Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Floristic Composition, Species Richness and Diversity of Campo Rupestre Vegetation from the Itacolomi State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Nevertheless campos rupestres are considered species rich and diverse vegetation formations, phytosociological surveys from the Itacolomi State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil, are lacking in scientific literature. To close this gap, we compared floristic composition, species richness and diversity from two sites, Lagoa Seca and Calais, both situated within the park. Calais is moderately impacted by extensive pasture, fire, and settling activities. Both surveys contained 15 plots of 10 x 10 m, cardinality of each species was estimated. Beside species richness, the indexes of Shannon-Wiener, Fisher’s ? , the community richness estimator Jackknife 1 and the numbers of endemic, endangered and invasive species were compared. With 107 species, the moderately impacted Calais showed higher species richness than Lagoa Seca (76 species). The indices of Shannon-Wiener and Fisher’s ? , the community richness estimator, as well as point diversity and spatial turnover derived from the species-area relationship (SAR) indicated higher diversity for Calais. From Lagoa Seca, 30% of all species are endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest or to Cerrado, and four species are endangered, not any species found in Lagoa Seca is described as an invasive one. On the other hand, 23 species found in Calais are invasive species, only one from all 107 species is endangered. Only 19% of all species found in Calais are endemic. Nevertheless species richness and diversity differ between both study sites, they are exceptionally high compared to similar vegetation formations from further regions. This justifies the declaration of the park as a local hotspot of biodiversity. Furthermore, our results show that species richness or diversity measures are inappropriate criteria to evaluate the intactness of campo rupestre vegetation. More weight should be put on criteria like numbers of invasive, endemic or endangered species.
α2A- and α2C-Adrenergic Receptors Form Homo- and Heterodimers: The Heterodimeric State Impairs Agonist-Promoted GRK Phosphorylation and β-Arrestin Recruitment†

Dimerization of seven transmembrane-spanning receptors diversifies their pharmacologic and physiologic properties. The α2-adrenergic receptor (α2AR) subtypes A and C are both expressed on presynaptic nerves and act to inhibit norepinephrine release via negative feedback. However, in vivo and in vitro studies examining the roles of the two individual α2A- and α2CAR subtypes are not readily reconciled. We tested the hypothesis that the receptors form homo- and heterodimers and that the α2A−α2C heterodimer has unique properties. SDS−PAGE of epitope-tagged receptors revealed potential oligomers including dimers. BRET of live HEK-293 cells transfected with the subtypes fused to Rluc or YFP revealed that both subtypes form dimers and the heterodimer. A lower BRET50 for the α2A−α2C heterodimer (0.79 ± 0.20) compared to that of the α2A or α2C homodimer (2.331 ± 0.44 or 3.67 ± 0.69, respectively) suggests that when both subtypes are expressed, there is a greater likelihood that the two receptors will form the hete.
Does irradiance influence the tolerance of marine phytoplankton to high pH?

Abstract The effect of irradiance on the tolerance to high pH of the two marine protists Heterocapsa triquetra and Nitzschia navis-varingica were investigated by conducting a series of pH drift experiments. In order to select appropriate levels of irradiance for the pH drift experiments, the photosynthetic activity and the growth rates of the two species were investigated at irradiances from 5 to 250 µmol photons m−2 s−1. Irradiances of 20, 35, 80 and 250 µmol photons m−2 s−1 were subsequently selected for further studies, because they represented conditions from severely light limited to fully light saturated with respect to photosynthesis and growth. At all four light levels, the pH limits for growth were 9.29–9.42 for H. triquetra and 9.54–9.77 for N. navis-varingica. The pH limit for growth was not positively correlated to irradiance in either of the species. We therefore conclude that low light does not reduce the pH tolerance of the protists studied.
Spatial pattern of downed logs and wood‐decaying fungi in an old‐growth Picea abies forest

Since many wood-living forest species are influenced by the dynamics of coarse woody debris (CWD), information about the spatial pattern of CWD under natural conditions is essential to understand species distributions. In this study we examined the spatial pattern of downed logs and wood-decaying fungi in an old-growth boreal Picea abies forest in northwestern Sweden that is governed by gap-phase dynamics. The spatial pattern of wood-decaying fungi was studied to draw conclusions about species dispersal abilities. A total of 684 logs with a diameter > 10 cm were mapped and analysed with Ripley's K-function. The distribution of all logs taken together displayed a significant aggregated pattern up to 45 m. The different decay stages also deviated from random expectations. Fairly fresh logs and logs in the middle decay stage were clumped up to about 25 and 35 m respectively, and late decayed logs aggregated up to 95 m. Logs with diameters from 10–29 cm were aggregated up to 25 m, whereas logs ≥30 cm diameter were randomly distributed. The result suggests that gap-dynamics do have an impact on the spatial pattern of the CWD, creating fine-scale clumping. The random distribution of large logs may result from the slightly regular spacing of large living trees. The spatial patterns of 16 species (n > 20) of wood-decaying fungi were analysed with Ripley's K-function. Three patterns were aggregated, for Gloeophyllum sepiarium, Coniophora olivacea and Vesiculomyces citrinus. These results indicate that the distribution of most species at the stand level is generally not influenced by dispersal limitations.
Effects of synthetic kisspeptin peptides and GnRH analogue on oocyte growth and circulating sex steroids in prepubertal female chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus)

In recent years, kisspeptin peptides, encoded by kiss genes have been used to manipulate reproductive processes in farmed animals, including fish. Our previous studies demonstrated that the chub mackerel brain expresses kiss1 and kiss2 and intramuscular injection of synthetic Kiss1 pentadecapeptide (Kiss1-15) but not Kiss2 dodecapeptide (Kiss2-12) accelerates spermatogenesis in prepubertal male chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus). In the present study, we evaluated their effects in prepubertal female chub mackerel. The gonadosomatic index (GSI) values of experimental fish did not show any significant changes. Condition factor (CF) values increased significantly in Kiss1-15 treated fish, in comparison with control and GnRH analogue (GnRHa) injected fish. Histologically, only perinucleolar oocytes were found in all experimental fish. However, Kiss and GnRHa treated fish showed a significant increase in the perinucleolar oocyte diameter, in comparison with the control fish. Gene expression analyses revealed decreased expression of gnrh1 in the telencephalon-preoptic region of the brain of Kiss2-12 and GnRHa injected fish, in comparison with control fish. In contrast, GnRHa injected fish exhibited higher levels of fshβ in the pituitary, with no changes in the levels of lhβ among different treatments. Levels of circulating sex steroids, testosterone, and estradiol-17β were significantly higher in Kiss1-15 injected fish, in comparison with control fish. These results indicate that synthetic kisspeptin peptides and GnRHa can induce oocyte growth in prepubertal female chub mackerel.
Trade-off between migration and reproduction: does a high workload affect body condition and reproductive state?

Migratory birds have to invest much energy into flight to reach their summer and winter quarters. Many studies have shown how migration affects body physiology, including the accumulation of energy stores and the reduction of nonessential organs. In spring, the costs of migration may trade-off with preparations for breeding, such as the timing and extent of development of primary and secondary sexual traits. Birds arriving earlier on the breeding grounds often have a higher reproductive success than late-arriving birds, but no study to date has addressed whether and how the flight workload during migration itself influences reproduction. Using a wind tunnel, we investigated the effect of a high workload during long flights on measures of body condition and reproductive state in male rose-colored starlings (Sturnus roseus). We compared an experimental group that flew in the wind tunnel every day and covered a total flight distance of >4700 km in 49 days with a control group of males that did not fly. All birds had ad lib access to food. After the "migration" period, individuals from both groups were kept in a common breeding aviary, where they directly competed for nest-boxes and females. Contrary to expectation, birds from the experimental and control group did not differ significantly in the spontaneous seasonal changes in fat score, in breast muscle thickness, in plasma testosterone levels, and in bill and mantle color. Body mass increased more slowly in experimental than in control birds, but it reached the same level soon after the migration period. We did not observe any effect of the experimentally increased heavy workload on behavior during the early breeding phase or on any parameter of reproductive success. We thus failed to find a trade-off between long flight and the development of traits in preparation for breeding or reproductive success. A possible treatment effect might have been obscured by the unrestricted food supply. However, we cannot exclude effects on other life-history stages such as future survival, migration, or reproduction. Our results attest to the strong endogenous control of seasonal physiological changes in preparation for breeding that occur independently of the extreme effort invested in long-distance migration. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
LIFE HISTORY OF THE WHITE‐TAILED TROGON TROGON VIRIDIS

SUMMARY In southern Costa Rica the White-tailed Trogon inhabits the upper levels of heavy forest, from sea level up to about 3,500 feet. It is found alone or in pairs, never in flocks. It subsists on insects and fruits plucked while hovering on wing, and occasionally it catches a lizard on the ground. Its song, an accelerated series of soft, melodious notes, serves to distinguish it from associated trogons. The preparation of nests begins in the dry month of March, the male taking the initiative. The cavity is carved in the soft wood of a decaying trunk, in or near the forest, by both sexes working alternately. An ascending shaft leads into the top of an ellipsoidal chamber placed deep in the wood. In other regions similar chambers are carved in termitaries. Laying occurs from mid-April to August. Two or three white eggs are deposited, at intervals of two days, on wood particles which cover the floor of the unlined nest. The eggs are incubated almost constantly by both parents, sitting alternately. Each day the male takes one long session lasting six to eight hours, and the female sits the rest of the time, including the night. At one nest, the male sat through the middle half of the day. At another nest, he often began to incubate before sunrise, and the female returned to relieve him soon after noon. The incubation period is 16 or 17 days. Eggs which failed to hatch were attended for 51 days, until they disappeared. The nestlings are hatched with naked, pink skin. Both parents feed them infrequently but with very substantial portions. Two unfeathered nestlings were fed only two to four times in the first six hours of the day. A single older nestling received only nine meals in 11 hours. In the first days after hatching, the nestlings are brooded a little by both parents, but daytime brooding ceases long before they are feathered. One female covered her nestlings by night until they were 11 days old. At one nest, the female vanished soon after the eggs hatched, and the male alone then reared the nestling. There is no nest sanitation. Although feathered at the age of about two weeks, a nestling remained in the nest until it was 25 days old.
Signs, curls, and time variations: learning to appreciate Faraday’s law

In this article, we present the analysis of a study on the development of conceptual understanding of dynamic electromagnetic fields of electrical engineering students in Finland. The focus of the study was teaching and understanding of Faraday’s law. A coil with two light-emitting diodes and a strong permanent magnet were used with which the induced electromotive force could be made visible. However, the field and flux directions, temporal changes, and topological constellations within this setting determine in a subtle manner the character of the resulting electric effect. The demonstration was used on electromagnetic field theory classes at Aalto University, Finland, to assess the conceptual understanding of the students. Drawing from the Peer Instruction principle, the students were asked to fill in a questionnaire concerning this experiment, first on their own, and once again after discussing with their neighbors in the classroom. They were asked about the direction of the electric force and the confidence of their answer. The results show that the answer is not very obvious: students tend to vote for the wrong answer. The Peer Instruction discussion greatly improves the situation. Also, the confidence of the students increases thanks to the discussion period with neighbors. The results, however, seem to be somewhat sensitive to the exact constellation and the administration of the experiment.
Phylogenetic Relationships of the Dasyurid Marsupial Genus Murexia

Abstract Five species of dasyurid marsupials endemic to New Guinea and herein referred to as Murexia longicaudata, M. rothschildi, M. habbema, M. naso, and M. melanurus have a varied taxonomic history. Until 1984, the latter 3 species had been assigned to the otherwise strictly Australian genus Antechinus, but comparisons of phallic morphology showed that this arrangement was untenable. Immunological and DNA hybridization studies of dasyurids suggested that New Guinean “antechinuses” were part of a clade that included M. longicaudata and M. rothschildi, a finding that was confirmed by early DNA sequence comparisons. Comprehensive analyses of cytochrome b, 12S rRNA, and protamine P1 sequences from all recognized dasyurid species led to the recommendation that these 5 species be included in a single genus (Murexia) that, along with Phascogale and Antechinus, constitutes the dasyurid tribe Phascogalini. Recently, however, a morphocladistic study concluded that these species are neither closely related to one another nor to any other dasyurid clade, placing them instead as successive basal branches within the family and assigning each to a distinct genus. Here we report results from an expanded DNA sequence data set that includes 2 additional mitochondrial loci (16S rRNA and control region) and 2 nuclear loci (beta-fibrinogen intron 7 and interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein exon 1) from phascogalin species and selected dasyurid and myrmecobiid outgroups. Phylogenetic analyses of these sequences show strong support for the monophyly of Murexia and its placement within Phascogalini, and provide the 1st resolved phylogeny of Murexia and Antechinus species. Reassessment of the morphological data suggests that the apparently primitive cranidental anatomy of Murexia may be an artifact of character polarizations or indicative of extreme homoplasy.
Sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) in the northeast of the Czech Republic with special regard to spruce forests.

Sawflies were collected in the northeast of the Czech Republic using Townes type Malaise traps. Traps were placed in eleven young Norway spruce (Picea abies) forests during the period from 1998 to 1999. Localities cover altitudes from 230 to 1,000 m a.s. l. In total, 285 species of Symphyta have been recently known from the study area (Xyelidae – 1, Pamphiliidae – 7, Argidae – 10, Cimbicidae – 3, Diprionidae – 5, Tenthredinidae – 252, Siricidae – 1, Xiphydriidae – 1, Cephidae – 5). The majority of the species have large distributional ranges and their host plants are forest tree species. Most of the sawflies were obtained from Malaise traps located in the young spruce stands, and therefore the silvicolous species prevail. Neodineura arquata represents a new genus and species and Heptamelus dahlbomi a new species for the fauna of the Czech Republic. Nine species have been classified as endangered and twenty-one species have been classified as vulnerable. Pristiphora robusta has been deleted from the list.
Composição e abundância relativa dos mamíferos de médio e grande porte no Parque Estadual do Turvo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Between January of 2005 and December of 2006, studies on the composition and relative abundance of medium and large sized mammals were carried out in Turvo State Park. Records came from camera-trapping, in addition to visualization and presence and absence data from track surveys along pre determined transects. At total, 29 species of medium-large sized mammals were listed. Of these, Dasyprocta azarae Lichtenstein, 1823 and Sylvilagus brasiliensis (Linnaeus, 1758) were the most frequently found. For carnivores, the majority of records were for Nasua nasua (Linnaeus, 1766) and Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758), whereas Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775), Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1782) and Galictis cuja (Molina 1782), had the least. Among the ungulates, only Pecari tajacu (Linnaeus, 1758) showed frequent records, ranking fourth overall. Some species, common to other environments, showed few records at Turvo State Park, such as Dasypus novemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758 and Didelphis albiventris Lund, 1840. Data was suggestive of the probable local extinction of Tayassu pecari(Link, 1795) in the Park. The conservation of the medium and large sized mammals of this conservation area is strongly associated with the conservation of the "Misiones Green Corridor", which probably represents a source area for many species.
Production of Single Cell Protein in Stickwater by Lactobacillus acidophilus and Aspergillus niger

The aim of this study was to investigate production of single cell protein (SCP) using Lactobacillus acidophilus and Aspergillus niger in stickwater from fish meal factories. Stickwater was used as substrate for L. acidophilus and A. niger and compared with standard medium as control. The maximum chemical oxygen demand reduction by L. acidophilus was achieved at 55.4 and 86.4% and that by A. niger at 74.1 and 97.7% in the control treatment and stickwater, respectively. The maximum protein obtained by L. acidophilus was at 71.13 and 68.37% and that by A. niger at 51.36 and 48.66% for the control and stickwater, respectively. The amount of RNA by L. acidophilus was also found to be at 15.27 and 15.04% and that by A. niger at 9.36 and 9.09% for the control and stickwater, respectively. By substitution of stickwater and control treatment, in both cultures, maximum and minimum amounts of glutamic acid and methionine were obtained. According to the results of this study, the substitution of stickwater (as carbon source) was adequate for the production of SCP. The chemical score of the SCP in the biomass of both L. acidophilus and A. niger in stickwater indicates that the amino acid profile of SCP fulfils adult human nutritional requirements, except for methionine. In addition, the chemical score of the SCP shows that lysine, methionine, and phenylalanine are the most limiting amino acids and that other amino acids are present at levels exceeding the requirements of juvenile common carp.
Construction of a Tobamovirus Vector That Can Systemically Spread and Express Foreign Gene Products in Solanaceous Plants.

In present-day biology, a facile gene delivery system is required to study gene function in a high throughput way. The use of plant virus vectors that can introduce foreign or extra endogenous genes into plants attracts much attention. It is advantageous in that researchers need only minimal experience and results can be obtained in a short period of time. Here we describe infectious cDNA clones of the tomato mosaic tobamoviruses (ToMV) that were modified for facile insertion of foreign genes and which retained the ability to multiply in plants. This vector, named TocJ, was able to harbor the GFP gene from Aequorea victoria and systemically spread in some Solanaceous plants. TocJ would be suitable for the overexpression of foreign genes and the analysis of gene functions in various Solanaceous plants.
Review and reﬁnement of an existing qualitative risk assessment method for application within an ecosystem-based management framework of Marine Science

The adoption of risk-based methodologies is considered essential for the successful implementation of an ecosystem approach to ﬁsheries and broader aquatic management. To assist with these initiatives, one of the qualitative risk assessment methods adapted for ﬁsheries management overadecadeagohasbeenreviewed.Thismethodwasupdatedtoensurecompliancewiththerevisedinternationalstandardsforriskmanagement(ISO31000)andtoenableconsiderationofecological,economic,social,andgovernancerisks. Thereviewalsoaddressedthedifﬁcultiesthathavebeenencounteredinstakeholderunderstandingoftheunderlyingconceptsandtoincreasethedisciplineinitsapplication. Theupdatesincludesimplifyingthenumberofconsequenceandlikelihoodlevels,adoptinggraphicaltechniquestorepresentdifferentconsequencelevels,anddiscuss-ing how changesin uncertaintycan affect riskscores.Adopting anexplicit “weightof evidence”approach hasalso assistedwithdetermining which consequencescenarios areconsideredplausible and,whererelevant, their speciﬁclikelihoods. Therevisedmethodsthereforeincorporatethecon-ceptual elements from a number of qualitative and quantitative approaches increasing their reliability and enabling a more seamless transition along this spectrum as more lines of evidence are collected. It is expected that with continued application of these methods, further reﬁnements will be identiﬁed.
Chemical Composition of Satureja hortensis L Essential Oils Depending on Ontogenetic Stage and Season

Abstract The essential oil isolated from the air-dried leaf/flower fraction of Satureja hortensis L. (family: Lamiaceae) grown in Quedlinburg, Germany, was analysed by GC/FID. Plants were cultivated in summer as well as in autumn. Twelve components were identified, independent of season, among which carvacrol was the main component with a range of 55.3–59.5% in the summer and 55.5–57.9% in the autumn, respectively. γ-Terpinene varied between 30.1–33.8% in the summer and 32.1–33.5% in the autumn. From the other compounds detected, α—terpinene (2.9–3.3%) and p-cymene (2.3–3.8%) occurred in notable quantity. With the increase of γ—terpinene in summer cultivation, a decrease of carvacrol was observed.