stressors having multifaceted (and sometimes opposing) effects, making interpretation at a regional scale difficult. We have addressed this problem by using a weight‐of‐evidence approach that combines analysis of field data (to determine patterns) with experimental hypothesis testing (to determine mechanisms). Two of the more important sources of aquatic impacts in western Canada are pulp mill and municipal effluents. Their regional impacts on benthic biota were evaluated for two major river systems, the Thompson and Athabasca rivers, using an integrative approach. In the more southerly Thompson River, several lines of evidence (including field and laboratory experiments, field sampling over a 20‐year period, and isotopic analysis) led to the conclusion that, although some toxic effects were apparent, these effects were usually masked by the (sometimes excessive) nutrient enhancement effects of these effluents, sometimes via novel pathways. Furthermore, analysis of the data revealed a fairly delicate balance in effluent treatment involving trade‐offs between the negative effects of toxic contaminant loading versus a switch to a more eutrophic community. In the more northerly Athabasca River, effluent effects can be modified by the added impact of another stressor: widespread winter freeze‐up, which prevents reaeration of oxygen‐depleted waters, coupled with low dissolved oxygen levels in the substratum where benthic invertebrates are found, resulting in a net shift in effluent effect from one of nutrient enhancement to a more inhibitory effect. Advantages to applying formalized causal criteria, as outlined in this weight‐of‐evidence approach, include helping to tie together diverse assemblages of data on the effects of multiple stressors and identifying important informational gaps, thus making ecological risk assessments more rigorous and robust.
Molecular identification of four Panonychus species (Acari: Tetranychidae) in Korea, including new records of P. caglei and P. mori

Four species of the genus Panonychus are identified in Korea including two previously known species P. citri (McGregor) and P. ulmi (Koch) and two newly identified species P. mori Yokoyama and P. caglei Mellot. Morphological diagnostics were observed among the four species in the color of dorsal tubercles and in the shape of male aedeagus. The dorsal tubercles of P. citri, P. ulmi, P. mori and P. caglei are red, white, whitish red and light red, respectively. The aedeagi of male adults are diagnostic in sigmoid‐shaped at the distal end and its shape and length was different among four species. Molecular comparison of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequence of nuclear DNA and cytochrome‐c oxidase subunit I (COI) nucleotide sequence of mitochondrial DNA among the four species showed divergences 8–12% and 9–12%, respectively. Molecular analysis of the ITS2 and COI sequences revealed their divergences were slightly different among four species. In addition, species‐specific primer sets were designed at the base on ITS2 sequences to precisely diagnose these four species at the molecular level.
Beyond the G.P.A.

Through a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework, this article explores the experiences of students who are most typically overlooked within the college access discourse—those individuals who are considered “non-high performing” and/or “non-college bound. ” Employing data from a longitudinal qualitative study, counter-narratives are used to highlight how Raheem and Brianna, two non-high performing African American students, experience the high school-to-college transition process. Over the course of three years, they reveal a combination of personal challenges, institutional shortcomings, and other trials that influence how they finally come to navigate their experiences within school, as well as their decisions about and actions towards achieving their postsecondary goals. Their narratives, while unique in their own right, highlight many aspects and obstacles that are all too common amongst this population of students; however, they also highlight an often more forgotten story—that is, the complexities of how these students attempt to find ways in which to handle their circumstances and proceed towards their future.
A growth regulator for the propagation of Lippia multiflora Moldenke, a herbal for the management of mild hypertension in Ghana.

A growth regulator containing 0.43% of Naphylacetric acid was applied to the propagation stocks (apical meristem, root and stem cuttings) of Lippia multiflora Moldenke using different soil media. The result shows that the applied growth regulator enhanced the germination of the root cuttings more than the other propagation stocks. The germination and sustainability of the root cuttings on transplanting onto the field can be attributed to the presence of endogenous phytohormones that were initially present in the root tips and might have been triggered on applying the growth regulator as compared to the other propagating stocks.
Antimicronbial Activity of the Crude Root Extract of Berberis Lycium Royle

The present work was carried out to study the antimicrobial activity of the aqueous, petroleum ether and ethanolic extracts of the root of Berberis lycium Royle (Family Berberidaceae), against Gram(+) bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis, Gram (–) viz Salmonella typhi, E. coli and a fungal strain Candida albicans. The antimicrobial activities were determined by using Paper-Disc method, described by Casal [7] and Chung et al., [8]. The ethanolic and aqueous crud root extract were found to be most effective antifungal and antibacterial agents while no significant activity was shown by the petroleum ether extract against test organisms. The results were compared with the inhibition caused by commercially available standard reference antibiotic disc (Tetracycline). The inhibitory effects of all the crude extracts on the growth of both Gram (+) and Gram (-) organisms are very close and identical in magnitude and are comparable with standard antibiotic disc used.