Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Cave Gating On Population Trends at Individual Hibernacula of the Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis)

Installing gates at cave entrances to protect hibernating bat colonies is a widespread conservation action, particularly for endangered bat species such as the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). However, there is surprisingly little evidence on the efficacy of gates for improving population growth rates. We used change-point models to determine the effects of gate construction on Indiana bats. We estimated population growth rates at 20 hibernacula pre- and post-gating and quantified the change in population growth rates after gate installation. Hibernacula with increasing growth rates prior to gate placement all experienced decreased growth rates after installation. For hibernacula with declining growth rates prior to construction, growth rates increased moderately after installation. When weighted by population size, average change in growth rates across all 20 hibernacula was negative. Our results suggest that use of gates at hibernacula with growing populations may relate to unintended declines in growth rates but that, at hibernacula with declining populations, installation of gates may lead to moderate increases in local population growth rates.
Senescence-associated mRNAs that may participate in signal transduction and protein trafficking

The differential display technique was used to generate cDNA probes in order to identify mRNAs that are up-regulated during senescence of Arabidopsis leaves. Three mRNAs were examined that had not previously been associated with senescence. The steady-state levels of these mRNAs are detectable in small amounts in mature green leaves, but increase considerably as chlorophyll levels begin to decline. This relationship to senescence occurs under natural circumstances as well as when senescence is accelerated by leaf detachment in the dark or by addition of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC). Retardation of senescence by benzyladenine slows the increase of the mRNAs. One of these mRNAs appears to code for a protein (Sec 13) that may be involved in vesicle formation at the endoplasmic reticulum. Another mRNA codes for a protein with WD-repeat motif whose function is as yet unidentified, and the third codes for a putative calcium-dependent protein kinase. A fourth cDNA has also been cloned by subtractive hybridization from senescing Arabidopsis leaves that encodes vacuolar-processing enzyme (γVPE). Incubation of detached leaves in darkness also caused an abrupt elevation in the steady-state levels of the y VPE, similar to that of the senescing attached leaves. The possible functions of the gene products and their involvement in cellular and biochemical processes during senescence are discussed.
Resistance to ACCase-Inhibitor Herbicides in Wild Oat: Evidence for Target Site-Based Resistance in Two Biotypes from Canada

Abstract Previous results indicated that resistance to acetyl-CoA carboxylase-inhibiting herbicides in the wild oat biotype UM1 was not due to an insensitive form of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase). However, reanalysis of ACCase extracted under a variety of different buffer conditions indicated that resistance in this biotype is due to an altered form of the enzyme with reduced herbicide sensitivity. Under optimal conditions, ACCase from UM1 was very resistant to sethoxydim ( I 50 = 398 μ M ; R/S I 50 ratio = 105) and resistant, although to a lesser extent, to fenoxaprop, diclofop, and tralkoxydim (R/S I 50 ratios ca. 10). Use of the optimum extraction buffer for this biotype did not indicate an ACCase-based resistance mechanism for a second resistant wild oat biotype, UM33. Fenoxaprop and diclofop were metabolized at equal rates in UM33 and a susceptible biotype, indicating that enhanced herbicide metabolism was not responsible for resistance in this biotype. Further modification of the ACCase extraction buffer revealed that resistance in UM33 was also conferred by a target site alteration. These results suggest that certain ingredients in the ACCase extraction buffers can result in the apparent loss of resistance to herbicides and that the optimum buffer may vary for biotypes within a given species. The results also suggest that careful analysis of the sensitivity of ACCase to herbicides is required before concluding that resistance is not based on a target site alteration.
Elevated ozone modifies the feeding behaviour of the common leaf weevil on hybrid aspen through shifts in developmental, chemical, and structural properties of leaves

In this study, we tested the impact of moderately elevated ozone (O3) – 1.5 × ambient, equivalent to predicted near‐future ozone concentrations – on the feeding behaviour of the common leaf weevil Phyllobius pyri L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), on two hybrid aspen [Populus tremula ×Populus tremuloides (Salicaceae)] clones (clones 55 and 110) differing in ozone sensitivity using the open‐air ozone exposure site in Kuopio, Finland. Three host‐selection tests (test between treatments, test between clones, and test between treatments* clones) with common leaf weevil females were carried out in the laboratory in the 2nd year of ozone exposure. The beetles were offered two (four for the tests between treatments and clones) freshly cut leaf discs from first flush leaves. After 24 h, the beetles were removed and the leaf disc area consumed was measured. In the field, the unfolding of the buds was followed and samples were taken for anatomical and chemical (salicylates, condensed tannins, nitrogen, and water content) leaf analyses. Phyllobius pyri significantly preferred leaves from clone 55 to those from clone 110 in the ambient air treatment, whereas this preference was less evident under elevated ozone. Leaves from ozone‐exposed trees were significantly preferred to leaves grown in ambient air. Our results suggest that the preference of clone 55 and of ozone‐exposed leaves can be explained by phenotypic properties of the plant and prevailing ozone concentration through shifts in leaf development process, phenolic composition, and leaf thickness.
A study of the life history of Brazilian sardine, Sardinella brasiliensis: III. development of sardine larvae

O presente trabalho e parte do projeto SOL e tem por objetivo descrever a morfologia das larvas da sardinha verdadeira, Sardinella brasiliensis (=S. aurita), com o intuito de determinar um padrao que possibilite a identificacao das mesmas. Sao feitas consideracoes sobre a morfologia das larvas de outros clupeideos existentes na regiao e ressaltadas as diferencas com relacao as larvas de S. brasiliensis. Os resultados, posteriormente, serao usados como base para o estudo quantitativo da abundância de larvas de sardinha. O material foi coletado na costa sul do Brasil de 1969 a 1971, com uma rede de plâncton do tipo conico-cilindrico. Durante o desenvolvimento das larvas, foi observado um consideravel deslocamento das bases das nadadeiras dorsal e anal, para uma posicao mais anterior. Com o tamanho de 19 mm (comprimento padrao), ocorre uma mudanca geral, consideravel, nas proporcoes corporais. A ossificacao de todos os raios das nadadeiras completa-se quando a larva atinge 20 mm, mas a ossificacao dos escudos ventrais so se completa quando ela atinge 30 mm de comprimento. A ossificacao das vertebras completa-se a 16 mm de comprimento. O tamanho de 19 mm foi considerado como o fim do estagio larval, e, apos este comprimento, consideramos a larva no estagio prejuvenil (=transformal).
Maternal and seasonal differences in egg sizes and spawning characteristics of captive Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua

Nous avons etudie l'influence maternelle et celle de la saison de ponte sur les variations de grosseur et des caracteristiques genesiques des oeufs pondus par des femelles de la morue franche, Gadus morhua, qui provenaient de la baie de Fundy, Canada. La ponte s'est echelonnee de la fin decembre a la mi-juin. Nous n'avons observe aucune variation saisonniere dans la taille des oeufs provenant de toutes les femelles et regroupes. Quant aux femelles, celles qui commencaient plus tard dans l'annee pondaient moins longtemps et produisaient moins de masses d'oeufs, mais qui etaient plus importantes et pondues a une frequence accrue. Les effets attribuables aux femelles (n f = 10) et le nombre de masses d'oeufs par femelle (n mf = 73) permettaient d'expliquer 35 et 26 %, respectivement, de la variation totale du diametre des oeufs. La taille des oeufs pondus tot en saison etait indicatrice de celle des oeufs que les memes femelles pondraient par la suite. Il n'existe pas de correlation entre la taille des femelles et la grosseur des oeufs, cependant les femelles en meilleur etat pondaient de plus gros oeufs. L'effet attribuable aux masses d'oeufs etait largement associe a la diminution saisonniere de la taille des oeufs de femelles considerees isloement et il etait en rapport avec l'etat des femelles. Nous n'avons pas fait varier la temperature de l'eau au cours de cette etude, mais les travaux anterieurs nous ont appris qu'elle constitue une cause dominante des variations saisonnieres de la grosseur des oeufs en milieu naturel.
Foraging Ecology of the Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala): A Review

Abstract. The value of foraging studies in developing conservation strategies for storks is important because their breeding is often limited by food distribution. The foraging behavior and trophic specializations of the Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala), a flagship of wetlands and listed as near threatened, is reviewed here. Trophic adaptations among Mycteria and other storks, the importance of prey capture by tactolocation and various aspects of foraging behavior including diet, prey size, foraging and nesting correlates, variations in foraging activity, nocturnal foraging and kleptoparasitism are examined. Also, an account of the foraging behavior of a close congener, Milky Stork (M. cinerea), and the manner in which the foraging activities of Painted Stork, particularly biomass removal by predation and enrichment of the waters by droppings impact the ecosystem, is included. Since nesting of Painted Stork and other species of colonial waterbirds is closely linked to the performance of the monsoon, .
Identification and Nucleotide Sequence of a Tobacco rattle virus RNA‐1 Variant that Causes Spraing Disease in Potato cv. Bintje

An isolate of Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) obtained from a site in the Netherlands induced symptoms of spraing disease in tubers of the potato variety Bintje, which is generally considered to be resistant to infection by TRV. The isolate contained two phenotypically distinguishable RNA-1 variants, one of which was shown to carry the determinant for the ability to cause spraing in cv. Bintje. The nucleotide sequence of the coding region of this RNA-1 was determined and found to differ at 5.2–5.4% of positions from other TRV RNA-1 sequences in the database. The amino acid sequences of the predicted translation products were between 92 and 99% identical to those of a TRV RNA-1 that did not cause spraing in cv. Bintje, with P1b being the most divergent and the replicase read-through domain the least.
Episodic outbreaks of small mammals influence predator community dynamics in an east African savanna ecosystem

Little is known about the dynamics of small mammals in tropical savanna: a critical gap in our understanding of Africa's best known ecosystems. Historical evidence suggested small mammals peak in abundance (outbreak) in Serengeti National Park (SNP), as in agricultural systems. We asked 1) what are bottom–up drivers of small mammals and 2) do predators have top–down effects? We documented dynamics of small mammals, birds of prey, and mammalian carnivores in SNP and agricultural areas. We used climatic fluctuations and differences between unmodified and agricultural systems as perturbations to examine trophic processes, key to understanding responses to climate change and increasing human pressures. Data were derived from intermittent measures of abundance collected 1968–1999, combined with systematic sampling 2000–2010 to construct a 42-year time series. Data on abundance of black-shouldered kites (1968–2010), eight other species of rodent-eating birds (1997–2010), and 10 carnivore species (1993–2010) were also collated. Outbreaks occurred every 3–5 years in SNP, with low or zero abundance between peaks. There was a positive relationship between rainfall in the wet season and 1) small mammal abundance and 2) the probability of an outbreak, both of which increased with negative Southern Oscillation Index values. Rodent-eating birds and carnivores peaked 6–12 months after small mammals. In agricultural areas, abundance remained higher than in natural habitats. Abundances of birds of prey and mammalian carnivores were extremely low in these areas and not related to small mammal abundance. Small mammals are an important food resource for higher trophic levels in the Serengeti ecosystem. Changes in climate and land use may alter their future dynamics, with cascading consequences for higher trophic levels, including threatened carnivores. Although outbreaks cause substantial damage to crops in agricultural areas, small mammals also play a vital role in maintaining some of the diversity and complexity found in African savanna ecosystems.
Direct binding of β‐arrestins to two distinct intracellular domains of the δ opioid receptor

β‐Arrestins regulate opioid receptor‐mediated signal transduction and play an important role in opiate‐induced analgesia and tolerance/dependence. This study was carried out to measure the direct interaction between β‐arrestins and opioid receptor. Immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that β‐arrestin 1 physically interacts with delta opioid receptor (DOR) co‐expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells in an agonist‐enhanced manner and truncation of the carboxyl terminus of DOR partially impairs the interaction. In vitro data from glutathione‐S‐transferase pull‐down assay showed that the carboxyl terminus (CT) and the third intracellular loop (I3L) of DOR are both capable of and either domain is sufficient for binding to β‐arrestin 1 and 2. Surface plasmon resonance determination further revealed that binding of CT and I3L of DOR to β‐arrestin is additive, suggesting these two domains bind at distinctly different sites on β‐arrestin without considerable spatial hindrance. This study demonstrated for the first time the direct binding of β‐arrestins to the two distinct domains, the carboxyl terminus and the third intracellular loop, of DOR.
Temperature Characteristics of Psychrotrophic and Psychrophilic Bacteria

Summary: When the Arrhenius equation is applied to microbial growth rates, a temperature characteristic (μA) represents the activation energy. While these μA values describe the energetics favouring growth, there is still no convincing evidence from empirical data to support the idea of a widely applicable relationship between μA values and optimal growth temperatures, which may serve as a basis for the classification of psychrophiles, psychrotrophs, mesophiles and thermophiles. The μA values for the exponential growth rates of 16 psychrophilic and psychrotrophic bacterial strains, including 9 from the literature, varied from 3 to 33 (kcal mol-1). A plot of μA versus growth temperature optimum deviated considerably from empirical equations reported recently (Mohr & Krawiec, 1980) for a different selection of strains. Moreover, Arrhenius profiles with two distinct slopes at suboptimal temperatures were not restricted to bacteria with growth temperature optima higher than 37 °C, as had been suggested in that report. A psychrotrophic strain of Cytophaga johnsonae with a growth temperature optimum of 23-25 °C was characterized by two different temperature characteristics. Furthermore, in the upper range of suboptimal temperatures (11-24 °C), temperature characteristics (μA1) were also affected by temperature acclimation of the inoculum.
Genetic diversity and relationships in wild species of Brassica and allied genera as revealed by cross-transferable genomic STMS marker assays.

One hundred and sixty one genomic STMS markers were tested from four different Brassica species (Brassica napus L., Brassica nigra (L.) Koch, Brassica rapa L. and Brassica oleracea L. ) for cross-transferability to eleven different species of Brassica and allied genera. In total, 70 (43.5%) STMS markers showed cross-transferability to at least one of the eleven species which were considered for the study and it revealed a significant effect of taxonomic group on the proportion of markers amplified. Out of the 70 cross-transferable STMS markers, 32 (45.7%) markers were polymorphic and distinguished the studied taxa. The 'B' genome derived STMS markers showed lower level of cross-transferability as compared to those derived from 'A' and 'C' genomes of Brassica species. The cross-transferable STMS markers were applied to characterize the genetic variability and to evaluate the genetic relationships among the species using un-weighted pair group method average (UPGMA) analysis. The results indicated a high level of congruence with earlier reports and are in agreement with their recognized taxonomy.
Unconstrained Facial Recognition Systems: A Review

Face recognition presents a challenging problem in the field of image analysis and computer vision, and as such has received a great deal of attention over the last few years because of its applications in various domains. Face recognition under controlled environment that is where pose, illumination and other factors are controlled, has well been developed in the literature and near perfection accuracy results have been achieved. However, the unconstrained counterpart, where these factors are not controlled, still under heavy research. Recently, newly developed algorithms in the field that are based on deep learning technology have made significant progress. In this paper, an overview of the newly developed unconstrained facial recognition systems is presented.
Generation of transgenic tobacco plants with enhanced tocotrienol levels through the ectopic expression of rice homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase

Tocotrienols with three double bonds in the hydrocarbon tail are the major form of vitamin E in the seeds of most monocots and certain dicots. They have recently been attracting increasing attention for their various biological properties for human health. Homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase (HGGT) catalyzes the committed step of tocotrienol biosynthesis. HGGT, except for enzyme from barley, has been not analyzed in detail, although cDNAs encoding HGGT have been isolated from barley, wheat, and rice. Since tocotrienol levels are higher in rice than in barley, rice HGGT (OsHGGT) may have superior enzymatic characteristics to those of barley HGGT. In the present study, we generated transgenic tobacco plants introducing OsHGGT cDNA into a nuclear genome and measured their tocopherol and tocotrienol levels. We demonstrated that the ectopic expression of OsHGGT enhanced tocotrienol levels without decreasing tocopherol levels in tobacco plants. The results of the present study may lead to a better understanding of the manipulation of vitamin E biosynthesis in leafy vegetables.
Development of PBW 343 Near Isogenic Lines for Leaf Rust Resistance Genes Lr24 and Lr28

PBW 343 has become the most widely cultivated variety of the country occupying an area of about 7 million hectares, primarily in the North Western Plains Zone of India. PBW 343 is presently showing indications of monoculture-induced resistance breakdown against leaf rust though incidence in the farmers field may still be below a yield damaging threshold. Alien genes Lr24 (from Agropyron elongatum) and Lr28 (from Aegilops speltoides) are available in cultivated wheat backgrounds and are effective against most of the prevalent leaf rust pathotypes of Indian subcontinent. These two genes were transferred to PBW 343 in two separate backcross programmes leading to a set of BC5F4 lines and BC4F2 populations for Lr24 and Lr28, respectively. The gene transfers were followed in the backcross generations through disease reaction at the seedling stage as well as under field conditions. The SCAR markers linked to leaf rust resistance genes Lr24 and Lr28 were used to validate the identity and to confirm the transfer of these genes in PBW 343 background. Eleven BC5F4 lines carrying Lr24 in PBW 343 background were evaluated for yield, yield components and other agronomic traits. Reconstitution of PBW343 traits was observed in most of the near isogenic lines (NILs).
Diurnal changes in nonstructural carbohydrates and amino acids in pigeonpea leaves

Abstract The modern varieties of pigeonpea were domesticated from perennial wild species with a tall bushy startue (van der Maesen 1990). Although breeding efforts had been focused on the incorporation of the annual character compatible with the present cropping systems, perennial character persists in the growth habit. The growth feature related to the perennial character is represented by a low early growth vigor (Brakke and Gardner 1987). The lower net photosynthetic rate compared with that of sunflower, cotton, and other legumes at the same leaf age (Rawson and Constable 1981) may account for the slow growth. Although photosynthetic activities are controlled by many factors, including environmental, physical, and chemical factors, allocation of the fixed carbon into either starch or sucrose is one of the regulating mechanisms in photosynthetic pathways (Huber et al. 1990) which directly affects translocation of photosynthates and consequently whole plant growth.
Influence of mycorrhiza on the growth and flowering in cultivated plants of Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench (Asteraceae)

Sandy everlasting, Helichrysum arenarium, a perennial belonging to Asteraceae family, is a source of valuable herbal material and therefore is under partial protection in Poland. It grows in sunny places on sandy soils, in abandoned fields, along roadsides and in dry forests and thickets, where it enters into symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The studies on the biology, ecology and cultivation of sandy everlasting have been vigorously pursued since 2003. The aim of this work was assessing the influence of root colonisation by mycorrhizal fungi on the growth and development of H. arenarium cultivated on clayey soil. Two independent experiments (in the pots and in field) were performed. In the first one, under laboratory conditions, the effect of inoculation of soil with arbuscular fungus Glomus intraradices on the biometric features of sandy everlasting seedlings was analyzed. The second experiment was designed to show the association of the root colonisation level with the biometric features of generative shoots grown in an open field. It was demonstrated that sandy clay is an appropriate medium for growing sandy everlasting, enabling a proper development of seedlings and ensuring high inflorescence yield. The amendment of soil with inoculum resulted in a significant decrease in the mass of vegetative and generative shoot parts and made the cultivation more expensive. The inflorescence yield (Inflorescentia Helichrysi) obtained from inoculated plots was lower by 36%.