Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Germinating Spores and Growing Sporelings of Aquatic Isoetes

Several techniques have been described recently for germinating spores of aquatic species of Isoetes which grow in lakes, ponds, and streams in eastern North America. Boom (1980) used glass vials containing sterile sand and pond water in which he successfully raised sporelings of I. engelmannii, I. flaccida, I. macrospora, and I. riparia. Kott and Britton (1982) germinated spores of I. acadiensis, I. echinospora, I. macrospora, I. riparia, and I. tuckermanii in small vials half filled with distilled water. However, many of their vials became contaminated with fungi that destroyed the viability of the megaspores. Sam (1982) germinated megaspores of I. engelmannii in an inorganic nutrient medium supplemented with Nystatin to inhibit fungi. Webster (1979) described a technique for germinating spores of Selaginella that is similar to the following procedure we use for Isoetes. We have been culturing plants from spores of Isoetes acadiensis, I. echinospora, I. engelmannii, I. hieroglyphica, I. macrospora, I. riparia, and I. tuckermanii for use in germination and hybridization experiments for several years. The aquatic species of Isoetes are ideal pteridophytes for germination and hybridization experiments. Their sporangia are large and contain many spores. Megaspores and microspores are borne in different sporangia on separate leaves. If necessary, unopened sporangia can be excised from sporophylls intact and surface cleansed to eliminate extraneous spore contamination. Thus, megaspores and microspores can be completely isolated for controlled breeding experiments. Also, their spores readily germinate in demineralized water and gametophytes and sporophytes develop normally for several months without supplemental nutrients. Spores are obtained from plants collected in September and October, since plants harvested earlier in the year may not have mature, viable spores. Isoetes hieroglyphica and I. macrospora retain their spores through the winter, so mature spores of these species can also be gathered in the spring. Megaspores are cleansed of microspores in a sieving apparatus made of plastic tubing approximately 10 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter. An 8 cm square of 0.27 mm sifter mesh (available from Carolina Biological Supply Company) is fitted to one end of the tubing with a rubber band. The sieving apparatus, containing megaspores, is attached to a water faucet using plastic strapping tape. Spores are washed with a steady flow of cold water for 30 minutes, followed by a one minute rinse with sterile, demineralized water. Although megaspore surfaces appear clean after the above treatment, unopened sporangia are preferred for crossing experiments because there is less chance of contamination from microspores. Intact sporangia can be excised from
CO2 enrichment accelerates successional development of an understory plant community

Rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide ([CO{sub 2}]) may influence forest successional development and species composition of understory plant communities by altering biomass production of plant species of functional groups. Here, we describe how elevated [CO{sub 2}] (eCO{sub 2}) affects aboveground biomass within the understory community of a temperate deciduous forest at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) facility in eastern Tennessee, USA. We asked if (i) CO{sub 2} enrichment affected total understory biomass and (ii) whether total biomass responses could be explained by changes in understory species composition or changes in relative abundance of functional groups through time. The FACE experiment started in 1998 with three rings receiving ambient [CO{sub 2}] (aCO{sub 2}) and two rings receiving eCO{sub 2}. From 2001 to 2003, we estimated species-specific, woody versus herbaceous and total aboveground biomass by harvesting four 1 x 0.5-m subplots within the established understory plant community in each FACE plot. In 2008, we estimated herbaceous biomass as previously but used allometric relationships to estimate woody biomass across two 5 x 5-m quadrats in each FACE plot. Across years, aboveground biomass of the understory community was on average 25% greater in eCO{sub 2} more » than in aCO{sub 2} plots. We could not detect differences in plant species composition between aCO{sub 2} and eCO{sub 2} treatments. However, we did observe shifts in the relative abundance of plant functional groups, which reflect important structural changes in the understory community. In 2001-03, little of the understory biomass was in woody species; herbaceous species made up 94% of the total understory biomass across [CO{sub 2}] treatments. Through time, woody species increased in importance, mostly in eCO{sub 2}, and in 2008, the contribution of herbaceous species to total understory biomass was 61% in aCO{sub 2} and only 33% in eCO{sub 2} treatments. Our results suggest that rising atmospheric [CO{sub 2}] could accelerate successional development and have longer term impact on forest dynamics. « less
Inhibition of Enterovirus 71 by Selenium Nanoparticles Loaded with siRNA through Bax Signaling Pathways

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the principal pathogen leading to severe cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Specific drugs for EV71 are not discovered currently. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) provides a promising antiviral treatment pathway, but it is difficult to cross cell membranes and is easy to degrade. Nanoparticles are promising for their carrying capacity currently. In this study, the siRNA targeting EV71 VP1 gene was loaded with selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and surface decorated with polyethylenimine (PEI) (Se@PEI@siRNA). Se@PEI@siRNA showed a remarkable interference efficiency in the nerve cell line SK-N-SH and prevented the cells to be infected. The mechanism study revealed that Se@PEI@siRNA could lighten the extent of SK-N-SH cells for staying in the sub-G1 phase. Activation of Bax apoptosis signaling was restrained either. Taken together, this study demonstrated that Se@PEI@siRNA is a promising drug against EV71 virus.
Características da carcaça de novilhos 5/8 Nelore-3/8 Charolês abatidos em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento

The carcass quantitative characteristics of 5/8 Nellore-3/8 Charolais steers feedlot finished to reach slaughter weight (SW) of 425, 467 and 510 kg, were studied. At the beginning of the feedlot the average age, weight and body condition were, respectively, 660 days, 361 kg and 2.9 points. The diet offered, with 60:40 roughage:concentrate relation, dry matter basis (DM), contained 10.25% crude protein and 72.18% of total digestible nutrients. The roughage was corn silage with 46.5% of grain in the DM. Cold carcass dressing percentage showed linear relation with SW (= 37.618 + .011Pi (initial weight) + . 028SW). However, when dressing percentage was expressed in relation to empty body weight (EB), it was not influenced by SW. Subcutaneous fat thickness expressed per cold carcass (= -15.499 - .001Pi + .047SW), per 100 kg of cold carcass weight (= -1.724 - .006Pi + .013SW) and per 100 kg of EB (= -1.124 - .003Pi + .008SW) increased as SW increased. Longissimus dorsi area increased linearly with SW (= -33.472 + .120Pi + .120SW), however, when expressed per 100 kg of cold carcass weight it declined (= 45.173 - .023Pi - .028SW), and when expressed per 100 kg of EB, it did not show relationship with SW. The percentage of sawcut declined (= 63.007 - .001Pi - .026SW) while the side cut increased (= -3.054 + .005Pi + .030SW), as SW increased. Slaughter weight influenced positively cushion thickness (= 6.223 + .014Pi + .031SW), leg length (= 28.326 + .061Pi + .05SW) and arm perimeter (= 9.173+ .053Pi + .017SW). Carcass conformation was not alterated by SW.
An Empirical Study of Communication-Free Coordination in Human-Robot Teams Through a Coverage Control Game

—We investigate the performance in coverage con-trol problems, where some robots are controlled by human operators and there are no explicit communications among the robots for coordination. One example of such a scenario is a team of unmanned and manned vehicles together pursuing a surveillance mission, where each vehicle operates based on local observations without communicating with others due to physical or strategic limitations. For such scenarios, there exist distributed algorithms that ensure (near-) optimal long-run average performance when followed by all robots. This paper is focused on how the team performance changes when some robots are controlled by human operators rather than following such an optimal algorithm. For the empirical analysis, we have designed a multi-player computer game, where each player (human operator) controls a single robot and the autonomous robots follow a noisy greedy algorithm to optimize their marginal contribution to the overall coverage. We present the results obtained on multiple maps with a team of four robots, where the number of players range from zero (all robots are autonomous) to four (each robot is controlled by a player). Our results indicate that long-run average performance degrades with the introduction of human players, but this effect is not always monotonous with respect to the number of human players. Furthermore, through post-test questionnaires we showed that performance is a good predictor of the outcome in human subjective assessments. On the other hand, the number of human players in a team was not found to have any signiﬁcant effect on subjective assessment.
Profiling Corrosion Rates for Offshore Wind Turbines with Depth in the North Sea

Corrosion in the marine environment is a complex and expensive form of damage. It is commonly studied by the deployment of coupons that reflect the marine corrosion a structure will experience, thus allowing design and maintenance prevention strategies to be developed accordingly. This study stems from the lack of information in the literature regarding the profiling of corrosion with respect to marine depth in the North Sea where important wind farm developments have been undertaken. To address such issue a field experiment has been designed and carried out in the vicinity of the Westermost Rough Windfarm in the North Sea. The field experiment consists of deploying steel S355 coupons below the tidal area and capturing the effects of corrosion, the mass loss from which the corrosion rate is derived and the chemical products that makes up the rust with water depth. The study involves proper planning and logistics to ensure that the field experiment survives the rough conditions of the North Sea for a duration of 111 days. A high corrosion rate of 0.83 mm/year has been observed in this experiment. This paper goes into the details of the deployment blueprint employed and the analyses of the coupons to provide a conclusive observation and modelling of corrosion with respect to water depth under free or open sea water corrosion condition.
Is life without parole an effective way to reduce violent crime? An empirical assessment

Research Summary: By taking advantage of data published by the Sentencing Project to analyze whether states that use life without parole (LWOP) more often experience lower violent crime rates or greater reductions in violent crime, this study is the first to empirically assess the crime-reducing potential of LWOP sentences. The results suggest that LWOP might produce a small absolute reduction in violent crime but that it is no more effective than life with parole.
Selection of Combined Versus Separate Sexes in Seed Plants

In the majority of the populations of seed plants, there is a single morph, a "cosex," which combines maternal and paternal functions in the same individuals. Fewer than 10% of populations are dimorphic, with differentiated males and females specializing in one sexual function. Evolution of sex conditions has been principally from cosexuality to separate sexes. Conditions under which unisexual mutants invade cosexual populations are examined. The advantages of cosexuality include the facilitation of mating, reproductive economies, noninterchangeable diminishing returns imposed on paternal and maternal fitness by Bateman's Principle and the distinct spatial distribution of maternally and paternally derived offspring, and bet-hedging. Females and males share an ability to reproduce more efficiently than cosexes under certain conditions. Females (but not males) may gain benefits from increased outcrossing, or they may gain better seed dispersal of their more massive crops, while males can conceivably obtain better pollen transfer than cosexes under certain circumstances. The overwhelming predominance of gynodioecy over androdioecy, and the higher incidence of separate sexes in larger plants and in plants pollinated by generalist insects or by wind are considered to be primarily associated with the advantages of outbreeding for females. Alternative hypotheses to explain the recently discovered correlation between separate sexes and bird dispersal are discussed.
Fruit yield of European cranberry (Oxycoccus palustris Pers.) in different plant communities of peatlands (Northern Wielkopolska, Poland).

The aim of this study was to determine fruit yield of Oxycoccus palustris under the climatic and habitat conditions of northern Wielkopolska (the Greater Poland region), depending on the type of occupied plant community. Total fruit number and fruit weight as well as average cranberry leaf size were determined on 33 plots with an area of 1 m 2 , located on 7 peatlands. On the study areas, European cranberry produced crops from 9.2 up to 242.0 g 􀂉􀀃 m -2 , which gives 92-2420 kg 􀂉􀀃ha -1 . It has been demonstrated that on the peatlands of northern Wielkopolska O. palustris reaches its generative and vegetative optimum in the communities of the class Scheuchzerio- Caricetea fuscae , in particular in the community Sphagno recurvi-Eriophoretum angustifolii .
Effects of Maternal Depression and Mother–Child Relationship Quality in Early Childhood on Neural Reactivity to Rejection and Peer Stress in Adolescence: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study

Problems in mother–child relationships are thought to be key to the intergenerational transmission of depression. To evaluate neural and behavioral processes involved in these pathways, we tested effects of maternal depression and maternal-child relationship quality in early childhood on neural and interviewer-based indicators of social processes in adolescence. At age 3, children and mothers (N = 332) completed an observational parenting measure and diagnostic interviews with mothers. At age 12, adolescents completed a task in which event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to peer acceptance and rejection feedback and interviews to assess peer stress. Lower mother–child relationship quality at age 3 was associated with enhanced reactivity to rejection, as measured by N1, and greater peer stress at age 12. Indirect effects of maternal depression through mother–child relationship quality were observed for N1 and peer stress. Findings inform understanding of disruptions in social functioning that are likely to be relevant to the intergenerational transmission of depression.
Grass blades as tree rings: environmentally induced changes in the oxygen isotope ratio of cellulose along the length of grass blades.

• In this study, we tested the hypothesis that environmentally induced changes in the oxygen isotope ratio of leaf water are recorded in grass blade cellulose during leaf-blade expansion. • Grasses were grown hydroponically in chambers that allowed for control of relative humidity while keeping isotopic inputs (namely source water) constant. • In experiments where relative humidity was changed from 35% to 93% during grass blade expansion, a 10‰ shift in cellulose δ 18 O was observed along single grass blades of Lolium multiflorum . However, statistically significant changes were not detectable with relative humidity of 93% to 70%. • It is shown that grass blades, analogously to tree rings, record environmental change on an interseasonal basis. In light of this, care must be taken to compare leaves of the same developmental stage to avoid confusion of environmental effects with physiological effects in interpretations of leaf organic material δ 18 O. The results presented here confirm the ability of the current empirical models to predict the oxygen isotope ratio of cellulose in both grass blades that expanded in constant and variable growth conditions.
Seeking Out Clear And Unique Information Systems Concepts: A Natural Language Processing Approach

The goal of this study is to advance conceptual development and the growth of knowledge in the information systems (IS) field by placing the spotlight on a component of theory that is rarely discussed – the native IS concept. Beginning with the assertion that concepts are not the same as constructs, we build the argument that concepts, which are observable sets of ideas, should take priority over constructs which are unobservable fictions and hypothetical entities. Using natural language processing (NLP) based principles and techniques, we extract a sample of the most important concepts in the IS field from a corpus of 245 highly cited IS review articles and 1,293 citing articles from the Senior Scholars’ Basket of Journals to illustrate the extent to which the field agrees on their usage, their clarity and distinctiveness and how the field can move forward in enhancing its conceptual formation.
Remoção de nutrientes por Typha latifolia e Cynodon spp. cultivadas em sistemas alagados construídos

The objective of this study was to evaluate the extraction capacity of two species when grown in constructed wetlands with subsurface horizontal flow (SACs) for the treatment of swine wastewater (ARS). To this end, were built 8 SACs of 2.0 m x 0.5 m x 0.6 m, fiber glass, filled with 0.55 m of fine gravels. In SAC2; SAC4; SAC6 and SAC8 was cultivated cattail (Typha latifolia) and in SAC3; SAC5; SAC7 and SAC9 was cultivated tifton-85 bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.). The SAC2 and SAC3, SAC4 and SAC5, SAC6 and SAC7 and SAC8 and SAC9 received 163, 327, 461 and 561 kg ha -1 day -1 of BOD, respectively. During the 120 days of the SACs monitoring, it was found that the cattail has not adapted to the conditions of exposure. The highest yields were obtained with the application of organic load average of 327 kg ha -1 day -1 of BOD. The tifton-85 was the plant species with the highest capacity to extract nutrients, getting to draw between 443 and 540, 86 and 99, 193 and 241, 0.77 and 2.17, and 1.21 and 3.68 kg ha -1 TKN, P, K, Cu and Zn, respectively, while cattail
Measurement of Diet Preference and its Variability in Captive Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus)

Abstract. Diet preferences of three captive northern fur seals for seven prey items (Okhotsk atka mackerel, rainbow trout, common mackerel, walleye pollock, Pacific sand lance, horse mackerel, and Japanese common squid) were measured through repeated two-choice tests. Preference indices estimated from the paired consumption data using the normal Bradley-Terry model revealed the existence of diet preferences and their individual variation. The three seals generally preferred Okhotsk atka mackerel, rainbow trout, and common mackerel, but showed individual differences for less preferred food items. The preferred items had moderate food size and high energy content per one item. Once diet preferences were determined, animals were given rainbow trout laced with lithium chloride (LiCl) to induce conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Four to five LiCl treatments were required for CTA, but could only induce temporary aversion of rainbow trout in favor of horse mackerel. Choice tests after CTA demonstrated a decrease in preference indices for rainbow trout in the three animals, but the ranking and preference indices of rainbow trout did not fall below those for horse mackerel. These results suggest that preference and aversion are relative phenomena, and the success of CTA is dependent on the reduction of preference relative to other food items.
Lysine is synthesized through the α-aminoadipate pathway in Thermus thermophilus

A 3.8-kb DNA fragment which was able to complement the mutation of a lysine auxotrophic Thermus thermophilus mutant was cloned from T. thermophilus HB27. Sequence analysis of the 3.8-kb fragment indicated the presence of three open reading frames including a truncated one. The predicted amino acid sequences of two of the three open reading frames showed 55.2% and 45.0% identity with homocitrate synthase and homoaconitate hydratase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. These two enzymes act as lysine biosynthetic enzymes through the α-aminoadipate pathway which has been reported in S. cerevisiae and fungi. Each of the two open reading frames in T. thermophilus was disrupted by integration of the heat-stable kanamycin nucleotidyltransferase gene. The resulting mutants showed lysine auxotrophy, which could be complemented with α-aminoadipate but not with diaminopimelate. These results indicate that lysine was synthesized through the α-aminoadipate pathway and not through the diaminopimelate pathway in T. thermophilus.
Pollen–pistil interactions in reproductive interference: comparisons of heterospecific pollen tube growth from alien species between two native Taraxacum species

Summary Reproductive interference (RI), any negative interspecific interaction during the reproductive process, has been gaining increasing attention due to its potential explanatory power for the mutually exclusive distribution of closely related species. RI in plants may occur during any of three stages: pollen transfer, pollen–pistil interactions or hybridization. Pollen–pistil interactions may be especially important as most studies of RI have suggested the involvement at this stage. Details of these interactions are required to fully explore RI and are especially relevant in considering the impact of RI in the field. We present a plausible explanation of how RI functions in the pollen–pistil interaction stage using two Japanese native dandelions, Taraxacum japonicum and Taraxacum longeappendiculatum, of which only the former is vulnerable to RI from an alien congener, Taraxacum officinale. We conducted a series of hand pollinations in these native dandelions and compared pollen tube behaviour to examine differences associated with vulnerability and imperviousness to RI from the alien. The two native dandelions differed in terms of the absence/presence of pollen tube elongation after heterospecific pollination (pollination with only T. officinale): pollen tubes grew through the ovaries of the vulnerable T. japonicum, but not through those of the impervious T. longeappendiculatum. In vitro hand pollination verified that the alien pollen tubes could extend into the ovaries of T. japonicum. Our results show that RI from the alien dandelion consumed ovules by heterospecific pollen deposition. The pistils of the impervious native species could prevent growth of the alien pollen tubes, thereby sparing the ovules for fertilization by conspecific pollen. The pistils of the vulnerable species lacked interspecific incompatibility against the alien, and thus, the alien pollen tube entered the ovary, eliminating an opportunity for conspecific pollen fertilization. This consumption of ovules by heterospecific pollen tubes would cause a seed set failure, leading to reduced abundance and a further exertion of RI in the next generation, which explains displacement of the vulnerable species by the alien in the field.