Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fruit Morphology of Red Raspberry and Its Relationship to Fruit Strength

Morphological characteristics of whole red raspberry fruit (weight, density), drupelets (height, diameter, number), receptacle cavities (depth, diameter), and pits (individual weight) were measured three times in 1983 on five cultivars of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) and three times in 1984 on 10 cultivars. Fruit strength, measured by compression and cohesion, was also recorded. Across all genotypes, compression and cohesion measurements were highly correlated with fruit weight, drupelet height and number, receptacle cavity depth, and individual pit weight. Drupelet height, drupelet number, receptacle cavity depth and width, and individual pit weight provided the largest component contribution to both cohesive strength and compression strength by path analysis.
Coral bleaching in Philippine reefs: Coincident evidences with mesoscale thermal anomalies

Massive bleaching was observed in various reefs throughout the Philippines (5-21 °N, 116-128°E), beginning early June until late November 1998. Satellite-derived SST data from NOAA/NESDIS was used to examine thermal anomalies ('hotspots') observed in the country during this same period. Anecdotal reports from the Coral Reef Information Network of the Philippines (PhilReefs) partners revealed the extent of bleaching in other parts of the country. The observations coincided with the occurrence of a hotspot over the region. Coral community studies detected significant decrease in live coral cover (up to 46%) and increase in dead coral cover (up to 49%). The results support the hypothesis that elevated sea temperatures was the major cause of the bleaching event. Some patterns of susceptibility within and across reefs, possibly due to influences of factors such as wave energy, tidal fluctuations and reef morphology, were also observed. The extent and scale of the 1998 bleaching events in the Philippines could not be fully attributed to small-scale anthropogenic disturbances directly affecting reefs since severe bleaching was also observed in offshore reefs. Its coincidence with the El Nino-related temperature anomalies suggests that the interaction between human-induced and natural factors behind bleaching remains to be investigated further. This interaction is critical for reef recovery, and the discrimination between both impacts can be useful for policy and decision-making processes in management.
Caveolae-mediated endocytosis of Simian Virus 40

Simian Virus 40 (SV40) is unusual among animal viruses in that it enters cells via caveolae, and the internalised viruses accumulate in a smooth endoplasmic reticulum (ER) compartment. Using video-enhanced, dualcolour, live fluorescence microscopy, we could visualise the uptake of individual virus particles in CV-1 cells. After associating with caveolae, SV40 was seen to leave the plasma membrane in small caveolin-1 containing vesicles. Within minutes the viruses entered larger, peripheral organelles that had a non-acidic pH. While rich in caveolin-1, these did not contain markers for endosomes, lysosomes, the ER, or the Golgi complex, nor did they acquire ligands of clathrin-coated vesicle endocytosis. After several hours in these organelles, the viruses were sorted into tubular, caveolin-free membrane vesicles that moved rapidly along microtubules. They were deposited within 40 min in perinuclear, syntaxin 17-positive, smooth ER organelles. The microtubule-disrupting agent nocodazole inhibited the formation and transport of the tubular carriers, and blocked viral infection. Taken together, the results demonstrated the existence of a two-step transport pathway from plasma membrane caveolae, via an intermediate organelle ,termed caveosomes, to the ER. The pathway bypasses endosomes and the Golgi complex, and is part of the productive infectious route used by SV40. Chapter 2. A new intracellular pathway revealed 39
Segmentation of Soft Tissues in Medical Images

Abstract Medical image segmentation, as an application of image segmentation, is to extract some anatomial structures from various medical image modalities. Some major medical image modalities include CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography). In this paper, we classify the existing medical image segmentation techniques into several categories and give a thorough review of the related literatures. Their pros and cons are analyzed. Some possible research topics are dicussed. Some preliminary work is also presented and the experimental results are discussed.
Tonoplast ATPase of Mesembryanthenum crystallinum : partial amino acid sequence of subunits induced during the transition from C3-photosynthesis to crassulacean acid metabolism

La composition en sous-unites de l'ATPase du tonoplaste de Mesembryanthemum crystallinum a ete examinee durant la transition de la photosynthese C 3 vers le metabolisme acide crassulaceen. Dans cette Note, des sequences partielles en acides amines de ces deux polypeptides (analyse de acides amines N-terminaux) sont decrites et les nouvelles sequences sont comparees a celles de plusieurs banques de donnees
Genetic variability and homozygosity in a F4 castor bean population by microsatellite markers

The objectives of this study were to identify the genetic variability and estimate the level of homozygosity in a castor bean F4 population using microsatellite markers (SSR). To this end, it was performed the genotyping of the population through 53 pairs of SSR primers. Allele frequencies were estimated by number of alleles per locus, expected heterozygosity (H e ), observed heterozygosity (H o ) and polymorphic information content (PIC). An array of genetic dissimilarity was generated by Nei and Li index, and hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using the Unweighted Pair-Group Method Averages (UPGMA) method. Polymorphism was detected in a total of eight loci (15.09%) of the 53 evaluated, with the presence of two alleles per locus. Allele frequencies varied between 0.71 and 0.53, and the PIC, between 0.32 and 0.37. The average observed heterozygosity H o (0.30) was lower than the expected heterozygosity H e (0.47). Five dissimilar groups were formed, showing that there is genetic variability among the evaluated genotypes. The highest genetic dissimilarity was 0.708 and the lowest, 0.00. The percentages of homozygous genotypes varied from 25 to 75%. These results show that controlled selfing in castor bean raises the level of homozygosity, important for the breeding program.
Evaluation of Spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) as Energy Supplement in Diets Based on Finger millet straw and Maize grain by in vitro Technique

A study was undertaken to evaluate the spineless cactus by chemical and in vitro methods. The chemical composition of Spineless cactus was found to be Moisture content, 91.39%; Crude protein, 4.92%; Ether extract, 2.04 %; Neutral detergent fibre, 27.0 %; Acid detergent fibre, 14.2 %; Ash, 18.5 % and Metabolizable energy, 8.82 MJ/kg DM. The rate of gas production of spineless cactus was 10.1%/ hour. CFM 1 was prepared by mixing 80% ground maize grain, 15% wheat bran, 2% urea, 2% mineral mixture and 1% salt. CFM 2, CFM 3 and CFM 4 were prepared by replacing CFM I at 30%, 40% and 50% levels, with cactus by part by part basis. The energy values derived from Rumen in vitro incubation and gas production for cactus incorporated diets did not vary. The similar in vitro organic matter digestibility of CFMs indicates that cactus can effectively replace CFM. It can be concluded that spineless cactus can be considered as a supplementary source of feed for ruminants to meet the nutrient requirement of maintenance and low productivity.
New insights in the taxonomy of Mediterranean Diodora (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Fissurellidae)

The taxonomy of Mediterranean populations of Diodora is assessed based on new molecular (COI and 28S) data. The recently described Diodora demartiniorum Buzzurro & Russo, 2005, is found to be a valid species restricted to the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia) but possibly occurring also on the coast of Libya. However, specimens from the Aegean Sea previously identified as D. demartiniorum are molecularly (and morphologically pseudocryptically) distinct and represent a previously unrecognized species here described as D. giannispadai n. sp. It is hypothesized that the current distribution of these two species corresponds to glacial refuges during Pleistocene climate changes.
Annotated check-list of the South East Asian Phaedusinae, with the description of new taxa (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Clausiliidae)

A revised check-list of the Phaedusinae from South East Asia (Himalayan countries, Further India, Malaya and Indo-Australian archipelago) is presented. The changes of the current system are discussed in annotations. The following genus taxa are described as new: Loosjesia gen. nov. (type species Clausilia cambojensis L. Pfeiffer), Cylindrophaedusa (Montiphaedusa) subgen. nov. (Clausilia ioes Benson), Dautzenbergiella (Mansuyia) subgen. nov. (Clausilia mansuyi Dautzenberg & Fischer), Hemiphaedusa (Dendrophaedusa) subgen. nov. (Clausilia lemyrei Bavay & Dautzenberg), Juttingia (Pseudohemiphaedusa) subgen. nov. (Hemiphaedusa excurrens Loosjes, non Martens). The following species is described as new: Hemiphaedusa (Selenophaedusa) bavayi spec. nov. For Hemiphaedusa excurrens Loosjes, non Martens, a replacement name is given: Juttingia loosjesi nom. nov.
Morphological cladistic analysis resolves the generic limits of the Neotropical potter wasp genera Minixi Giordani Soika and Pachyminixi Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera : Vespidae : Eumeninae)

Abstract. The generic classification of Neotropical Eumeninae has been termed chaotic, and synonymisation of taxa has become constant in recent years. Recognition of some generic limits are problematic due to features showing a great deal of variation, such as the length of the first metasomal tergum. This applies to the Neotropical Alphamenes van der Vecht, Minixi Giordani Soika and Pachyminixi Giordani Soika. Minixi has already been demonstrated to be paraphyletic in regards to Pachyminixi. These taxa are the focus of the present study, which used morphological data to infer the phylogenetic relationships among their constituent species. A total of 14 taxa and 34 characters were subjected to cladistic analysis under implied weighting. A single most-parsimonious cladogram was obtained, recovering Pachyminixi as monophyletic. Minixi, however, was paraphyletic relative to Pachyminixi and they are thus synonymised, with the former name having priority. A new species from Mexico, Minixi mariachii, sp. nov., is described. Minixi joergenseni bicingulatus (Zavattari, 1912) is synonymised under M. joergenseni (Schrottky, 1909), comb. nov. Additional new combinations are: Minixi arechavaletae (Brèthes, 1903), comb. nov., M. bifasciatum (von Schulthess, 1904), comb. nov., M. brethesi (Bertoni, 1927), comb. nov., M. sumichrasti (de Saussure, 1875), comb. nov., and M. uruguyense (de Saussure, 1855), comb. nov. Illustrations and a new key to species of Minixi are provided. The present study enhances our knowledge on Neotropical potter wasp systematics, providing one further step into a natural classification for a group whose taxonomy has suffered from irrational splitting of genera in the past century.
Structure of the Covering Layers of the Wild Oat (Avena fatua) Caryopsis

The anatomy of the husk (lemma and palea) and caryopsis coat (pericarp, seed coat or testa, and nucellar epidermis) of a typical mature wild oat (Avena fatua L.) caryopsis was investigated using both scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. Both the lemma and palea consist of very thick-walled, lignified cells. In section, the lemma appears almost twice as thick as the palea. The pericarp is comprised of only one or two layers of relatively thin-walled cells and is closely appressed to the underlying seed coat over most of the grain. Both the outer seed-coat cuticle and the inner cuticle are present over almost the entire caryopsis and are continuous with the pigment strand that occurs deep in the crease region of the grain. The only discontinuities in the seed coat are at the basal end of the grain near the embryo. In the dorsal region of the caryopsis, the outer cuticle is approximately 3.5 μm in thickness, whereas the inner cuticle is less than 1 μm in thickness. Where the two pass over the embryo they are much thinner, with the inner cuticle becoming almost indistinguishable in places. The remains of the nucellar epidermis are tightly amalgamated to the seed coat and outer tangential walls of the underlying aleurone cells, which are clearly distinguishable by their large size and characteristic appearance.
Spiders (Araneae) from Maquises in South-West Bulgaria - Part I

A total of 161 species from 29 families were found in two sites (120-510 m.) from Maquises in South-West Bulgaria. From this number 10 species are new to the Bulgarian fauna. The species Orchestina pavesii are discussed and illustrated in taxonomic aspect (Fig. 2,3).
Biotic drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf‐cutter ants as an ecological filter

Herbivory has been shown to have prominent top‐down effects on vegetation in Paleotropical savannas, where consumers of early stages of life history act as demographic bottlenecks. Such impact has been largely ignored in Neotropical savannas, however, despite insect consumption being linked to reduced recruitment of woody species. We hypothesize that Atta leaf‐cutter ants – the prevalent herbivores in the Neotropics – alter the establishment of woody plant seedlings in the Brazilian Cerrado by reducing seed availability and seedling survival. We also hypothesize that the demographic effects will be species‐specific. To test these hypotheses, we experimentally (i) compared seed removal in areas with and without Atta foraging and (ii) compared the survivorship of seedlings exposed to or protected from Atta foraging. Both experiments were performed with the same common Cerrado species which allowed us to evaluate the potential net effects of consumers at the population and community levels. Overall seed removal rates in sites with Atta foraging were greater than those where ants were absent (59.2% and 39.2% of seeds removed, respectively). There were differences in removal for 10 of the 12 tested species, with per species removal 1.1‐ to 3.8‐fold greater in areas with Atta foraging. On transplanted plants, 45% of seedlings exposed to Atta were attacked, resulting in a survival 7.6% lower than that of protected seedlings. Seedling survival was 11.8–31.5% lower in five species, with the largest differences in survival between treatments during the dry season. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that consumers can lead to demographic bottlenecks in Neotropical savanna plant species, with effects varying among life‐history stages and between species. Synthesis. Granivory by ants has been linked to reduced seedling recruitment of woody species in the Brazilian Cerrado. Our results show that leaf‐cutter ants may largely limit early seedling establishment of woody species by reducing seed availability and seedling survival with differential species‐specific effects. Atta ants may therefore be acting as an ecological filter, which coupled with potential selectivity in foraging on reproductive life‐history stages, may ultimately influence the relative abundance of different species and hence the structure and composition of Cerrado vegetation.
Rapid discrimination of Enterococcus faecium strains using phenotypic analytical techniques

Clinical isolates of glycopeptide resistant enterococci (GRE) were used to compare three rapid phenotyping and analytical techniques. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) were used to classify 35 isolates of Enterococcus faecium representing 12 distinct pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) types. The results show that the three analytical techniques provide clear discrimination among enterococci at both the strain and isolate levels. FT-IR and Raman spectroscopic data produced very similar bacterial discrimination, reflected in the Procrustes distance between the datasets (0.2125–0.2411, p < 0.001); however, FT-IR data provided superior prediction accuracy to Raman data with correct classification rates (CCR) of 89% and 69% at the strain level, respectively. MALDI-TOF-MS produced slightly different classification of these enterococci strains also with high CCR (78%). Classification data from the three analytical techniques were consistent with PFGE data especially in the case of isolates identified as unique by PFGE. This study presents phenotypic techniques as a complementary approach to current methods with a potential for high-throughput point-of-care screening enabling rapid and reproducible classification of clinically relevant enterococci.
Application of a Peptide Nucleic Acid-Based Asymmetric Real-Time PCR Method for Rapid Detection of Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae is a very important pathogenic bacterium that has to be monitored in seafood and ships' ballast water. Various methods have been developed to identify this bacterium, yet these methods are time-consuming and have limitations for their sensitivity to detect contamination. The purpose of the present study was to develop a robust and reliable method for identifying V. cholerae. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes were developed to use for PNA-based asymmetrical real-time PCR techniques. The toxigenic Cholera enterotoxin subunit B (ctxB) gene was selected as a target for detecting V. cholerae and the gene was synthesized as a positive template for conventional and real-time PCR. Real-time PCR primers and PNA probes were designed and standard curves were produced for the quantitative analysis. The selected PNA probes reacted specifically to V. cholerae without any ambiguity, even among closely related species, and the detection limit was 0.1 cfu/100 mL. Taken together, the PNA probes and asymmetrical qPCR methods developed in this present study could contribute to the rapid, accurate monitoring of V. cholerae in marine environments, and as well as in seafood and ships' ballast
Relationship of Old World Pseudoxenodon and New World Dipsadinae, with Comments on Underestimation of Species Diversity of ChinesePseudoxenodon

Assessment of the relationship between Pseudoxenodon and Dipsadinae has been hampered by lack of adequate samples. In this paper, we conducted phylogenetic analyses using two mitochondrial genes (12S and 16S rRNA) and one nuclear gene (c-mos) from thirteen specimens representing two species of Pseudoxenodon , together with 84 sequences of caenophidians and an outgroup sequence of Boa constrictor . Our study suggests that the Southeast Asian genus, Pseudoxenodon forms a robust genetic subclade within South American xenodontines, indicating that at least one lineage within this genus entered or returned to the Old World (OW) from the New World (NW) across the Beringian Land Bridge during the early Tertiary and the warm mid-Miocene. It also reveals the high intraspecific genomic variation within the populations of Pseudoxenodon macrops , indicating that species diversity of Pseudoxenodon in China is likely underestimated.
RECENT APPROACHES OF NEURAL MACHINE TRANSLATION: A REPORT

-Neural Machine Translation (NMT) is a recent advance proposal technique in machine translation. Neural Machine Translation surpassed the results of Statistical Machine Translation. This report discusses some significant works on the recent advances in neural machine translation. The aim of NMT is to build a single neural network that generates maximum translation performance. This report present the overview of neural network, neural language model which include Recurrent Neural Models (RNN) and Neural Machine Translation models which include encoder-decoder approach, attention-based neural machine translation.
Creation of a Strain of Drosophila melanogaster with a Killer-Rescue Gene-Drive Mechanism and Observation of Wild-Type Frequencies in Population Cages over Multiple Generations.

PAA, SANDRA ALEXIS. Creation of a Strain of Drosophila melanogaster with a KillerRescue Gene-Drive Mechanism and Observation of Wild-Type Frequencies in Population Cages over Multiple Generations. (Under the direction of Dr. Fred Gould, Dr. Jim Mahaffey, and Dr. Nick Haddad.) A strain of Drosophila melanogaster was created, such that the flies were homozygous for two alleles in a gene-drive mechanism called “Killer-Rescue”. In this system, the transgenes borrowed from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, called Gal4 and Gal80, acted as Killer and Rescue, respectively. In order for the Gal4-Gal80 system to function as a killer and rescue system, all flies contained a wild-type gene, called UAS-DiscoM, which, when activated by inheritance of the Killer allele alone, would kill the individual embryonic Drosophila. If the individual also inherited a copy of Rescue, the Killer was blocked from activating the UAS gene. All non-transgenic flies (“wild-type”) carried the UAS-DiscoM gene. The first objective of the researcher was to test if such flies could, indeed be created and be maintained in a stable stock, and it was indeed discovered to be true. The second, and perhaps more applicable objective of this creation of a transgenic strain was to examine its function in population-cage level experiments, to determine frequencies of the Killer and Rescue alleles (indirectly, through observation of the frequency of wild-type flies relative to the frequency transgenic flies, and directly, through molecular techniques) over a period of fifteen generations. These trials would show that, at a release ratio of 50% transgenic to wild-type, and with seemingly zero fitness cost to the transgenic flies carrying Killer and Rescue, that the transgenic alleles would go approximately to fixation at a given level, and that the frequency of wild-type flies would plateau at around 7%--a number which would persist over the majority of the generations (F3-F15). In a separate experiment, transgenic flies were introduced to population cages at a much lower release ratio: 10% transgenic alleles to 90% wild-type. At the current time, eight generations have passed, and the four most recent generations (F5-F8), have continuously increased in the amount wild-type phenotype (the greatest increase being 6.99%, starting at 14.12% in the F5 generation and increasing to 21.11% by F8). This indicates the possibility for a very slow wild-type recovery in cases where the release ratio of transgenics to wild-type is small enough, even when the cost to carrying the gene-drive alleles is minimal. Creation of a Strain of Drosophila melanogaster with a Killer-Rescue Gene-Drive Mechanism and Observation of Wild-Type Frequencies in Population Cages over Multiple Generations by Sandra Alexis Paa A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science