Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cladoceran body size and vulnerability to copepod predation

We examined species-related and age- related mortality caused by a predaceous copepod (Acanthocyclops robustus) in five closely related cladocerans representing a wide spectrum of body size. Animals of all five species from clonal cultures were exposed for 1, 2, or 4 d in medium from a copepod-infested enclosure that either did or did not contain natural densities of Acanthocyclops adults and copepodites (40–50 copepods liter−1). In each of the five species, the 1-d-old neonates were most, and adults least, vulnerable to the copepods. Small-bodied Daphnia cucullata and Ceriodaphnia reticulata remained vulnerable until maturation, but the susceptibility of large Daphnia magna drastically decreased in 3- and 5-d-old animals, and 7-d-old adults were immune to copepod predation.
Precision of Striped Bass Fry Density Estimates

Abstract Many fisheries for striped bass Morone saxatilis in the United States are supported by stocking hatchery-reared fish. Fingerlings are usually obtained by spawning adults in captivity, collecting fry in large (25–100-L) collection containers (vats), moving them to rearing facilities (e.g., earthen ponds and raceways), and subsequently harvesting the fish that remain after some predetermined period. The number of fry stocked is estimated, and the accuracy and precision are seldom known or reported. The effect of treating fry stocking estimates as “error free, complete counts” on survival and production estimates is, therefore, also unknown. The objective of this study was to document and determine the statistical precision of the procedures used at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Dundee Fish Hatchery through the 1990s (standard procedures still in use at many hatcheries) for estimating fry densities in vats. The precision of fry density estimates was directly correlated with the mean density .
Testing the Theory

“Despite the information available about the benefit of physical activity many older adults are not participating in sufficient physical activity to influence their quality of life positively. This paper provides a framework to approach changing activity levels by intervening according to their stage of readiness rather than using a one-size-fits all approach”. The Stages of Motivational Readiness for Change Model as described by Marcus and Forsyth (2003) are as follows:
A Commentary on ‘Integrated Reporting: A Review of Developments and their Implications for the Accounting Curriculum’

In his paper, Owen (2013) tracks the development from The Corporate Report (1975) through Accounting for Sustainability and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to the IIRC discussion paper Toward Integrated Reporting. From his analysis, Owen (2013) identified the essential elements to be included in a modern professional accounting curriculum, described how ACCA has embedded Integrated Reporting in its curriculum, and discussed future curriculum development, in particular the challenges associated with sustainability. It is the embedding of sustainability rather than integrated reporting that I believe to be the real challenge for accounting. It is not enough to simply add new techniques into professional curricula without enabling accountants to critically examine the ways of thinking and techniques that have contributed to society’s unsustainability. I argue that it is only if we provide accountants with these intellectual abilities will accounting create the capacity to resolve the challenges posed by sustainability. Integrated reporting requires new accounting competences and skills, including:
Genetic variability among strains of Phialocephala fortinii and phylogenetic analysis of the genus Phialocephala based on rDNA ITS sequence comparisons

Two methods to determine variability among strains of Phialocephala fortinii and sterile DSE (dark septate endophyte) Type 1 were compared: inter-simple sequence repeat polymerase chain reaction analysis (ISSRPCR) and sequence analysis of the two internal transcribed spacers and the 5.8S ribosomal DNA (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2). Both methods showed similar results for some strains, but different results for others. Phylogenetic analysis of various strains of P. fortinii and Type 1 based on ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequence information showed that Type 1 strains, with the exception of one Type 1 strain and a strain with a Type-1-like culture morphology, form a well-supported clade, whereas P. fortinii strains are much more variable and the relative position of many strains on the tree are unresolved. Two sterile DSE strains with Type 1 culture morphology form a well-supported clade, separate from the P. fortinii  Type 1 clade. Phylogenetic analysis of some species of the Leotiales and of Phialocephala and related species ba.
Environmental influence on transmitter detection probability in biotelemetry: developing a general model of acoustic transmission

Environmental factors, such as wind, may have a strong influence on the detection probability and detection rate of acoustic telemetry tags. The effect of environmental factors may obscure biological effects and distort the interpretation of acoustic telemetry data. This study was undertaken with fish internally tagged with acoustic transmitters containing depth sensors and monitored by an array of automatic receivers. The influence of environmental factors on the hourly detection rate was evaluated using environmental data from a nearby climate station. The signal detection probability was modelled within the framework of general theory of sound propagation in water. Wind was found to have the strongest influence on the detection rate. Transmitter depth range and rain also contributed significantly to the variation in detection rate. By modelling the attenuation coefficient as a function of wind speed, we show that the probability of detecting a free‐swimming acoustically tagged animal can be successfully modelled using general sound propagation theory. The approach of modelling detection probability as a function of the attenuation coefficient offers a wide applicability, as it implies a direct link between detection probability and physical characteristics of the water at the study site. Correcting for varying detection probability is in many cases extremely important to do, since rhythms in biological/behavioural factors are often confounded with environmental variables that influence detection probability (e.g. sea breeze, tide).
Differential response of marine populations to climate forcing

In searching for causes of fluctuations in marine populations, investigators often assume that populations respond on the same time scale as the environmental forcing period, but this may not hold true. Here we show how the response of populations to variable recruitment changes with the degree of overcompensation using models of two species with similar age structure but different density-dependent recruitment, chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Dungeness crab (Cancer magister). For compensatory density dependence, as in chinook salmon, variability in recruitment tends to follow the period in environmental variability over all time scales. For overcompensatory density dependence, as in Dungeness crab, variability in recruitment follows the environmental variability only for periods much greater than the maximum age of the population. For periods in environmental variability less than the maximum age, the dominant period of the population response is slightly larger than the length of the age s.
Biochemical relationships of the Holarctic vole genera (Clethrionomys, Microtus, and Arvicola (Rodentia: Arvicolinae))

Transferrin (Tf), hemoglobin (Hgb), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGH), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) were examined by starch-gel electrophoresis in Holarctic Microtus oeconomus and Clethrionomys rutilus, Siberian Microtus hyperboreus and Clethrionomys rufocanus, and North American Microtus miurus, Microtus ochrogaster, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Arvicola richardsoni, and Clethrionomys gapperi. Thirty alleles of five to seven loci, the number depending on the presence or absence of one or two minor hemoglobin fractions, were identified in these species. Interspecific comparisons were based on the presence of at least one allele shared in common at the various loci. The closest biochemical resemblances occurred between populations of Holarctic M. oeconomus and C. rutilus. Clethrionomys gapperi and C. rutilus were quite similar but C. rufocanus was divergent. Observed resemblances between M. hyperboreus and M. miurus were not strong and do not support the incl.
Growth in the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella

The growth of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazellaat South Georgia is described from 556 specimens whose age was determined. The following parameters are described: standard length, body weight, foreflipper length, hindflipper length, neck girth, axillary girth and blubber thickness. Data are also presented on absolute and relative sizes of the following organs in new-born pups, pups near weaning, two-year-olds and adults: thyroids, adrenals, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen and brain. The growth of the pup within the 110–115 day suckling period is estimated as 98 g/day for males and 84 g/day for females. No other species of fur seal grows so rapidly at this time. Subsequent growth is compared with that of the other species of fur seal to inhabit polar water, Callorhinus ursinus. A. gazellagrows more rapidly up to age three, and although adult males are smaller, females are slightly larger. This more rapid initial growth, and earlier breeding, may be related to the large reduction in the Antarctic stocks of baleen whales which eat the same food. The mean weights of males, females and all individuals in the population are calculated as 54-8,25-3 and 39-3 kg respectively. The number in the population at the end of the breeding season is 41 times the number of pups born, equivalent to a total population in March 1976 of 369,000 seals with a biomass of 14,500 tonnes and an annual food consumption of about 350,000 tonnes.
Effects of abiotic variables on the distribution of fish assemblages in streams with different anthropogenic activities in southern Brazil

Studies on fish assemblages in streams point out, that understanding the relationship between species and their environment is crucial for conservation. The present study aimed at evaluating the effects of changes in abiotic variables on the composition and structure of fish assemblages in Neotropical urban streams from southern Brazil with different levels of urbanization. The composition and structure of fish assemblages showed significant differences along the urbanization gradient observed in the streams. Tolerant and non-native species were found in more urbanized sites. A matrix correlation revealed a relationship between abiotic variables and the spatial pattern of structure and composition of fish assemblages. Abiotic variables, such as total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity, determined the distribution of fish assemblages. Streams without urban influence exhibited intrinsically low species richness, suggesting that they are highly susceptible to species loss and diversity reduction. Thus, changes in water quality or hydrological conditions induced by urbanization may intensify these impacts.
East Asian Ethnolinguistic Phylogeography

A polyphyletic understanding of Asian linguistic diversity was first propagated in 1823. Since 1901, various scholars have proposed larger linguistic phyla uniting two or more recognised Asian language families. The most recent proposal in this tradition, Starosta’s 2001 East Asian phylum, comprising the Trans-Himalayan, Hmong-Mien, Austroasiatic, Austronesian and Kradai language families, is reassessed in light of linguistic and non-linguistic evidence. Ethnolinguistically informed inferences based on Asian Y chromosomal phylogeography lead to a reconstruction of various episodes of ethnolinguistic prehistory which lie beyond the linguistic event horizon, i.e. at a time depth empirically inaccessible to historical linguistics. The Father Tongue correlation in population genetics, the evidence for refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum and the hypothesis of language families having arisen as the result of demographic bottlenecks in prehistory are shown to be crucial to an understanding of the ethnogenesis of East Asian linguistic phyla. The prehistory of several neighbouring Asian language families is discussed, and the Centripetal Migration model is opposed to the Farming Language Dispersal theory.
Seasonal diatom cycle in Anegada Bay, El Rincón estuarine system, Argentina

Seasonal variations in the composition and carbon biomass of diatoms and other phytoplankton groups were analyzed over two years, from December 1996 to January 1999, at a fixed station in Anegada Bay, within the El Rincón estuarine system (38–41°S). Phytoplankton communities characterizing the different seasons were identified by classification and detrended correspondence analyses. Diatom communities were highly speciose, with 117 species recorded during the two-year study. Three diatom species are new records for the Argentinean Sea (i.e., Minidiscus trioculatus (F.J.R. Taylor) Hasle, M. decoratus Chrétiennot-Dinet & Quiroga and Thalassiosira tealata Takano). Phytoplankton taxonomic composition and carbon biomass showed a strong seasonality, with two carbon (C) biomass maxima occurring in summer and winter (maximum concentration: 193 μ g C L−1). Summer blooms were mainly dominated by tychoplanktonic diatom species (Paralia sulcata (Ehrenberg) Cleve, Rhaphoneis amphiceros (Ehrenberg) Ehrenberg and Delphineis surirella (Ehrenberg) Andrews), probably resuspended from the sediments, and by the pelagic diatom T. hendeyi Hasle & Fryxell. The winter phytoplankton community was characterized by a high number of diatom species and a high carbon biomass of diatom resting spores. The occurrence of the winter bloom seems to be closely associated with the inoculation of the water column by diatom resting spores. Maximum diatom carbon biomass corresponded to periods of increased freshwater inflow, whereas seasonal variations in diatom taxonomic composition may be explained by the life-cycle strategies of the species. The taxonomic composition and temporal succession of phytoplankton communities in Anegada Bay are comparable with previous studies in Blanca Bay, suggesting relatively uniform phytoplankton seasonality over shoals in the El Rincón estuarine system.
Antagonistic potential of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus against Fusarium oxysporum in sweet potato (Ipomea batatus)

Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, an endophytic diazotroph also encountered as rhizosphere bacterium, is reported to possess different plant growth promoting characteristics. In this study, we assessed the biocontrol potential of G. diazotrophicus under in vitro conditions with soil-borne plant pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum. The possible compounds involved in the biocontrol involves 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol, Pyrrolnitrin and Pyoluteorin. Thin layer chromatography analysis revealed that G. diazotrophicus produced the antibiotic, Pyoluteorin which helped in the suppression of soil-borne pathogenic. The volatile compounds of G. diazotrophicus also inhibited the growth of F. oxysporum. Tests for the production of hydrogen cyanide indicated that G. diazotrophicus does not produced HCN.
Epicatechin-copper 9II) complexes: Damage of small intestinal epithelium

Four epicatechins [(−)-epicatechin (EC), (−)-epicatechin gallate (ECg), (−)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg)] and their corresponding copper complexes were compared with regard to their effect on the viability of Caco-2 colon cancer cells in vitro, measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthyazol-2-yl) 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The viability of Caco-2 cells exposed to EC (1 mM), ECg (1 mM) or EGC (1mM) respectively, for 30 min, was comparable to that of the saline control group, while EGCg (1 mM) apparently enhanced cellular activity. in contrast, the cells treated with epicatechin-copper complexes were killed. Bivalent copper 91 mM), in similar conditions, did not affect the cells. No cell leakage or other histological differences were observed, implying a rapid cell death. The suggested mechanism of killing is by OH radical attack, produced in the presence of epicatechin-copper complexes, but not in the presence of either of the epicatechins or copper alone. The reaction sites are discussed.
Codium bernabei sp. nov. (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta), a coalescing green seaweed from the coast of Chile

González A.V. , Chacana, M.E. and Silva P.C. 2012. Codium bernabei sp. nov. (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta), a coalescing green seaweed from the coast of Chile. Phycologia 51: 666–671. DOI: 10.2216/12-025.1 Many intertidal rocky habitats of the Chilean coast were dominated by the dark green thalli of a mat-forming Codium. This green seaweed was ecologically important because it formed a permanent belt by coalescence between conspecific thalli, and thus it affected substrate dominance and community structure. Six species of mat-forming Codium have been recorded in Chile; the adherent Codium in central and northern Chile has been recognized as C. dimorphum, a species first described from the Guaitecas Islands in southern Chile. We analyzed 320 Codium specimens collected from 11 sites spanning the entire Chilean coastline. Morphological and rbcL sequence data revealed the presence of two distinct species with non-overlapping geographical distributions. Codium dimorphum, which is characterized by dimorphic utricles (inner utricles having thin apical walls, and outer utricles having thick apical walls), was found to be restricted to the southern Chilean coast. Specimens from central and northern Chile with uniform utricles were described as a new species, C. bernabei.
Maintenance of soybean yield with reduced phosphorus application by previous cropping with mycorrhizal plants

Abstract Previous cultivation of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM)-host plants promotes AM colonization, phosphorus (P) uptake and the growth of succeeding AM-host plants. Three field experiments were conducted to investigate whether reduced application rates of P fertilizer could maintain soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Tsurumusume) yields when fields were previously cropped with AM-host plants. In the experiments, soybean was cropped after growing both AM-host (wheat, sunflower, vetch, maize and azuki bean) and non-AM-host plants (radish, white mustard, sugar beet and buckwheat) or fallow with different rates of P fertilizer (0–200 kg P2O5 ha−1). The results showed that previous cropping with AM-host plants increased AM colonization of soybean roots, soybean growth, shoot P content and yield compared with either previous cropping with a non-AM host or fallow treatment. Soybean yields following AM-host plants did not decrease with reductions in the P application rate from 150 to 50 kg P2O5 ha−1, although soybean yields decreased in some cases after non-AM-host plants or fallow treatment. A general linear model analysis revealed that soybean yield following AM-host plants was less affected by a reduction in P application rate than plants following non-AM-host plants. As a result, P application rates can be reduced from 150 kg P2O5 ha−1 (the rate recommended by the Hokkaido Government) to 50 kg P2O5 ha−1 for soybean cultivation in soils after AM-host plants.
PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF KOLIELLA (CHLOROPHYTA) AS INFERRED FROM NUCLEAR AND CHLOROPLAST SMALL SUBUNIT rDNA

The phylogenetic position of Koliella, a chlorophyte characterized by Klebsormidium type cell division, was inferred from analyses of partial 18S rDNA and partial 16S rDNA. Parsimony and distance analyses of separate and combined data sets indicated that the members of Koliella belonged to Trebouxiophyceae, and high decay indices and bootstrap values supported this affinity. However, the genus appeared to be polyphyletic. Koliella spiculiformis, the nomenclatural type of the genus, was allied with Nannochloris eucaryota and the “true” chlorellas (Chlorella vulgaris, C. lobophora, C. sorokiniana, and C. kessleri). The close relatives of Koliella longiseta (≡Raphidonema longiseta) and Koliella sempervirens appeared to be Stichococcus bacillaris and some species traditionally classified in Chlorella that were characterized by the production of secondary carotenoids under nitrogen‐deficient conditions. This clade was also supported by the presence of a relatively phylogenetically stable group I intron (1506) in the 18S rRNA gene. Because of the presence of Klebsormidium type cell division, some authors regarded the members of Koliella as closely related to charophytes. Molecular analyses, however, did not confirm this affinity and suggested that a Klebsormidium type cell division is homoplastic in green plants.
Input space augmentation for skin lesion segmentation in dermoscopic images

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and of all the cancers, skin cancer is the most prevalent. Early diagnosis of skin cancer is a crucial step for maximizing patient survival rates and treatment outcomes. Skin conditions are often diagnosed by dermatologists based on the visual properties of the affected regions, motivating the utility of automated algorithms to assist dermatologists and offer viable, low-cost, and quick results to assist dermatological diagnoses. Over the last decade, machine learning, and more recently, deep learning-based diagnoses of skin lesions have started approaching human performance levels. This thesis studies approaches to improve the segmentation of skin lesions in dermoscopic images, which is often the first and the most important task in the diagnosis of dermatological conditions. In particular, we present two methods to improve deep learning-based segmentation of skin lesions by augmenting the input space of convolutional neural network models. In the first contribution, we address the problem of the paucity of annotated data by learning to synthesize artificial skin lesion images conditioned on input segmentation masks. We then use these synthetic image mask pairs to augment our original segmentation training datasets. In our second contribution, we leverage certain color channels and skin imagingand illumination-based knowledge in a deep learning framework to augment the input space of the segmentation models. We evaluate the two contributions on five dermoscopic image datasets: the ISIC Skin Lesion Segmentation Challenge 2016, 2017, and 2018 datasets, the DermoFit Image Library, and the PH2 Database, and observe performance improvements across all datasets.