Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can positive interactions between cultivated species help to sustain modern agriculture

The importance of positive interactions between species within natural ecosystems and species associated with traditional agriculture is well recognized. However, modern agriculture generally depends on monocultures, where positive interactions between cultivated species (ie in which the presence of one species facilitates the survival, growth, or reproduction of other species) are largely ignored. Here, we review recent studies focused on the positive interactions between cultivated species, consider how three traditional agricultural systems (legume–cereal intercropping, rice–fish co-culture, and agroforestry) have benefited from such interactions, and examine how these benefits are affected by climate, planting patterns, and field management. Finally, we propose a framework to illustrate how these interactions may improve modern agriculture through: the selection of species–species partnerships; the development of specialized field machinery (in each case); field structure and configuration; field mana.
Red Squirrel Use of Dwarf Mistletoe-Induced Witches' Brooms in Douglas-Fir

Abstract Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium douglasii) is a prevalent species in southwestern mixed-conifer forests, affecting host trees by reducing growth and seed production and increasing mortality. Dwarf mistletoe infections can also form witches' brooms, which are profusely branched, dense masses of distorted host branches in the crowns of infected trees. Despite their impact on trees, brooms provide nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for many wildlife species. To determine whether red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) selected brooms for nesting, foraging, or caching sites, we compared use of brooms in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in mixed-conifer forests in northern Arizona and New Mexico, USA, in 1998 and 1999. Douglas-fir brooms are classified into 3 distinct forms based on structure and point of origin on the tree. Type I brooms form from an infection near the terminal end of a branch. Type II brooms form from an infection ≤1 m from the tree trunk (bole); the supporting branch usually grows vertically from the point of infection, parallel to the bole. Type III brooms result from an infection on the bole, creating a dense profusion of branches and often forming a platform. We selected trees of 3 size classes (10–25-, 26–40-, >40-cm dbh) from stands and examined them for signs of red squirrel use (e.g., nesting, food storage). Red squirrels selected Type II and III brooms located closer to the bole and with larger platform size for nesting. They selected Type II and III over Type I brooms for caching and foraging use. Retaining Type II and III brooms that have platforms >700 cm2, volumes >15 m2, and are located 4.5–10 m above ground will retain this habitat element for red squirrels.
Maize and pea germination and seedling growth responses to compost generated from biowaste of selected invasive alien plant species

Abstract Plant biowaste of alien species represents a potential resource for compost production. This study investigated the seed and seedling responses of maize and pea to composts generated from the biowaste of four invasive species in eThekwini, South Africa: Acacia podalyriifolia, Hedychium gardnerianum, Litsea glutinosa, and Tithonia diversifolia. Except for a 40% concentration of T. diversifolia, leachates of the biowaste from the four species had no marked effects on germination. In seedling growth studies, Berea Red soil (control) was supplemented with composts produced using combinations of the four species (A. podalyriifolia + T. diversifolia [T1], A. podalyriifolia + H. gardnerianum [T2], L. glutinosa + T. diversifolia [T3], and L. glutinosa + H. gardnerianum [T4]), and a commercial compost (T5). Carbon and nitrogen levels of the biowaste composts were higher than the control, while their associated C/N ratios were low enough to encourage microbial growth, facilitate rapid decomposition, and support plant growth. A comparison of percentage seedling production, growth rate, and biomass production between the commercial compost and alien biowaste treatments revealed all parameters to be statistically comparable among T5, T1, and T3 for maize, and between T5 and T1 for pea. These superior biowaste composts did not enhance growth relative to the commercial compost, but supported growth to the same extent. However, N and P levels in T1 and T3 were lower than the commercial compost and appear to have altered biomass allocation patterns in both species relative to the commercial compost. The results suggest that there is potential to use invasive alien plant biowaste to improve soil for agricultural purposes.
Photoassimilation of Fatty Acids, Fatty Alcohols and Sugars by Euglena gracilis Z

SUMMARY: Assimilation of fatty acids, fatty alcohols and sugars by Euglena gracilis Z was investigated with or without illumination. Propionate, butyrate, valeriate, hexanoate, myristate, palmitate, ethanol, propanol, lauryl alcohol, tridecanol and myristyl alcohol supported considerable growth. The assimilation of propionate, valeriate, palmitate, butanol, lauryl alcohol and myristyl alcohol were strictly light-dependent. The photoassimilation of myristyl alcohol was saturated by lower light intensity than photosynthesis and was not completely inhibited by a photosynthetic inhibitor, suggesting involvement of a photoreaction other than photosynthesis in the photoassimilation. D-Glucose, D-fructose, D-galactose, D-xylose, D-glyceraldehyde and glycerol also supported growth. Disaccharides were not used as the carbon source for growth. The difference in the mechanism of photoassimilation between myristyl alcohol and D-galactose is discussed.
Nitrogen Fertilizer Influenced Harvest Index of Plantain (Musa AAB, cv. Agbagba) in a Sub-Humid Zone of Southeastern Nigeria

ABSTRACT Application of N-fertilizer to crops promotes vegetative growth, in some cases to the disadvantage of economic yield. Therefore, four rates (0, 224, 448 and 672 kg N/ha) of urea-N fertilizer were evaluated for their effect on growth, yield and harvest index of Falsehorn plantain (cv. Agbagba). The rate of N-fertilizer significantly (P = 0.05) influenced growth and some components of yield. Harvest index significantly (P = 0.05) increased up to 448 kg N/ha and then declined. There was a 7% higher harvest index advantage when 448 kg N/ha was applied, compared with the control. Time of flowering and the proportion of the total biological yield partitioned to other plant components had negative correlation with harvest index.
An exonuclease I hydrolysis assay for evaluating G-quadruplex stabilization by small molecules

Telomere length homeostasis is a prerequisite for the generation and growth of cancer. In >85% cancer cells, telomere length is maintained by telomerase that add telomere repeats to the end of telomere DNA. Because the G-rich strand of telomere DNA can fold into G-quadruplex that inhibits telomerase activity, stabilizing telomere quadruplex by small molecules is emerging as a potential therapeutic strategy against cancer. In these applications, the specificity of small molecules toward quadruplex over other forms of DNA is an important property to ensure no processes other than telomere elongation are interrupted. The evaluating assays currently available more or less have difficulty identifying or distinguishing quadruplex-irrelevant effect from quadruplex stabilization. Here, we describe an exonuclease I hydrolysis assay that evaluates quadruplex stabilization by DNA-interacting compounds, discriminates inhibitory effect from different sources and helps determine the optimal compound concentration.
Epiphytic macrolichen communities in Pinus contorta peatlands in southeastern Alaska

Abstract We sampled epiphytic macrolichen communities on tree branches in 50 Pinus contorta peatlands in southeastern Alaska. We describe the natural range of variability in lichen communities in these habitats under baseline air quality and climatological conditions and interpreted how lichen community gradients related to site characteristics, tree characteristics and vascular vegetation. The most striking feature of this data set is the uniformity of species composition. Almost three-fourths of the variation was represented in an ordination axis related to variation in total lichen abundance and species richness, but without any strong gradients in the compositional mix of species. Species richness and total lichen abundance were most strongly related to geographic variables, in particular, lower values near Yakutat and the southern part of the study area. The weak compositional gradients, the small trees, their open-grown form and abundance of lichen-covered branches at a convenient height make the lichen communities ideal for biomonitoring of air quality and climate change.
Mating behaviour of the aphidophagous ladybird beetle Coelophora saucia (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

The age-specific mating incidence and mating behaviour of an aphidophagous ladybird beetle Coelophora saucia Mulsant were studied. Males started mating at the age of 4 days. Newly emerged females mated with older males albeit forcibly. The incidence of mating was 100% at the age of 10 days. Courtship involved five steps, viz. approach, watch, examine, mount and attempt, and was male dominated under laboratory conditions. Results indicate that physical cues probably play a role in the initiation of courtship, while chemical signals are probably involved in the continuation of courtship, culminating in intromission. The mating duration, latent period and number of bouts gradually decreased with increase in the number of matings; however, the interval between bouts slightly increased. Pseudo-mating with dead mates was observed in C. saucia. The oviposition period, fecundity and % egg viability were highest in females mated multiple times, while lowest in those that mated once.
Late Season Beet Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Infestations on Cotton: Defoliation, Fruit Damage, And Yield Loss

Field cage studies were conducted in 1996 and 1997 to measure the effects of late season beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), infestations (0, 1, 3, and 6 egg masses per 5.1 m row) on defoliation, fruit damage, and yield of cotton. Significantly higher light penetration through the cotton canopy was observed in most infested plots compared with non-infested control plots. A trend for higher numbers of damaged fruiting forms (squares and bolls) with increases in egg mass density was observed. There were no significant differences in the number of damaged fruiting forms among treatments, however, plots infested with 1, 3, or 6 egg masses had 2.3, 2.4, and 3.3-fold more damaged fruiting forms than the control plots. In all infested plots, a significantly higher percentage of shed fruiting forms were damaged compared with the control plots in 1996. In 1997, only plots infested with 6 egg masses had a significantly higher percent of the cumulative fruiting forms damaged compared with the control plots. In both years, there were no significant differences in seed cotton yield among treatments.
DIAMINE METHODS FOR DIFFERENTIATING MUCOSUBSTANCES HISTOCHEMICALLY

A mixture of N,N-dimethyl-m-phenylenediamine (HCI)2 with the para isomer at pH 3.5-4.0 stains acid mucosubstances selectively. Various sialomucins as well as sulfomucins differ in their reactivity with this mixed diamine reagent and in the manner in which the pH and ionic strength of the solution affect their staining. Prior periodate oxidation eliminates or markedly decreases the staining of some sulfo- and sialomucins but has no influence on the reactivity of others. Both sulfated mucosaccharides and sialomucins differ also according to whether or not their affinity for azure A, colloidal iron or alcian blue persists following periodate oxidation and exposure to the meta diamine. Azurophilia of nuclei at pH 4.0 is abolished by meta diamine used after Feulgen hydrolysis. Ferric chloride added to a solution of both diamines allows selective demonstration of most acid mucosubstances. This "low iron" diamine method followed by alcian blue stains sulfomucins and many sialomucins black, but other sialomucins blue. Some epithelia contain a mixture of blue and black-stained sialomucins. A variant technique uses a higher concentration of iron and diamines. This colors most sulfomucins black while leaving nonsulfated acid mucosubstances unstained. This high iron diamine method followed by alcian blue stains sulfomucins black and sialomucins blue. Results with the "high iron" diamine-alcian blue sequence indicate that sulfomucin occurs in some sites and sialomucin in others; in many epithelia a mixture of the two mucosubstances coexists either in the same on in different cells. Similar differentiation was obtainable also in many but not all sites with either the combination aldehyde fuchsin-alcian blue procedure on by assessment of differences between the results of alcian blue pH 2.5-PAS and alcian blue pH 1.0-PAS sequences. Applied to the surface mucous layer of certain intestinal and genitourinary epithelia, the methods differentiate areas of sulfomucin content alternating with others of sialomucin content. This is believed to indicate biogenesis of this secretion in the Golgi zone of nongoblet epithelial cells since staining of the surface mucous layer parallels that in the Golgi zone and often not that of neighboring goblet cells.
Effect of ruminant species (bovine vs buffalo) and source of inoculum (rumen liquor vs faeces) on in vitro fermentation

Abstract The role of inoculum (rumen liquor - RL vs faeces - FA) from cow or buffalo with respect to feed evaluation using in vitro gas systems was estimated in a trial using 8 substrates. The substrate influenced significantly all fermentation characteristics; with each inoculum the substrates were ranked according the same trends for organic matter digestibility (dOM) and cumulative gas volume per gram of OM incubated (OMCV). The animal species affected dOM and OMCV which were significantly higher in buffalo and cow, respectively. Buffalo showed significantly higher values of acetic, propionic, butyric acids and total VFA, while isobutyric, isovaleric and valeric acids were higher in cow. The inocula influenced the fermentation characteristics in both species: while in cow all parameters, except OMCV, were higher with FA than RL, in buffalo dOM, OMCV, acetic and total VFAs were higher with RL. The results confirmed the lower cellulolytic activity of FA micropopulation than RL one. All the data suggest that, while there may be scope for faeces to replace rumen fluid as inoculum for some end-point measures, is not possible to replace cow inocula to buffalo.
Implantation of Genetically Manipulated Fibroblasts into Mice as Antitumor α-Interferon Therapy

Long-term parenteral administration of human α-interferon (HuIFN-α) is effective in the treatment of several malignancies, including chronic myelocytic leukemia. In the present study, a model for fibroblast-mediated HuIFN-α gene therapy for the treatment of chronic myelocytic leukemia is described. Human IFN-α5 complementary DNA was inserted into a bovine papilloma virus plasmid vector (BMGNeo) containing a neomycin resistance gene. The recombinant plasmid (BMGNeo-IFN) was transfected into NIH/3T3 fibroblasts by the calcium phosphate coprecipitation method, and stably transformed cells were isolated by G418 selection. A fibroblast clone secreting a large amount of HuIFN into the culture supernatant was selected by radioimmunoassay using anti-HuIFN-α monoclonal antibodies. Southern blot analysis revealed that the transformed cells contained approximately ten copies of the BMGNeo-IFN plasmid per cell, and Northern blot analysis demonstrated high expression of HuIFN-α mRNA in the cells. This fibroblast clone strongly suppressed proliferation of a HuIFN-α-sensitive chronic myelocytic leukemia cell line (KU812) during cocultivation in vitro . When the HuIFN-α-producing fibroblasts were implanted into nude mice bearing KU812 tumors by the subcutaneous diffusion chamber method, tumor growth in vivo was also significantly suppressed. This study suggests the clinical potential of fibroblast-mediated gene therapy in the future.
Les Formicides (Hyménoptères) de Provancher

Résumé Toutes les espèces de Fourmis que Provancher a décrites sont tombées en synonymie. Cependant l'examen des types démontre que trois espèces s’avéraient nouvelles à l'époque. L’une d’entre elles fut désignée par un homonyme primaire. Nous proposons pour les deux autres une synonymie et une combinaison nouvelles. Abstract All the Provancher species of Formicidae have been synonymized. However examination of the types shows that three species were new at the time. But one of them was a primary homonym. A new synonymy and a new combination are proposed.
Sublethal pesticide exposure disrupts courtship in the striped lynx spider, Oxyopes salticus (Araneae: Oxyopidae)

The striped lynx spider, Oxyopes salticus, is a dominant predator of pests in agricultural crops where pesticides are readily applied. While past research shows pesticides directly affect the mortality of agricultural pest predators, recent research has found that pesticide exposure may cause sublethal effects in these organisms. This study examined how residues of three common pesticides (active ingredients: bifenthrin, carbaryl, malathion) impact courtship behaviour of O. salticus. Males provided with cues left by females readily performed courting behaviours. However, when females left cues on a substrate containing bifenthrin and carbaryl, males were less likely to perform courtship behaviours and did so for less time. While males on the malathion treatment showed a trend for reduced courting, this was not significantly different from the treatment without pesticides. The cue produced by females is unknown in this species. However, our study found males reduced their courting over time, suggesting that the cue is ephemeral and not long lived. This study adds important insight into the growing evidence that pesticides greatly impact the ecology of agricultural pest predators and other non‐target organisms by altering their behaviour.
Methods to estimate distribution and range extent of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

The distribution of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population has expanded into areas unoccupied since the early 20th century. Up-to-date information on the area and extent of this distribution is crucial for federal, state, and tribal wildlife and land managers to make informed decisions regarding grizzly bear management. The most recent estimate of grizzly bear distribution (2004) utilized fixed-kernel density estimators to describe distribution. This method was complex and computationally time consuming and excluded observations of unmarked bears. Our objective was to develop a technique to estimate grizzly bear distribution that would allow for the use of all verified grizzly bear location data, as well as provide the simplicity to be updated more frequently. We placed all verified grizzly bear locations from all sources from 1990 to 2004 and 1990 to 2010 onto a 3-km × 3-km grid and used zonal analysis and ordinary kriging to develop a predicted surface of grizzly bear distribution. We compared the area and extent of the 2004 kriging surface with the previous 2004 effort and evaluated changes in grizzly bear distribution from 2004 to 2010. The 2004 kriging surface was 2.4% smaller than the previous fixed-kernel estimate, but more closely represented the data. Grizzly bear distribution increased 38.3% from 2004 to 2010, with most expansion in the northern and southern regions of the range. This technique can be used to provide a current estimate of grizzly bear distribution for management and conservation applications. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.
Clonal propagation of Pelargonium sidoides: a threatened medicinal plant of South Africa.

Pelargonium sidoides is used in herbal medicine for the treatment of various infections. Apart from the local uses, the roots are being indiscriminately harvested for local and export trade. A study was conducted to determine the appropriate plant part and the minimum vine length suitable for the clonal propagation of P. sidoides in two separate experiments. In the first experiment, three vine tip cuttings (2, 4 and 6 cm) of the species were rooted in potted experiment in a green house. In the second experiment, ten days old petioles were excised from their mother plants and rooted along side 6 cm vines length to assess suitable plant part for vegetative propagation of the species. Data were collected and analyzed on various growth and development indices. In the first experiment, the 6 cm vine length exhibited best result for different parameters measured. Petioles gave significant yield difference over 6 cm vine length and generally showed high potential for vegetative propagation in terms of rooting ability and survival rate. The importance of these findings on the propagation and conservation of P. sidoides is discussed. Keywords: Clonal propagation, ex situ conservation, medicinal plant, Pelargonium sidoides , stem cutting
Total Quality Management System and Organisation Performance: Mediating Effect of Organisational Learning in Nepali Service Sector

The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of total quality management system (TQM) on organisation performance along with the mediating effect of organisation learning in Nepali Service sector. The relationship between the TQM system, organisation learning and organisation performance was examined using Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. Data was collected from 240 respondents (i.e., 118 from the ISO certified and 122 from non-ISO certified organisations). The findings of this study suggested that total quality management system had a significant positive effect on organisation performance and organisation learning mediated the relationship between total quality management system and organisation performance. Out of the seven dimensions of the TQM system only top management support, workforce management, customer relations, supplier quality management and process flow management had a significant positive effect on organisation performance. The results of the independent sample t-test further confirmed the high level of organisation performance in ISO certified organisations.
Taking stock: defining populations of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) in Canada using neutral genetic markers

Knowledge of the scale of population structure is a prerequisite for designating conservation units. American shad (Alosa sapidissima) are of increasing conservation concern, but the scale of population structure within the Canadian portion of the species range is unknown. Using 13 microsatellite loci, we examined the partitioning of genetic variation within four and among 12 Canadian drainages. We detected significant (p < 0.05) and temporally stable genetic differentiation among all drainages, supporting the hypothesis that rivers support genetically distinct populations. However, Bayesian methods identified seven clusters and provided evidence for shad metapopulation structure. We observed a significant (p < 0.01) pattern of isolation by distance (IBD) among all drainages. A strong linear IBD (r = 0.98) was observed among rivers that were outside the Bay of Fundy (BoF). A hypothesized counterclockwise migration route explained a greater proportion of genetic variation (r = 0.87) among BoF rivers than d.