Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Excess ammonium in foliar tissue: a possible cause of interveinal chlorosis in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv. Nyoho)

Summary Substrate-grown strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv. Nyoho) in excessively fertigated peat bags often suffer interveinal chlorosis (leaf yellowing) in their immature leaves shortly after planting. Full recovery was observed in such plants following a 4 – 7 d restraint in the supply of nutrients. Hence, the cause of this phenomenon could reasonably be attributed to excess NH4-N accumulation in plant tissues. As has been previously shown, NH4-N accumulation in plant tissue can be induced by inhibition of glutamine-synthetase (GS). Thus, a GS inhibitor (glufosinate-ammonium) was applied at various dosages to peat bag-grown ‘Nyoho’ plants, foliar NH4-N concentrations were determined and yellowing symptoms were observed. After 7 d of treatment, foliar NH4-N concentrations increased dramatically, 1 – 2 d prior to the onset of severe yellowing. Subsequently, the relationship between nitrogen (N)-source and leaf yellowing was investigated. NH4-fed plants initially had higher NH4-N concentrations in their immature leaves than NO3-fed plants, and later suffered from interveinal chlorosis. Potted plants dipped in the relevant nutrient solutions exhibited seven-fold higher NH4-N concentrations in their immature leaves than plants that were manually supplied with 50 ml of the relevant nutrient solutions twice a day. In this study, we also investigated whether the combined effect of a N-source under various environmental conditions (e.g., light intensity and air temperature) affected NH4-N accumulation in plant tissues, as has been suggested previously. We observed that, in ‘Nyoho’ plants, elevation of foliar NH4-N concentrations and the appearance of yellowing symptoms began earlier and was more severe under conditions of higher solar radiation and air temperature. The absence of interveinal chlorosis in plants that exhibited low NH4-N concentrations, regardless of treatment, led to the conclusion that high leaf NH4-N concentrations and excess accumulation of NH4-N may play an important role in the leaf yellowing phenomenon.
Prolongation of soil frost resulting from reduced snow cover increases nitrous oxide emissions from boreal forest soil

Emission rates of the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N 2 O), from northern upland forest soils are generally low. According to recent climate scenarios, the snow cover in the boreal region is predicted to decrease and which will result in lower soil temperatures. In this study, we investigated whether lower soil temperatures during winter can also trigger N 2 O emissions from boreal forest soils with originally low N 2 O emissions, as has earlier been shown for northern agricultural soils with higher N 2 O emissions. We measured the N 2 O emissions from a spruce forest in eastern Finland where the soil temperature was changed by manipulating snow-pack thickness and using insulating covers. The effects of the treatments on methane (CH 4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) fluxes were also studied for comparative purposes. The results show that there can be an increase in N 2 O emissions and CO 2 production rate from boreal upland forest soils resulting from a thinner snow cover that causes a prolongation of soil frost. Reducing the snow pack thickness had only minor effects on the CH 4 fluxes.
Effects of a Landscape Disturbance on the Habitat Use and Behavior of the Black Racer

The effects of disturbance, including prescribed fire, vary among species and their ability to adjust to the altered environment. Our objective was to link fire-caused habitat changes with shifts in habitat use and behavioral changes in the Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor priapus). We compared habitat availability between burned (experimental) and unburned (control) plots and used radio telemetry to evaluate snake behavior and habitat use. The numerical abundance of C. constrictor in burned habitat was nearly twice that in the control. In both treatments, C. constrictor was associated with areas that were more open, had less canopy cover, more new vegetative growth, and less, shallower leaf litter. However, the availability of these habitats was greater in the burn treatment. Snakes were more surface active in the burn treatment and tended to be more arboreal in the control treatment. Differences in available habitat may have caused an increase in surface activity in the burn treatment, which could have biased detection rates and created higher apparent abundance in the burned treatment. Females moved more often in the control treatment, which may be due to a lack of preferred thermal habitat and reproductive thermoregulatory demands. Ultimately, fire changed habitat availability and altered the movement rates and behavior of C. constrictor causing ecological effects that may not be detected when researchers only compare abundance.
A statistical framework for spatial comparative genomics

Comparison of the spatial organization of related genomes reveals a wealth o f information about how complex biological systems evolve and function. A fundamenta l task in spatial comparative genomics is identification of homologous genomic regions, regions that have descended from a common region in an ancestral genome. While closely related regions are characterized by conserved gene content and order, in more distantly related genomes homologous regions will be apparent only as gene clusters, pairs of regions with similar , but not identical, gene content and scrambled gene order. As gene content and order d iverge, statistical tests to reject the null hypothesis that these regions share genes by chance be come ssential. In this thesis, I provide statistical tests to assess the significance of gene clu sters for a variety of biological questions and search scenarios. I present the first for mal statistical framework for the max-gap cluster, the most widely used cluster definition in genomic analy ses. This framework provides statistical tests for two common search scenarios and f acilitates principled selection of parameter values prior to conducting a search for gene cluste rs. Second, I propose novel statistical tests for clusters spanning three ge nomic regions, for two comparative genomics applications: analysis of conserved linkage within multiple species and identification of large-scale duplications. Multi-genome clusters are of incre asing importance, yet existing tests focus almost exclusively on pairwise comparisons. My re sults demonstrate that simultaneously considering information from more than two regions dramatic ally improves sensitivity over pairwise methods. Third, I demonstrate the importance of incorporating cluster statistics in algorith ms for spatial comparative genomics. Orthologs, genes that descended from a commo n ancestor through speciation, are the fundamental unit of comparison in many comparative gen omics applications. Using my statistical framework for evaluating max-gap clusters, I deve lop a new method for ortholog prediction based on conserved spatial organization. Using statistical significance to rank conserved patterns makes it possible to accommodate a variety of spa tial features in a single framework, yielding a method that can be applied to a broad range of g en mic data sets. This flexible framework outperforms current spatial ortholog prediction me thods, especially on highly diverged genomes.
Latex clonal typology of Hevea brasiliensis : Physiological modelling of yield potential and clonal response to ethephon stimulation

Multi-clonal tapping experiments set up in Cote d'Ivoire and in Thailand have confirmed that clonal yield potential of Hevea brasiliensis (Pmax) can be accurately estimated, when using reduced tapping frequencies like d/3 or d/4, as a linear combination of Po (Production observed without ethephon stimulation, representing metabolic component of the yield potential) and [SUCpo] (latex sucrose concentration without stimulation, representing the sugar loading component of the yield potential): Pmax = Po + [alpha][SUCpo]. Whereas the first yield component (Po) describes the clonal latex metabolic activity, also correlated to inorganic phosphorus latex concentration ([Pio]), the second yield component ([alpha][SUCpo]) reflects the capability of the clone to sustain any further intensification of exploitation, especially regarding its possible response to ethephon stimulation. Classification of Hevea brasiliensis clones in a 2 dimensions-matrix (Latex Clonal Typology) containing five different metabolic types (low, low-medium, medium, medium-high and high) and three different latex sugar loading types (low, medium and high) allows to describe the response of any clone to ethephon stimulation: stimulation intensity should increase when clonal latex metabolic activity decreases and/or when clonal latex sugar loading capacity increases. Conversely, stimulation intensity should decrease when clonal latex metabolic activity increases and/or when clonal latex sugar loading capacity decreases. Latex Clonal Typology therefore greatly simplifies stimulation recommendations, as only five different levels of stimulation intensity (very high, high, medium, low and very low) provide accurate stimulation recommendations to all physiological types of clones, depending on their respective position in the matrix. Stimulation recommendations based on this principle are currently applied on a large rubber plantation of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Latex Clonal Typology provides as well accurate information regarding clonal susceptibility to tapping panel dryness (TPD), clonal adaptation to different tapping frequencies (high or reduced) and clonal yield potential. It is also of major interest for rubber breeding programmes, in order to enhance integration of clonal physiological profiles in Hevea brasiliensis genetic selection schemes. (Resume d'auteur)
Fast character recognition algorithm based on wavelet transform

The fast alphabetic, digital and Chinese character recognition algorithm is based on wavelet transform. The algorithm transforms 2-dimension image data to 1-dimension data by projecting the character binary image in vertical and horizontal direction. For character image of W×H size, the algorithm (reduces) the operation time from W×H to W+H compared to the traditional algorithm, which greatly (reduces) the complexity of later processing, meanwhile it saves enough vertical and horizontal lattice distribution information of the character. The 1-dimension data is decomposed by Harr wavelet in depth of 2-(layer),then character information is extracted from the low frequency part of the wavelet coefficients and is compared with the corresponding information of the standard characters; this led to rapid and efficient character recognition. The total experimental character recognition rate is above 92%.
Validation of Energy Estimates of Urea Ammoniated Sugarcane Trash Based Diets Obtained from RIVIGPT and In-vivo Trial in NariSuwarna X Kenguri F1 lambs

The energy estimates of various experimental diets fed to NariSuwarna X Kenguri F1 lambs with urea ammoniated sugarcane trash (USCT) and GMG/CFM were obtained from digestion trial (DT) and rumen in vitro incubation for gas production (RIVIGP), fifteen lambs were divided into five groups of three each. five treatment combinations with urea ammoniated sugarcane trash (USCT) and CFM used to meet the growth requirements Lambs [2] at maintenance level (T-1) and to support 50 (T-2), 100 (T-3), 150 (T-4) and 200g (T-5) daily body weight gain. The feeding trial was carried out for the duration of 140 days in switch over design for five periods. Each period digestion trial conducted with an adjustment period of three weeks and collection period of one week. The metabolisable energy (ME, MJ kg DM) content of diets at maintenance level of intake obtained by DT for T-1, T-2, T-3, T-4 and T-5 were 7.66, 8.25, 8.96, 8.93 and 10.08 respectively. The corresponding ME values obtained from RIVIGP were 9.8, 9.75, 10.28, 10.78 and 11.00 respectively. The difference between the ME obtained from DT (digestion trial) and ME predicted from RIVIGPT was found to be 14.98 per cent. The mean ME output (Maintenance + weight gain) for the treatments T-1, T2, T-3, T4 and T-5 were 5.66, 5.72, 6.70, 7.15 and 6.52 respectively. The ME intake estimated from ME obtained from DT and RIVIGP for treatments T-1, T2, T-3,T4 and T-5 were 4.95 and 6.17, 5.47 and 6.24, 6.63 and 7.44, 6.87 and 8.13, 7.62 and 8.24 respectively. Hence, the observed performance of NariSuwarna x Kenguri F1 lambs expressed in terms of the total ME output was accountable to the extent of 100.6 and 87.6% of ME intake estimates obtained from ME values derived by DT and RIVIGP respectively.
Stable isotope‐based location in a shelf sea setting: accuracy and precision are comparable to light‐based location methods

Retrospective determination of location for marine animals would facilitate investigations of migration, connectivity and food provenance. Predictable spatial variations in carbon and nitrogen isotopes in primary production across shelf seas provide a basis for stable isotope‐based location. Here, we assess the accuracy and precision that can be obtained through dietary‐isotope‐based location methods. We build isoscapes from jellyfish tissues and use these to assign scallops of fixed and known individual location, and herring with well‐understood population‐level distributions in the North Sea. Accuracy and precision for retrospective isotope‐based location in the North Sea were of a similar order to light‐based location devices, with 75% of individual scallops assigned correctly to areas representing c. 30% of the North Sea, with a mean linear error on the order of 102 km. Applying assignment methods to an alternative migratory species (herring) resulted in ecologically realistic assignments consistent with fisheries survey data. Location methods based on dietary isotopes such as carbon and nitrogen recover the spatial origin of nutrients assimilated into tissues, and this may not correspond directly to the physical location if either the test animal or its prey is highly migratory. Stable isotope‐based location can be applied to any marine‐feeding organism or derived food product, but the ecological meaning of any assigned area will be more difficult to interpret for large, high trophic level, migratory animals with relatively slow isotopic assimilation rates.
Effect of tamoxifen on hepatic cytochrome P450 expression in adult female rats

Tamoxifen, a widely used therapeutic agent in the treatment of breast cancer, is known to suppress growth hormone (GH) secretion in rats and consequently may alter hepatic levels of several cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes that are regulated by the pattern of GH secretion. The present study was undertaken to examine the effect of tamoxifen on the expression of hepatic CYP enzymes in the rat. Tamoxifen was administered to nine adult male and female Long Evans rats at a dose of 5 mg per rat s.c. once daily for two consecutive days while control rats received the vehicle (peanut oil) only. Rats were killed five weeks after treatment and liver microsomes prepared. Administration of tamoxifen resulted in a significant decrease in mean weight gain in male and female rats compared to controls, but liver weight as a percent of body weight was not affected. Serum estradiol levels and total CYP content of hepatic microsomes were also unchanged. The profile of testosterone metabolites was not affected in tamoxifen-treated male rats but was significantly (p<0.05) altered in tamoxifen-treated female rats, indicating that tamoxifen's effects were sex-specific and hormone-mediated. Tamoxifen treatment significantly increased testosterone 6p-hydroxylase activity and significantly decreased testosterone 7a-hydroxylase activity but did not significantly affect j9-nitrophenol hydroxylase or pentoxyresorufin O-depentylase activities. Immunoquantitation studies revealed that tamoxifen treatment significantly decreased CYP2A1 levels but had no significant effect on CYP2C7, CYP2E1 or CYP3A levels in adult female rats. Thus, tamoxifen treatment caused a significant decrease in the expression of CYP2A1 and its associated monooxygenase activity, but had no apparent effect on the expression of CYP3A even though testosterone 6[3-hydroxylase activity was significantly increased. Monoclonal antibodies against CYP3A1 and CYP3A2 were used to determine if either isozyme was present but neither protein was detected.
Synergistic Phosphate Solubilization by Burkholderia anthina and Aspergillus awamori

Single or co-inoculation of phosphate solubilizing bacterial and fungal strains (Burkholderia anthina and Aspergillus awamori respectively) was performed separately to assess their synergistic and antagonistic interactions and the potential to be used as bio-inoculants. Co-inoculation was found to release the highest content of soluble phosphorus (1253 μg ml -1 ) into the medium, followed by single inoculation of fungal strain (1214 μg ml -1 ) and bacterial strain (997 μg ml -1 ). However, there was no significant difference between single inoculation of fungal strain and co-inoculation of fungal and bacterial strain in terms of the phosphorous release. The highest pH reduction, organic acid production and glucose consumption were observed in the sole A. awamori inoculated culture medium. According to the plant growth promotion bioassays, co-inoculation of the microbial strains resulted in 21% and 43% higher shoot and root growth of the mung bean seedlings respectively as compared to the respective controls. Therefore, co-inoculation of B. anthina and A. awamori showed better performance in stimulating plant growth than that in inoculation of each strain alone. However, assessment period of the present study being short, we recommend in engaging further experimentation under field conditions in order to test the suitability of the strains to be used as bio-inoculants.
Seasonal mesoscale shifts of demersal nekton assemblages in the subtropical South-western Atlantic

ABSTRACT The present study shows a hitherto undocumented pattern of mesoscale seasonal shifts of teleost fish and cephalopod assemblages along the shelf and upper slope of southern Brazil. Through multivariate techniques we discerned four consistent groups: coastal, warm shelf, cold shelf and upper-slope assemblages. The warm shelf and the upper-slope assemblages were present year round, whereas the cold shelf assemblage occurred almost exclusively in the cold season, and the coastal assemblage expanded toward the south in the warm season. The coastal and shelf nekton fauna was dominated by juveniles and adults of the sciaenid fishes Macrodon ancylodon, Cynoscion guatucupa, Micropogonias furnieri, Umbrina canosai and Paralonchurus brasiliensis, the cutlassfish Trichiurus lepturus and the hake Merluccius hubbsi. The upper-slope assemblage was more diversified and included Polyprion americanus, Urophycis mystacea, the squid Illex argentinus and macrourids. Similar to other subtropical Atlantic ecosystems, the dominance of sciaenids is related to the large areas of sand and mud bottoms, and the low salinity due to the high freshwater runoff of the La Plata River and Patos Lagoon. The choice of seasonal or spatial closures or the planning of marine protected areas may benefit from a greater understanding of the seasonal spatial shifts of the fish assemblages.
Influences of interpolation of species ranges on elevational species richness gradients

Interpolation of species ranges has been a common approach to compensate for the unevenness or incompleteness in sampling effort in studies of geographic species richness gradients. However, potential biases introduced by this estimation method remain unclear. Here, we presented an explicit examination of the influences of one-dimensional interpolation on elevational species richness gradients, and discussed potential causes and processes of these influences. We conducted intensive surveys of birds along the elevational gradients of the Ailao Mountains, southwestern China, and compared richness patterns based on interpolation with raw data as well as estimated data from rarefaction and Chao 1 non-parametric estimator; we also compared results of multiple linear regressions and hierarchical partitioning analyses explaining these four measures of richness. Actual evapotranspiration (AET) and the mid-domain effect (MDE) were highly correlated and separately provided a good potential explanation for the unimodal richness pattern in the Ailao Mountains, with modifying and suppressive effects of other variables such as area. Interpolation consistently and significantly increased the effects of AET/MDE, while it reduced contributions of area and human disturbance. Our results demonstrated that while compensating for biases in sampling effort, interpolation may also spuriously fill genuine distribution gaps, and tend to underestimate the effects of the non-monotonic or discontinuous influencing factors that are responsible for these gaps, and overestimate the effects of other factors actually suppressed by these factors. These influences were most strong for species with relatively medium elevational ranges. We conclude that at the regional scale, interpolation method is a potential source of bias in identifying and explaining species richness gradients and should be used with careful consideration. It may be advantageous to adopt other robust estimation methods besides interpolation to gain a more accurate assessment of species richness and a more objective understanding of their underlying mechanisms. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Mitochondrial DNA reveals genetic differentiation between Australian and Indonesian pearl oyster Pinctada maxima (Jameson 1901) populations

A total of 234 individual silver-lipped pearl oyster (Pillctada maxima) from six populations in Australia and two populations in Indonesia were analyzed for genetic variation within a 6S0-base pair region of the mitochondrial DNA COl gene using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The Indonesian populations were markedly different from all Australian populations examined, and the differences were greater than that expected on the basis of their geographical separation. In contrast with this broader regional pattern of genetic differentiation, the Australian populations sampled were not significantly differentiated from one another, and a high degree of connectivity was observed among Western Australian pearl oyster populations. In addition. these genetic data show that Western Australian P. maxima populations have a closer tie to those from the northern Australian coast than with populations in Indonesia. This regional pattern of genetic separation is evident despite the proximity of Indonesia to the eastern Indian Ocean locations sampled and the potential for dispersal afforded by the southward currents of the Indonesian throughflow.
Effect of Nanohydroxyapatite Addition on the Pore Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Freeze Cast Hydroxyapatite Scaffolds

In current study, the effect of nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) content on microstructural and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite scaffolds fabricated using the water-based freeze casting method has been investigated. In the experimental procedure, the solidified samples were prepared by hydroxyapatite slurries containing different concentration of nHA followed by sintering procedure at 1350 °C. The characteristics of the initial powders, microstructure, and mechanical strength of the scaffolds were assessed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and mechanical strength test, respectively. The results showed that, increasing of nHA leading to decrease in pore size, increase in inter structural bridges, reduce in porosity and increase in compressive strength of the hydroxyapatite scaffolds, which is believed to be more effective in bone tissue engineering applications. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of UFGNSM15.