Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biomass and carbon accumulation in a fire chronosequence of a seasonally dry tropical forest

Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are a widely distributed vegetation type in the tropics, characterized by seasonal rainfall with several months of drought when they are subject to fire. This study is one of the first attempts to quantify above‐ and belowground biomass (AGB and BGB) and above‐ and belowground carbon (AGC and BGC) pools to calculate their recovery after fire, using a chronosequence approach (six forests that ranged form 1 to 29 years after fire and mature forest). We quantified AGB and AGC pools of trees, lianas, palms, and seedlings, and BGB and BGC pools (Oi, Oe, Oa soil horizons, and fine roots). Total AGC ranged from 0.05 to nearly 72 Mg C ha−1, BGC from 21.6 to nearly 85 Mg C ha−1, and total ecosystem carbon from 21.7 to 153.5 Mg C ha−1; all these pools increased with forest age. Nearly 50% of the total ecosystem carbon was stored in the Oa horizon of mature forests, and up to 90% was stored in the Oa‐horizon of early successional SDTF stands. The soils were shallow with a depth of <20 cm at the study site. To recover values similar to mature forests, BGC and BGB required <19 years with accumulation rates greater than 20 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, while AGB required 80 years with accumulation rates nearly 2.5 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. Total ecosystem biomass and carbon required 70 and 50 years, respectively, to recover values similar to mature forests. When belowground pools are not included in the calculation of total ecosystem biomass or carbon recovery, we estimated an overestimation of 10 and 30 years, respectively.
Six new infraspecific taxa in Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) for Victoria

Six new subspecies of Eucalyptus are described from Victoria, a roughbarked manna gum, E. viminalis subsp. siliceana, three long leaf boxs’, E. goniocalyx subsp. viridissima, E. goniocalyx subsp. laxa, and E. goniocalyx subsp. fallax, and two blue boxs’ E. baueriana subsp. thalassina, and E. baueriana subsp. deddickensis.
Chemical composition, nutritive value and voluntary intake of tropical tree foliage and cocoyam in pigs

The composition of the leaves of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) and of two trees (Trichanthera gigantea and mulberry, Morus alba), their nutritive value in pigs and voluntary intake by pigs were determined. The average protein content ranged from 170 to 240 g kg−1 dry matter (DM) and that of neutral detergent fibres from 218 to 398 g kg−1 DM. The leaves are interesting sources of calcium (up to 69 g kg−1 DM), potassium, iron and manganese. The proteins are well balanced in essential amino acids, with lysine ranging from 43 to 57 g kg−1 proteins. The apparent faecal digestibility was determined by difference in 35 kg pigs fed a diet containing 35% leaf meal. The digestibility coefficients of DM, N and energy were, respectively, 47–57, 33–36 and 51–53%. The digestible energy value ranged from 1.674 to 2.037 kcal kg−1 DM. The voluntary intake of Trichanthera and Xanthosoma was measured in sows weighing 100 kg on average. The intake reached 3.4 kg fresh leaves day−1 (0.51 kg DM) and 1.0–1.1 kg dry leaf meal/day. It is concluded that low energy density is the main limiting factor of tree foliage for pig nutrition but that they are good sources of minerals and well-balanced proteins. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
Atividade antimicrobiana dos frutos de Syagrus oleracea e Mauritia vinifera

Palmae species are very interesting by the chemical and pharmacological points of view. Two species belonging to this family were chosen to initiate the chemical and pharmacological approach of their fruits: Syagrus oleracea (Martius) Beccari and Mauritia vinifera Martius, known in Brazil as Guariroba and Buriti, respectively. Those palm species can be found in several regions of Brazil, especially at the northeast and southeast of the country. They have been used in folk medicine to treat some diseases, however no toxicological and pharmacological studies have been done so far. For the two studied fruits, the antimicrobial activity tests were carried out by broth microdilution methodology. The objective of this work was to contribute for the pharmacological study of palm species, evaluating the antimicrobial activity of the extracts obtained from the fruits of S. oleracea and M. vinifera. The assays evaluated ethanol extracts of the epicarp/mesocarp of S. oleracea and epicarp/mesocarp of M. vinifera; hexane extract of the endosperm of S. oleracea; hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of the epicarp/mesocarp of S. oleracea, epicarp/mesocarp of M. vinifera and mesocarp/endocarp of M. vinifera. The lipophilic extracts of S. oleracea obtained the best results for the species. For M. vinifera, the lipophilic partitions have shown a high inhibitory percentage for S. aureus.
Drivers of ciliate and phytoplankton community structure across a range of water bodies in southern New Zealand

The abundance and biomass of phytoplankton and ciliate taxa in lentic fresh waters were related to their resources, physicochemical conditions, potential consumers and water body type in 45 water bodies ranging from deep oligotrophic lakes to swamps, ponds and estuarine wetlands in South Island, New Zealand. Distinct phytoplankton assemblages were related to each water body type. Phytoplankton genera were positively related most strongly to dissolved reactive phosphorus concentrations, and also related positively to the biomass of ciliate consumers. The biomass of ciliate taxa was higher in swamps and ponds than other water body types. Biomass of the ciliate taxa: oligotrichs, prostomatids and Strombidium, was related strongly and positively to the biomass of their phytoplankton resource, and less strongly related to metazooplankton predators: calanoid copepods and Ceriodaphnia dubia. Our findings suggest that resource availability (bottom-up drivers) may be stronger determinants of phytoplankton and ciliate community composition than consumers (top-down effects).
Tamandua tetradactyla (Pilosa: Myrmecophagidae)

Abstract Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly called the southern tamandua, is 1 of 2 extant, primarily arboreal anteaters. It is distributed over northern and central South America east of the Andes and uses a diverse array of habitats including Chaco, grasslands, and transitional forests. Its diet is primarily one of social ants and termites. It is listed as “Least Concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources due to its wide distribution. Primary threats to T. tetradactyla are fire, habitat loss, highway mortality, and hunting.
Cyclic hexadepsipeptides in wheat field samples and esyn1 gene divergence among enniatin producing Fusarium avenaceum strains

Fusarium avenaceum is one of the most important pathogenic species in agricultural and forest environments of moderate climate, particularly in cereals and legume pulse crops. Numerous mycotoxins can be synthesized by the species, with moniliformin and enniatins (ENN) being the prevailing metabolites. The aims of this work were to examine the amounts of ENN and beauvericin present in naturally contaminated field samples of wheat kernels and chaffs collected in Poland in 2005 and 2009 from heads infected with F. avenaceum, and to reveal the divergence of the esyn1 gene among F. avenaceum strains of different origin. ENN-B and ENN-B1 were the major metabolites identified in wheat field samples. Chaff fractions contained significantly more mycotoxins than grain. Samples originating from 2005 were in general less contaminated with ENN than those from the 2009 season. The highest amount of ENN-B found in grain was 28,520 μg/kg. Beauvericin was only found in trace amounts in all the samples tested. F. avenaceum.
Species Conservation Assessments in Oceanic Islands: the Consequences of Precautionary Versus Evidentiary Attitudes

The application of IUCN Red List criteria to oceanic islands often produces uniform species assignments to high‐threat categories, but in some cases this may result from uncertainties in the data and overly precautionary attitudes to risk. We illustrate this problem using the endemic vascular flora of the Cape Verde archipelago, and show that changing risk tolerance along the precautionary‐evidentiary gradient greatly affects conservation assessments. Most taxa qualified for threat categories due to small areas of occupancy, but while precautionary assessments classified 88.9% of 81 evaluated taxa as Critically Endangered, evidentiary assessments assigned taxa to a wider range of categories. Taxa with very small ranges and restricted to one–three islands were consistently considered Critically Endangered. Our results suggest that conservation assessments under uncertainty may benefit from a more evidentiary attitude, which seem to provide higher discrimination ability among taxa, thereby enhancing the contribution of Red List assessments to prioritize conservation action.
Effect of Recovery Methods on the Characteristics of Antioxidative Milk Peptides

This study investigated the influences of peptide recovery methods after tryptic (E.C.3.4.21.4) hydrolysis, together with the pH before freeze-drying on the antioxidant capacity of milk peptides. Isoelectric precipitation of milk hydrolysate yielded hydrophobic milk peptides while 50% ethanol (EtOH) precipitated the hydrophilic ones. The hydrophobic peptides had significantly higher antioxidant capacity than the hydrophilic peptides (P < 0.05). The antioxidant capacity of hydrophobic peptides was 1.24 and 1.15 μmol Trolox equivalent (TE)/mg protein measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity-fluorescein (ORACFL) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays, respectively. However, the hydrophilic peptides had ORACFL antioxidant capacity of 0.62 and TEAC antioxidant capacity of 0.37 μmol TE/mg protein. Nevertheless, the hydrophobic peptides were prone to flocculation and aggregation, particularly when freeze-dried at an acidic pH of 2.0 in lactose excipient. However, freeze-drying in lactose excipient at pH 6.5 resulted in reconstituted hydrophobic peptides with higher ORACFL antioxidant capacity than the freshly prepared peptides. This study suggested that the high antioxidant capacity of hydrophobic peptides could play significant roles as natural antioxidants after tryptic digestion in the gastrointestinal tract.
Anti-inflammatory effect of adenovirus-mediated IκBα overexpression in respiratory epithelial cells

Many studies into basic biological characteristics of inflammation and tissue injury have implicated pro-inflammatory cytokine-mediated tissue injury in the pathogenesis of inflammatory lung diseases. Because transcription of most pro-inflammatory cytokines is dependent on the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, NF-κB could be a good potential target to suppress the cytokine cascade. Cytokine-induced activation of NF-κB requires phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of IκBa. Therefore, the blocking NF-κB activation by IκBα could inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokine-induced tissue injury. To evaluate whether blocking of NF-κB activation shows an anti-inflammatory effect, this study investigated the effect of adenovirus-mediated overexpression of IκBα super-repressor (IκBα-SR) on the pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in respiratory epithelial cells. The transduction efficiency of adenovirus was >90% in both A549 and NCI-H157 cells. Ad5IκBα-SR-transduced cells expressed high levels of IκBα-SR, which was resistant to tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-;α-;induced degradation. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of IκBα-SR blocked cytokine-induced nuclear translocation of p65 and NF-κB deoxyribonucleic acid binding activity without affecting total cellular expression level of NF-κB. Ad5IκBα-SR transduction suppressed cytokine-induced interleukin-;8 and TNF-;α expressions at both ribonucleic acid and protein levels. These results suggest that blocking the nuclear factor-κB pathway by adenovirus-mediated overexpression of IκBα-super-repressor shows an effective anti-inflammatory effect in respiratory epithelial cells.
Revision of Alyxia (Apocynaceae). Part 1: Asia and Malesia.

The genus Alyxia is revised for Continental Asia and Malesia as the first part of a complete revision of the genus. Intergeneric and infrageneric relationships are discussed, as are the morphological characters for the whole genus. Problematic species and areas in need of further study are highlighted. Keys and descriptions for the species are given. 69 species are recognised of which 12 are newly described. These new species are Alyxia celebica, A. globosa, A. graciliflora, A. kwalotabaa, A. lackii, A. longiloba, A. manusiana, A. minutiflora, A. muguma, A. papuana, A. uniflora and A. vera.
Development of microsatellite markers for Dendrobium orchids

Microsatellite markers for Dendrobium orchids were developed using SSR enrichment procedure. Two genomic libraries were constructed from the DNA digested with either Mse I or Taq I. They were screened for the presence of microsatellite sequences with 6 types of biotinylated oligonucleotide probes ((CA) 15 , (GA) 15 , (ACC) 10 , (CCT) 10 , (GAT) 10 and (ATCT) 7 ) for DNA digested with Mse I and with 4 types of biotinylated oligonucleotide probes ((CA) 15 , (GA) 15 , (ACC) 10 and (CCT) 10 )) for those digested with Taq I. The positive clones were reconfirmed by dot blot hybridization showing 26% and 90% of the respective two groups. The total of 195 positive clones were sequenced, of which 62.8% and 88.8% contained SSR motifs, respectively. Different types of repeat motif were found comprising of GA/TC (50.0%), CCT/AGG (22.8%), 15 types of compound repeat (20.4%), GGGTTTA n /TAAACCC n (5.6%), CA/TG (0.6%) and GAT/ATC (0.6%). Seventy-three clones were chosen for primer design. Eight primer pairs could be used to amplify the products giving the expected sizes and detect genetic polymorphism in the population with the allele numbers ranging from 4 to 7 (averaged 5.25 alleles per locus), observed heterozygosity (H o ) of 0.0612 to 1.0000 (averaged 0.7398), expected heterozygosity (H e ) of 0.0788 to 0.7323 (averaged 0.5871) and effective number of allele (n e ) of 1.0855 to 3.7355 (averaged 2.7850). The genetic relationships of 49 Dendrobium hybrids were analyzed using NTSYS-pc version 2.1m program. The results showed that all Dendrobium samples could be identified but they were not clearly separated into distinct clusters. However, the abundance of microsatellite in Dendrobium orchids and the high information content of the developed markers will be useful for genetic diversity analysis and cultivar discrimination.
The Relationship of Stomatal Aperture and Guard-cell Turgor Pressure in Vicia faba

Graded external osmotic pressures were used to examine the relationship of stomatal aperture to guard-cell turgor pressure for Vicia faba. Stomata were in floating epidermal strips and free of contact with intact epidermal cells. A number of errors were discovered in this and in the classical incipient-plasmolysis methods for measuring cell osmotic pressure. Unstirred layers in exosmosis slow equilibration markedly and rapid loss of internal solute by guard cells can occur; considerations of both water and solute fluxes and their interactions become important. However, it was possible to show that stomatal aperture under the above con ditions was linearly related to guard-cell turgor pressure with a slope of 0-5 pm bar-1.
Introduction to Plant Disease Epidemiology

Epidemics and Plant Disease Epidemiology Monitoring Epidemics: Host Monitoring Epidemics: Environment Monitoring Epidemics: Pathogen Monitoring Epidemics: Disease Modeling and Data Analysis Temporal Analysis of Epidemics I Temporal Analysis of Epidemics Spatial Aspects of Plant Disease Epidemics I: Dispersal Gradients of Long Range Transport Spatial Aspects of Plant Disease Epidemics II: Analysis of Spatial Pattern Simulation Models of Plant Disease Designing Experiments and Sampling Crop Loss Assessment and Modelling Forecasting Plant Diseases.
Cigarras (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Tibicinidae) associadas ao cafeeiro: distribuição, hospedeiros e chave para as espécies

E apresentada a distribuicao de 10 especies de cigarras associadas ao cafeeiro, Coffea arabica, nos Estados de Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo e Parana, Brasil. A informacao sobre a distribuicao geografica destas especies no Continente Americano, afora o Brasil, foi baseada na literatura. Para o Brasil, as localidades de ocorrencia de cigarras foram baseadas na literatura, nos levantamentos realizados e em exemplares de colecoes nacionais. Outros sete hospedeiros, alem do cafeeiro, foram tambem registrados: esponjeira (Acacia farnesiana), sibipiruna (Caesalpinia peltophoroides), Cassia spp. , amoreira (Morus alba), abacateiro (Persea americana), angico (Piptadenia sp.) e cacaueiro (Theobroma cacao). Sao apresentadas chaves de identificacao, baseadas nas caracteristicas gerais e na genitalia masculina.
Larval morphology of spring-living water mites (Hydrachnidia, Acari) from the Alps

The larval morphology of 20 water mite species from Alpine springs is described, with that of Protzia distincta, Tartarothyas romanica, Sperchon mutilus, S. resupinus, S. violaceus, Bandakia concreta, Lebertia cuneifera, L. lativentris, L. sefvei, Atractides adnatus, A. panniculatus, A. macrolaminatus and A. walteri being presented for the first time. For the other 7 species (Panisus michaeli, Panisopsis curvifrons, Thyas palustris, Partnunia steinmanni, Sperchon thienemanni, Lebertia zschokkei and Hygrobates norvegicus), old descriptions exist but, in most cases are not accurate enough to be usable in taxonomy. These species have therefore been re-described. Some general observations on larval morphology and taxonomy are discussed. A short survey of the larval descriptions of West-Palaearctic water mites in general and of spring-living taxa in particular is given, together with a perspective for future research into larval morphology in this geographical area.
Reply to Burgess, Chandramouli, Browning, Schumann, and Previs

to the editor: Burgess et al. ([1][1]) provided 2H-enrichment at various glucose carbons (2H-NMR) and compared 2H-enrichments at C-5 with the average 2H-enrichments of C-1, C-3, C-4, C-5, and C-6 (2H-NMR) and suggest that 2H-enrichment differences exist among glucose carbons that may impact
The challenge of scaling up photobioreactors: Modeling and approaches in small scale

Commercial large‐scale application of photobiotechnology calls for acceptable rates and high cell densities. The latter results in self‐shading and a temporally declining growth rate, making the process inefficient. Upscaling phototrophic processes requires knowledge of the reaction kinetics with special attention on the μ‐I relation. Model‐based calculations for studying the effect of self‐shading on growth were performed for three μ(I) concepts. The nonrealistic μ(I0) concept results in exponential growth without limit, the widely used μ(I(x))¯ concept exhibits a growth behavior that significantly deviates from real processes, but the sophisticated μ(I(x))¯ concept describes real processes best. A Respiration Activity Monitoring System (RAMOS) with CultiLux unit was tested regarding its applicability for exploring the μ‐I dependency of Arthrospira platensis. The results were not satisfactory because of self‐shading due to a high cell density (which was essential for yielding detectable oxygen‐evolution signals). An innovative cultivation system in which self‐shading does not interfere with phototrophic growth was required. A flat‐panel system was constructed (designed by CFD, short light path of 1 cm, uniform planar light supply by LED and OLED units), allowing continuous cultivation of phototrophic microbes at varied light intensities.
Multidimensional Jealousy

Three studies were conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the newly developed multidimensional jealousy scale (MJS), which provides separate assessments of cognitive, emotional and behavioural jealousy. Good reliability and validity data were obtained for the scale. It has high internal consistency, as well as a clear factor structure. The three components of jealousy correlate with established jealousy scales. The results also show that emotional jealousy is positively related to love, while cognitive jealousy is negatively related to love. All three components are negatively related to liking. Emotional and behavioural jealousy are negatively related to happiness. Thus, both convergent and discriminant validity are established. The MJS is useful in providing a clearer picture of the relationships between the components of jealousy and various psychological variables than traditional unidimensional measures of jealousy. Practical implications of the scale in detecting pathological jealousy are discussed.
Comparative performance of enterobacterial repetitive intragenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction and lipopolysaccharide electrophoresis for the identification of Bradyrhizobium sp. (Lotus) strains

We compared two methods for typing bacterial strains: electrophoretic lipopolysaccharide profiling and genomic fingerprinting by enterobacterial repetitive intragenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction. Our aim was to assess the relative utility of these techniques for identification of bradyrhizobia. A collection of Uruguayan Bradyrhizobium strains isolated from Lotus subbiflorus was selected to test both techniques in terms of their discriminating ability and ease of use. Both techniques were found to be equally discriminating and they classified the samples in the same way, although each method ascribed two strains to different groups. Genomic profiling of some strains required previous DNA purification, whereas this was found to be unnecessary for others. Lipopolysaccharide profiling was found to be easier and cheaper to perform, but was not useful for determination of the genetic relationship among the strains.
Glycoprotein Biogenesis: Optimization of N- Acetylglucosaminidase, Lysosomal Neuraminidase, and Protective Protein Cathepsin A Expression

Humans depend on lysosomal enzymes for proper macromolecular degradation. In their absence, lysosomal catabolism is impaired, leading to Lysosomal Storage Diseases (LSDs) (Meikle, 2003). LSDs are characterized by accumulations of metabolic intermediates (Meikle, 2003; Meikle et al., 1999). Accumulation of these biomolecules over time can lead to irreversible arterial blockage, nervous tissue damage, and progressive neurodegeneration (Meikle, 2003; Naganawa et al., 2000). Most LSDs are incurable (Neufeld et al., 1975). Determining the structure of functional lysosomal enzymes is the first step toward understanding LSDs. X-ray crystallography is one technique used to understand protein structure. To perform crystallography, researchers must generate enough protein for crystallization. Using a small polyclonal lepidopteran stable cell line, I have generated two enzymes Protective Protein Cathepsin A (PPCA), and Lysosomal Neuraminidase 1 (NEU1). Stable cell line generation entails introduction of recombinant protein coding genes into lepidopteran cells, selecting the best protein producers through antibiotic resistance and protein immunodot blot assays. I also employed a baculovirus expression system to generate NEU1 (O’Reilly et al., 1994). Further work would include protein purification and crystallization of proteins produced. This