Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The caddisfly Dicosmoecus gilvipes: making a case for a functional role

Abstract Most caddisfly larvae build cases of silk and a variety of collected materials. Multiple functions, including protection from predators, resistance to entrainment by high flows, and improved respiration, have been suggested for caddisfly cases. We investigated the functional role of cases built by Dicosmoecus gilvipes, a limnephilid caddisfly. In this species, the 1st- through 4th-instar larvae build cases with plant material and attach Douglas-fir needles as lateral extensions that resemble vanes on an arrow. We tested whether the lateral extensions and entire case deterred predators by manipulating lateral extensions and case presence for larvae exposed to large steelhead trout. No larva with a case (with or without lateral extensions) was consumed during the experiment, whereas all larvae without a case were consumed. We tested whether lateral extensions provided stability against overturning and entrainment by manipulating presence of lateral extensions and subjecting larvae to turbulent flow conditions. Once dislodged, larvae with lateral extensions experienced fewer revolutions and regained their footing faster than those without extensions. Our results suggest lateral extensions provide stability against overturning in fast flow and may improve the ability of larvae to forage efficiently in turbulent flow conditions. Other caddisfly species build lateral extensions on their case, and the extensions may provide similar benefits for these taxa.
Indoor and Deep Sub-Tidal Intermediate Culture of Trochus niloticus for Restocking

The high demand for shells of the large reef-associated gastropod Trochus niloticus in the manufacture of mother-of-pearl buttons has resulted in a widespread decline of its population. As a consequence, juvenile mass production and restocking has been practiced as one of the many conservation measures. Trochus has long been successfully bred in captivity, but culturing of juveniles until ready for release is faced with many problems, including the shortage of natural food. Terrestrial plants have traditionally been used by fishermen as food in keeping wild trochus juveniles, but their potential use in intermediate culture of trochus has not been evaluated. We conducted four growth trials for 60–120 days, rearing hatchery-produced juveniles (10–28-mm shell diameter) at different stocking densities in indoor tanks and sea cages, with coconut leaves as the main or an additional substrate. An average growth rate of 4.4 mm mo−1 (95% CL 4.0–4.7 mm mo−1) for all stocking densities was achieved in growth trials using small cages deployed at 5–6 m on the reef slope, which was comparable to growth rates in the wild. This growth rate was three times higher than in trials using large metal cages on the reef slope, and 2 to 23 times higher than indoor trials using wooden tanks or small cages in concrete tanks. Survival rates were as high as 99%. Incidence of escape in sub-tidal cages was low except when some cages were damaged by strong waves. The results indicate that trochus juveniles can be successfully cultured at high density in sub-tidal cages with coconut leaves as substrate.
pH dependence of the acetylcholine receptor channel: a species variation

The effects of pH changes on the miniature endplate current (mepc) and on endplate current fluctuations (acetylcholine [ACh] noise) were examined at the neuromuscular junction in vitro in two species of frogs. In Rana pipiens the relationship between the decay time constant of the mepc (tau') and pH had a symmetrical bell shape; the value of tau' being largest at pH 7 and decreasing at more acid or more alkaline pH. In acid pH the mepc amplitude (A) decreased relative to its value at pH 7, and in alkaline pH A increased. In Rana ridibunda a narrower and asymmetric bell-shaped dependence of tau' on pH, having a maximum of pH 5.5, was found. The mepc amplitude was again reduced in acid pH but had a peak at pH 5.5. Also, its value at pH 9 was larger than at pH 7. These results were obtained with a number of different buffers and were not found to be sensitive to the nature of the buffer chosen. By performing ACh-noise analysis we found that in Rana pipiens at acid pH (5.5-5.0), the single channel conductance (gamma) and the single channel open time (tau) were significantly reduced relative to their value at pH 7. However, in Rana ridibunda at acid pH (5.4) gamma was unchanged and tau was markedly increased relative to their values at pH 7. The results can be explained quantitatively by electrostatic interaction between two fixed and titratable ionic groups and a mobile charge in the receptor molecule. The model fits the data for groups having pKs approximately 4.8 and approximately 9.8 for Rana pipiens and approximately 4.6 and approximately 6.3 for Rana ridibunda. The groups can be tentatively identified as amino acid residues; glutamic or aspartic and lysine or tyrosine for Rana pipiens; glutamic or aspartic and histidine for Rana ridibunda. The difference in the fitted values of the other model parameters for these two species can be attributed to differences in the spatial configuration of the charged groups.
Genetic diversity of indigenous goat populations of north east India including West Bengal based on microsatellite markers

This paper survey the genetic diversity and population structure of four goat populations of Northeast India including West Bengal. A total of 126 individuals were genotyped at 23 loci so as to support conservation and improvement decisions. The polymorphism of genetic diversity in populations correlated with known population histories. The study identified 440 alleles and most of the studied loci were highly polymorphic. The genetic groups under study presented HWE deviations for least number of the loci. The range of alleles was found to be 1.500 to 9.500 with a global mean of 4.848. The overall mean of observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.484 and 0.493 respectively. The within population inbreeding estimate (FIS) (0.041) indicated moderately high heterozygosity in the populations. Microsatellite analysis revealed moderately high genetic diversity in the studied genetic groups. The Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) showed that 21% of the total variation was due to differences between genetic groups. The study concluded that appropriate conservation efforts should be undertaken to maintain same levels of genetic diversity.
Age, growth and reproductive biology of the spot-tail shark, Carcharhinus sorrah, and the Australian blacktip shark, C. tilstoni, from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, north-eastern Australia

Understanding the life history of an exploited fish species is an integral part of successful fisheries management and this information can be used in quantitative population assessments. The present study describes the quantitative relationships among age, growth and reproductive biology of two commercially exploited sharks from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA), namely, the spot-tail shark, Carcharhinus sorrah (n = 659) and the Australian blacktip shark, C. tilstoni (n = 512). Longevity estimates based on vertebral ageing were 9 and 14 years for male and female C. sorrah and 13 and 15 years for C. tilstoni. However, an age-validation study failed to validate annual banding in larger individuals, suggesting that maximum age may be underestimated by vertebrae. C. sorrah grew to adult size relatively fast, reaching maturity at 2.3–2.4 years, whereas C. tilstoni grew slower, reaching maturity at 5.2–6.1 years. For both species, however, reproduction did not commence until approximately a year after maturity, at 3.4 years for C. sorrah and 7.2 years for C. tilstoni. The results of the present study suggest that in the GBRWHA, C. tilstoni, in particular, begins reproducing at an older age and lives longer than previously thought.
Some critical notes on the classification and the generic concept of the Erysiphaeeae

Abstract: BRAUN, U. 1999: Some critical notes on the classification and the generic concept of the Erysiphaceae. Schlechtendalia 3 : 48-54. Based on new results obtained by means of SEM as well as molecular examinations, it is proposed to divide the genus Erysiphe s.lat. into three smaller units, i.e. the genus Erysiphe s.str. (= Erysiphe sect. Erysiphe), Golovinomyces (= Erysiphe sect. Golovinomyces), and Neoerysiphe stat. et nom. nov. (= Erysiphe sect. Galeopsidis). Erysiphaceae tribe Erysipheae subtribe Golovinomycetinae subtribus nov. and subtribe Neoerysiphinae subtribus nov. are introduced, tribe Phyllactinieae is validated, and it is pointed out that tribe Sawadaeae VP. Gelyuta is the correct name for tribe Sawadaeae (U. Braun) R.T. A. Cook et al. O idium subgen. Pseudoidium Jacz. is the correct name for Oidium subgen. Pseudoidium (YS. Paul & J.N. Karpoor) R.T. A. Cook et al. (nom. illeg.). The new combinations Golovinomyces sect. Depressi, Golovinomyces andinus, G. cichoracearum var. flscheri, var. latisporus, var. poonensis, var. transvaalensis, G. magnicellulatus var. robustus, G. leuceriae, G. rubi, G. sparsus var. euphorbiicola, Neoerysiphe chelones, N. cumminsiana, N. galeopsidis, N. galii, and N. geranii are introduced. Setoerysiphe kashmiriensis is reduced to synonymy with Erysiphe sambuci, and it is pointed out that Microsphaera indica is indistinguishable from Medusosphaera rosae. Zusammenfassung: BRAUN, U. 1999: Some critical notes on the classification and the generic concept of the Erysiphaceae. Schlechtendalia 3 : 48-54. Auf Grundlage neuer elektronenmikroskopischer und molekularer Forschungsergebnisse wird vorgeschlagen, die Gattung Erysiphe s.lat. in drei kleinere Einheiten zu gliedern, namlich in die Gattungen Erysiphe s.str. (= Erysiphe sect. Erysiphe), Golovinomyces (= Erysiphe sect. Golovinomyces) und Neoerysiphe stat. et nom. nov. (= Erysiphe sect. Galeopsidis). Erysiphaceae Tribus Erysipheae Subtribus Golovinomycetinae subtribus nov. und Subtribus Neoerysiphinae subtribus nov. werden eingefuhrt. Tribus Phyllactinieae wird validiert und es wird festgestellt, das Tribus Sawadaeae V.P. Gelyuta der korrekte Name fur Tribus Sawadaeae (U. Braun) R.T. A. Cook et al. ist. Oidium subgen. Pseudoidium Jacz. ist der korrekte Name fur Oidium subgen. Pseudoidium (YS. Paul & J.N. Kapoor) R.T. A. Cook et al. (nom. illeg.). Die Neukombinationen Golovinomyces sect. Depressi, Golovinomyces andinus, G. cichoracearum var. fischeri, var. latisporus, var. poonensis, var. transvaalensis, G. magnicellutcaus var. robustus, G. leuceriae, G. rubi, G. sparsus var. euphorbiicola, Neoerysiphe chelones, N. cumminsiana, N. galeopsidis, N. galii und N. geranii werden vorgeschlagen. Setoerysiphe kashmiriensis wird als Synonym von Erysiphe sambuci angesehen, und es wird festgestellt, das Microsphaera indica nicht von Medusosphaera rosae unterscheidbar ist.
Development of rapid PCR-RFLP technique for identification of sheep, cattle and goat's species and fraud detection in Iranian commercial meat products

Identification of animal species used in commercial meat products is important with respect to economic and sanitary issues. The aim of this research was to realize ruminant species in meat products using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. The universal CB7u primers pair was used for amplifying ~195 bp fragment from a variable region of cytochrome- b mitochondrial DNA gene by polymerase chain reaction. Species differentiation was realized by digestion of the amplified ~195 bp fragments with Sse9I restriction enzyme. The results indicate that 7/7 of Kebab loghmeh, 9/10 of minced meat, 4/8 of beef burger and 2/5 samples of canned stew samples, were contaminated with one of prohibited ruminant species residual. Furthermore, the results reveal that 5/30 of samples had cross-contamination with a mixture of meat originated from various species, which was against the labelled nutrition information. Our results indicate that the PCR-RFLP technique is a powerful and reproducible test for detection and separation of ruminant species residuals in commercial meat products, especially in developing countries. Keywords: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), mitochondrial DNA, ruminant species, commercial meat products, cytochrome- b gene
Determination of fixed ammonium in soil

1. A method of determining fixed ammonium in soil based on estimation of the difference in the amounts of ammonium released on treatment with N-HF:N-HC1 and with N-KCI has been investigated and compared with the hydrofluoric acid method of Rodrigues and the alkaline distillation method of Barshad. 2. Results obtained by the N-HF:N-HCl procedure with profile samples of various soils indicated that 3–8% (average, 5·6%) of the nitrogen in the surface soils and 9–44% (average, 21·5%) of the nitrogen in the subsoils examined was in the form of fixed ammonium. Rodrigues's method gave much higher values and Barshad's method gave much lower values. 3. Studies on the forms of nitrogen in soil profiles showed that the proportion of soil nitrogen released by acid hydrolysis as total-N and α-amino-N decreased with depth in the profile, whereas the proportion liberated as ammonium by acid hydrolysis increased with depth. They also showed that a considerable amount of the ammonium released by acid hydrolysis was derived from fixed ammonium in clay minerals. 4. It was found that the proportion of soil nitrogen dissolved by N-HF:N-HCl increased with depth in the profile, whereas the proportion dissolved by neutral and alkaline reagents used to extract soil organic matter decreased with depth. On the average, 23·2% of the nitrogen in the surface soils and 47·4% of the nitrogen in the subsoils was dissolved by a single treatment with N-HF:N-HCl at room temperature for 24 hr. 5. The reliability and significance of the results obtained by the N-HF:N-HCl method are discussed.
Plant gene expression in actinorhizal nodules of Alnus glutinosa

Plants that can be nodulated by actinomycetes of the genus Frankia are collectively called actinorhizal plants and comprise mostly woody plant species. Compared to Rhizobium- legume interactions, actinorhizal symbioses are poorly understood, especially in their molecular aspects. The goal of the research described in this thesis is to study plant gene expression during the development and function of actinorhizal nodules of Alnus glutinosa, by characterizing cDNA clones isolated from a nodule cDNA library, Chapter 1 gives an overview about the development and functioning of actinorhizal nodules, in comparison with legume- Rhizobium interactions. By differential screening, several A. glutinosa cDNA clones were isolated, representing genes expressed at markedly elevated levels in actinorhizal nodules compared to roots. These cDNAs were found to encode products involved in nitrogen metabolism (chapter 2), a hitherto unknown metabolic pathway (chapter 3), and senescence (chapters 4 and 5). Like in legume nodules, ammonium assimilation in actinorhizal nodules is performed by the common glutamine synthetase (GS)/glutamate synthase (GOGAT) pathway. The exported form of fixed nitrogen in Alnus nodules is citrulline. Two cDNA clones isolated were found to encode products related to nitrogen metabolism. pAg 11 encoded a glutamine synthetase (GS), the key enzyme responsible for ammonium assimilation; pAg 118 encoded an acetylornithine transaminase (AOTA) which is involved in the biosynthesis of citrulline (chapter 2). By determining their sites of expression new insight was gained in reassimilation of ammonium in actinorhizal nodules. One nodule-specific clone, pAg 135, was found to encode a polypeptide homologous to a fatty acid reductase, but since fatty alcohols are not found in A. glutinosa nodules it remains to be examined in which metabolic pathway Ag 135 is active (chapter 3). A cDNA (pAg13) encoding a proline-rich polypeptide was also isolated. Apart from proline, the potential mature peptide was also rich in glutamic acid. In situ hybridization showed that this gene was expressed in infected cells during endosymbiont degradation and in the nodule pericycle (chapter 4). Ineffective root nodules that cannot fix nitrogen because the Frankia bacteria do not form vesicles, can be induced by certain Frankia strains on A. glutinosa. They represent compact structures and contain higher amounts of polyphenols than the effective nodules. A comparison of ag13 expression between effective and ineffective nodules of A. glutinosa is presented, implying that ag13 expression is indeed correlated with senescence (chapter 5). So far, about 15 nodule-specific/enhanced cDNA clones have been isolated and identified in Alnus glutinosa nodules. In chapter 6, the results currently achieved in plant molecular studies on Alnus glutinosa nodules are summarized and discussed.
Pricing Influential Nodes in Online Social Networks

Influential nodes with rich connections in online social networks (OSNs) are of great values to initiate marketing campaigns. However, the potential influence spread that can be generated by these influential nodes is hidden behind the structures of OSNs, which are often held by OSN providers and unavailable to advertisers for privacy concerns. A social advertising model known as influencer marketing is to have OSN providers offer and price candidate nodes for advertisers to purchase for seeding marketing campaigns. In this setting, a reasonable price profile for the candidate nodes should effectively reflect the expected influence gain they can bring in a marketing campaign. In this paper, we study the problem of pricing the influential nodes based on their expected influence spread to help advertisers select the initiators of marketing campaigns without the knowledge of OSN structures. We design a function characterizing the divergence between the price and the expected influence of the initiator sets. We formulate the problem to minimize the divergence and derive an optimal price profile. An advanced algorithm is developed to estimate the price profile with accuracy guarantees. Experiments with real OSN datasets show that our pricing algorithm can significantly outperform other baselines.
Data Stream Event Prediction Based on Timing Knowledge and State Transitions

We study a practical problem of predicting the upcoming events in data streams using a novel approach. Treating event time orders as relationship types between event entities, we build a dynamic knowledge graph and use it to predict future event timing. A unique aspect of this knowledge graph embedding approach for prediction is that we enhance conventional knowledge graphs with the notion of "states"---in what we call the ephemeral state nodes---to characterize the state of a data stream over time. We devise a complete set of methods for learning relevant events, for building the event-order graph stream from the original data stream, for embedding and prediction, and for theoretically bounding the complexity. We evaluate our approach with four real world stream datasets and find that our method results in high precision and recall values for event timing prediction, ranging between 0.7 and nearly 1, significantly outperforming baseline approaches. Moreover, due to our choice of efficient translation-based embedding, the overall throughput that the stream system can handle, including continuous graph building, training, and event predictions, is over one thousand to sixty thousand tuples per second even on a personal computer---which is especially important in resource constrained environments, including edge computing.
Certificate-Based Aggregate Signature Scheme without Bilinear Pairings

The certiﬁcate based digital signature technology overcomes the key escrow problem in identity based digital signature technology and the secret key transmission problem in the digital signature technology. The aggregate signature schemes combine a great deal of signatures signed by diﬀerent signers on diﬀerent messages into one short signature. However, the more the number of signer and bilinear pairing operations, the lower the eﬃciency of the aggregate signature scheme. In this paper, we present a scheme of certiﬁcate based aggregate signature without bilinear pairings, assuming the hardness of Computational Diﬃe-Hellman Problem. We then prove the security of the proposed scheme in the random oracle model.
Novel Covert Timing Channels Implemented over Multiple Flows by Using Space-Time Trellis Codes

Existing schemes of covert timing channels mainly exploit a single packet ﬂow between two hosts as carrier and suﬀer from low reliability in the presence of network interferences. In order to improve the reliability of data transmission, a novel scheme named multiple-input/multiple-output covert timing channel (MIMO) that is implemented over multiple packet ﬂows is proposed in this paper. A Space-Time trellis code (STTC) is adopted to encode secret message data. A receiver recovers secret messages from arriving IPDs by using a decoding mechanism based on Viterbi algorithm. Moreover, the design criterion of the proposed scheme is derived based on the analysis of pairwise error probability. Simulation results for MIMO covert timing channels with 4-ary modulation level and four-state STTC over diﬀerent numbers of transmission ﬂows demonstrate the signiﬁcant performance improvement.
Learning Sequential Force Interaction Skills

Learning skills from kinesthetic demonstrations is a promising way of minimizing the gap between human manipulation abilities and those of robots. We propose an approach to learn sequential force interaction skills from such demonstrations. The demonstrations are decomposed into a set of movement primitives by inferring the underlying sequential structure of the task. The decomposition is based on a novel probability distribution which we call Directional Normal Distribution. The distribution allows infering the movement primitive’s composition, i.e., its coordinate frames, control variables and target coordinates from the demonstrations. In addition, it permits determining an appropriate number of movement primitives for a task via model selection. After finding the task’s composition, the system learns to sequence the resulting movement primitives in order to be able to reproduce the task on a real robot. We evaluate the approach on three different tasks, unscrewing a light bulb, box stacking and box flipping. All tasks are kinesthetically demonstrated and then reproduced on a Barrett WAM robot.
Iterative receiver design for indoor wireless visible light communication system

White LED will be a dominant device for lighting in the near future through which we can have the luminance and data transmission simultaneously. An indoor wireless visible light communication system (IWVLC) describes the communication during the indoor applications. This paper presents an iterative receiver design for the IWVLC system and proposes the Soft-Output-Viterbi algorithm to equalize and detect the signal at the receiver of the IWVLC system which is based on the numerical simulation. The performance of the proposed algorithm is better than the conventional Viterbi algorithm in terms of the bit error rate. The simulation results unveil the performance of the proposed iterative algorithm where it can be seen that the BER comes out to be less at the same SNR (dB) as compared to the conventional ones even when the data rate is very high.