Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do alien and native tree species from Central Argentina differ in their water transport strategy

In this study we assessed the water transport strategies and the abundance of alien and native tree species at a regional scale in Cordoba Mountains, Central Argentina. The aims of this study were: (i) to analyse whether alien and native tree species show divergent water transport strategies; and (ii) to explore whether species abundances of alien and natives are associated with specific trait attributes. Eight alien species and 12 native species were recorded in 50 complete vascular plant vegetation releves. Water transport strategies were assessed through the following functional traits: minimum leaf water potential, potential water content of wood, effective leaf area, leaf area per sapwood area and wood density. Also, resource use strategies were assessed throughout the measurement of specific leaf area. We found that alien species had a higher efficiency in water transport (i.e. higher minimum leaf water potential and lower wood density values) and faster resource acquisition and use (higher specific leaf area values) than native species. We did not find evidence suggesting that the relative abundance of species was associated to water transport strategies and faster resource acquisition and use. Alien species seem to differ from natives in specific functional attributes that are absent in the resident community and might allow aliens to use more resources and at a higher rate than native species. Finally, our results show the potential of a trait-based predictive framework for alien species, and the possible effects on ecosystem functions.
Maturation responses of salmonids to changing developmental opportunities

Maturation is the allocation of energy to growth and differentiation of germinal tissue to the ultimate production of gametes. In Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, maturation begins in the egg soon after fertilisation and continues intermittently until the individual is capable of spawning. Completion of the process depends on exceeding genetically determined biochemical thresholds (lipid status) in critical seasons (through responsiveness to photoperiod cues). Hence, maturation is regulated by inhibition, and age and size at maturity depend on physiological efficiency (genetic endowment) and developmental opportunity (environmental context). This interaction of genetic diversity and developmental flexibility leads to multiple maturation trajectories (up to 32 in steelhead trout Oncorhychus mykiss) and wide variation in age and size at spawning. Severe depletion of a Kamchatka sockeye salmon Oncorhychus nerka population through 50 yr of oceanic fishing resulted in increasing proportions maturing rapidly at small size before emigration from freshwater. In the absence of such a fishery, genetic evidence suggests that stabilising selection would ultimately restore the anadromous, slower-maturing pattern as the predominant life style to such a stock.
New Alternative Splicing Isoform and Identification of the Kinase Activity of N-Terminal Kinase-Like Protein (NTKL)

AbstractN-terminal kinase-like (NTKL) protein was initially identified as a protein binding to protein kinase B (PKB, also knownas Akt). Though NTKL-BP1 (NTKL-binding protein 1) has been identified as an NTKL binding protein, its functionsrelated to binding have not yet been elucidated. Here, a new alternative spliced variant of NTKL and its association withintegrin β1 is described, in addition to the kinase activity of NTKL and its substrate candidates. Although thephosphorylation of the candidates must be further confirmed using other experimental methods, the observation that NTKLcan phosphorylate ROCK1, DYRK3, and MST1 indicates that NTKL may act as a signaling protein to regulate actinassembly, cell migration, cell growth, and to facilitate differentiation and development in an integrin-associated manner.Key words: N-terminal Kinase-like (NTKL) Protein, Phosphorylation, Dephosphorylation, Integrin β1, Immunoscreening 1. Introduction N-terminal kinase-like (NTKL) protein was initiallyidentified as a 105 kDa protein binding to protein kinaseB (PKB, also known as Akt). Although NTKL does notinteract with PKB, it appears to be a signaling proteinbecause it contains a kinase-like domain and can bindto membrane or cytoskeletal sites. NTKL is expressedubiquitously in the tissues of Drosophila melanogaster,Caenorhabdatis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, mice,and humans, and concentrates in the cytosol and frac-tion with low-density microsomes
MATERNAL ADJUSTMENT OF EGG SIZE ORGANIZES ALTERNATIVE ESCAPE BEHAVIORS, PROMOTING ADAPTIVE PHENOTYPIC INTEGRATION

Numerous integrated traits contribute to any aspect of organismal performance, but favorable trait combinations are difficult to maintain in the face of genetic recombination. We investigated the role of maternal effects in promoting integration of alternative reproductive strategies (∼throat colors) with antipredator traits (escape behaviors and dorsal patterns) in the side‐blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana). Previously, we reported that maternally derived estradiol adaptively pairs dorsal patterns with progeny throat colors. Here we show adaptive maternal effects on escape behaviors within each throat color morph. Specifically, yellow‐throated females and all females mated to yellow‐throated sires lay larger eggs. Larger eggs produce stockier offspring, who remain stockier throughout life. Stockiness promotes evasive escape behaviors (e.g., reversals), which are adaptive in barred, yellow‐throated offspring. Orange‐throated females lay smaller eggs, producing leaner hatchlings who perform vertical escape behaviors (e.g., jumping). Vertical behaviors enhance survival in striped, orange‐throated progeny. Escape behavior was not heritable, but was organized by natural or experimental egg size variation. Maternal effects on adaptive phenotypic integration are likely common in polymorphic species, because recombination otherwise breaks apart beneficial trait combinations. Furthermore, our results provide insight into the role of body shape in organizing (and constraining) evolution of integrated reproductive and antipredator strategies.
Melanopsin in chicken melanocytes and retina

Abstract The vertebrate pigment cell, with the exception of mammals and birds, is able to provide the animal with rapid colour changes, which involve dispersion and aggregation of pigment granules in response to hormonal and neuronal agents, and in some cases as a direct response to light. The search for the mechanisms through which Xenopus leavis melanophores respond to light led to the discovery of a new photopigment, melanopsin, with a different spectral sensitivity to that of rhodopsin. This photopigment was also found in mammalian retinal ganglion cells that project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus and other non-visual retinorecipient areas. Herein we demonstrate (by RT-PCR, cloning and sequencing) for the first time that chick melanocytes express melanopsin, and confirmed the presence of the protein by immunocytochemistry. In the chicken retina, we revealed by immunocytochemistry that ganglion cells express melanopsin, but the highest density of immunopositive cells was found in the inner nuclear layer. Quantitative PCR showed that the retina of animals kept in 6 h light: 18 h dark possessed three-fold higher melanopsin mRNA content than animals kept in longer photoperiod, thus demonstrating that light modulates melanopsin expression in chickens.
Survival of red-capped robins (Petroica goodenovii) in woodland remnants of central western New South Wales, Australia

To determine relative survival rates of small birds occupying small, linear strips of woodland compared with large patches of woodland, marked populations of red-capped robins were monitored over a two-year period. In total, 196 male robins were banded with unique colour combinations in 10 woodland remnants and censused by song playback at half-yearly intervals. The Cormack–Jolly–Seber method was used to calculate half-yearly survival probabilities for birds in the two habitat configurations and the strongest model included separate survival parameters for summer (36.2% 5.1) and autumn (88.9% 13.5) half-years, but a constant recapture probability (50.5% 7.2). The inclusion of separate parameters for the large and linear habitat configurations reduced the strength of the model, indicating that there was no significant difference between the survival rates of birds occupying small, linear strips of woodland and birds occupying large patches of woodland. The mean annual survival, determined by multiplying the half-yearly survival probabilities, was 32%, which is low, compared with the annual survival of other Petroica robins. Although no banded birds were located away from the banding site, we suspect that much of the ‘mortality’ represented emigration during the summer half-year. Under this scenario a better estimate of annual survival (79%) might be achieved by extrapolation of survival over the winter half-year. This study provides no data to support the contention that adult mortality is higher in small, linear strips of habitat, although further data on the fate of birds that disappear from remnants is required before this is conclusive. In addition, to detect a 20% difference in survival using similar methods to the present study, with their accompanying sources of variation, at least 10 times the number of birds would need to be monitored. This might most effectively be done as a co-operative banding project.
Columnar structure of SV40 minichromosome

Like the sequence of the strongest 601 clone nucleosome of Lowary and Widom, the SV40 genome sequence contains tracks of YR dinucleotides separated by small integers of the 10.4n base series (10, 11, 21 and 30 bases). The tracks, however, substantially exceed the nucleosome DNA size and, thus, correspond to more extended structure - columnar chromatin. The micrococcal nuclease digests of the SV40 chromatin do not show uniquely positioned individual nucleosomes. This confirms the columnar structure of the minichromosome, as well as earlier electron microscopy studies.
Characteristics of Carcass and Meat Yields of Fattening Pigs by Production Step

The characteristics of carcass and meat yields of fattening pigs by production steps were investigated with Landrace (LL, n=41), Yorkshire (YY, n=33), and Duroc (DD, n=30), (LY, n=25), the Crossbred of LYD (n=48). Duroc had more weight loss in carcasses weight than that of the other breed(p had higher production weight in retail cut than that of the other pure or crossbred. Carcass from Landrace and were significantly longer in length than the other breed(p produced wider carcass than the other breed. Carcass thickness at aitch bone was higher for and Crossbred than the other breed(p produced more loin and tenderloin in weight than the other breed (p produced more picnic shoulder when compared to the other breed. The hind legs produced from Yorkshire and were higher in weight and the fore legs produced from the Crossbred were higher in weight. Duroc produced the lowest weight of belly among the breeds. The acceptance level of loin were extremely low for all breed. Landrace had the highest acceptance level for tenderloin. Yorkshire had the highest acceptance level for picnic shoulder and ham when evaluated by export standard of Japan. In conclusion, The introduction of pure breed and establishment of mating steps are necessary to produce highly accepted pork with high acceptance in carcass and meat yields.
Movement patterns of Cephalopholis cruentata in a marine reserve in St Lucia, W.I., obtained from ultrasonic telemetry

Home range- size and shape, and within home range movement patterns were determined from 10 adult graysby Cephalopholis cruentata implanted with acoustic transmitters on two reefs within the Soufriere Marine Management Area, St Lucia. The mean home range area was 2120 m 2 (range 1200 to 4000 m 2 ) and non-circular in shape. All fish demonstrated a clear preference for a specific area in their home range where, on average, 72.9% of an individuals position were located. Time spent in this favoured area was correlated with reef complexity. Fish with greater activity and displacement possessed a larger home range. Activity and displacement were higher by night than by day, and consistent with this, fish spent less time in the preferred area of their home range by night than by day. Tagged individuals demonstrated a strong tendency to avoid sand habitat present at reserve boundaries.
Genome Analysis. Volume 1. Genetic and Physical Mapping

impression is that Dr Young thoroughly enjoyed constructing this book and his pleasure is transmitted to the reader. What other subjects might be included under the title? There are sections on linkage analysis, linkage disequilibrium, linkage heterogeneity, metabolic interference, imprinting, mitotic crossing over, and mitochondrial inheritance, all growing points of genetics. I was surprised by a chapter on balanced chromosome rearrangements and an appendix on prometaphase chromosome lengths and considered that the excellent account of empirical recurrences risks for chromosomal rearrangements was more useful than efforts to estimate risks through the sizes of the unbalanced chromosome progeny that might be produced. There is no doubt that this will be a popular book because it gives confidence and satisfaction to its readers. It will be valuable to doctors on the fringe of genetics, to nurses, and to other members of a clinical genetics unit. However, clinical geneticists should not consider that this 'introduction' absolves them from the need to study texts that consider linkage, heterogeneity, and recombination in more depth.
Comparison of niche-packing and community organization in desert rodents in Asia and North America

We compared patterns of species diversity, locomotory morphology, feeding modes, and spatial organisation for rodent communities in four Asian deserts (Kyzylkum, Gobi, ? Thar, Negev) and one North American (Chihuahuan) desert. Deserts were similar in gamma and alpha diversity. A positive relationship between regional species diversity (and biomass) and mean annual precipitation was found. The Asian deserts showed a greater degree of divergence and specialisation between bipedal and quadrupedal forms. The range of feeding modes was similar in deserts on both continents, but the Negev was the only Asian desert in which granivory was as important as in the Chihuahuan. Temperate Asian desert rodents were organised into spatial guilds, separated primarily by characteristics of the soil and perennial vegetation. North American desert rodent species overlapped more extensively in habitat use. The similarities and differences between these deserts can be explained by their biogeographic histories.
An evaluation of the effects of over-production of ABA on whole plant water use, growth and productivity

Predicted climate change and increasing global populations suggest that water will become an increasingly scarce and valuable commodity. Breeding plants which produce equivalent yields with reduced water input is therefore vital to sustain and increase crop production in the future. The phytohormone, abscisic acid (ABA), is important in controlling plant responses to water stress. It may be possible to improve water use efficiency (WUE) by genetically modifying tomato and other species to maintain elevated levels of ABA under optimal (unstressed) conditions, thereby manipulating an intrinsic signalling mechanism which is known to mediate drought-induced alterations of stomatal behaviour. ABA is synthesised via the oxidative cleavage of C40 epoxycarotenoid precursors, a reaction catalysed by the key enzyme 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED). Pure breeding transgenic tomato lines constitutively over-expressing LeNCED1, known as sp5 and sp12, both have elevated ABA concentrations, which reduce stomatal conductance under optimal (unstressed) growth conditions, thus conserving soil water during periods when corresponding wild type (WT) control plants were inefficient in its use. Under well-watered conditions, whole plant transpiration efficiency (TEp) was significantly greater in both 'high ABA' lines (sp12 and sp5) than in WT plants. The over-expression of LeNCED1 was combined with over-expression of a gene (LeBCH2) encoding β-carotene hydroxylase (BCH), an enzyme acting earlier in the ABA biosynthetic pathway. These 'double transgene' lines (G28 and G29) consistently exhibited further improvements in ABA accumulation and TEp relative to corresponding 'single transgene' parental lines. Lines G28 and G29 respectively exhibited 37 and 54 % improvements in TEp relative to WT controls. When evaluated as a potential 'high ABA' rootstock, it was found that the 'double transgene' G29 line did not provide a sufficiently strong root-sourced signal to affect the stomatal behaviour of scions. To increase ABA biosynthesis in the roots further, a programme designed to combine the over-expression of three ABA biosynthetic genes (LeNCED1; LeBCH2; LePSY1) was initiated with the objective of obtaining a rootstock which produced sufficient ABA to affect stomatal behaviour when grafted onto WT scions. Unfortunately, there was insufficient time to complete this work by the end of the period reported in this thesis, although the programme is ongoing.
Histological Development of Thymus in Goat Embryo

At 16.87 days of gestation the thymic primordium of goat was observed on either side of developing pharynx, which chiefly contained eosinophilic and basophilic cells. In 20.62 days old embryo, the parenchyma of primordium had epithelial-reticular cells which were often arranged in concentric layers. At 24.37 days of gestation, the central part in the primordium of one embryo was chiefly consisted of epithelial-reticular cells and the peripheral part was formed by lymphoblasts, epithelial-reticular cells and few small sized lymphocytes. At few places epithelial palisades were observed in the parenchyma of thymic primordium. Several developing erythrocytes and congested blood vessels were found at the periphery of the primordium which was particularly abundant in 20.62 days old embryo.
Snake diets and the deep history hypothesis

The structure of animal communities has long been of interest to ecologists. Two different hypotheses have been proposed to explain origins of ecological differences among species within present-day communities. The competition–predation hypothesis states that species interactions drive the evolution of divergence in resource use and niche characteristics. This hypothesis predicts that ecological traits of coexisting species are independent of phylogeny and result from relatively recent species interactions. The deep history hypothesis suggests that divergences deep in the evolutionary history of organisms resulted in niche preferences that are maintained, for the most part, in species represented in present-day assemblages. Consequently, ecological traits of coexisting species can be predicted based on phylogeny regardless of the community in which individual species presently reside. In the present study, we test the deep history hypothesis along one niche axis, diet, using snakes as our model clade of organisms. Almost 70% of the variation in snake diets is associated with seven major divergences in snake evolutionary history. We discuss these results in the light of relevant morphological, behavioural, and ecological correlates of dietary shifts in snakes. We also discuss the implications of our results with respect to the deep history hypothesis. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101, 476–486.
Trace Multiresidue Analysis of Fenbendazole and Its Sulfoxide, Sulfone, and p-Hydroxylated Metabolites in Milk by Liquid Chromatography

A liquid chromatographic method for trace analysis of fenbendazole and its sulfoxide, sulfone, and p-hydroxylated metabolites in milk has been developed. Samples are deproteinized with acetonitrile, and the supernatants are extracted with dichloromethane. The separated bottom organic layers are washed with alkaline buffer and evaporated to dryness, and the residues are partitioned between water and ethyl acetate. The separated top organic layers are evaporated to dryness, reconstituted in mobile phase, and submitted to reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography. Overall recoveries ranged from 82% for the sulfoxide and p-hydroxylated metabolites to 91% for fenbendazole and its sulfone metabolite. The linearity of the assay was quite satisfactory, whereas the limit of detection was in the range 2−5 ng/mL. Precision studies based on within- and between-days variation suggested overall precision values better than 4.3% for all analytes. The method was successfully applied to quantitate incurred fenbendazole resid.
Linking Molecular Microbial Ecology to Geochemistry in a Coastal Hypoxic Zone

Multiple environmental mechanisms have been proposed to control bottom water hypoxia (<2 mg O2 L−1) in the northern Gulf of Mexico Louisiana shelf. Near-bottom hypoxia has been attributed to a direct consumption of oxygen through benthic microbial respiration and a secondary chemical reaction between oxygen and reduced metabolites (i.e. ferrous iron and total sulfide) from these populations. No studies to date have examined the metabolically active microbial community structure in conjunction with the geochemical profile in these sediments. Temporal and spatial differences in dissolved and solid phase geochemistry were investigated in the upper 20 cm of the sediment column. Pyrosequencing of reverse transcribed small subunit (SSU) ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) was used to determine population distribution. Results indicated that populations shallower than 10 cm below surface were temporally variable yet uniform between sites, while below this depth, populations were more site-specific. This suggests a potential interaction between the water column and the benthic microbial population limited to a shallow depth. The presence of dissolved reduced iron in the upper sediment column was indicative of low oxygen concentration, yet sulfide was at or below detection limits. Putative sulfate and iron reducing and oxidizing populations were metabolically active at similar depths suggesting potential recycling of products. Results from this study indicate low carbon concentrations in the shallow sediments limit general metabolic activity, reducing the potential for microbial respiration. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the supplemental file.
Heuristic Optimality Checks for Noise-Aware Sparse Recovery by (cid:96) 1 -Minimization

—During recent years, (cid:96) 1 -norm minimization has become a standard approach for the task of ﬁnding sparse exact or approximate solutions to underdetermined linear equation systems, with a broad range of specialized solvers to choose from. In this work, we present an algorithmic tool we call Heuristic Optimality Check (HOC) which attempts to construct an optimal point directly, given a support estimate and sign pattern. Our general scheme can easily be adapted to a variety of (cid:96) 1 - minimization problems prominent in sparse recovery and compressed sensing. We provide numerical experiments showing that our HOC techniques can indeed often improve the solution speed and accuracy of existing (cid:96) 1 -minimization methods in the presence of sparse solutions