Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Birth and Simultaneous Rearing of Two Litters in a Pack of Captive African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus)

Two female African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in a pack of 10 animals at the Bronx Zoo gave birth to litters of nine and seven pups within a 2-day period. Two pups from the litter of seven died before they were 2 weeks old, but the other 14 survived past weaning. Litter size, sex ratio, and pup developmental stages were all consistent with data obtained from other captive- and wild-born litters. Both dams were very attentive to their litters, and during the pups' first 2 weeks spent >90% of their time in the dens with the pups. By 2 days after birth and during their first 2 weeks of life, the pups spent 86% of their time in a nursing position. Before parturition and during the first week post-partum, one of the dams (DAL) was clearly dominant to the other (WHI). However, the females' dominance rank reversed 2 weeks post-partum. On two occasions during the pups' first 2 weeks DAL stole and reared one of WHI's pups, but between Weeks 3 and 4 all of DAL's pups were stolen and WHI raised both litters as one until they were weaned. The pups began spending time out of their den at approximately 1 month of age. The timing of the births, the design of the wild dogs' management facility, and the presence of several dens in different enclosures within the facility all likely contributed to the successful rearing of the litters. The pups in both litters were very similar in size because of the short interval between births, so one litter did not have a competitive advantage over the other with respect to gaining access to the dam for milk. The facility's design helped mitigate aggression within the pack, and the presence of multiple dens enabled to dams to move the pups to different den sites and allowed the two females to stay visually and spatially apart from each other while remaining with the pack. Zoo Biol 0:1–17, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Localisation of a novel region of recurrent amplification in follicular lymphoma to an ∼6.8 Mb region of 13q32‐33

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is characterised by the presence of the t(14;18)(q32;q21) and represents ∼25% of new cases of non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma. While the t(14;18) is a well‐documented rearrangement, the role of secondary cytogenetic abnormalities in the development and progression of these tumours remains unclear. Comparative genomic hybridisation was used to characterise changes in DNA copy number in tumour DNA from patients with this malignancy. The mean numbers of deletion and amplification events found in each of the 45 samples studied were 1.8 and 2.3, respectively. Regions of recurrent (>10% tumour samples) gain involved chromosomes 2p13‐16 (16%), 7 (20%), 12 (16%), 13q21‐33 (18%), 18 (27%), and X (36%) and frequent losses localised to 6q (29%) and 17p (20%). Amplification of chromosome 13 represents a novel finding in FL. The minimal amplified region was refined to a 6.8‐Mb interval of 13q32‐33 between the BAC clones 88K16 and 44H20 by fluorescence in situ hybridisation studies using metaphase chromosomes derived from tumour material. There are a number of reports in the literature suggesting that amplification of chromosome 13 also occurs in other human cancers. The location of the putative oncogene on 13q described here in follicular and transformed lymphoma may also be important in the evolution of many other malignancies. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Variety-Specific Variants of Oxidative Enzymes from Soybean Seed

Three distinct electrophoretic patterns in acrylamide gel zymograms are associated with specific soybean varieties. The patterns represent at least two different enzymes, including peroxidase, hut collectively are called “INT-oxidases. ” The enzymes, extracted from dry soybean seeds, inhibit the reduction of colorless iodonitrotetrazolium-violet (INT) into the red INT-formazan and thus appear as clear bands on a red background.
Stimulation of novel phenolic metabolite, epoxy‐pseudoisoeugenol‐(2‐methylbutyrate) (EPB), in transformed anise (pimpinella anisum L.) root cultures by fish protein hydrolysates

Abstract Acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) and fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) were investigated for stimulating valuable phenolics production in transformed anise root cultures (Pimpinella anisum L.) for food and nutraceutical applications. Anise root cultures were grown in Murashige‐Skoog (MS) hormone free medium. Total phenolics in anise root cultures decreased with ASA and ASA/FPH treatments and may possibly be diverted to lignification as indicated by increase in guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) activity. Epoxy‐pseudoisoeugenol‐(2‐methylbutyrate) (EPB) production in root cultures in response to FPH treatment increased 3 fold compared to control and 6 fold higher compared to ASA treatment on day 60. The optimum concentration of FPH for EPB stimulation was 2 ml/L of standardized mackerel hydrolysates and if the concentration was higher than 2 ml/L, FPH was inhibitory to growth of root cultures. Antioxidant activity in all treatments was high on day 60 compared to day 30. On either day, there was no difference in antioxidant activity between treatments. The activity of glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G‐6‐PDH) did not vary. Free proline content in response to control and ASA treatments was higher than in FPH and ASA/FPH treatments on day 30. These results clearly indicate that mackerel hydrolysate can be used to stimulate EPB in transformed anise root cultures. EPB is potentially a valuable phenolic metabolite to regulate nutraceutical type phytochemicals during seed germination.
A new technique for efficient rearing of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

A new technique was developed for the efficient rearing of phytoseiid mites. The developed artificial rearing arena consists of a 24-well tissue culture plate and pieces of woolen yarn. The rearing efficiencies of four species of phytoseiid mites belonging to different genera, Phytoseius nipponicus, Amblyseius eharai, Typhlodromus vulgaris and Typhlodromips tsugawai, were compared in regard to the newly developed arena and several types of conventional artificial arenas. P. nipponicus, A. eharai, and T. vulgaris increased significantly in number on the new artificial arenas. T. tsugawai also multiplied well on the new artificial arena, although no significant differences were observed in the number of mites between the new artificial arena and a conventional artificial arena made of a plastic board containing pieces of woolen yarn. These results confirmed the usefulness of the new artificial arena, and lead to the expectation that this technique could be applied for rearing many other species of phytoseiid mites.
Theoretical evaluation of pollen transfer by nocturnal and diurnal pollinators: when should a flower open?

Time of flower opening (anthesis) is one of the floral traits comprising a pollination syndrome. The time when pollinators are active has been thought to exert selective pressures on anthesis, but no models have been developed to explain it. Using a simulation model, we estimated the number of pollen grains transferred by both diurnal and nocturnal pollinators in flowers opened at dusk, midnight, morning, and noon. We assumed that pollen removal is proportional to the amount of pollen in the flower and that poller: deposition is an increasing and decelerating function of pollen removal. Pollen removal efficiencies and pollen deposition efficiencies of nocturnal and diurnal pollinators were estimated from field data for Lonicera japonica. Anthesis at dusk was favored, even with a larger number of diurnal pollinators, up to ten, versus two nocturnal pollinators. As long as both the pollen removal efficiency of nocturnal pollinators was lower and their pollen deposition efficiency was higher than those of diurnal pollinators. anthesis at dusk was favored, even when diurnal pollinators transferred more pollen than nocturnal ones. Anthesis at dusk may not be a specialization for nocturnal pollinators.
The Study on the Relationship between Leaf Colors and ptDNA Inheritance in Intersectional Cross of Rhododendron kiusianum×R. japonicum f. flavum, Resulting in an Unexpected Triploid Progeny

The relationship between leaf color and plastid/nuclear genome construction of 45 seedlings from two crosses of R. kiusianum (2n=2x=26)×R. japonicum f. flavum (2n=2x=26) was examined to resolve the frequent appearances of albino progenies among crosses involving Rhododendron species. Leaf color of seedlings segregated into green, pale green, and albino at a ratio, ca. 1 : 2 : 7. An unexpected triploid green plant with 2x and 1x nuclear genome from R. kiusianum and R. japonicum f. flavum, respectively, was detected among the hybrids through isozyme analysis and chromosome observation. PCR-RFLP analysis of matK region revealed that plastid DNA (ptDNA) of all albino hybrids was inherited from R. kiusianum, whereas that of six of seven green hybrids inherited it from R. japonicum f. flavum. The triploid green progeny had ptDNA of R. kiusianum.
Protein precipitation method for the quantitative determination of tannins

The tannin content of crude plant exts. or of purified prepns. was detd. by adding the sample to a std. soln. of protein, isolating the insol. tannin-protein complex, dissolving it in alk. soln. , and measuring the absorbance at 510 nm after adding FeCl3. Plots of absorbance as a function of the amt. of tannin are linear for 0.20-1.0 mg tannic acid and partially purified sorghum tannins. Nontannin components of crude MeOH exts. of sorghum and cowpeas do not interfere with the assay. The results of the pptn. method are qual. similar to those obtained by vanillin assay. The pptn. assay can be used to study the effects of pH and other parameters on tannin-protein interactions
Temperature variability between 1951 and 2014 in Germany and associated evolution of apple bloom onset

Apple tree bloom onset in Germany has advanced by 2 days/decade in 1951-2014 and by 3 days/decade in 1988-2014, behaving similarly in respect to its evolution since 1951 and its sensitivity to temperature to other species’ phenological spring phases. The evolution however was not linear; by conducting a split moving-window dissimilarity analysis (SMWDA) we were able to detect the “break-period” 1987-1989 which coincides with a breakpoint that has been identified in the phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). We observed distinct spatial patterns with apple bloom advancing from southwest to northeast and, most interestingly, a longitudinal gradient in the trend of apple bloom onset revealed by a probabilistic principal components analysis (PPCA). In the period of 1951-2014, plants located in the east displayed a much stronger trend (-16.53 days on average) than those in the western part of the country (-6.74 days on average). This pattern seems to be linked to patterns in temperature which is highly correlated to apple bloom onset (best one predictor model: mean temperature March to May, R² = 0.82, -6 days/°C): the coldest regions exhibit the strongest warming trends and the greatest advances in apple bloom onset.
Homoeopathy and its Potential Role in Agriculture—A Critical Review

ABSTRACT Homoeopathy is a therapeutic system in which diseases are treated with substances, usually in extreme dilutions, which, when given to healthy individuals, produce the same symptoms as the disease being treated. Homoeopathy is an holistic method of treatment in that the whole organism is treated in an attempt to raise its level of resistance and stimulate its ability to throw off disease. In this respect it is well suited to the holistic concepts of biological agriculture. Because of the extreme dilution of the remedies they are relatively cheap, have little or no ecological side-effects and, on the whole, are harmless. This review introduces the basic principles of homoeopathy, discusses the experimental evidence for the efficacy of homoeopathic treatment of disease and considers its potential role in agriculture. The conclusion is that despite a great deal of experimental and clinical work there is only a little evidence to suggest that homoeopathy is effective. This is because of bad design, ex.
Effects of Small Peptides as Intraluminal Substrates on Transport Carriers for Amino Acids and Peptides

The effects of small peptides on brush-border membrane enzyme activities and on transport carriers for amino acids and dipeptides were investigated by measurement of these enzyme activities and the transmural potential difference in the small intestines of guinea pigs fed elemental diets containing either small peptides (SP) or amino acids (AA) as the nitrogen source. Brush-border membrane aminopeptidase activities were significantly higher in the group fed the diet containing SP. In addition, the transmural potential differences induced by L-leucine and glycyl-L-leucine (Gly-Leu) were significantly higher in the SP group. The maximum potential differences for L-leucine and Gly-Leu were significantly higher in the SP group, whereas the half saturation values did not differ between the two groups. The same effect of a SP diet was seen in rats, when the uptake of L-[U-14C]leucylglycine (L-[14C]Leu-Gly) into intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles was measured. Some 70% of L-[14C]Leu-Gly was not hydrolyzed by aminopeptidase, but was found as a dipeptide in the brush-border membrane vesicles. These results indicate that small peptides as intraluminal substrates increase brush-border membrane aminopeptidase activities and the activity of carriers for amino acids and dipeptides.
The stability of vitamin C in a commercial fruit squash.

The deterioration of vitamin C in a fruit squash was followed during storage under the conditions encountered in normal commercial practice. The initial level of 32 mg. of natural vitamin C per 100 ml. was maintained for 6 months; 80% was retained after 12 months, 50-60% after 18 months and about 40% after 2 years. Added synthetic vitamin C showed the same stability. Small experimental bottles of squash were stored under a variety of conditions in the laboratory. There was no difference in the rates of deterioration of the vitamin at 0° and room temperature but destruction was more rapid at 37°. Light had no effect and the stability of added vitamin C was the same as that of the natural vitamin. Squash exposed to the air in partly filled bottles showed a rapid loss of ascorbic acid. There was an unexplained variation from bottle to bottle.
Correlations between Reproductive Condition and Skull Characteristics of Beaver

After fifty years of legal protection of the beaver ( Castor canadensis canadensis Kuhl), annual midwinter trapping in Vermont was begun in 1950. At this same time, the Vermont Fish and Game Service began collecting carcasses from trappers for the purpose of analyzing the reproductive tracts and skulls, hoping principally to discover means of improving management of the beaver population in the State. Analysis of these carcasses was made in the Zoology Laboratory of the University of Vermont and the results are described here. I thank Mr. Frank T. Haseltine, Project Leader of the Vermont Fish and Game Service, and all others of this group for their aid, including dissection of the carcasses. Helpful criticisms were made by Mr. Malcolm W. Coulter, Maine Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Professors Paul A. Moody and Lyman S. Rowell, University of Vermont, and Professors Samuel L. Leonard and Perry W. Gilbert, Cornell University. I am grateful to those who assisted in making the measurements and to my wife, Amy, who prepared the figures and aided in the statistical analysis of the data. Financial support was provided by Project W-9-R of the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service and administered by Roger A. Seamans, Federal Aid Coordinator. Materials and methods . —The reproductive tracts were preserved in ten per cent formalin solution. Testes and epididymides used in the study of incidence of spermatogenesis were embedded in paraffin, sectioned at eight to ten micra, mounted, and examined under oil immersion magnification (950✕). An animal was recorded as showing spermatogenic activity only when spermatozoa were observed in the epididymis as well as the testis. The total length and the height at the base of each baculum were recorded. Both ovaries of each female were hand-sectioned (sections about one millimeter thick) under a stereoscopic dissecting microscope (15.3✕), and counts of corpora …
The spatial distribution of plant populations, disease dynamics and evolution of resistance

Empirical studies of the interaction between the anther smut fungus Microbotryum violaceum and its host plant Lychnis alpina were combined with modelling approaches to investigate how variation in the spatial distribution of host populations influences disease dynamics and variation in resistance. Patterns of disease incidence and prevalence were surveyed in three contrasting systems of natural L. alpina populations where there is substantial variation in spatial structure, ranging from large continuous populations through to small isolated patches. Disease incidence (fraction of populations where disease was present) was highest in the continuous situation, and lowest in the most isolated populations. The reverse was true for prevalence (fraction of individuals diseased). To better understand the long-term ecological and evolutionary consequences of differences in among population spatial structure, we developed a two-dimensional spatially explicit simulation model in which host-population spacing was modelled by varying the percentage of sites suitable for the host. The general patterns of disease incidence and prevalence generated in the simulations corresponded well with the patterns observed in natural populations of L. alpina and M. violaceum; i.e. the fraction of sites with disease increased while the average disease prevalence in diseased populations decreased when host populations became more connected. One likely explanation for the differences in disease incidence and prevalence seen in natural populations is that the evolution of host resistance varies as a function of the degree of fragmentation. This is supported by simulation results that were qualitatively similar to the survey data when resistance was allowed to vary, but not when hosts were assumed to be uniformly susceptible. In the former, the frequency of resistance increased markedly as host populations became more connected.
How Does Masting Happen and Synchronize

Abstract Masting is an intermittent synchronous production of large seed crops by plant populations. The cause and mechanism of masting were analysed using a resource budget model for an individual plant. The model produced characteristic masting behavior that is made up of intermittent large crops, crop failures and semi-regular masting cycles. The ratio of seedling cost to flowering cost ( R C ) played the most important role in the model. The species with a large R C value ( R C ≥1) showed intermittent fruiting whereas species with a small value ( R C R C values, the fruiting interval became longer, and the occurrence became more unpredictable. When the model ignored the dependence of fruiting efficiency on the ratio of flowering individuals, flowering and fruiting did not synchronize among individuals in a population. In contrast, when the model included the dependence of fruiting efficiency on the ratio of flowering individuals, synchronization of flowering and fruiting within a population occurred. The synchronization was also dependent on the kind of pollination system. The present model suggests that masting can take place due to the resource balance of each plant even without any interannual environmental fluctuations, and may result in evolutionary benefits to each individual.
Serological relationships among Vibrio anguillarum strains.

Abstract To determine the existence of separate antigenic markers within Vibrio anguillarum that can be useful for epidemiological and ecological studies, similarity among the 10 established O-serotypes was evaluated by different serological methods. We demonstrated that the strains from serotype O1 constitute a homogeneous group by double immunodiffusion, dot blot assay (DBA), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, within serotype O2, two different patterns of serological reactions were detected by the three methods. These two O2 antigenic entities were designated as O2∝ and O2β subgroups. Cross-reactions among serotypes were used to calculate serological relationships. Generally, the serological relationships observed with antigens from formalin-killed bacteria decreased by using only O-antigens, which demonstrated that O-antigens are the most specific surface antigens in V. anguillarum. The serotype was marked by the dominant antigens in each strain, but minor antigens were shared amon.
II. Yeast sequencing reports. Analysis of a 70kb region on the right arm of yeast chromosome II

In the framework of the EC programme for sequencing yeast chromosome II, we have determined the nucleotide sequence of a 70 kb region. Subsequent analysis revealed 35 open reading frames, 14 of which correspond to known yeast genes. From structural parameters and/or similarity searches with entries in the current data libraries, a preliminary functional assessment of several of the putative novel gene products can be made. The gene density in this region amounts to one gene in 1.98 kb. Coding regions occupy 75% of the total DNA sequence. Within the intergenic regions, potential regulatory elements can be predicted. The data obtained here may serve as a basis for a more detailed biochemical analysis of the novel genes. The complete nucleotide sequence of the 70 kb segment as depicted in Figure 1 has been deposited in the EMBL data library under Accession Number X78993.
FT‐IR Spectroscopy and Artificial Neural Network Identification of Fusarium Species

A rapid spectroscopic approach for whole-organism fingerprinting of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to analyse 16 isolates from five closely related species of Fusarium: F. graminearum, F. moniliforme, F. nivale, F. semitectum and F. oxysporum. Principal components analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to study the clusters in the data. On visual inspection of the clusters from both methods, the spectra were not differentiated into five separate clusters corresponding to species and these unsupervised methods failed to identify these fungal strains. When the data were trained by back propagation algorithm of artificial neural networks (ANNs) with principal components scores of spectra used as input modes, the strains were accurately predicted and recognized. The results in this study show that FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with principal component artificial neural networks (PC-ANNs) is well suited for identifying Fusarium spp. It would be advantageous to establish a comprehensive database of taxonomically well-defined Fusarium species to aid the identification of unknown strains.
Estimation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Growth in a Torus Photobioreactor

Microalgae culture is used in various biotechnological applications. Optimisation of the system productivity needs reliable sensors. However, physical sensors for biomass and dissolved dioxide carbon concentrations are expensive and not accurate, especially for online measurements. In this context, robust and efficient software sensors have to be developed. In this paper, an Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) methodology is proposed to estimate components concentrations in a photobioreactor. The microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is used as model organism. The aim of this paper is to develop an online software estimator that reconstructs the biomass, carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations in the liquid phase, from online measurements of components molar fraction in the output gas provided by a mass spectrometer. The proposed estimator is validated through experimental data collected on a lab-scale photobioreactor.