Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Timiş River (Banat, Romania) Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities Structure Spatial Dinamic

ABSTRACT This study presents the description of the structure of benthic macroinvertebrate communities of the Timiș River (Danube Watershed) in correlation with environmental parameters. The results are based on quantitative benthic macroinvertebrates (105 samples) taken in 2011 (June-September) from 21 stations of the the Timiş River, situate between its sources and the Romanian-Serbian border (241 km). The assessed biotope variables were: altitude, slope, riverbed width, depth, substratum types, channel modification and water physico-chemical caracteristics. The results of the study reveal that the spatial structure of benthic macroinvertebrates is induced by the substrate type, by the minor riverbed modifications in comparison with the natural conditions and the quantities of oxidable matters in the water. RÉSUMÉ La dynamique spatiale de la structure des communautés de macroinvertébrés de la rivière Timiş (Banat, Roumanie). Cette étude présente la description de la structure de la communauté des macroinvertébrés benthiques de la rivière Timiş (Danube, ligne de partage des eaux) en corrélation avec les paramètres environnementaux Les résultats sont basés sur la quantité de macroinvertébrés benthiques (105 échantillons) relevée en 2011 (Juin-Septembre) sur 21 stations de la rivière Timiş, situées entre sa source et la frontière serbo-roumaine (241 km). Les variables évaluées pour les biotopes sont: l’altitude, la pente, la largeur du lit, la profondeur, les types de substrat, les modifications du chenal et les caractéristiques physico-chimiques. Les résultats de l’étude révèlent que la structure spatiale des macroinvertébrés benthiques est induite par le type de substrat, par la modification du lit mineur de la rivière en comparaison avec les conditions naturelles et la quantité de matière oxydable dans l’eau Dans le cas de la rivière Timiş. REZUMAT Dinamica spațială a structurii comunităților de macronevertebrate bentonice din râul Timiș (Banat, România). Lucrarea prezintă descrierea structurii comunităţilor de macronevertebrate bentonice din râul Timiș (bazinul hidrografic Dunăre) în corelație cu caracteristicile de biotop. Rezultatele se bazează pe probe cantitative de bentos (105 probe), colectate în 2011 (perioada iunie-septembrie) din 21 stații de colectare situate de-a lungul râului, de la izvoare până la granița României cu Serbia (241 km). Variabilele de biotop considerate au fost: altitudinea, panta, lățimea și adâncimea albiei minore, tipul de substrat, gradul de modificare al al albiei minore față de condițiile naturale, parametri fizico-chimici ai apei. Rezultatele studiului arată că variabilitatea structurală spațială a comunităților de macronevertebrate bentonice este condiționată de tipul de substrat, gradul de modificare a structurii albiei minore față de condițiile naturale și de cantitatea de materii oxidabile din apă.
Trends in hunters, hunting grounds and big game harvest in Spain.

Aim of study: Game species are considered a scarce natural resource and therefore they are subject to economic analysis. Current studies on factors affecting big game trends have mostly emphasized the impact of ecological supply variables. This study intends to expand this analysis by considering two important supply and demand economic parameters. Area of study: We use big game hunting in Spain from 1972 until 2007 as a case study since it has an important role in the European hunting activity. Material and Methods: Different linear models were fitted to explain big game harvest as a function of two parameters not previously used: hunting grounds areas and big game firearm hunting licenses. Main results: Our main results show that up to 1989 the decrease in the area of open access territories significantly explains the increase in big game harvests, and that afterwards, once the hunting property rights were strengthen in most of the Spanish territory, the number of big game firearm licenses best explain big game harvests increments. Research highlights : This work shows an upward trend in Spanish harvests of big game, which can be attributed in part to (1) a shift to the right of big game demand, measured by an increase in big game firearm licenses, and (2) a change in the nature of big game supply (from a backward to an ordinary upward supply curve) due to the strengthening of hunting property rights of Spanish hunting grounds. Keywords : hunting license; firearm license; hunting bag; hunting sector; property rights; wildlife.
New biodiversity measure that includes consistent interspecific and intraspecific components

Current developments of diversity measures that consider that species are not equivalent, concentrate on how functionally or phylogenetically (dis)similar species are from each other (interspecific components). To assess the biodiversity of a community, few of the developed measures include intraspecific components, that is to say components that concern only the current features of the individuals of a species or the history of the species regardless of the other extant species of the community. A requirement for new developments in diversity indices could thus be to integrate both interspecific and intraspecific components. The objectives of our study are to introduce a parametric index of diversity (qH), expressed as an effective number of species, which satisfies this requirement, and to analyse the diversity of order 2 (2H). In the particular case of equal intraspecific components for every species, 2H is a simple function of Rao's quadratic entropy. We introduce our new index family and demonstrate that the vectors of species' proportions that maximize 2H are not necessarily unique and may have zeros (removing species). Then, we apply our index to two case studies: a theoretical example of phylogenetic diversity analysis; and a real data set on the changes in diet diversity of bird communities along an altitudinal gradient. Using a theoretical phylogenetic tree, we demonstrate that a maximizing vector for 2H can be associated with measures of species' phylogenetic originality. Applied to bird communities in Tarentaise Valley, France, 2H describes a decline in diet diversity with altitude due to a higher proportion of invertebrates in the diets of birds that occur where rocks replace deciduous and evergreen bushes and trees. Related to recent developments of diversity study made in the field of ecology, our approach has the advantages of integrating functional or phylogenetic intraspecific and interspecific components, and species' proportions (e.g. relative abundance or biomass), and of being applicable to many different data sets and objectives. Applied to both phylogenetic and functional diversity, our approach can help decisions when prioritizing conservation actions.
Structure and stability in exploited marine fish communities: quantifying critical transitions

Correlations between time series of the abundance of predator and prey fish species in heavily exploited western North Atlantic marine fisheries vary temporally but are generally positive in southern, warmer waters and negative in northern, colder ones. The correlations provide an index of trophic structure and dynamics. We construct a framework to quantify critical thresholds between states in which the predator–prey correlations are positive or negative. We do so by developing a quantitative model of the distribution of the correlations between predator (15 species) and prey (8 species) functional groups based on the annual predator depletion rates and bottom temperatures (or alternatively species richness). The model accounts for 58% of the variance of the correlations with a root mean square error of 0.3. This index of trophic structure indicates that warmer, species-rich, southern fish populations resist transformation from positive to negative predator–prey correlations at exploitation rates that can be double those in the colder, relatively species-poor, northern areas. The model can be used to set limits for exploitation rates that preserve the functional relationships between predator–prey groups in emerging fisheries, and to assess the potential for and measures required to achieve recovery of degraded fish communities.
Inconsistency Handling in Ontology-Mediated Query Answering

The problem of querying description logic knowledge bases using database-style queries (in particular, conjunctive queries) has been a major focus of recent description logic research. An important issue that arises in this context is how to handle the case in which the data is inconsistent with the ontology. Indeed, since in classical logic an inconsistent logical theory implies every formula, inconsistency-tolerant semantics are needed to obtain meaningful answers. This thesis aims to develop methods for dealing with inconsistent description logic knowledge bases using three natural semantics (AR, IAR, and brave) previously proposed in the literature and that rely on the notion of a repair, which is an inclusion-maximal subset of the data consistent with the ontology. In our framework, these three semantics are used conjointly to identify answers with different levels of confidence. In addition to developing efficient algorithms for query answering over inconsistent DL-Lite knowledge bases, we address three problems that should support the adoption of this framework: (i) query result explanation, to help the user to understand why a given answer was (not) obtained under one of the three semantics, (ii) query-driven repairing, to exploit user feedback about errors or omissions in the query results to improve the data quality, and (iii) preferred repair semantics, to take into account the reliability of the data. For each of these three topics, we developed a formal framework, analyzed the complexity of the relevant reasoning problems, and proposed and implemented algorithms, which we empirically studied over an inconsistent DL-Lite benchmark we built. Our results indicate that even if the problems related to dealing with inconsistent DL-Lite knowledge bases are theoretically hard, they can often be solved efficiently in practice by using tractable approximations and features of modern SAT solvers.
Resistance of the honey bee, Apis mellifera to the acarian parasite Varroa destructor: behavioural and electroantennographic data

Abstract. One way in which Apis mellifera honey bees resist Varroa destructor is by detection and elimination of nestmates. This study uses behavioural tests and electroanntennography to assess the role of chemostimuli in recognition by honey bees of this acarian ectoparasite. Behavioural tests using living or dead parasites involved observation of honey bee grooming activity (antennation) under controlled conditions in Petri dishes, and removal behaviour (uncapping and elimination of parasitized and unparasitized control brood cells) under natural conditions. Some bees from colonies with both small and large parasite populations showed aggressive behaviour (biting). No difference was observed according to whether the mite was dead or alive. Under natural conditions, bees uncapped more parasitized cells than control cells. Electroantennographic tests were performed to measure sensitivity to various Varroa extracts at three concentrations (10, 20 and 30 Varroa Equivalents). Only 30 Varroa Equivalent methanol extracts made from Varroa collected from brood cells elicited significantly greater antennal response than controls (pure solvent). All three methanol extracts elicited significantly greater antennal response than controls. No response was observed using Varroa extracts made with acetone or hexane. These findings suggest that polar products may act as chemostimuli for recognition of V. destructor by honey bees. Further study will be necessary to determine which polar products are involved in this recognition and assess grooming and removal behaviour using these products.
The intestinal microflora of farmed Dover sole (Solea solea) at different stages of fish development

The bacterial flora in the intestines of farmed Dover sole (Solea solea L.) was investigated at different stages of fish development in relation to different diets fed under farming conditions. The flora of water and diets were also analyzed. The dominant generic group isolated from all water samples examined was Pseudomonas Gp IV/Alcaligenes. The same generic group was dominant in homogenized pelagic larvae indicating a relationship between the microflora of those young fish and that of tank water. In older fish a steady increase in the percentage incidence of Vibrio/ anaerogenic Aeromonas was observed in the intestines as fish grew and diets changed. The Vibrio/anaerogenic Aeromonas group was dominant in Lumbricillus rivalis used as an intermediate diet and the increased incidence of this group in fish intestines occurred after fish were fed this diet. The composite pellet used for ongrowing carried a high percentage of Gram positive micro-organisms and there was no relationship between the pellet microflora and that found in the fish intestines.
β-Lactamase inhibitors: a survey of the patent literature 2000 – 2004

The increasing incidence of drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria due to the emergence of different classes of β-lactamases continues to serve as an impetus for efforts directed at improving formulation and chemical processes of existing inhibitors, and discovery of novel inhibitors. This review summarises patent disclosures on β-lactamase inhibitors published during the period January 2000 to December 2004. Several patent disclosures describing novel pharmaceutical formulations, chemical and biosynthetic processes for the clinically useful inhibitors, namely clavulanic acid, tazobactam and sulbactam, are selected for review. Furthermore, patents on novel β-lactam-based and non-β-lactam-based compounds as potential inhibitors of serine β-lactamases and metallo-β-lactamases detailing their chemistry and biological evaluation are also reviewed.
Decomposing the variation in population growth into contributions from multiple demographic rates

Summary 1 The decomposition of variation in population growth into the relative contributions from different demographic rates has multiple uses in population, conservation and evolutionary biology. Recent research has favoured methods based on matrix models termed ‘life-table-response experiments’ or more generally ‘the retrospective matrix method’, which provide an approximation of a complete demographic decomposition. The performance of the approximation has not been assessed. 2 We compare the performance of the retrospective matrix method to a complete decomposition for two bighorn sheep populations and one red deer population. 3 Different demographic rates make markedly different contributions to variation in growth rate between populations, because each population is subject to different types of environmental variation. 4 The most influential demographic rates identified from decomposing observed variation in population growth are often not those showing the highest elasticity. Consequently, those demographic rates most strongly associated with deterministic population growth are not necessarily strongly associated with temporal variation in population growth. 5 The retrospective matrix method provides a good approximation of the demographic rate associated most strongly with variation in population growth. However, failure to incorporate the contribution of covariation between demographic rates when decomposing variation in population growth can lead to spurious conclusions.
Unravelling the complex trait of seed quality: using natural variation through a combination of physiology, genetics and -omics technologies

Abstract Seed quality is a complex trait that is the result of a large variety of developmental processes. The molecular-genetic dissection of these seed processes and their relationship with seed and seedling phenotypes will allow the identification of the regulatory genes and signalling pathways involved and, thus, provide the means to predict and enhance seed quality. Natural variation for seed-quality aspects found in recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations is a great resource to help unravel the complex networks involved in the acquisition of seed quality. Besides extensive phenotyping, RILs can also be profiled by -omics technologies, such as transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics in a sophisticated so-called generalized genetical genomics approach. This combined use of physiology, genetics and several -omics technologies, followed by advanced data analysis, allows the construction of regulatory networks involved in the various attributes of seed and seedling quality. This type of analysis of the genetic variation in RIL populations in combination with genome-wide association (GWA) studies will allow a relatively rapid identification of genes that are responsible for quality-related traits of seeds and seedlings. New developments in several -omics technologies, especially the fast-evolving next-generation sequencing techniques, will make a similar system-wide approach more applicable to non-model species in the near future and this will be a huge boost for the potential to breed for seed quality.
Ionic relations and osmotic adjustment in durum and bread wheat under saline conditions.

Wheat breeding for salinity tolerance has traditionally focussed on Na+ exclusion from the shoot, but its association with salinity tolerance remains tenuous. Accordingly, the physiological significance of shoot Na+ exclusion and maintenance of an optimal K+ : Na+ ratio was re-evaluated by studying NaCl-induced responses in 50 genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum) treated with 150 mM NaCl. Overall, Na+ exclusion from the shoot correlated with salinity tolerance in both species and this exclusion was more efficient in bread compared with durum wheat. Interestingly, shoot sap K+ increased significantly in nearly all durum and bread wheat genotypes. Conversely, the total shoot K+ content declined. We argue that this increase in shoot sap K+ is needed to provide efficient osmotic adjustment under saline conditions. Durum wheat was able to completely adjust shoot sap osmolality using K+, Na+ and Cl-; it had intrinsically higher levels of these solutes. In bread wheat, organic osmolytes must contribute ~13% of the total shoot osmolality. In contrast to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), NaCl-induced K+ efflux from seedling roots did not predict salinity tolerance in wheat, implying that shoot, not root K+ retention is important in this species.
EFFECT OF MEDIA ON GROWTH AND INTERACTIONS BETWEEN A RANGE OF SOIL‐BORNE GLASSHOUSE PATHOGENS AND ANTAGONISTIC FUNGI

Summary The growth of and interactions between the glasshouse pathogens, Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, Fusarium oxysporum Schlect. , Pyrenochaeta lycopersici Schneider & Gerlach, Phomopsis sclerotioides van Kesteren, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary and Botrytis cinerea Pers. and the antagonistic fungi, Trichoderma harzianum Rifai, Trichoderma viride Pers. , Coniothyrium minitans Campbell, Gliocladium roseum (Link.) Bain and Pythium oligandrum Dreschler were examined on tap water agar, soil extract agar and potato dextrose agar. The medium had a significant effect on the growth rates of the fungi as well as the production of, and response to, volatile and non-volatile antibiotic compounds and hyphal interactions. Responses to the media appeared to be related both to inherent properties of the fungi and to their natural ecological behaviour. The significance of in vitro assays in screening systems for biological control agents of soil-borne plant pathogens is discussed.
A genetic analysis of some components of reproductive isolation between two closely related species, Spodoptera latifascia (Walker) and S. descoinsi (Lalanne‐Cassou and Silvain) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The two closely related noctuid moths Spodoptera latifascia and S. descoinsi have been found in sympatry in some parts of French Guiana. They differ by i) ecological preferences, ii) some anatomical features of the genital tract, iii) the relative amounts of the two main components of the female pheromonal blend, and iv) the temporal pattern of sexual behaviour. Viable and fertile interspecific hybrids can be obtained in the laboratory, thus permitting a genetic study of some of these traits.
Feed conversion efficiency, daily pasture intake, and milk production of primiparous Friesian and Jersey cows calved at two different liveweights

Abstract Pasture dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield and composition, and calculated feed conversion efficiencies (FCE), were monitored throughout lactation for primiparous Friesian (n = 16; F) and Jersey (n = 16; J) cows calved at either high (H) or low (L) calving liveweights (CLW). Half of the cows within each breed were differentially fed (H versus L) during the 8 weeks before expected calving date to produce CLWs of 404 (FH), 354 (FL), 334 (JH), and 277 (JL) ± 14 (SED) kg. Animals were fully fed on pasture as one group after calving throughout lactation. J cows were more efficient than F cows in converting DM into solids‐corrected milk (SCM) (1.63 versus 1.49 ± 0.07 kg/kg DMI), milksolids (MS) (129 versus 115 ± 5 g/kg DMI), milk fat (79 versus 67 ± 3.8 g/ kg DMI), and metabolisable energy intake (MEI) into milk energy (43 versus 37 ± 1.8%). Average DMI measured during six periods across lactation and once after the completion of lactation, were higher for F than J cows (10.5 versus 8.6 ± 0.2 kg/ cow .
Causes of mortality in a nestling population of free-living hihi (stitchbird—Notiomystis cincta)

The hihi is an endangered New Zealand species and its survival depends on the health of translocated populations. Low nestling survival was detected at Zealandia–Karori Sanctuary (KS) during the 2008–09 breeding season with 34% of eggs surviving to fledge. Samples obtained from live and dead hihi nestlings showed that several disease syndromes contributed to nestling deaths. Cause of death was diagnosed by necropsy and histopathology for 25 nestlings. Mortality was highest (60%) in nestlings ≤7 days old and was associated with seasonally low minimum daily temperatures (<11°C). Deaths in this age group were most commonly attributed to poor pulmonary aeration and starvation. Ventriculitis was associated with mortality in eight 6–19-day-old nestlings with no indication that weather was implicated. The remaining deaths were from a variety of unrelated events or causes. Candida albicans, Aspergillus sp. and an unidentified haemoparasite were found among the nestling population. There was no evidence of coccidia or other intestinal parasite infections. In contrast to translocated populations at other sites, nesting material recovered from nest boxes contained low densities of tropical fowl mites (Ornithonyssus bursa). To improve survival for nestlings up to 7 days old, extra food provisioning and nest box weather protection during inclement weather is suggested.