Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis on Genetic Model of Grain Characteristics in Common Wheat by Mixed Inheritance Model of Major Genes Plus Polygenes

Wheat kernel characters,including grain weight,grain length,grain width and grain thickness,are associated with yield tightly.0911-46,the female parent,which had bigger grain size and grain weight,was crossed with"Line 42",which was relatively smaller in each trait,and produced six pedigrees of 4generations(P1,P2,F1,BC1,BC2and F2). The methods of multiple generations of conjoint analysis of major gene plus polygenes mixed inheritance model were used for genetic analysis of grain weight,grain length,grain width and grain thickness,so as to understand the genetic regularity of grain trait in common wheat.In this study,IECM(interated expectation and conditional maximization)was used to evaluate the related parameters in mixed distribution and then the compatibility was tested through the judgment of AIC(Akaike's information criterion)values.Meanwhile,optimal genetic model was chosen during this analytic process and least square method was used to evaluate the genetic parameters of wheat grain traits.Through variance analysis,grain weight,grain length,grain width and thickness showed significant quantitative properties.Phenotypic analysis showed that the grain weight was controlled by major genes and minor genes at the same time.The grain length was controlled by multiple genes.The grain width was controlled by major genes and minor genes simultaneously.The grain thickness was controlled by more than one pair of major genes as well as several minor genes(modifier genes). The results of genetic models demonstrated that the grain weight,grain width and grain thickness conformed to the genetic model of two additive-dominant-epistatic major genes plus additive-dominant-epistatic polygenes.Two major genes of grain weight had positive additive effects that could increase grain weight.Both positive and negative interaction effect was found between the two major genes.Because of the similar effect value,the interaction effect was canceled each other out,so little effect was found on grain weight.The dominant effect of grain width and grain thickness was positive,which was helpful for increasing grain volume.Grain length conformed to the gene model of additive-dominant-epistemic and had no major gene.The genetic heritability of major gene plus polygene for grain weight in the three segregating generations(BC1,BC2and F2)was 88.02%,78.53% and 87.82%,respectively.The polygenic genetic heritability of grain length in the three segregating generations was 71.95%,61.64% and 62.93%,respectively.The inheritance rate of major gene plus polygene for grain width in the three segregating generations was 43.9%,32.69%and 68.47%,respectively.The inheritance rate of major gene plus polygene for grain thickness in the three segregating generations was 50.01%,42.86%and 68.63%,respectively.Among all grain characters,the heritability of thousand kernels weight was the highest,which indicated that thousand kernels weight was a stable character,and less affected by the environment,and might be chosen and improved effectively in filial generation.
Exploration & Application of Microbial Resources in Liquor-making Industry

Much effort has been made in the exploration and the application of microbes(bacteria of special function) in liquor-making industry and great accomplishments have been achieved as follows: ①the discovery and successful separation of Hyphomicrobium,which could be used to reduce methanol content in liquor and to eliminate nitrate in recycling water;②the separation of methane oxygenated bacteria from high alcohol concentration environment,which has wide application range and great application potential;③the separation of a methane-producing bacilli from Luzhou-flavor aged pits,which could be further developed into dual fermentation technique(co-fermentation of methane bacteria and caproic acid bacteria);④the separation of caproic acid-producing bacteria from Luzhou Laojiao pit mud,which has made great contribution in the popularization of Luzhou-flavor liquor fermentation by manmade aged pits;⑤the discovery and separation of fusel oil using strain,which provides a new method for reducing fusel oil content in alcohol industry;⑥the separation of a Bacillus sp.from high-temperature starter of Langjiu;⑦the separation of a monascus strain from Lu-type wheat starter,which could be used in the study of stengthening bacteria. (Tran.by YUE Yang)
HAM: a deep collaborative ranking method incorporating textual information

The recommendation task with a textual corpus aims to model customer preferences from both user feedback and item textual descriptions. It is highly desirable to explore a very deep neural network to capture the complicated nonlinear preferences. However, training a deeper recommender is not as effortless as simply adding layers. A deeper recommender suffers from the gradient vanishing/exploding issue and cannot be easily trained by gradient-based methods. Moreover, textual descriptions probably contain noisy word sequences. Directly extracting feature vectors from them can harm the recommender’s performance. To overcome these difficulties, we propose a new recommendation method named the HighwAy recoMmender (HAM). HAM explores a highway mechanism to make gradient-based training methods stable. A multi-head attention mechanism is devised to automatically denoise textual information. Moreover, a block coordinate descent method is devised to train a deep neural recommender. Empirical studies show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods significantly in terms of accuracy.
Applications of molecular markers to the genetic improvement of Camellia sinensis L. (tea) – A review

Summary In recent years, considerable emphasis has been placed on the development of molecular markers for a variety of objectives. However, the development and application of molecular markers in tea breeding are recent, dating back only to the mid-1990s. This review focusses on the different molecular markers used in the genetic improvement of tea, both locally and internationally. The majority of molecular marker studies in tea have been confined to genetic diversity analysis, while only a few studies have attempted to construct genetic linkage maps to facilitate marker assisted selection (MAS). So far, no reports have appeared on the practical application of MAS in tea breeding programmes, illustrating the fact that there is much work still to be done to make the MAS strategy a practical reality in tea breeding. Analyses of the genetic diversity of tea germplasm using different molecular marker techniques (RAPD, AFLP and ISSR) to date, and other areas for the application of molecular markers in tea, are discussed. The opportunities offered by the integration of molecular markers into conventional tea plant improvement programmes, highlighting the synergy of conventional breeding and MAS for genetic improvement of tea, are reviewed. Future perspectives on the application of molecular markers to various objectives related to the different stages involved in tea crop improvement, to enhance its efficiency and the cost-effectiveness of MAS, are outlined.
Functional analysis of the cornified envelope precursors, periplakin and envoplakin

Periplakin and envoplakin are components of the epithelial cornified cell envelope (CE). The CE is a crosslinked protein structure that forms beneath the plasma membrane of differentiating keratinocytes and is essential for epidermal barrier function. Periplakin and envoplakin belong to the plakin family of cytolinker proteins. Their N termini are thought to mediate their interaction with the plasma membrane. I found that the N terminus of envoplakin does not efficiently localise to desmosomes or microvilli, suggesting a dependence on periplakin for membrane localisation. I found that the first 133 amino acids of periplakin targets the protein to the apical plasma membrane. In a yeast two-hybrid screen, using this region as 'bait', a novel protein was identified and named kazrin. There are four alternatively spliced transcripts, encoding three proteins with different N termini. The interaction between periplakin and all three kazrin isoforms was confirmed by pull-down reactions. Kazrin was expressed in all layers of stratified squamous epithelia and was incorporated into the CEs of cultured keratinocytes. Kazrin localised to the cell periphery of differentiated cells, however it was more diffusely localised in cells of the basal layer. In stratified keratinocyte cultures kazrin partially colocalised with desmoplakin and periplakin at the desmosomes and periplakin at the interdesmosomal plasma membrane. In transient transfections, kazrin proteins localised predominantly to the apical plasma membrane of primary keratinocytes. The exogenous expression of kazrin proteins caused changes in keratinocyte cell shape and the actin cytoskeleton. I carried out in vivo analysis of the function of periplakin and envoplakin using mice lacking periplakin, envoplakin and involucrin expression. Triple knockout mice produced slightly larger CEs and had a slight delay in epidermal barrier formation relative to control mice. In future it would be interesting to establish the consequence of deleting the kazrin gene in mice.
Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines

The multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) algorithm was developed by Friedman as a nonparametric method for multiple regression. The MARS algorithm uses adaptively selected spline functions. Because of its adaptivity MARS is often able to model functions that express high variation in one region of the predictor space and are smoother in other parts.
The Effects of Culture Systems and Explant Incision on In vitro Propagation of Curcuma zedoaria Roscoe

Three types of culture systems, solid medium system, liquid shake flask system, and temporary immersion system (TIS) were used for testing their efficiency in propagating Curcuma zedoaria plantlets. The proliferation medium used in shoot multiplication was the Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 0.5 mg/L Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Among the three systems used, the liquid shake flask system significantly induced more shoot formation and larger shoots from the shoot explants of C. zedoaria. Meanwhile, divided shoot explants produced significantly higher number of shoots than the undivided shoot explants. The in vitro plantlets derived from the three different culture systems produced healthy and morphologically similar to the mother plants after acclimatization and being transferred to the field.
Application of Ag-Ceramic Composite Electrodes to Low Firing Piezoelectric Multilayer Ceramic Actuators

Ag-ceramic composite materials were investigated as low-cost internal electrodes for low firing piezoelectric multilayer ceramic actuators. Ag-ceramic pastes were prepared by adding PZT-based ceramic powders to a commercial Ag paste in the range of 0 to 50 wt %. PZT/Ag-PZT multilayered laminates were fabricated using tape casting and fired at temperatures below 950degC. The addition of PZT-based ceramic into the Ag electrode decreased the thermal contraction mismatch over piezoelectric ceramic sheets during sintering, which led to a lower failure rate in device fabrication. The maximum strain of PZT/Ag-PZT multilayered actuators was 9times10-4 under an electric field of 2.5 MV/m.
Comparing sensory and analytical chemistry flavor analysis

I. Quantitative descriptive analysis 3 II. Flavor lexicons 3 III. Comparison of sensory analysis and analytical chemistry flavor analysis 6 IV. Which is better? 7 A. Examples in which chemical analysis was better 8 1. Sour cream off-flavor 8 2. Ice cream with burnt-feathers off-flavor 8 3. Meat analog with beany off-flavor 10 B. Limitations of chemical analysis 11 C. Examples of the problem-solving capabilities of sensory analysis 12 1. Optimization of cheddar cheese taste in model cheese systems 12 2. QDA and PCA for sensory characterization of ultrapasteurized milk 13 3. Acceptance of reduced-fat ultrapasteurized milk by consumers 6 to 11 years old 15 4. Cheddar cheese and powdered-milk lexicons 17 V. Linking sensory and chemical analysis to better understand flavor development 18 DK3667_C001. fm Page 1 Wednesday, July 26, 2006 6:43 PM
Segmentation of retinal blood vessels using a novel clustering algorithm

In this paper, segmentation of blood vessels from colour retinal images using a novel clustering algorithm and scale-space features is proposed. The proposed clustering algorithm, which we call Nearest Neighbour Clustering Algorithm (NNCA), uses the same concept as the K-nearest neighbour (KNN) classifier with the advantage that the algorithm needs no training set and it is completely unsupervised. Results from the proposed clustering algorithm are comparable with the KNN classifier, which does require training set.
Uncertainty, Opportunism and Governance: The Effects of Volatility and Ambiguity on Formal and Relational Contracting

Volatility and ambiguity are generally thought to create exchange situations more conducive towards opportunism. We examine the effectiveness of contractual and relational governance in constraining opportunism under volatility and ambiguity. We hypothesize that relational contracts will be robust to volatility but not ambiguity, whereas formal contracts will be robust to ambiguity but not volatility. The hypotheses are supported using data from 125 interorganizational relationships involving R&D for new product development. Our findings suggest that formal and relational contracts each may have advantages and disadvantages relative to the other in specific situations, so that they are not simply substitutes. The results have important implications for transaction cost and relational contracting theory, and challenge the view that relational contracts are not so susceptible to opportunism. A revised comparative governance schema is theorized for future research.
Effects of heat stress on broiler meat quality

With the continued increases in broilers production, the negative impact of environmental conditions on birds has attracted increasing public awareness and concern. Heat stress is one of the most important environmental stressors challenging broiler production world-wide. The detrimental effects of heat stress on broilers range from reduced growth to decreased quality of broiler products. This review focuses on the available scientific evidence for the impact of heat stress in broiler production, with emphasis on performance, physiological and biochemical effects, muscle oxidation, and meat quality.
Removal of the α-Galactosides of Sucrose from Soybean Meal Using Either Ethanol Extraction or Exogenous α-Galactosidase and Broiler Performance

Two studies using broiler chicks and one using adult White Leghorn roosters were conducted to determine the influence of stachyose and raffinose (alpha-galactosides of sucrose) present in soybean meal (SBM) on the nutritional value of the meal. In Experiment 1, the addition of four levels (0, .05, .10, or .20 g/kg) of alpha-galactosidase with and without 1 g/kg of invertase to a corn-SBM diet had no effect on weight gain, feed efficiency, protein digestibility, or the digestible energy value of the feed when fed to broiler chicks. However, both enzymes decreased (P < .001) dietary AMEn. In Experiment 2, ethanol extraction and incubation of SBM with alpha-galactosidase decreased the concentrations of the alpha-galactosides of sucrose in SBM from 6.59 to . 81 and 1.43%, respectively. However, when broiler chicks were fed semi-purified diets containing SBM, ethanol-extracted SBM, water-incubated SBM, or water plus alpha-galactosidase-incubated SBM, no improvements in weight gain, feed efficiency, or apparent protein digestibility were observed. There was also no improvement in TMEn when the above meals were precision fed to adult White Leghorn roosters (Experiment 3). These results indicate that the removal of up to approximately 90% of the alpha-galactosides of sucrose has no beneficial effect on the nutritional value of SBM for chickens.
Seasonal changes in the diel vertical migration of Chaoborus punctipennis larval instars

We describe a novel seasonal shift in the vertical migration behavior of Chaoborus punctipennis second-instar larvae in Lake Opeongo, Ontario. An upward-looking 600 kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) moored at a fixed 22 m station in the lake recorded acoustic backscatter continuously during the study period. Zooplankton samples collected indicated that the abundance of C. punctipennis larval instars accounted for the greatest proportion of variance in the linear backscatter from the ADCP. The large fourth-instar larvae underwent normal diel vertical migration throughout the study. Smaller second-instar larvae underwent reverse migration during late June but switched to normal migration by late July. The acoustic record indicates that the switch occurred over a few days around late June, and at this time a double vertical migration appeared with the second instars leading and following the migration of fourth instars. We speculate that these changes in the migration of second instars are driven by seasonal shifts in predation risk from larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) and by the need to minimize spatial overlap with the larger fourth instars. Resume : Nous decrivons un changement saisonnier auparavant inconnu dans le comportement de migration verticale des larves de deuxieme stade de Chaoborus punctipennis dans le lac Opeongo (Ontario). Un profileur de courant aeffet Doppler (ADCP) de 600 kHz pointant vers le haut amarre aune station fixe de 22 m de profondeur dans le lac a enregistre en continu la retrodiffusion acoustique durant la periode d'etude. Des echantillons de zooplancton preleves ont indique que l'abondance des larves de C. punctipennis expli- quait la majeure partie de la variance de la retrodiffusion de volume enregistree par l'ADCP. Durant toute l'etude, les grandes larves de quatrieme stade etaient caracterisees par une migration verticale circadienne normale. Les plus petites larves de deuxieme stade presentaient une migration inverse ala fin de juin, mais etaient passees aune migration normale ala fin de juillet. Le registre acoustique indique que cette transition s'est operee sur quelques jours vers la fin de juin et que, ace moment, une migration verticale double est apparue dans laquelle les larves de deuxieme stade precedaient et suivaient la migration des larves de quatrieme stade. Nous postulons que ces variations dans la migration des larves de deuxieme stade sont causees par des variations saisonnieres du risque de predation par des larves de coregone (Coregonus artedi) et par le besoin de minimiser le chevauchement spatial avec les larves plus grandes de quatrieme stade. (Traduit par la Redaction)
Nutrient limiting factors in an oligotrophic South Carolina pond

Nutrient relationships were studied in a small oligotrophic pond. Dissolved nutrient levels were very low and marked seasonal changes in concentrations were not apparent. Rainfall nutrient input was large, but comparatively small quantities of nutrients entered the pond in leaf fall. Light and dark bottle productivity estimates were very low. The carbon-14 bioassay technique revealed that sulfate was the only single nutrient capable of increasing productivity. Combinations of nitrate and phosphate increased productivity as much as nitrate, phosphate, and sulfate. When calcium or potassium was added with these anions an additional increase in carbon-14 uptake was observed.
Introduction of BcWRKY1 Gene Mediated by Agrobacterium Tumefacien into Shoot Tip of Maize

BcWRKY1 gene was introduced into 7 maize inbred lines by pollen tube pathway and optimize the influence factors of genetic transformation.The results indicated that the transformation method with 100 μmol/L AS in the medium combined with vacuum at 0.05 Mpa for 10 min was beneficial to improve the transformation rate.Ninety eight maize plants resisted to herbicide,among which 23 plants showed positive PCR reaction.Eighteen transformed plants were seed.
Predicting Female Coyote Breeding Dates from Fetal Measurements

Crown-rump length, hind-foot length and weight of known-age coyote (Canis latrans) fetuses dated from estrus and metestrus onset were measured both fresh and after formalin fixation. Regression equations were established for predicting fetal age. All equations provide reliable estimates of age; the lowest correlation coefficient among the 12 sets of data was 0.97. Crown-rump measurements provided the best estimate of fetal age. To facilitate estimating breeding dates from field-collected specimens, a ruler-type scale was derived from the crown-rump measurements of fresh, estrus dated fetuses. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 41(4):746-750 Increased interest in developing more effective management of coyotes requires more basic information related to coyote reproduction and population dynamics. We conducted this study to provide a means for estimating ages of coyote fetuses and breeding dates of pregnant coyotes. With this information the effects of environmental factors on reproduction can be assessed and population models similar to that proposed by Knowlton (1972) can be confirmed or modified. There is little information on coyote fetal development or breeding dates. The only report we could find on coyote fetal development was by Gier (1968) but the growth curve was a composite of 6 sets of knownage coyote fetuses and over 60 sets of known-age dog fetuses. Although the reproductive processes of dogs and coyotes are similar, differences exist (Kennelly and Roberts 1969, Mengel 1971) suggesting the need for more information on coyote growth
Micropropagation of Plumbago zeylanica L. by encapsulated nodal explants

Summary Nodal explants excised from aseptic shoot cultures of Plumbago zeylanica were encapsulated in a sodium alginate matrix under aseptic conditions. The development of axillary shoots depended on the components of the gel matrix. The gel matrix consisting of MS basal salts supplemented with 1.0 mg l-1 BA, 0.01 mg l-1 IAA resulted in the best morphogenetic response, compared with the matrix without growth regulator. Increase in the concentration of IAA (0.1 mg l-1) reduced the rate of bud sprout and shoot multiplication. The alginate beads cultured on semi-solid culture medium having BA + IAA resulted in a greater morphogenetic response than BA + NAA. The encapsulated beads exposed to 50 ¼M CaCl2.H2O for 15 min significantly increased bud sprout, shoot multiplication and rooting. Encapsulated beads exposed to 50 ¼M CaCl2.H2O for more than 25 min reduced the morphogenetic response. The encapsulated derived plants were successfully grown-on in soil.
Sequence analysis of partial cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes of three Coregonus species

To evaluate the genetic variance of three Coregonus fish of Coregonus ussuriensis,C.autumnalis migratorius and C.peled,partial sequence of cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes from three individuals of each Coregonus species were amplified and sequenced.The sequence data of partial cytochrome b gene(402 bp) showed that there were two haplotypes(C.u1 and C.u2) in the three individuals of C.ussuriensis. There was only one haplotype found in C.autumnalis migratorius(C.am) and C.peled(C.p1),respectively.Of the 577 nucleotides of partial 16S rRNA gene,no interspecific sequence variations were observed between C.autumnalis migratorius and C.peled and two haplotypes were observed in the three C.ussuriensis individuals.This suggests that the evolution rate of cytochrome b was faster than that of 16S rRNA in Coregonus.Based on sequences of partial cytochrome b gene,a phylogenetic tree was constructed by NJ method.The phylogenetic tree showed that C.ussuriensis and C.autumnalis migratorius was closely related.The estimated divergence time between C.ussuriensis and C.autumnalis migratorius was about 0.625 million years ago,while it was about 1.52 million years ago between C.ussuriensis and C.peled. The divergence of the three Coregonus species might had occurred in Pleistocene. [Journal of Fishery Sciences of China,2007,14(1):8-14]