Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Helminth Parasites of Ruminants in Abattoir Market Jos, Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

Gastrointestinal parasitic infections of animals cause economic losses to farmers and low nutritional value to consumers. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasite found in Abattoir Market, Jos Plateau State. A total of 205 faecal samples were examined using floatation and sedimentation techniques. Of the 205 samples examined, 193(94.1%) were infected with four groups of parasites of which the nematodes 80(41.40%) were significantly (P<0.0001) prevalent. The cattle were significantly (P=0.04727) more infected 78(40.40%) while the goats 50(26.00%) were the least infected by helminth parasites. Male ruminants 100(48.80%) were more infected than female ruminants 93(45.40%). There was no significant difference (P=0.09278) in the prevalence of helminth parasite in relation to gender. The adult cattle 45(21.95%) were significantly (P=0.03797) more infected with helminth parasites, while the young goats 29(9.16%) were the least infected. The most prevalent helminth parasite encountered was Taenia saginata 40(20.33%) while Dicocoelium dendriticum 4(2.07%) was the least prevalent parasite. There was a high significant difference (P=0.0001061) in the prevalence of helminth parasite species in relation to ruminants. The result of the study revealed a high prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites among animals slaughtered in the study area. Therefore, there is need to educate the farmers on proper animal health care, feeding, sanitary conditions and routine deworming of their animals towards maximum productivity.
Soil nematode assemblages in an acid soil as affected by lime application

Liming can affect soil biota through alterations in soil pH and soil structure. Many earlier studies monitored the responses of soil nematode communities to lime application but they did not come to a consensus and did not use indices of soil nematode community and multivariate statistical approaches developed over the past two decades. The present research explored the short-term effects of lime application on soil nematode communities in an acrisol in three Eucalyptus plantations in southern China. Nematodes were sampled from control and lime-treated plots at three periods from October 2011 to February 2012 at 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm soil depths. Repeated measures ANOVA showed that lime application significantly reduced the abundance of herbivores at 10-20 cm depth during the study. Lime application tended to increase the bacterivore index at 0-10 cm depth over time. Principal response curves of soil nematode community structure, in terms of nematode trophic group composition, revealed that the differences between control and lime application treatments increased over time, primarily because of the decline of fungivores in plots treated with lime. The decline in fungivores resulted mainly from declines of Filenchus and Ditylenchus. The results suggest that the fungal-mediated decomposition channel in the soil food web was suppressed by lime application. Our study also demonstrated that the sensitivity of different nematode genera to lime application varied widely, even for genera within the same trophic group. In particular, the abundance of several bacterivorous genera (Prismatolaimus, Plectus, Wilsonema, Protorhabditis, Diploscapter and Heterocephalobus) gradually declined and that of Rhabditonema at 0-10 cm depth gradually increased following lime application during the study; two herbivorous genera, Trophotylenchulus and Helicotylenchus, had opposite responses to lime application at 0-10 cm depth. Integrating univariate statistical approaches with multivariate approaches facilitated the analysis of soil nematode responses to lime application.
Fungal feeding by Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) in a tropical woodland in Orissa, India

The food preference of three species of Enchytraeidae were examined by three techniques: (1) Squash preparations; (2) Culturing of gut contents; (3) Selective feeding on pure fungal cultures. Enchytraeids ingested large amount of organic material and fungi. Fungal material formed some 30% of the gut contents. Anteclitellar part of the body contained significantly higher percent of plant and fungal material than the postclitellar part. Analysis of gut contents showed that Rhizopus nigricans, Syncephalastrum racemosum, and Trichoderma viride are generally digested by enchytraeids while Penicillium steckii and Aspergillus niger are not digested. Isolations made from postclitellar gut content did not generally give rise to fungal colonies except for Aspergillus niger and Penicillium steckii.
Isozyme characterization and pathogenicity of Paecilomyces fumosoroseus and P. lilacinus to Diabrotica speciosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Meloidogyne javanica (Nematoda: Tylenchidae)

Abstract Ten monosporal fungal isolates of Paecilomyces fumosoroseus (Wize) Brown and Smith and 14 isolates of Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson were characterized biochemically by separating mycelial proteins using isoelectric focusing (IEF). Eleven isozyme systems were used to detect polymorphism among these isolates. According to the cluster analysis of the isozyme data, isolates of P. fumosoroseus were separated into two phenetic groups with approximately 40% similarity. The P. lilacinus isolates were a homogenous group with high (> 85%) internal similarity. Both taxa exhibited approximately 30% similarity. Among the isolates of P. fumosoroseus and P. Lilacinus, most infected
Monitoring Mortality of Pythium Zoospores in Chlorinated Water Using Oxidation Reduction Potential

Pythium species are frequently recovered from recycled irrigation water in greenhouse production systems and may cause damping off and root rot if the water is not disinfested properly. Chlorination is often employed as a disinfesting agent, but can be difficult to monitor accurately because its activity is pH-dependent. Oxidation reduction potential (ORP) is a reliable, real-time measurement of the oxidizing potential of a chlorine solution. We exposed zoospores of Pythium aphanidermatum and P. dissotocum municipal water where the ORP was increased by adding 0.125, 0.5, and 2 mg/liter chlorine (pH 7.6 to 8.1) or to the same water source where the pH was lowered to 6.0 prior to the addition of chlorine, resulting in a final pH of 6 to 7.3. Some zoospores of P. aphanidermatum and P. dissotocum survived treatment to the highest chlorine concentration for 4 min in water where pH was not lowered. When the water pH was lowered to 6.0 prior to chlorine addition, 100% of the P. aphanidermatum zoospores were killed after 0.5 min exposure to 0.5 mg/liter chlorine, where ORP ranged from 748 to 790 mV and pH 6.3. Lowering the initial water pH improved disinfestation of P. dissotocum zoospores at the highest chlorine concentration tested and a mean ORP of 790 mV.
Comparing species temperature response curves: population density versus second‐hand data

Descriptions of individual species responses to temperature are required in order to assess the impact of future global warming. The response of Rhododendron arboreum to estimated mean annual temperature was investigated in the Himalayas using General Additive Models (GAM) and Generalized Linear Models (GLM). The aim was to evaluate the consistency between the response in population density along elevation gradients versus response curves based on elevation data from herbarium specimens and vegetation surveys. The comparison was made with respect to (1) estimated temperature at the point of maximum response and (2) the shape of the response curves i.e. symmetric vs skewed. All data indicate a single optimum between 12.3 and 10.8°C. The difference is only 0.4°C between the optimum estimated from localities of herbarium specimens (frequency) and the population density data. The difference is larger (0.7°C) when the vegetation survey data are combined with the data from the herbarium specimens. However, the differences are small when the uncertainties in temperature estimation are taken into consideration. The response curves based on herbarium specimens and vegetation survey data (frequencies) are symmetric. A sigmoid response curve was estimated from herbarium specimens (binomial data). The population density along the elevation gradients was, to some extent, asymmetric. This may reflect the underlying biological structure, but sampling bias and the numerical analyses may also influence the results.
Predation by Octopus vulgaris in the Mediterranean

Octopus vulgaris consumes at least 22 molluscan and several crab species in the Mediterranean off the coast of France. Collections of prey discards in octopus middens and in areas inhabited by octopuses revealed that molluscs comprise an estimated 80% of the O. vulguris diet. Octopus predation is probably an important source of mortality for many of these prey species, causing up to 60 % of the mortality within the size ranges sampled. O. vulgaris does not selectively consume particular sizes of its three most important prey species, the bivalves Pilaria chione and Venus verrucosa and the abalone Haliotis tuberculata. Analysis of octopus drill holes on the two bivalve species showed that their locations were nonrandom, whereas the distribution of drill holes in the abalone was not distinguishable from random.
Ação de alguns produtos fitossanitários para adultos de Trichogramma galloi Zucchi, 1988 (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar em laboratorio, a 26±2°C; UR 60±10% e fotofase de 12 horas, a influencia do herbicida metribuzin 480 SC, do inseticida quimico carbaril 480 SC, do fungo Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch) Sorokin e do oleo emulsionavel de nim, Azadirachta indica A. Juss, sobre o parasitismo, a emergencia e a longevidade de Trichogramma galloi Zucchi, 1988, criados em ovos de Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794). Conduziu-se o ensaio utilizando-se 100 posturas, obtidas em laboratorio, nas 24 horas apos a oviposicao, as quais foram tratadas por imersao e oferecidas aos parasitoides. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado com dez tratamentos e dez repeticoes. O parasitismo foi prejudicado pelo nim nas concentracoes de 0,33; 0,53 e 1%, seguido pelo carbaril a 4%, metribuzim a 2,14% e M. anisopliae (IPA 159E) a 0,4%. A emergencia do parasitoide foi reduzida quando se utilizou o carbaril, M. anisopliae (IPA 159E) e metribuzim e, a longevidade foi afetada quando se empregou metribuzim e M. anisopliae (IPA 159E) com uma variacao media menor que 24 horas.
Variability and Correlations Studies for Total Iron and Manganese Contents of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) High Yielding Mutants

Increased malnutrition and food insecurity for the past several years in countries, like India, is point of great concern. Present study was undertaken to reveal the potential role of mutagenesis to induce genetic variability of total seed Fe (μg g-1) and Mn (μg g-1) contents and their correlations to the yield/plant (g) in chickpea. Fe and Mn deficiencies are usually responsible for major malnutrition conditions, while lower yield of crops results to food insecurity. Seeds of chickpea were treated with ethylmethane sulphonate (EMS), gamma rays and their combinations and studied their effects on the components of variation for yield/plant, the total seed Fe and Mn contents. Six high yielding mutants were isolated in M2 generation and their Fe and Mn contents were evaluated. Positive correlation was seen between total Fe and Mn contents to yield in the isolated mutants at lower doses of mutagen while the correlation between Fe to Mn contents was found to be negative.
The relative value of field survey and remote sensing for biodiversity assessment

The importance of habitat for biodiversity is well established, but the two most commonly used methods to measure habitat (field survey and remote sensing) have seldom been explicitly compared. We compare high‐resolution sample‐based field survey (Countryside Survey) with medium‐resolution remotely sensed habitat data (the highest resolution of Land Cover Map available) for Great Britain. Variation in abundance of 60 bird species from 335 1 km squares was modelled using habitat predictors from the two methods. Model comparisons assessed the explanatory power of (i) field survey vs. remotely sensed data and (ii) coarse information on habitat areas (Broad Habitats) vs. fine‐grained information on Landscape Features. Field survey data (combining Broad Habitat and Landscape Feature predictors) explained more variation in bird abundance than remotely sensed data (comprising Broad Habitat predictors only) for 57 species and had significantly higher mean explanatory power, averaged across 60 species models. The relative explanatory power of remote sensing, as a proportion of that provided by field data, was measured at 73%, averaged across 60 species models. Predictions from field survey Broad Habitat data were more accurate than those from either remotely sensed Broad Habitat data or field survey Landscape Feature data, averaged across 60 species models. High‐resolution data generate more reliable models of predicted local population responses to land use change than lower resolution remotely sensed data. Collection of field data is typically costly in time, labour and resources, making use of remote sensing more feasible for assessment at larger spatial extents if data of equivalent value are produced, but the cost–benefit threshold between the two is likely to be context specific. However, integration of field survey with remotely sensed data provides accurate predictions of bird distributions, which suggests that both forms of data should be considered for future biodiversity surveys.
Dinâmica dos precursores celulares do epitélio olfatório de cães sem raça definida: um estudo imunohistoquímico e ultra-estrutural

Olfactory epithelium presents a mechanism of differentiation where stem cells give arise to amplifying progenitor cell which express Mammalian Achaete Scute Homolog 1 (Mash1). These cells can be differentiated into olfactory receptors. An immunolocalization study and ultrastructural analysis by transmission electron microscopy of olfactory epithelium of mongrel dogs were made using 3 males (one year old) and 2 females (three years old). Labeled cells with positive staining by Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were observed in specific areas of the olfactory epithelium, especially above the basal membrane. The ultrastructure revealed cells adjacent to the basal membrane with morphology resembling sustentacular cells, supporting the idea of renewal of sustentacular and olfactory sensorial cells. Olfactory epithelium contains basal cells committed to self-renewal, characterized by high metabolic activity, identified by positive reaction to PCNA. These results suggested the renewal of sustentacular and sensorial olfactory cells through the same pathway.
Chaos and stability in rodent population dynamics: evidence from non-linear time-series analysis

I explore the possibility that the dynamics of some vole populations may be chaotic. Using an approach based on response surface methodology for quantifying chaos in short data sets, 1 have analyzed 11 temperate and 23 northern time series documenting microtine population fluctuations. I found that temperate populations were characterized by negative Lyapunov exponents, implying stability. In northern populations, by contrast, 15 of 23 estimated Lyapunov exponents were positive. This result suggests that nonlinear endogenous dynamics of northern voles amplify exogenous noise, thus contributing to erratic jumps in their population density
Respuesta del maíz nativo del Altiplano mexicano a pudrición de mazorca, bajo infección natural.

Response of native maize from Mexican highlands to ear rot, under natural infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response to natural infection of Fusarium spp. on 55 native maize populations. The populations evaluated were collected in five states of Mexico, and planted in three locations in 2010 and 2011 under rainfed conditions. The average percentage of ear rot was significantly different among maize populations, locations and among populations within locations and years. The population groups of kernel color showed differences among them, where yellow and red groups presented the lower infection percentages. In the relation to geographic provenance, maize populations of Oaxaca presented less damage than those from Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Guerrero states. In grain yield, there were differences among locations, populations and years. In the significant interaction between population groups and locations showed that populations with local origin presented low ear rot percentage and major yield, which suggest a coevolution and coadaptation process. The higher ear weight was obtained in 2011, where the Oaxaca populations were outstanding. It is possible to infer that native maize populations from Oaxaca are a potential source of resistance or tolerance to ear rot caused by Fusarium spp.
Coexistence of ultraheavy and ultrarelativistic Dirac qua- siparticles in sandwiched trilayer graphene

Electrons in quantum materials exhibiting coexistence of dispersionless (flat) bands piercing dispersive (steep) bands can give rise to strongly correlated phenomena, and are associated with unconventional superconductivity. It is known that in twisted trilayer graphene steep Dirac cones can coexist with band flattening, but the phenomenon is not stable under layer misalignments. Here we show that such a twisted sandwiched graphene (TSWG) – a threelayer van der Waals heterostructure with a twisted middle layer – can have very stable flat bands coexisting with Dirac cones near the Fermi energy when twisted to 1.5◦. These flat bands require a specific high-symmetry stacking order, and our atomistic calculations predict that TSWG always relaxes to it. Additionally, with external fields, we can control the relative energy offset between the Dirac cone vertex and the flat bands. Our work establishes twisted sandwiched graphene as a new platform for research into strongly interacting phases, and topological transport beyond Dirac and Weyl semimetals.
Antibacterial Mechanism of The Ehyl Acetate Extracts From Naked Oat Again Bacillus subtilis

The antibacterial mechanism of the ethyl acetate extracts from naked oat against Bacillus subtilis were studied in this paper based on assays such as cell wall alkaline phosphatase (AKP), permeability and integrity of cell membrane as well as electron microscopy observations. The results showed that the ethyl acetate extracts had significant effects on AKP, permeability and integrity of cell membrane. We concluded that the mechanism of action of the ethyl acetate extracts against B. subtilis might be described as:Acting on cell wall and membrane, resulting in disruption, cell lysis, and the leakage of intracellular constituents according to the results of AKP, the leakage of electrolytes, the losses of contents (proteins, reducing sugars and 260 nm absorbing materials) assays and electron microscopy observations. Overall, the results clearly indicated that the ethyl acetate extracts from naked oat was potential to control the contamination of foods caused by bacterial diseases
Isolation and HPTLC Densitometric Analysis of Rutin in the Broth Extract of Endophytic Aspergilluis flavus from Aegle marmelos

Abstract A dominant bioflavonoid-rutin was isolated from the fermentation broth of endophytic Aspergillus flavus obtained from Aegle marmelos. A simple, rapid and reliable High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatographic (HPTLC) method was developed for the analysis of rutin. HPTLC was carried out for qualitative determination of flavonoids in the fermentation broth using silica gel 60 F254 20×20cm thickly plated preparative chromatography plates as a stationary phase and ethyl acetate, glacial acetic acid and formic acid (5:0.5:1, v/v) as mobile phase. The plates were scanned densitometrically between 200 and 700 nm. The fermentation extract of the endophytic Aspergillus flavus produced metabolite and showed a compact and well resolved blue band with the same Rf (0.32±0.02) to that of authentic rutin. The bioactive metabolite produced by endophytic fungi is generally less than their host plant. However, in this study, the flavonoids were easily detected with HPTLC indicating more production of the metabolite. The present study demonstrates a new method to produce, isolate and analyze flavonoids by fungal fermentation, which could overcome the extensive use of the host plant.
Diet and growth of chicks of the Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, at Ramsar, northern Iran (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae)

Abstract The diet of Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo Linnaeus, 1758) chicks was studied using regurgitated fish prey in a colony at Ramsar, northern Iran, in the 2003 breeding season. The development of young was analysed in terms of body mass and wing length growth. The regurgitated prey items belong to Gobiidae, Mugilidae, Atherinidae and Clupeidae, with approximately 90% of the regurgitated prey mass belonging to Gobiidae and Mugilidae. The growth rate, expressed as body mass increment per day during the period 1–30 days, ranged from 58.7 to 112.2 g/d and was independent of age ranking and brood size. The growth rate of wings was 5.5 to 8.2 mm/d and did not vary between broods of different sizes and chicks of different ages.
Nonparametric regression modelling of green sea turtle growth rates (southern Great Barrier Reef)

Somatic growth rates recorded between 1974 and 1991 for green sea turtles Chelorl~a rnydas resident in the southern Great Barrier Reef (sGBR) foraging grounds of the sGBR genetic stock were modelled using nonparametrlc regression. The sampling deslgn in this long-term mark-recapture program was mixed longitudinal and ~ncluded growth records for female and male turtles 1-anglng between 39 and 116 cm CCL (curved carapace length). Distinct sex-specific growth patterns were found, adults displayed constant negligible growth while inter-annual variability in immature female growth attributable to major oceanographic events was evident. Females grew faster than the males from ca 62 to 65 cm CCL with divergent growth patterns following distinct juvenile growth spurts. The expected female size-specific growth rate function was nonmonotonic, rising from recruitment size (>35 cm CCL) to maximum growth of 2.1 cm yr. ' at ca 60 cm CCL before declining to negligible growth approaching sexual maturlty at ca 95 to 100 cm CCL. The male size-specific growth rate function was nonmonotonic rising from the sdme recruitment size to maxlmum groiuth of 2 . 2 cm yr. ' at ca 63 cm CCL before declining faster than females to negligible grotzlth approachlnq sexual maturity at a significantly smaller size, 595 cm CCL Assumlng a post-hatchling pelagic phase of 5 yr, the mean age at sexual maturity for each sex was estimated at 2-40 yr using numer~cal Integration of the expected slze-specific growth rate functions. Expc.cted age-specific growth rate functions for each sex derlved by numerical differentiat~on showed that the juvenile growth s p u ~ t for females resident in the sGBR foraglng grounds occurs at around 9 yr at large since recruitment (60 cm CCL. 214 yr old) and for males at ca 11 yr a t large (63 cm CCL, 216 yr old). Juvenile growth spurts, sex-specific growth, slow size-specific growth rates, inter-annual growth variability of immatures and many decades to sexual maturity are growth characteristics for green sea turtles resident in the sGBR foraging grounds of the sGBR genetic stock. K E Y WORDS: Somatic growth . Green sea turtles . Great Barrier Reef Nonparametrlc regression