Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biomass allocation near an alpine treeline:Causes and consequences for diversity

AbstractPatterns of biomass allocation and species richness were examined along an altitude gradient (1 600 - 2 100 m) near the upper limit of trees and shrubs in the Snowy Mountains of southeastern Australia. Stem mass decreased significantly with increasing altitude, flower mass increased with altitude, but root and leaf mass did not vary. Root: shoot ratios and leaf and flower allocation increased significantly with altitude whilst stem allocation decreased significantly. Because stems comprised up to 80% of community biomass, most of the variation in allocation of other biomass components and root: shoot ratios were simply reflections of variation in absolute stem mass. Variation in stem mass was produced by phenotypic plasticity as well as a lack of stemmed species at high altitudes. Tree seedlings grown without neighbours for two years showed significantly higher stem allocation at low altitudes than at high altitudes. Two common stemless species were found only at high altitudes whilst a third occu.
Changes in dominance status erode personality and behavioral syndromes

The interplay between consistent individual differences in behavior (i.e., animal personality) and behavioral plasticity has recently attracted increased interest. We used male Australian field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) to investigate how dominance status influences the consistency and plasticity of different personality traits, namely boldness, exploration, and activity, by experimentally manipulating dominance status between measuring sessions. We found that dominants that became subordinate when socially challenged, shifted their behavior, becoming less bold, explorative, and active, whereas subordinates that became dominant, became bolder, more explorative, and more active. Individuals that experienced no change in dominance status did not alter their behavior. Changes in dominance status reduced the repeatability of the putative personality traits of exploration and activity while not affecting the repeatability of boldness. Moreover, changes in dominance status affected the presence of correlations between some personality traits, but not others. Finally, calling behavior was related to current and future dominance and explorative tendencies. We discuss the broader evolutionary and ecological implications of our findings and propose that changes in social status should be considered when investigating behavioral syndromes and the interplay between animal personality and behavioral plasticity.
Terrestrial core habitat of three anurans in Zoige Wetland Nature Reserve

Zoige wetlands, the greatest alpine peatlands in China, are located at eastern of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Three species of amphibians inhabit the wetlands, Rana kukunoris, Narorana pleskei, and Bufo minshanica, all of which are endemic to the Qianghai-Tibetan Plateau. From Aug to Oct, 2004, the distribution and body weight of these amphibian species was investigated using 10m×10m grids at 16 sampling sites (50 m×50 m) in Zoige wetland. Terrestrial core habitats were evaluated by using the maximum distance of amphibians from the nearest body of water. It has been suggested that, in late summer, the radii of the terrestrial core habitat in the Zoige wetland for R. kukunoris, N. pleskei, and B. minshanica is 1 000 m, 55 m and 580 m respectively. Estimates of core habitat that are too large may make it difficult to establish protective regulations. The smallest suitable terrestrial core habitats were defined as the terrestrial habitats used during migration to and from the wetlands, and for foraging by 90% of any life stage (males, females, and subadults) in a season. The radius of the smallest terrestrial core habitat was51 m for R. kukunoris in the Zoige wetland in late summer. There was a significant positive correlation between herbaceous cover and distance from aquatic sites. There was a significant negative correlation between amphibian density and distance from aquatic sites. Three characteristics of the girds occupied by R. kukunoris and B. minshanica were compared using correlation and partial correlation. Using the Optimality theory, we discuss the role of distance from aquatic sites, herbaceous cover, and amphibians density on distribution of R. kukunoris and B. minshanica. We suggest that the range of terrestrial core habitat was partly dependent on the landscape and population status of amphibians in our study area.
Provisional Nomenclature: The On-Ramp to Taxonomic Names

Many authors have discussed the “taxonomic impediment”—the lack of trained taxonomists and the technical infrastructure needed to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity (Lyal and Weitzman, 2003; Rodman and Cody, 2003). The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force at the end of 1993, and taxonomists were quick to point out the critical role that taxonomy would play in reaching the CBD’s objectives. In 1995, the CBD Second Conference of the Parties (COP 2) called for a study of the lack of taxonomists needed to achieve the CBD’s objectives*. In 1998, COP 4 endorsed the need to increase research capacity in taxonomy and a recommendation† to create the Global Taxonomy Initiative (http://www.cbd.int/gti/). Evenhuis (2007) reviewed the use of the term taxonomic impediment as the limitations based on lack of external resources (e.g., funding, people, facilities). He went on to describe eight steps in the taxonomic process (presented in compressed form below). Evenhuis asserted that most taxonomists were enthusiastic about conducting the first four steps, but the last four were obstacles (“the other taxonomic impediment”) that severely limited the progress of taxonomy. The steps he described were:
Understanding nutrient dynamics in an African savanna: local biotic interactions outweigh a major regional rainfall gradient

Nutrient availability in terrestrial ecosystems has been found to vary along regional climatic and soil gradients and drive variation in plant community composition and vegetation structure. However, more local biotic feedbacks also affect nutrient availability, but their importance in determining vegetation structure relative to regional drivers is yet unclear. Mesic African savannas form a transition zone between the dry grasslands with relatively low nitrogen availability (indicated by low plant N:P ratios) and the wet woodlands of the continent characterized by relatively low phosphorous availability (high plant N:P ratios). They host strong feedback mechanisms of both vegetation and consumers, where large grazers can create short grazing lawns that alternate over short distances with tall fire‐dominated bunch grasslands, and patches dominated by woody species with abundant macrodetritivores. Here, we test if such local biotic interactions can overrule regional, landscape‐level drivers of plant nutrient availability. In a South African savanna, we find that plant N:P ratios, N and P resorption efficiencies and proficiencies, were indeed much stronger affected by small‐scale biotic‐created heterogeneity than by a regional rainfall gradient (530–830 mm yr−1). Furthermore, we observe that differences in N:P ratios between vegetation structural types are not caused by simple differences in inherent plant traits. This suggests that availability of N and P to plants is strongly contingent on the local biotic interplay between different vegetation structural types and within‐system feedbacks linked to each vegetation type. The regional rainfall gradient did affect nutrient availability, but mainly through its effect on the relative distribution of the different vegetation structural types thus setting the range of possible outcomes of biotic interactions. Synthesis. Regional and global studies that model savanna carbon and nutrient cycling only on the basis of regional gradients in soil and climatic conditions may insufficiently capture the dominant ecosystem processes involved.
Histological structure of the gonads of hybrids of Solea Aegyptiaca and Solea Senegalensis: signs of fertility.

The histological study of male and female gonads, collected from the Bizerta lagoon (Northern Tunisia) where S. aegyptiaca and S. senegalensis are hybridizing, showed that all of the individuals (males and females) have functional histological structures. This could be interesting for aquaculture specialists who are trying to select and raise well-defined characteristics and raise less problems from a conservation point of view as this hybridization phenomenon is natural.
Effect of gamma irradiation (Co60) in the control of Campylobacter sp. in chilled chicken (Gallus gallus) heart

The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of the irradiation process in the control of Campylobacter spp. in chilled chicken heart samples, since this microorganism is related to the contamination of meat and chicken giblets and is responsible for enteritis in humans. The methodology and standards recommended by RDC no. 12 (Brazil, 2001) were applied for the bacteriological analyses. The chilled chicken heart samples were acquired in an industry that undergoes sanitary inspection, located in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Samples were divided into two groups, non-contaminated (NC - originally from the industrial plant) and contaminated (CAMPY– contaminated with C. jejuni ATCC 33291/CCAMP/FIOCRUZ 00262 strains by CCAMP/LABZOO/IOC/FIOCRUZ), subsequently separated into four groups: NC and CAMPY control groups and samples irradiated at 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 kGy. The eight subgroups were analyzed for the presence of Campylobacter sp. No statistically significant difference was observed between the four groups namely the non-irradiated controls and the 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 kGy irradiated samples (p> 0.05). Elimination of Campylobacter sp. was observed, with no bacterial growth in any of the irradiated, non-contaminated (CN) and infected (CAMPY) samples. Thus, the efficiency of the Co60 irradiation process of chilled chicken heart for the elimination of the surveyed microorganisms was proven. The lowest dose applied was sufficient to eliminate the enteric pathogen which is of great significance in a public health point of view. However, it should be noted that the Brazil legislation determining the microbiological standards for food does not include a microbiological standard for Campylobacter sp. This means that any amount of this enteric pathogen may bring public health risks. Key words: Food irradiation; chicken heart; Campylobacter sp. ; Foodborne illness; public health.
Immunological response of ponies to an inactivated indian strain of equine herpes virus-1

Vaccine against equine herpes virus-1 is being imported by the equine breeders. The protection afforded by it is still doubtful as it does not contain a local viral isolate. Hence, an attempt was made to develop an inactivated vaccine using a local strain (Hisar-90-7) of equine herpes virus -1 (EHV-1). The immunogen comprised the virus particles grown in equine embryonic dermis cells, and partially purified using ultra centrifugation. The virus was inactivated with formaldehyde and adjuvanted with mineral oil. Double emulsion was made using Tween-80. Investigation of immunogenicity was done by inoculating 2 groups of ponies, 3 in each. Ponies of group 1 were inoculated with 100 μg, while, group 2 was given 400 μg of viral antigen in 2 ml dose each. Oil adjuvant cell lysates were inoculated subcutaneously in 2 ponies and served as control. No detectable adverse reaction was observed in any ponies after immunization. Booster immunization of ponies was done 60 days after primary immunization, and humoral response was assessed by complement - fixation (CF) and virus neutralization (VN) tests. Significant sero-conversion after booster vaccination was the criterion of potency testing. CF and VN antibodies appeared on primary vaccination. The booster immunization of ponies resulted in a significant rise (4 fold) in both CF and VN antibodies titres. The peak antibodies titres (VN, CF) appeared on 2 and 3 weeks post vaccination. The VN antibody persisted for more than 60 days. However, CF antibody appeared early and subsided on 49 day post- vaccination. An increased dose of viral antigen (400 μg) in ponies resulted in higher CF response but not in VN titres (P>0.05).
A New Online Plagiarism Detection System based on Deep Learning

The Plagiarism is an increasingly widespread and growing problem in the academic field. Several plagiarism techniques are used by fraudsters, ranging from a simple synonym replacement, sentence structure modification, to more complex method involving several types of transformation. Human based plagiarism detection is difficult, not accurate, and time-consuming process. In this paper we propose a plagiarism detection framework based on three deep learning models: Doc2vec, Siamese Long Short-term Memory (SLSTM) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Our system uses three layers: Preprocessing Layer including word embedding, Learning Layers and Detection Layer. To evaluate our system, we carried out a study on plagiarism detection tools from the academic field and make a comparison based on a set of features. Compared to other works, our approach performs a good accuracy of 98.33 % and can detect different types of plagiarism, enables to specify another dataset and supports to compare the document from an internet search.
Evaluating Seed Shatter of Economically Important Weed Species

The increasing occurrence of herbicide resistance, along with no new herbicide modes of action developed in over 30 yr, have increased the need for nonherbicidal weed management strategies and tactics. Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) practices have been successfully adopted in Australia to manage problematic weeds. For HWSC to be effective, a high proportion of weed seeds must be retained on the plant at crop maturity. This 2-yr (2014, 2015) study evaluated seed shatter of wild oat, green foxtail, wild mustard, and cleavers in both an early (field pea) and late (spring wheat) maturity crop in field experiments at Scott, Saskatchewan. Seed shatter was assessed using shatter trays collected once a week during crop ripening stage, as well as at two crop maturation or harvest stages (swathing, direct-combining). Seed shatter differed among weed species, but was similar between crops at maturity: ca. 30% for wild oat, 5% for cleavers, < 2% for wild mustard, and < 1% for green foxtail. Overall, seed shatter of wild oat occurred sooner and at greater levels during the growing season compared with the other weed species. Viability of both shattered and plant-retained seeds was relatively high for all species. The small amount of seed shatter of cleavers, wild mustard, and green foxtail suggests that these species may be suitable candidates for HWSC. Due to the amount and timing of wild oat seed shatter, HWSC may not reduce population abundance of this grassy weed. Nomenclature: Cleavers, Galium spp. (false cleavers, G. spurium L. GALSP; and catchweed bedstraw, G. aparine L. GALAP); green foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. SETVI; wild mustard, Sinapis arvensis L. SINAR; wild oat, Avena fatua L. AVEFA; field pea, Pisum sativum L. ; spring wheat, Triticum aestivum L.
Regulatory factors of milk fat synthesis in dairy cows

The objective of these studies was to investigate the milk fat synthesis regulation by transcription factors. In the first study, bovine mammary epithelial (MAC-T) cells were treated with sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) specific siRNA. The mRNA and protein expression of SREBP-1 were decreased by more than 90% by siRNA. Fatty acid (FA) synthesis, uptake, and selected lipogenic enzyme expression were reduced in cells treated with SREBP-1 siRNA. Therefore, SREBP-1 plays an important role in integrated regulation of lipid synthesis in MAC-T cells through regulation of key enzymes. In the second study, MAC-T cells treated with hormones or FA were transfected with luciferase reporter constructs containing response elements for SREBP-1, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), or liver X receptor (LXR). The activation of PPARγ and SREBP-1 were stimulated by insulin and insulin combined with leptin, respectively. Trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) inhibited SREBP-1 activation, and this inhibition was not attenuated by insulin and leptin. Neither trans-10 nor cis-12 double bond inhibited SREBP-1 activation. Taken together, trans-10 and cis-12 double bonds need to be conjugated in CLA to reduce SREBP-1 activation and this inhibition cannot be overcome by insulin and leptin combination in MAC-T cells. In the third study, lactating dairy cows were intravenously infused with 0.625 g/h trans-10, cis-12 CLA for 14 h. We confirmed the appearance of trans-10, cis-12 CLA in the milk of CLA treated cows. Milk and component yield were not affected by the CLA treatment. The desaturation of stearic
Macroevolutionary dynamics and comparative methods of morphological diversification

Among the comparative approaches that have been used to understand the patterns of morphologicaldiversification, those related to the detection and evaluation of large-scale evolutionary trends have recentlybeen highlighted. A new method known as the analysis of skewness (ANSKEW) allows partitioning betweenthe passive and driven trends associated with the random occupation of a bounded morphological spaceand a single morphological attractor, respectively. This partitioning provides a better understanding of therelative role of processes that occur at distinct hierarchical levels associated with the macroevolutionarytrends of morphological diversification. In this paper, we used this new approach to understand the patternsof morphological diversification in Erodiscini (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Otidocephalinae) beetles. Whengenera were used as subclades, ANSKEW revealed that 19.9% of the body size variation in the Erodiscini wasattributable to driven trends, i.e., a morphological attractor, whereas 80.1% of the variation was attributableto the occupation of different adaptive zones by distinct subclades (a passive process), with the passivecomponents being significant (based on 5,000 bootstrap samples). This simple approach to partitioningprovided insights into the intrinsic dynamics of body size evolution in this group without the need to considerexplicit phylogenetic structures. Such analyses could provide a starting point for further evaluation of adaptivevariation at multiple hierarchical levels and of the processes underlying the relationship between variationin body size and other ecological, physiological and behavioral aspects. (AU)
Functional Software Testing: A Systematic Mapping Study

—Software testing is part of a set of activities that ensure high quality software. It primarily aims at revealing defects that have been inserted into a software at various stages of its development. In functional testing, test requirements are derived from software speciﬁcations. This paper proposes a systematic map (SM). Its planning and execution were based on questions formulated to investigate functional criteria/techniques related to: i) assessment methods, which have an eﬀect on cost and eﬃcacy; and ii) application scenarios, which deﬁne the type of software in which they are used. Furthermore, we assess the strength of evidence and threats to SM validity.
Metabolic response to desiccation stress in strains of green algal photobionts (Trebouxia) from two Antarctic lichens of southern habitats

Abstract: Desiccation tolerance is a feature of most lichens. These symbiotic associations of a fungal partner (mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner (photobiont) experience severe desiccation on a regular basis. Many lichen species colonise extreme habitats, such as the cold deserts of Antarctica. Although the stress physiology of lichens has been studied extensively, little is known about the photobionts' physiological potential. To assess the contribution of photobionts to lichen success in Antarctic terrestrial environments, the photosynthetic partners of Umbilicaria decussata (Umbilicariaceae, lichenised ascomycetes) and Usnea lambii (Parmeliaceae, lichenised ascomycetes) from extreme habitats in southern Antarctica were isolated. Significant differences regarding stress tolerance of the two green algae had been shown previously despite their close phylogenetic relationship. A deeper understanding and explanation of these differences were obtained by examination of the metabolite profiles and dynamics, especially the role of sugars, polyols and amino acids. High concentrations of ribitol and sucrose, among other metabolites, characterised the photobiont of Usnea lambii's mainly constitutive strategy of desiccation tolerance. A high degree of specialisation to dry environments can be assumed for this photobiont.
The Root Rot-Fusarium Wilt Complex of Peas

At least four fungal pathogens are involved in the root rot-Fusarium wilt complex of peas which is a serious problem following intensive cropping of peas in South Australia. The pathogens are Fusarium oxysporum f. pisi race 2 Snyder & Hansen, F. solani f. pisi Snyder & Hansen, Pythium ultimum Trow, and Ascochyta pinodella L. K. Jones. In susceptible pea cultivars there is a marked interaction between F. oxysporum and P. ultimum. P. ultimum alone causes initial stunting from which plants gradually recover; F. OX1Jsporum alone probably CRuses little damage; both fungi together CRuse initial stunting followed by severe wilt symptom about 6 weeks after sowing and death 2 weeks later. The importance ofF. solani and A. pinodella has not been fully determined, but they probably cause only minor damage.
2010 2nd International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems Study on Management Information System of Railway Line Clearance Detection Based on Noncontact Measurement Technique

The railway line clearance detection is an important guarantee for the security of rail traffic. This paper studies a line clearance detection device based on noncontact measurement. On base of the system solution introduction, this paper emphasized on description of the software features and the design of the management information system. Also, the exceeding point real time judgment algorithm is presented, and the related experiment is completed. As shown in the experiment, the collection of the complete profile data, the judgment of the exceeding point and the management function of the data can precisely and timely complete.
Purification and characterization of cholesterol oxidase produced by Streptomyces polychromogenes IFO 13072

Taegu 704-701, Korea - Streptomyces polychromogenes IFO 13072 was used as a strain producing cholesterol oxidase(EC 1.1.3.6). The conditions of cholesterol oxidase production were investigated. The optimum composition of medium for production of the enzyme was 1% dextrin, 0.5% casamino acid, 0.1% KH 2 PO 4 , 0.5% NaNO 3 and 0.05% MgSO 4 (pH 7.3). The enzyme was purified specifically by cholesterol affinity column chromatography with a yield of 23.2%. The purified enzyme showed a single polypeptide on SDS-PAGE and the molecular weight was estimated about 52,000 daltons. The optimum pH and temperature of the cholesterol oxidase were pH 7.0 and 37°C, respectively. The enzyme was stable in the range of pH 6.07.0 and 25°C. The cholesterol oxidase activity was strongly inhibited by metal ions such as Hg 2+ and Fe 2+ and inhibitors such as dithiothreitol, mercaptoethanol and isonicotinic acid. The Michaelis constant(Km) for the cholesterol was found to be 25 mM by Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis.