Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multi‐trait test of the leaf‐height‐seed plant strategy scheme with 133 species from a pine forest flora

Summary 1. Westoby’s [Plant and Soil (1998), 199, 213] Leaf-Height-Seed (LHS) plant strategy scheme quantifies the strategy of a plant based on its location in a three-dimensional space defined by three functional traits: specific leaf area (SLA), height, and seed mass. This scheme is based on aboveground traits and may neglect strategies of belowground resource capture if root functioning is not mirrored in any of the axes. How then do fine roots fit into the LHS scheme? 2. We measured 10 functional traits on 133 plant species in a ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona, USA. This data set was used to evaluate how well the LHS scheme accounts for the variation in above and belowground traits. 3. The three most important plant strategies were composed of multiple correlated traits, but SLA, seed mass, and height loaded on separate principle components. The first axis reflected the widely observed ‘leaf economics spectrum’. Species at the high end of this spectrum had high SLA, high leaf and fine root nitrogen (N) concentration, and low leaf dry matter content. The second axis reflected variation in seed mass and fine root morphology. Plants at the positive end of this spectrum were plants with large seeds and low specific root length (SRL). The third axis reflected variation in height and phenology. Plants at the positive end of this spectrum were tall species that flower late in the growing season. 4. Leaf N concentration was positively correlated with fine root N concentration. SRL was weakly positively correlated with SLA. SRL was not correlated with fine root N concentration. Leaf litter decomposition rate was positively correlated with the leaf economics spectrum and was negatively correlated with the height and phenology spectrum. 5. Leaf traits, seed mass, and height appear to be integrating properties of species that reflect much of the variation in plant function, including root function. Fine root N concentration was positively mirrored by the leaf economics spectrum, and SRL was inversely mirrored by seed mass. The leaf and height axes play a role in controlling leaf litter decomposability, indicating that these strategy axes have important consequences for ecosystem functioning.
Correction

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES Correction for “Changing climates of conflict: A social network experiment in 56 schools,” by Elizabeth Levy Paluck, Hana Shepherd, and Peter M. Aronow, which was first published January 4, 2016; 10.1073/pnas.1514483113 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:566–571). The authors wish to note the following: “We reported an estimated 30% decrease in administrative reports of conflict and would like to correct this estimate to 25%. The original paper reported this estimate as the rounded covariate-adjusted estimated average treatment effect (−0.06) divided by the rounded unadjusted control group mean (0.20). Without the rounding error, the original estimate is 29%. Using both covariate adjusted estimates, we have an estimate of 25%. Using both unadjusted estimates, we have an estimate of 23%. The original estimate of 30% was reported in the Abstract (line 11), the Significance Statement (line 8), in the results on page 569 (left column, first paragraph, line 9), and in the discussion on page 571 (left column, first paragraph, line 6). In each of these places, we would like to replace the number 30 with 25. The estimated overall effects on administrative reports of conflict remain statistically insignificant at the α=0.05 level. ”
Fumaric acid supplements have no effect on methane emissions per unit of feed intake in wether lambs

Recent reports suggest that supplementing the diet of ruminants with up to 10% fumaric acid (FA) can produce large reductions in methane (CH4) emissions, but the results have been equivocal. This trial evaluates the potential of FA to reduce enteric CH4 emissions from 18-month-old wethers fed lucerne. On two occasions, methane emissions were measured on 20 wethers fed a diet of dried ground lucerne with FA added to the diet at 0, 4, 6, 8 and 10 g FA/100 g dry matter (n = 4 wethers/treatment). Individual daily CH4 emissions were estimated using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas technique together with measurements of daily dry matter intake (DMI) and total faecal output. Rumen samples were collected twice during the treatment periods in order to evaluate the effect of FA on rumen pH. There was a significant negative regression between FA% in the diet and CH4 emissions/day. However, the addition of FA did not affect CH4 emissions/kg DMI because high levels of FA supplementation reduced DMI. Rumen pH increased linearly with increasing level of FA supplementation. In conclusion, the effect of FA on CH4 emissions in this trial was associated with the resulting reduction in DMI and there were no decreases in CH4 emissions/kg DMI.
Research and Application of Example‐Driven Surface Deformation Method

Despite the large work made in interactive mesh deformation, manipulating a geometrically complex mesh and producing realistic deformation result is still a challenging work. Example-driven deformation methods distinctly simplify the modeling process and produce realistic deformation result by incorporating knowledge learned from shape space. We introduce a rotation invariant feature representation and a reconstruction framework to accurately reconstruct the vertex positions. Our feature representation allows both interpolation as well as extrapolation and can effectively blend multiple shapes. Based on this, we achieve an example-driven approach to mesh deformations. By using a collection of models as examples, our method produces natural deformation results guided by them even with large movement of handles. We will apply our representation and reconstruction method to semantic deformation transfer. The experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Recovery of Pseudomonas anguilliseptica from Diseased Striped Beakperch (Oplegnathus fasciatus) in Korea

In recent years, several southern coastal fish farms in Korea have experienced 2-30% mortality in striped beakperch suffering from bacterial infections during the spring. In this study, we identified a bacterium isolated from diseased striped beakperch as Pseudomonas anguilliseptica via a biochemical test and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. To evaluate the susceptibility of striped beakperch to P. anguilliseptica, 4.39×10 7 or 4.39×10 5 CFU/fish of bacteria were injected intraperitoneally at 18 ± 1°C into fish weighing 5.5 g. Cumulative mortalities reached 100% and 45% in the 4.39×10 7 and 4.39×10 5 CFU/fish infected groups, respectively. Experimentally infected fish showed cell-associated inflammation as well as bacteria in the kidneys and spleen. This study is the first report of striped beakperch mortality caused by P. anguilliseptica, which has pathogenicity in striped beakperch.
How to distinguish most similar insect species – improving the stereomicroscopic and mathematical evaluation of external characters by example of ants

Abstract: The non‐destructive investigation of type specimens, the need to interpret available taxonomic descriptions, and the requirement to give statistical evidence for a presented hypothesis will guarantee that careful investigation and numeric recording of phenotypic characters will remain the basis of taxonomic work in insects, even if the progress of molecular genetics should continue to unexpected levels. A process of how to discriminate most similar insect species by means of external morphology is explained step by step. The process includes: (a) the reproducible and practicable definition of characters; (b) the reduction of errors during stereomicroscopic investigation and data recording; (c) the application of pair comparisons in discriminative calculations; (d) the description and removal of allometric variance; (e) the use of discriminant functions; and (f) the final removal of variance by consideration of nest means. The avoidance or reduction of 10 types of error occurring during stereomicroscopic investigation is explained. A linear regression of a weighted (indexed) character against a measure of body size is the recommended method to describe continuous allometries. In the case of discontinuous allometries and/or if discrete worker castes are present, different regression lines are calculated with this method for up to four separate size intervals and then connected in the form of a single‐valued polygon. Two types of discriminant function, a linear function without consideration of character correlations and a function using the function values of normal distributions and considering character correlations, both proved to be powerful in separating most similar species. The whole procedure from the beginning of data recording to the final calculation can increase, in the most successful case, the portion of individuals outside the interspecific overlap range from 25 to 100%. In the opposite extreme, the procedure can increase the overlap and thus reveal pseudo‐discriminative characters or pseudo‐species that are artefacts of allometric growth.
Dynamics of fungal diversity in different phases of Pinus litter degradation revealed through denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) coupled with morphological examination

Fungal diversity in Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica litter was investigated by PCR-DGGE coupled with a traditional cultivation method. Twenty-one fungal strains were isolated by traditional cultivation methodology, most being filamentous fungi. Total DNA was extracted directly from the L, F1, F2 and H litter layers respectively using the bead-beating method. About 460 bp rDNA fragments were obtained by Nested-PCR and analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). PCR-DGGE analysis recovered seven operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from the different decomposing litter layers. Six OTUs belonged to Ascomycetes and one to Basidiomycota. Sporobolomyces inositophilus was revealed by both methods, but there was no overlap in other species detected. A major shift of fungal communities on litter occurred during decomposition. The Shannon-Weaver index, which measures diversity in categorical data, was maximal in the F1 layer, then decreased with substratum degradation and reached it lowest value in the H layer.
Mixed-species effect on tree aboveground carbon pools in the east-central boreal forests

This study investigates the potential of mixed forest stands as better aboveground carbon sinks than pure stands. According to the facilitation and niche complementarity hypotheses, we predict higher carbon sequestration in mature boreal mixedwoods. Aboveground carbon contents of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Sterns, Poggenb. ) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) mixtures were investigated in the eastern boreal forest, whereas jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and trembling aspen were used in the central boreal forest. No carbon gain was found in species mixtures; nearly pure trembling aspen stands contained the greatest amount of aboveground carbon, black spruce stands had the least, and mixtures were intermediate with amounts that could generally be predicted by linear interpolation with stem proportions. These results suggest that for aspen, the potentially detrimental effect of spruce on soils observed in other studies may be offset by greater light availability in mixtures.
Detection of c-MYC Gene in Micronucleated Hepatocytes from Regenerative Cirrhotic Nodules and Hepatocellular Carcinoma of Hepatitis C Virus Infected Patients

c-MYC gene alteration has already been shown in chronic liver diseases, which includes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The spontaneous formation of micronucleated hepatocytes (MN-Heps) in liver cirrhosis (LC) tissue from patients infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV), has been previously reported. The objective of this study was to investigate if the c-MYC gene sequence is lost by MN-Heps in cirrhotic process with or without HCC. For this purpose the presence of c-MYC gene in MN-Heps was investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization in paraffin-embedded liver tissue. Five control liver samples of healthy organ donors were included in this study. Increased c-MYC gene copies were detected in 48-66% of MN-Heps in cirrhotic nodules from all cases, but not in control liver cells. Furthermore, gain of c-MYC gene number of copies was detected in 28% of the hepatocytes from regenerative and macroregenerative nodules (RNs, MRNs). The increase was also determined in 46% of tumor cells. No significant difference in extrusion of the c-MYC gene by RN or MRN hepatocytes was observed. We concluded that RNs and MRNs show cytogenetic abnormality towards the c-MYC gene. Its extrusion in MN-Heps seems to be an early event in regenerative cirrhotic lesions. The increase of c-MYC gene copies in LC from HCV infected patients might contribute to the development of HCC.
The ultrastructure of the epidermis of Diplectanum aequans (Monogenea)

Summary The epidermis of Diplectanum aequans has, in general, been found to be similar to the epidermis of other monogeneans, consisting of a syncytial outer epidermis and sunken sub-epidermal nucleated regions. However, the epidermis of D. aequans differs from that of other monogeneans in 3 respects. These are, the presence of large areas of granular cytoplasm within the outer epidermis, the presence of myofibres invaginating into the epidermal matrix and, in the posterior regions of the epidermis, the presence of epidermal scales. These scales occur within the epidermal cytoplasm, beneath the outer membrane, and are composed of moderately electron-dense material. Also present beneath the outer membrane in the more anterior regions of the epidermis are small scale-like sclerites of a similar electron density to the epidermal scales.
GRAZING GRADIENTS IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN RANGELANDS: GROUND VERIFICATION OF REMOTE SENSING-BASED APPROACHES

Remotely-sensed data collected by satellites have been proposed for investigating grazing effects across the large paddocks of arid Australia. These data are used to compute indices of vegetation cover which are then analysed with reference to patterns of grazing behaviour around watering points. Grazing pressure typically increases as water is approached, resulting in a decrease in herbage cover. This pattern of cover change is called a grazing gradient. The change in these gradients from a dry to wet period forms the basis for assessing land degradation as described in an accompanying paper. This study demonstrates that grazing gradients do exist, that they can be detected with field-based methods of data collection, and that there is close correspondence between ground data and indices of vegetation cover obtained from contemporary Landsat Multispectral Scanner satellite data. Field data representing aerial cover of the herbage and woody species layers were collected along transects radiating away from water at two sites grazed by cattle in central Australia. Graphical representation of the litter and herbage components demonstrate that gradients of decreasing cover attributable to increasing grazing pressure occur along all, or sections, of each transect. Highly significant correlations exist between the field data and satellite indices of vegetation cover. Localised shrub increase and patches of recent erosion obscured trends of increasing cover with distance from water on parts of some transects. Soil surface state (describing past erosion) was a significant covariate of cover change at one site. Our ability to characterise gradients of increasing vegetation cover with distance from water using both field and satellite data should mean that the grazing gradient method, when used with satellite data, is a suitable technique for assessing the extent of landscape recovery following good rainfall.
Effect of Cereal Aphid Infestation on Ascorbate Content and Ascorbate Peroxidase Activity in Triticale

The aim of the present study was to compare ascorbate (ASA) content and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in seedlings of the less susceptible triticale cultivar Witon and the more susceptible triticale cultivar Tornado after infestation by the grain aphid Sitobion avenae (F). and the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.). The content of ASA in triticale seedlings slightly decreased after 24 hrs of infestation by cereal aphids, but prolonged feeding (48 hrs and 72 hrs) resulted in significant losses in ASA dependent on cultivar and aphid species. The aphid infestation caused an increase in APX activity in triticale tissues throughout the test period. The aphid herbivores induced APX activity to a higher level in a less susceptible cultivar than in a more susceptible one. The oligophagous species R. padi caused a higher decrease of ASA and stronger induction of APX activity in tested triticale than the monophagous species S. avenae. The experiments carried out indicate that ascorbate and ascorbate peroxidase may play a significant role in the defense mechanism of aphid infested triticale.
A MODEL FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF LARGE ARBORESCENT PALMS IN THE DYNAMICS OF SEASONALLY-DRY AMAZONIAN FORESTS

In this study we propose a model that represents the importance of large arborescent palms in the dynamics of seasonally-dry Amazonian forests. Specifically, the model is aimed at guiding the investigation of the role of large arborescent palms on forest regeneration and succession. Following disturbance, the high level of luminosity reaching recently formed forest gaps favors the quick proliferation of shade-intolerant lianas that, by casting shade on the crowns of mature forest trees and increasing tree-fall probability, suppress forest succession. Due to their columnar architecture palm trees are, however, not severely affected by vines. As the palms grow, the canopy at the gaps becomes gradually higher and denser, progressively obstructing the passage of light, thus hindering the growth of shade-intolerant lianas and enabling late-successional tree development and forest regeneration. Owing to the long time associated with forest regeneration, the model cannot be tested directly, but aspects of it were examined with field data collected at an Attalea maripa-rich secondary forest patch within a matrix of well-preserved seasonally-dry forest in the Southeastern Amazon. The results indicate that (1) forest disturbance is important for the recruitment of large arborescent palms species, (2) these palms can grow rapidly after an event of disturbance, restoring forest canopy height and density, and (3) secondary forest dominated by palm trees species may be floristically similar to nearby undisturbed forests, supporting the hypothesis that the former has undergone regeneration, as purported in the model.
Erosividade mensal e anual da chuva no Estado de Minas Gerais

This work aimed to map monthly and annual rainfall erosivity (EI30) mean, to analyze rainfall erosivity distribution, during rainfall season, and to identify rainfall erosivity zones in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Daily pluviometric data from 248 weather stations dispersed in the State were used to determine the Fournier´s rainfall coefficient (Rc). Based on the relation EI30 x Rc obtained for some locations, EI30 was calculated for each weather station. Geostatistical tools were applied to map EI30 and pluviometric data. Minas Gerais comprises three zones with annual rainfall erosivity varying from 5,000 to 12,000 MJ mm ha-1 year-1: medium-high erosivity, for central, northeastern and part of Zona da Mata; high, for Triângulo Mineiro (extreme of the region), and part of northeast and south of State; and very high, for most part of Triângulo Mineiro, Alto Paranaiba, northwest and east of State. Rainfall erosion behavior has not presented relation with latitude and longitude, and was influenced by orographic effect and weather characteristics of each region.
Optimisation of the DNA-extraction method from foal faeces for the diagnosis of Rhodococcus equi infections using PCR.

The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of selected DNA extraction methods for the detection of Rhodococcus equi in foal faeces using PCR. Four different nucleic acid extraction methods were compared, which were based mainly on the use of proteolitic enzymes. Moreover, the commercial kit for DNA isolation from faeces was used. In two of the methods additional components, including CTAB detergent and powdered glass, were introduced. The PCR results showed that traditional DNA extraction methods involving proteolitic enzymes and the commercial kit were ineffective in terms of preparing the DNA matrix amplified by PCR. The only method useful for preparing the pure DNA matrix free from inhibitors of the enzymatic reaction was that with the use of powdered glass.
Piloting an Interactive Ethics and Responsible Computing Learning Environment in Undergraduate CS Courses

This experience report details pilot deployments of the Platform for Ethics and Responsible Computing Education (PEaRCE) in undergraduate computer science (CS) courses. PEaRCE is an online learning environment designed to immerse undergraduate CS students in realistic interactive work scenarios. The simulated work scenarios illustrate how technical CS course material can be readily exploited towards the creation of appealing systems, which nevertheless can be instruments of harm to others. Students take the role of an employee within a project and are given details about the project. Students then decide whether to continue with the project immediately, or to first talk to various project stakeholders who could provide additional information about the project and its impacts. At the end of the simulation, students are provided information about the project scenario, including the potential impacts of the project and feedback on stakeholder conversation choices. We report on preliminary findings from pilot deployments of PEaRCE in undergraduate CS courses, including student feedback about PEaRCE and the simulation scenarios and discuss future directions for the design of the system and its use in future CS courses.
Growth and movements of the twaite shad, Alosa fallax (Lacépède), in the Severn Estuary

Between July 1974 and April 1977, appreciable numbers of 0 group twaite shad, Alosa fallax, have been collected from the cooling water intake screens of the Nuclear Power Stations at Oldbury-upon-Severn and Berkeley on the Severn Estuary and at Hinkley Point on the Bristol Channel, England. Young of the year first appeared at Oldbury in July at a size of approximately 32 mm standard length, and grew to approximately 61 mm by October. The downstream migration in the late summer and autumn appeared to be closely correlated with water temperature since movement reached a peak soon after the temperature in the Estuary had declined below 19° C, and ceased altogether below 9° C. Thereafter, there was virtually no movement of shad until temperatures rose sharply above 7° C in the spring. Maturing adult twaite shad were captured in late April and May as they moved into freshwater to spawn, probably in mid-June. Males were recorded slightly earlier during the migration and were generally younger than females. Furthermore, mean lengths and weights for individuals belonging to the different age classes indicated that males were also smaller. Logarithmic relationships between length and weight of young and adult A. fallax and for the variation with size in the number of rakers on the first gill arch are presented.