Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrasting patterns of leaf water potential and gas exchange responses to drought in seedlings of tropical rainforest species

Summary 1 The leaf gas exchange and water potential (Ψw) responses to a soil drying cycle and to increasing atmospheric water vapour pressure deficit were compared in seedlings of three tropical rainforest canopy species in a growth chamber. 2Eperuafalcata Aub. presented an anisohydric behaviour in relation to soil drought. The decrease in predawn Ψw at the beginning of the drying cycle was accompanied by a more pronounced decrease in midday Ψw. Stomatal closure occurred from a volumetric soil water content (Θ) of 0·1 m3 m−3, which corresponded to approximately one third of the available soil water. 3 Diplotropispurpurea (Rich.) Amsh. displayed an isohydric behaviour. Midday Ψw did not decrease – and the difference between predawn and midday Ψw did not increase – over a large range of Θ (to less than 0·1 m3 m−3). Stomatal conductance (gs) was more sensitive to soil drought than in Eperua. 4 A unique behaviour was found in Virola michelii: Heckel. Midday Ψw remained remarkably stable, and close to predawn Ψw, over the drying cycle as long as leaves did not dry, and gs was extremely sensitive to soil drought. These results led us to postulate the existence of a homeostatic regulation of Ψw in Virola. 5 The three species differed in their stomatal sensitivity to atmospheric drought. Eperua was the least and Diplotropis the most sensitive. Virola, even though extremely sensitive to soil drought, displayed an intermediate sensitivity of gs to atmospheric drought. 6 These findings suggest that the survival of Eperua, Diplotropis and Virola in the tropical rainforest of French Guiana may depend partly on local hydrological conditions.
Faktor-Faktor Teknis dan Keorganisasian yang Memengaruhi Pengembangan Sistem Pengukuran Kinerja Pemerintah Daerah

Abstract Abstract Abstract This study aims to empirically examine the influence of technical and organizational factors to the development of public performance measurement system in Indonesia local government. A total of 50 respondents used in this study were the auditors and officials of the Kantor Inspektorat of Kabupaten Sleman, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. Analysis of Partial Least Square (PLS) is used in testing the hypotheses of this research. The results of this study demonstrate the metrics difficulty of performance indicators and educational background significantly influence the de- velopment of public performance measurement system for the incentives orientation of the local government. Meanwhile, employee training and organizational culture factors significantly in- fluence the development of public performance measurement system for the exploration orientation.
Genetic characterisation of buffalo MHC (Bubu)-DQB cDNA molecule

A 771 nucleotide long cDNA molecule corresponding to major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-DQB gene was amplified, cloned and sequenced from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Open reading frame of the Bubu-DQB sequence was short by three nucleotides from the DQB genes of the other ruminants. Nucleotide similarity of Bubu-DQB was highest with cattle DQB alleles (84–97%), followed by goat (88.8%) and sheep (87.5%). The sequence comparison revealed that the DQB gene was highly variable in buffalo particularly, in exon 2 (β1 domain). A total of 45 amino acid substitutions were identified in Bubu-DQB compared to cattle DQB*0101 sequence, with a maximum (27) in β1 domain. The residues involved in antigen binding and heterodimer formation were found to be different in buffalo DQB sequence compared to other species. Phylogenetic study showed that the Bubu-DQB has evolved prior to the diversification of common DQB alleles in ruminants. Our study revealed the high genetic variation in the DQB gene in buffalo, which might have generated to recognise species specific antigens.
A Nonlethal Technique to Recover Gut Contents of Roundtail Chub

Abstract Forty adult roundtail chub Gila robusta, captured by electrofishing from the Colorado River in Colorado, were used to evaluate a nonlethal stomach-pumping technique for recovering gut contents. Twenty roundtail chub were subjected to stomach pumping; another 20 were used as controls and not pumped. Gut contents were flushed from the anal vent instead of the buccal cavity, because the simple S-shaped gut and lack of a pyloric sphincter in roundtail chubs allowed the free passage of intestinal material. A necropsy revealed that the technique evacuated 100% of gut contents, with no apparent damage to the pharyngeal teeth, esophagus, or intestinal lining. Long-term effects were not evaluated, but no short-term ill effects were observed. This technique is recommended as a safe, efficient, and nonlethal procedure for recovering gut contents of roundtail chub. The technique may also be applicable to the endangered humpback chub G. cypha and bonytail chub G. elegans, closely-related species with nearly i.
Phylogeny and evolution of the genus Barbus in the Iberian Peninsula as revealed by allozyme electrophoresis

Variation of 14 enzyme systems encoded by 31 presumptive loci in different barbel species was studied using starch gel electrophoresis. Eighteen samples representing 11 Barbus tetraploid taxa were taken, including 10 populations from the Iberian Peninsula, six from other parts of western and southern Europe, one from northern Africa and one diploid species as outgroup from Asia Minor. The genetic analysis reassessed of the taxonomic status of the Iberian barbels into two distinct species groups. The first group included B. bocagei, B. comiza, B. graellsii, B. gulraonis, B. microcephalus, and B. sclateri, that aligned with B. callensis from northern Africa and with B. apoensis from Asia Minor; the other group included B. haasi and B. merldlonahs that was related to the European species, B. barbus, B. plebejus and B. peloponnesius. These groups are probably not monophyletic. It is suggested that the isolation of the Iberian Peninsula from Europe since the Oligocene-Miocene may explain the genetic affinities of the Iberian barbels with those of North African rather than with the European group.
Damming Tropical Island Streams: Problems, Solutions, and Alternatives

Abstract The combination of human population growth, increased water usage, and limited groundwater resources often leads to extensive damming of rivers and streams on tropical islands. Ecological effects of dams on tropical islands can be dramatic, because the vast majority of native stream faunas (fishes, shrimps, and snails) migrate between freshwater and saltwater during their lives. Dams and associated water withdrawals have been shown to extirpate native faunas from upstream reaches and increase mortality of downstream-drifting larvae. A better understanding of the effects of dams and the behavior of tropical island stream faunas is providing insights into how managers can mitigate the negative effects of existing dams and develop alternatives to dam construction while still providing freshwater for human use. We review the ecological effects of dams on tropical island streams, explore means to mitigate some of these effects, describe alternatives to dam construction, and recommend research priorities.
Factors affecting the elicitation of vocal responses from coyotes Canis latrans

Long-distance vocalizations by canids play an important role in communication among individuals, and researchers have elicited these vocalizations to estimate canid occurrence and relative abundance. We evaluated the efficacy of broadcasted coyote Canis latrans group-yip calls and gray wolf C. lupus lone howls to elicit vocal responses from 18 GPS-collared coyotes on 144 occasions in Michigan's Upper Peninsula during August-September 2009 and June-September 2010-2011. We evaluated coyote responses to each call type using mixed-effects logistic regression models with time (month), residency status (resident or transient), presence in wolf territory, sex, distance, movement and call type as fixed effects hypothesized to influence coyote vocal response rates. The individual coyote and year were included as random effects. Overall, call type, sex and presence of wolf territory did not affect coyote response rates; however, coyotes did not respond to wolf calls broadcasted at distances of > 2.0 km. Resident coyotes were three times more likely to respond than transients and the greatest overall response rates occurred in August. We conclude that eliciting coyote vocalizations where wolves are present will not bias responses, and we recommend eliciting coyote vocalizations using recorded coyote group-yip howls during July-September to estimate the species' presence or density.
Rhynchostegiella (Brachytheciaceae): molecular re-circumscription of a convenient taxonomic repository

Abstract The moss genus Rhynchostegiella (Helicodontioideae, Brachytheciaceae) has long served as a convenient repository for small brachythecioid pleurocarps. Its circumscription is revised in the context of a chloroplast phylogeny of the Helicodontioideae employing trnL-trnF, atpB-rbcL, psbT-psbH, and psbA-trnH sequence data. The analysis resolves with full posterior probabilities a core Rhynchostegiella clade of eight species. Rhynchostegiella pumila and R. duriaei are both resolved outside that clade and accommodated in their own genera, Microeurhynchium gen. nov. and Pseudorhynchostegiella gen. nov., respectively. Rhynchostegiella leptoneura is sister to Aerolindigia capillacea and R. papuensis is closely related to Eurhynchiella zeyheri. One of the reasons why these unrelated species, together with other taxa, were traditionally included within Rhynchostegiella, is that the genus is morphologically poorly defined by only a single synapomorphic change followed by reversals in half of the species. The Madeiran endemic Brachythecium percurrens is resolved as sister to all the other genera of the Helicodontioideae and is transferred into a new monotypic genus, Hedenasiastrum gen. nov.
Reciprocal connections of the striatum and pallidum in the brain of Pithecus (Macacus) rhesus

The corpus striaturn is separable into two aiiatomically distinct portions : 1) the striatum which consists of the caudate nnclcus and pntaiiien and 2 ) the pallidurn which coiisists of two segments and the nucleus hasalis. This separation has received clinical support from the work of Vogt and Vogt ( '20), J a k o b ('23) and others who distinguish striatal symptoms sncli as chorea from pallidal symptoms such as atlietosis. From tlie work of Wilson ( 'as) , Hunt ( '18), Winklei( '33) and other European writers, i t is kiiown that striatal fibers pass to and through tlic pallidum giving it a characteristic appearance. This close connection betmeen striaturn and pallidum has made it inipractical in many cases to chaw sharp distinctions between s i p s of striatal arid signs of pallidal injury. The symptoms of chorea, twitchings, intelltion tremor aiid rigidity cannot always he separated from the distorted movement and dystonia of athetoxis, since both manifestaiioris may occur in a mixed form in any one case. Hunt aiiil M'ilson have callcd attention to the reciprocal nature of the functions of tlie coiyns s t ihturn and both authors have leaned toward t h ~ idea that a dual innervatioii exists, if not in the striaturn aiid pallidurn then somcw-herc along tlic liiic of their clescciicliiig conncctioiis. In a recent
Sulforaphane Enhances MHC Class II-Restricted Presentation of Exogenous Antigens

Sulforaphane is an isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables that has been reported to be an effective cancer preventive agent inducing growth arrest and/or cell death in cancer cells of various organs. This paper reports that sulforaphane exerts immunomodulatory activity on the MHC-restricted antigen presenting function. Sulforaphane efficiently increased the class II-restricted presentation of an exogenous antigen, ovalbumin (OVA), in both dendritic cells (DCs) and peritoneal macrophages in vitro. The class II-restricted OVA presentation-enhancing activity of sulforaphane was also confirmed using mice that had been injected with sulforaphane followed by soluble OVA. On the other hand, sulforaphane did not affect the class I-restricted presentation of exogenous OVA at concentrations that increase the class II-restricted antigen presentation. At a high concentration (), sulforaphane inhibited the class I-restricted presentation of exogenous OVA. Sulforaphane did not affect the phagocytic activity of the DCs, and the cell surface expression of total H-, B7-1, B7-2 and CD54 molecules, even though it increased the expression of I- molecules to a barely discernable level. These results show that sulforaphane increases the class II-restricted antigen presenting function preferentially, and might provide a novel insight into the mechanisms of the anti-cancer effects of sulforaphane.
Development of a Safer Platform for the Production of Recombinant Product than GM Crops

Many genetically modified (GM) crops were used for production of plant-derived edible vaccines and other therapeutic recombinant products. However, GM crops resulted in the ecotoxicological risk of gene transfer because of pollen flow during the past 20 years. The most-commonly used eukaryotic model alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has recently been shown the potential of decreasing this risk. Compared to GM crops, there is no risk of gene transfer because the alga culture can be deserved completely scrutiny under laboratory condition and it do not produce pollen. Recently, we had transformed the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with two genes, CTB and CV1, which encode cholera toxin B subunit and chimeric antigen CV1 fused CTB with VP1 protein from foot and mouth disease virus (FDMV). The transgenic alga subculture were carried out under different selective conditions. The recombinant antigen in transgenic Chlamydomonas chloroplast was detected by western blotting in a period of subculture time. However, the PCR detection data demonstrated that transgene integrated with chloroplast genome would be lost in a special time when was connected with subculture condition. Although loss of transgenic fragment was an inevitable fate for the green alga, our research data showed the possibility that the presence of transgenic fragment was strictly regulated. Thus, the alga can be used for a safer platform for the production of recombinant product than GM crops.
A critical evaluation of the vanillin reaction as an assay for tannin in sorghum grain

Several parameters of the vanillin assay, for studying sorghum tannin, were examined to determine which must be most closely controlled to ensure accuracy and reproducibility. A 20-min extraction in methanol was found to be adequate. When corrected for background colour, the modified vanillin assay was found to give nearly identical values with those obtained with the regular vanillin assay, except with group II sorghum. The reactions of tannin and catechin with vanillin were found to differ markedly in reaction kinetics. It was shown that the use of catechin equivalents overestimates tannin content. The assay was found to be very temp. dependent. Revised procedures for the vanillin assay are given which give good reproducibility
THE DYNAMICS OF THE CONSTANT AND PULSE BIRTH IN AN SIR EPIDEMIC MODEL WITH CONSTANT RECRUITMENT

In this paper, an SIR epidemic model with constant recruitment is considered. The dynamic behavior of this disease model with constant and pulse birth are analyzed. With constant birth, the infection-free equilibrium is locally and globally stable when the basic reproductive number R0 < 1. However, with pulse birth the system converges to a stable period solution with the number of infectious individuals equal to zero. Furthermore, the local and global stability of the periodic infection-free solution is obtained if the basic reproductive number . Numerical simulation shows that the periodic infection-free solution is unstable and the disease will persist when . The effectiveness of the constant and pulse birth to eliminating the disease are compared.
An Assessment of Ecological Diversity in Homegardens: A Case Study from Kerala State, India

ABSTRACT Homegardens are unique agroforestry systems that provide economic and sociocultural benefits to the tropical subsistence farmer. These intensively managed systems are often the only source of nutrition and income for the household. Along with their economic value, these gardens are also known for their high levels of biological diversity. This study attempted to quantify these patterns of diversity by inventorying 75 homegardens in Thrissur district in Kerala, India. The utility values of plant species were classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary based on farmer responses to survey questions. Sorenson's Index of similarity indicated fairly high levels of similarity in species composition across inventoried gardens, indicating some common use patterns among farmers. The Shannon-Wiener index and Margalef index were both calculated in order to ascertain levels of biological diversity in these managed agricultural systems. The Shannon-Wiener index indicated patterns comparable with natural forested regions in the area, while the Margalef index indicated species richness levels that were only slightly lower than those for forests in the Western Ghats. Agro-ecological importance value indices (IVI) were calculated and nine crop categories were identified as most important. Vegetables, ornamentals, and medicinal plants were found to be extremely important across all size categories of gardens. A multivariate regression analysis indicated that although economic value of homegardens increased with years in cultivation and land size, it reduced with increase in species richness.
Seasonal Patterns of Predation on Juvenile Pacific Salmon by Anadromous Cutthroat Trout in Puget Sound

Abstract In the marine environment, Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. suffer the greatest natural losses during early marine residence, and predation is hypothesized to be the key source of mortality during this life history stage. In the face of recent declines in Puget Sound salmon populations, our goal was to determine the extent of predation mortality on salmon during early marine life. In spring and summer of 2001-2003, we caught juvenile salmon and potential predators at nearshore areas in northern and southern regions of Puget Sound, Washington. We focused on the potential predation impact of coastal cutthroat trout O. clarkii clarkii, which were caught in low but consistent numbers in both regions and were the most abundant large-bodied potential predators of juvenile salmon in our catches. Cutthroat trout consumed a diverse and dynamic array of diet items and became increasingly piscivorous with increasing fork length above 140 mm. Cutthroat trout consumed a greater biomass of Pacific herring Clup.
Dispersal of adult aquatic Chironomidae (Diptera) in agricultural landscapes

SUMMARY 1 This study investigates the possible influence of terrestrial landscape structure on the spatial distribution of adult Chironomidae emerging from water bodies in three agricultural areas, each with hedgerow networks, in Brittany (France). 2 Using spatially explicit data from 128 yellow pan traps set in pairs at the bottom of hedges throughout the three study areas, we show that landscape structure and heterogeneity must be considered at two different spatial scales. 3 At a global scale, distance to water bodies was the main factor explaining the spatial distribution of adult chironomids: both species richness and abundance changed beyond a critical distance to the stream, resulting in different species assemblages of flying insects. 4 At a local scale, the abundance of species and individuals at rest in hedges changed with the quality of the hedge (mainly determined by canopy width and cover of the different vegetation layers). 5 The density of the hedgerow network, and landscape openness, both influenced the dispersal of chironomid species from water bodies. 6 This study, which provides the first estimate of the dispersal capabilities of chironomids in particular landscapes, suggests that the terrestrial environment is an essential component of population dynamics and community structure in aquatic Chironomidae.
Development of DNA microsatellite markers in the Andean root crop arracacha: Arracacia xanthorrhiza Banc. (Apiaceae)

A microsatellite-enriched library was constructed in the Andean root crop arracacha (Arracacia xanthorriza B). Of 18 loci tested, 14 were found to be polymorphic after screening for diversity in different cultivars and related wild forms. Allelic diversity in the crop was low but the transferability of the primers to closely related wild forms was good. The loci reported here are the first genetic markers to be published for this species and will be useful for future germplasm characterization and studies of genetic diversity. (Resume d'auteur)
Competition, predation risk and patterns of flock expansion in barnacle geese ( Branta leucopsis )

Changes in the spatial pattern of flocks of barnacle geese Branta leucopsis were examined in relation to individual behaviour during feeding visits to farm pastures. The flocks were photographed every 10–20 min, and the shape and location of the flock was determined from a plan view obtained from digitized images of the photographs. Flocks initially maintained a tight formation shortly after arrival, but then tended to expand with increasing residence time. The rate of expansion, however, was significantly greater in large flocks, with small flocks showing no consistent pattern. Observed rates of change in flock area were compared with those obtained from a simple model of flock movement in which individuals followed a random walk and moved at a constant speed. In contrast to the observed data, small simulated flocks (with relatively more edge birds) showed the greatest relative increase in flock area. This discrepancy between the data and the simulation can be explained mechanistically by differences in the behaviour of individuals in flocks of different sizes. In large flocks, birds at the leading edge of the flock had faster step rates and travelled further than birds in the centre and at the trailing edge. Rates of movement in small flocks did not vary with flock position. Levels of vigilance were higher during the first 10 min after arrival, in males, in smaller flocks and at the edges of flocks. Thus, upon arrival, flocks maintain a tight defensive formation with high vigilance, but with increasing residence time, vigilance decreases and larger flocks expand, suggesting a need for individuals to reduce feeding competition.