Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Nest Predation Explain the Lack of Defenses Against Cowbird Brood Parasitism in the Rufous-Collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)?

ABSTRACT. Although interspecific avian brood parasitism usually lowers host productivity, some species lack any defense against parasites. We analyzed the effect of parasite egg removal or nest desertion following a parasitism event on the breeding productivity of the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), a common host of the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). The Rufouscollared Sparrow is an effective cowbird host that does not eject parasite eggs. We removed cowbird eggs from nests of Rufouscollared Sparrows to test for differences in hatching, fledging, and nesting success among naturally unparasitized, parasitized, and experimentally unparasitized nests from which we removed the cowbird eggs. We also used simulations to test whether parasite egg removal or nest desertion provide viable strategies to counter the effects of parasitism in this species. Naturally unparasitized nests produced more nestlings and fledglings than parasitized and experimentally unparasitized nests, but there were no differences between parasitized nests and those from which cowbird eggs were removed. Moreover, the overall nesting success was similar for all nest types. Simulation models confirmed these results but also showed that productivity may still increase through parasite egg ejection when the nest predation rate is relaxed only if no cost of parasite egg ejection is assumed. By contrast, nest desertion was not a viable strategy to reduce the effect of parasitism. We suggest that high nest predation could reduce the benefits of antiparasite defenses in the Rufouscollared Sparrow and may help explain the lack of such behavior in this species.
Age Trends in Variances and Heritabilities for Diameter and Height in Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster AIT.) in Western Australia

The inheritance of variables related to growth was studied in a progeny trial of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster AIT.) in Wanneroo, Western Australia. The trial consists of the progeny of three parent trees used as females and five used as males, crossed in 14 of the 15 possible combinations (full-sib families), plus a routine commercial control family. There were 108 trees/cross, planted at a spacing of 3 m x 3 m. Certain families had consistently large diameters and were consistently tall, indicating that early selection between families may be effective. Genetic and environmental variance components of the diameters and heights were estimated using the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. Both phenotypic and additive-genetic variances increased as trees became older, rapidly up to age 6 years, then more gradually up to 25 years. However, the heritabilities were fairly constant, in the range 0.14 to 0.16 for diameter and 0.11 to 0.14 for height. This is in contrast to other studies of pines in which heritability increased with age, and was greater for height than for diameter. In a principal component analysis of the diameters the first component represented an average of the successive measurements and accounted for 93% of the variation. The second component contrasted early and late measurements and accounted for only 6% of the variation, but was more heritable (h 2 = 0.35) than the first component (h 2 = 0.14). A similar pattern was found for the heights. It is concluded that selection between families at an early age for diameter or height will be effective. It is also suggested that the second principal com- ponents reflect the genetic distance between trees, and could be used to ensure retention of genetic diversity in a tree breeding
The antagonistic activities of some metabolites produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Sha8.

Some metabolites produced by Pseudomons aeruginosa zag2 had antagonistic activities against certain fungi. The antifungal activity of pyocyanin, siderophore and hydrogen cyanide produced by p. aeruginosa were studied. Pyocyanin was produced in King's B medium in pH 7±0.2 after 96 hours at 37 C and extracted by chloroform. Physico-chemical analyses showed that the extracted pigmented N compound was considered a derivative of phenazine PCN zag2. The minimum inhibitory concentration of this compound against Candida albicans was 40.69 µg/ml.The antifungal activity of this compound was remarkable at 100°C for 20 mins. Different morphological and ultrastructure changes induced after treatment of C. albicans by (PCN zag2) were detected by light and transmission electron microscope. This bacteria produced also another powerful antifungal compound called siderophore. Both pH values and iron concentrations were affecting the production and activity of siderophore. Finally, this bacteria produced toxic volatile compound (HCN) which reduced the growth of both F. oxysporium and Helmithosporium sp. while, A. niger was not affected.
A Hybrid Method in Wireless Sensor Networks for Modeling MAC Protocols

Model Driven Software Engineering (MDSE) is an approach for outline and execution of programming applications that can be connected over numerous areas. The focal points incorporate quick prototyping and execution, alongside diminishment in blunders instigated by people all the while, by means of robotization. Wireless Sensor Actuator Networks (WSANs) depend on asset compelled equipment and have stage particular executions. Medium Access Control (MAC) conventions specifically are for the most part in charge of radio correspondence, the greatest buyer of vitality, and are likewise in charge of Quality of Service (QoS). The outline and improvement of conventions for WSAN could profit by the utilization of MDSE. In this article, The Work utilize Colored Petri Nets (CPN) for stage autonomous displaying of conventions, introductory check, and reenactment. The PetriCode apparatus is utilized to create stage particular executions for numerous stages, including MiXiM for reproduction and TinyOS for arrangement. Encourage the created code is dissected by means of system recreations and true sending test. Through the procedure of MDSE-based code age and investigation, the convention configuration is approved, checked and examined. The Work utilize the GinMAC convention as a running case to represent the outline and improvement life cycle.
Aspects of the Biology and Species Composition of Skates (Rajiformes) from Insular Waters of Southeastern Alaska

Key words: Raja rhina, Bathyraja, reproduc-tive biology, sex ratio, size composition, speciescomposition, Clarence Strait, Dixon Entrance,Gulf of AlaskaDirect and indirect fishing pressure on skates(Order: Rajiformes) has resulted in populationdeclines of exploited stocks and considerableshifts in size structure and species compositionof skate assemblages (Walker and Hislop 1998;Dulvy and others 2000; Rogers and Ellis 2000;Frisk and others 2002). Fishing mortality isespecially deleterious to many skate speciesbecause of their k–selected life history traits,including slow growth, late ages at maturity,and low fecundity (Holden 1974; Cailliet andGoldman 2004). Large skate species are morelikely to exhibit these life history patterns andare therefore typically more susceptible toexploitation than smaller species (Dulvy andReynolds 2002; Ellis and others 2005). Incidental catch of skates is substantial inseveral Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries suchas cod longline, halibut longline, and flatfish
Exploring cannulation process in chemotherapy through a computer simulation

Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells [1]. In Australia, chemotherapy is usually administered in chemotherapy treatment units (outpatient oncology clinics). In this paper we focus on intravenous (IV) cannulation, referred as cannulation in the rest of the paper, which is an important sub-process that is often a part of chemotherapy process. The cannulation is a technique in which a cannula is placed inside a vein to provide venous access. Venous access allows sampling of blood as well as administration of fluids, medications, parenteral nutrition, chemotherapy, and blood products [2]. Chemotherapy consumes significant resources, therefore an assessment of the utilisation and productivity of such resources is important [3]. Here, we consider utilisation of resources associated with cannulation, because we identified cannulation as the source of significant variation in chemotherapy nursing resource utilisation. This study was undertaken as a part of a larger project that has objective to improve the performance of a chemotherapy treatment unit by increasing the throughput and reducing the average patient’s waiting time. Similar work undertaken in Canada and supported by CancerCare Manitoba, with a focus on development of a scheduling template for chemotherapy treatment, was described by Ahmed et al. in [4]. As reported in [3], the Basic Treatment Equivalent (BTE) model was developed in radiotherapy to measure complexity and treatment duration differences between external beam radiotherapy treatments. It was derived from the time measurements of radiation treatment fractions and then developed from mathematical modelling of the data [5]. It was shown to be a more sensitive productivity measure than fields per hour when tested in radiation oncology departments in New South Wales [6] and other locations in Australia and New Zealand [7]. Further enhancements of the model have subsequently occurred [8].
Medium‐chain dehydrogenases/reductases (MDR)

Completed eukaryotic genomes were screened for medium-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (MDR). In the human genome, 23 MDR forms were found, a number that probably will increase, because the genome is not yet fully interpreted. Partial sequences already indicate that at least three further members exist. Within the MDR superfamily, at least eight families were distinguished. Three families are formed by dimeric alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH; originally detected in animals/plants), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenases (originally detected in plants) and tetrameric alcohol dehydrogenases (originally detected in yeast). Three further families are centred around forms initially detected as mitochondrial respiratory function proteins, acetyl-CoA reductases of fatty acid synthases, and leukotriene B4 dehydrogenases. The two remaining families with polyol dehydrogenases (originally detected as sorbitol dehydrogenase) and quinone reductases (originally detected as zeta-crystallin) are also distinct but with variable sequences. The most abundant families in the human genome are the dimeric ADH forms and the quinone oxidoreductases. The eukaryotic patterns are different from those of Escherichia coli. The different families were further evaluated by molecular modelling of their active sites as to geometry, hydrophobicity and volume of substrate-binding pockets. Finally, sequence patterns were derived that are diagnostic for the different families and can be used in genome annotations.
Thirty-two single nucleotide polymorphism markers for high-throughput genotyping of sockeye salmon

We characterize 32 single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assays for resolving genotypic variation in sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka in the Pacific Rim. These assays are based on the 5′′ -nuclease reaction and thus facilitate high-throughput genotyping with minimal optimization time. Minor allele frequency differences (∆ q) among collections were between 4.7% and 97.9%, resulting in per locus F ST estimates of 0.02–0.71 with an average of 0.22.
Natal Philopatry, Competition for Resources, and Inbreeding Avoidance in Townsend's Voles (Microtus Townsendii)

Individuals may leave their birthsite before reproducing or they may postpone reproduction because they are at risk of engaging in inbred matings with their close relatives or because they are exposed to severe competition for resources or for mates. I studied whether avoidance of inbreeding and intrasexual competition determine the seasonal changes in the rate of philopatry and the fate of individual Townsend's voles (Microtus townsendii). By marking most nestlings before weaning, I knew which recruits were related to one another and to which adult female. There was a pronounced sexual bias in the tendency to remain close to the birth site: 9% of all juvenile males and 33% of all juvenile females entered the breeding population on their natal grid. Males settled farther from their birth site than females did. The proportion of males and females reproducing on their natal grid changed markedly over the breeding season. More males and females reproduced if they were born at the beginning of the breeding season or when breeding activity was depressed by botfly infestation. Seasonal changes in female philopatry were consistent with the hypothesis that females disperse in response to competition for resources with breeding females. Females born at high adult female density were less likely to be recruited than those born at other times. They also dispersed farther at low than at high density, probably in response to habitat saturation. Avoidance of extreme inbreeding influenced the dispersal tendency of maturing males. Males were less likely to join the breeding population if their mother or a littermate sister was present in their home range when they matured than if they had no female close relatives in their home range. Males with their mother alive at sexual maturation settled farther than males whose mother had disappeared by that time. I conclude that inbreeding avoidance influenced natal philopatry in males and that competition for resources influenced natal philopatry in females.
Tree architecture and life‐history strategies across 200 co‐occurring tropical tree species

1. Tree architecture is thought to allow species to partition horizontal and vertical light gradients in the forest canopy. Tree architecture is closely related to light capture, carbon gain and the efficiency with which trees reach the canopy. Previous studies that investigated how light gradients drive differentiation in tree architecture have produced inconsistent results, partially because of the differences in which tree species and ontogenetic stages were studied. 2. We examined the relationship between stem diameter, tree height, foliage height, crown width and life-history strategy over a broad size range of 200 randomly selected, co-occurring tree species in a lowland rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia. We developed a hierarchical Bayesian model to account for both intra- and interspecific variation and describe the relationships among tree architectural variables. We analysed interspecific variation in tree architectural variables in relation to adult stature and light requirement for species regeneration as a function of tree size. 3. There was little interspecific variation in architectural variables, this is partly because of large intraspecific variation in response to canopy heterogeneity, but it also suggests architectural convergence within this community. However, interspecific analyses showed that, for large-statured species, small size classes had thinner stems with narrow and shallow crowns, whereas large-size classes had wider crowns. Light-demanding species (as indicated by high sapling mortality in shaded conditions) showed weak trends in tree architecture and were only characterized by wide crowns at intermediate sizes. 4. In summary, tree architectural traits overlapped across the species community. This suggests that architectural convergence and equalizing effects occur in this diverse tropical forest and that community-wide allometric equations can be used to describe forest height and carbon storage. Light resource partitioning also occurs, indicating stabilizing effects. Interspecific architectural variation in relation to adult stature supports the theory of the trade-off between early reproduction and vegetative growth. In closed rainforests, adult stature imposes a stronger force on architectural differentiation of species than regeneration light requirements.
Performance Analysis of High Capacity CC-CDMA using 1D-Logistic Map in AWGN

High capacity systems, like the CDMA, are of utmost importance in future generation wireless systems especially in overloaded environments. Here, we analyze the performance of the chaotic-collaborative-CDMA (CC-CDMA) scheme, with chaotic codes generated, using the 1D-Logistic map, under the AWGN channel conditions. Similar to CC-CDMA, this scheme uses mutually orthogonal chaotic sequences, but, generated using the logistic differential equation. It provides comparable performance to the collaborative-CDMA scheme with better security in overloaded CDMA and MAI limited environments. The bandwidth as well as security constraints can be addressed using this scheme. The BER performance of the scheme, as the number of users per group is increased beyond the spreading length, is studied and results have been presented. Keywords— CC-CDMA, CDMA, multiple access interference, multiuser detection, AWGN, direct sequence spread spectrum, DS/CDMA, logistic map;
Trace Metal Speciation in Three Victorian Lakes

The speciation of the trace metals iron. cadmium. copper, lead and zinc was determined in Lake Tarli Karng, Tarago Reservoir and East Basin Lake using membrane filtration. Chelex resin and dialysis to provide information on particulate, filterable, ion-exchangeable. dialysable and bound metal fractions. The total metal concentrations and distribution between particulate and filterable fractions varied considerably between the three lakes. Two major factors controlling these observed differences will be the water chemistry and the hydrological properties of the lakes. The major proportion of the total cadmium, copper. lead and zinc in each lake was in filterable forms, with a considerable amount of this in ion-exchangeable forms. Free metal ionic species, simple inorganic complexes and organic complexes, including metal-fuivic acid complexes. will be ion-exchangeable. The bound forms of these metals are not known. Iron was found to exist predominantly in bound forms, most probably as particulate and colloidal iron hydroxyoxides, although it is also possible that very strong organic complexes, such as iron hydroxamate siderophores, could also form part of the bound fraction.
Impact of simulated moose densities on abundance and richness of vegetation, herbivorous and predatory arthropods along a productivity gradient

Large herbivores can affect vegetation structure and species composition as well as material and energy flows in the ecosystem through their selective feeding, defecation, urination and trampling. These changes have a large potential to indirectly affect other trophic levels, but the mechanisms are poorly known. We studied the impacts of moose Alces alces browsing along a gradient of site productivity by experimentally simulating four different moose densities. Here we show that moose can affect the richness and abundance of three trophic levels in Swedish boreal forests through complex direct and indirect impacts, but in qualitatively different ways depending on how the physical habitat or food resources of a trophic level are affected. Vegetation richness had a hump-shaped (unimodal) response to increased moose density. Leaf litter production decreased when browsing increased, which in turn depressed the abundance of flying prey for spiders. Consequently, spider abundance and richness declined monotonically. The responses of spider richness to moose density were further conditioned by site productivity: the response was positive at productive and negative at unproductive sites. In contrast, herbivorous Hemiptera were not affected by moose, most likely because the abundance of their food plants was not affected. The highest simulated moose density had an impact on all variables responding to moose even after a few years of treatment and can be considered as overabundance. We also show that the impacts of low or moderate moose density can be positive to some of the organisms negatively affected by high density. The level of herbivore population density that leads to substantial community impacts also depends on site factors, such as productivity.
Studies on the Responses of the female Aëdes Mosquito. Part I. The Search for attractant Vapours.

The question of the attractancy of water-vapour, carbon dioxide and candidate attractant compounds was investigated by the use of an olfactometer emitting freely into a 360-cu. ft. cage filled with female adult Aedes aegypti . Moist air (85 per cent. R.H.) was found to attract 3–5 times as many mosquitos as dry air (15 per cent. R.H.). A moistened billiard-ball was found to attract about seven times as many mosquitos as a dry one, the result being similar whether black or white balls were used. The attractancy was reduced and even reversed at very high room humidities. The addition of 10 per cent. CO 2 to a dry air stream approximately doubled its ability to bring mosquitos within 0·5 inches of the olfactometer port. Its addition to a moist air-stream did not significantly increase its attractancy. Pure CO 2 vapour proved to be no more attractive than dry air, and several times less attractive than moist air. A number of chemical compounds found in body exudations, and some housefly attractants, were tested in the olfactometer for their effect on Aedes adults. None were consistently attractive, and many were significantly repellent. However, sweat itself proved significantly attractive at a low vapour concentration, while significantly repellent at a high concentration.
The evaluation of existing and proposed active green spaces in Konya Selçuklu District, Turkey

Urban green spaces have social, planning, economic and ecological functions. To benefit functions of green spaces, it is important to make sufficient provision of quality and quantity green space within urban areas. In this study, the adequacy of the active green spaces in Selçuklu district were investigated in terms of spatial quantity and access by walking in urban development plans and existing applications using GIS. The results displayed that existing active urban green spaces covered 57 632 75 m area, and the per capita ratio is 12.53 m according to actual urban population. The size of the active green spaces except city parks is below in force standards. 66% of the total district area is not within ideal distance walk to the city parks, 71% to neighbourhood park, 55% to the children playgrounds, and 43% to the sports areas alike. In development plans it has been stated that green spaces are in multipartite and are not defined according to a plan. 21 569 790 m urban area was planned as active green spaces, and 38.38 m per capita was anticipated according to population projection. However, 36.34 % of urban park and 9.68% of other active green spaces was applied until 2010. These results showed that existing active green spaces do not make a sufficient contribution to urban life due to their small areas and disproportionate distributions across the urban. At the end of our research suggestions have been made in terms of planning and designing to have positive contributions to the life of urban dwellers.