Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Ultrastructural Study on the Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) as Affected by Tebufenozide (RH-5992)

Tebufenozide exhibited some histopathological effects on the integument of last instar nymphs of desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria Forsk) such as: detachment of the cuticle from epidermis, undistinguishable epicuticle. Tebufenozide treatments affected the ultrastructural configuration of thoracic muscles such as disrupted organization of A, I and H bands and the degeneration of Z disc varied from one half of the disc to small central or peripheral degenerated areas. Tebufenozide treatments resulted in the loss of normal architecture of the majority of mid-gut epithelial cells, which had dwarf and deformed microvilli. The most important ultrastructural changes in the intracellular organelles by the action of Tebufenozide, as shown in the electron micrographs, were elongation of mitochondria, which appeared with prominent cristae, the lysosomes were supposedly autophagic, Golgi bodies had a bullet shape and the cytoplasm contained scattered granules.
A New Species of Cybocephalus (Coleoptera: Cybocephalidae) from Taiwan and a New Distribution Record for Cybocephalus nipponicus

Abstract Cybocephalus flavocapitis, new species, is described from Taiwan. Morphological features including detailed drawings of the male genitalia are illustrated, and host record and distribution data are provided. Cybocephalus nipponicus Endrödy-Younga is recorded from Taiwan for the first time.
Distribution of aluminium in accumulator plants by X‐ray microanalysis in Richeria grandis Vahl leaves from a cloud forest in Venezuela

Abstract. The leaf cells of a tropical tree which accumulates more than 1mg per gram dry weight of Al in its leaves were studied by X-ray microanalysis. The analyses made in cell walls, vacuoles and chloroplasts of a mature leaf showed that A1 is accumulated preferentially in the cell wall. In the pre-senescent leaf, A1 also invades the interior of cells and is deposited in chloroplasts and vacuole. Aluminium was found also in xylem vessels but only in traces in phloem tissue. It was not found in spongy parenchyma cells. The observed A1 distribution, i.e. at the adaxial leaf face, coincides with observed damage in tissues of pre-senescent leaves. The means by which this plant copes with Al under natural conditions seems to be partially preventing it from entering the cell by deposition in cell walls. A hypothesis about the pathways of Al in accumulator plants is proposed.
Evolution of the Major Moss Lineages: Phylogenetic Analyses Based on Multiple Gene Sequences and Morphology

Abstract Evolutionary relationships of mosses are still poorly understood, with family, order, and subclass circumscription and relationships remaining especially obscure. Over the past decade, a considerable body of data has accumulated, including information on morphological, developmental, anatomical, and ultrastructural characteristics, as well as nucleotide sequences for a number of nuclear and plastid genes. We have combined data from these different sources to provide an overview of the relationships of the major lineages of mosses. We analyzed a data set that includes 33 moss species and ten outgroup taxa drawn from the liverworts, hornworts, and vascular plants. Molecular data consisted of nucleotide sequences from four DNA regions, (rbcL, trnL-trnF, rps4 and 18S). Morphological data included 41 characters of which many were derived from published anatomical and ultra-structural studies. Combining morphological and molecular data in the analyses showed that mosses, including Sphagnum, Takakia, Andreaea and Andreaeobryum, form a monophyletic group, provided improved resolution of higher level relationships, and further insight into evolutionary patterns in morphology.
Pasture species and drought impact on milk yield 1. Milk yield responses in the Waikato

Milksolids (MS) production of Jersey cows grazing different pasture species mixtures over summer and autumn is described for the first two years of a 4-year trial. Four pasture mixtures were established after cultivation in autumn 1996, and were compared with existing ryegrass–white clover pastures. The mixtures were: (1) high-endophyte perennial ryegrass–white clover (2) tall fescue, phalaris, cocksfoot, white clover, red clover (3) same as (2) plus paspalum (4) endophyte-free ryegrass, timothy, white clover, red clover and (5) existing high-endophyte ryegrass, white clover. Milk tests were in January-February of 1997 and 1998. Cows were offered a single pasture allowance. Cows on high-endophyte ryegrass mixtures consistently produced low MS yields compared with those on tall fescue mixtures and endophyte-free ryegrass. In 1998, responses for cows grazing ryegrass–white clover (5 and 1) were significantly less than from tall fescue-based pastures (2 and 3) (0.74 vs. 0.86 kg/cow/day), and responses from cows on ryegrass/timothy based pastures (4), were better than for all others (0.96 kg/cow/day). Important determinants of the MS responses were the high rust infection and low contents of white clover in the high-endophyte ryegrass (1) pastures, and the high contents of red clover in the tall fescue and endophyte-free ryegrass-based pastures.
Relative humidity‐ and ABA‐induced variation in carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of cotton leaves

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. CS50) plants were grown at two levels of relative humidity (RH) and sprayed daily with abscisic acid (ABA) at four concentrations. Plants grown at lower humidity had higher transpiration rates, lower leaf temperatures and lower stomatal conductance. Plant biomass was also reduced at low humidity. Within each humidity environment, increasing ABA concentration generally reduced stomatal conductance, evaporation rates, superficial leaf density and plant biomass, and increased leaf temperature and specific leaf area. As expected, decreased stomatal conductance resulted in decreased carbon isotope discrimination in leaf material (Δ13Cl). Plants grown at low humidity were more enriched in 18O than those grown at high RH, as theory predicts. Within each humidity environment, increasing ABA concentration increased oxygen isotope enrichment of leaf cellulose (Δ18Oc) and whole-leaf tissue (Δ18Ol). Values of Δ13Cl and Δ18Ol predicted by theoretical models were close to those observed, accounting for 79% of the measured variation in Δ13Cl and 95% of the measured variation in Δ18Ol. Supporting theory, Δ13Cl and Δ18Ol in whole-leaf tissue were negatively related.
Pheromones from Female Mosquitofish at Different Stages of Reproduction Differentially Affect Male Sexual Activity

Abstract Through a series of odor preference and sexual activity tests, the response of male western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, to female odors was investigated. Male mosquitofish prefer female odors to male odors and plain water, indicating that female odors function as a sex attractant. In odor preference tests, males did not show preferences among odors from nongravid, gravid, and parturient females. However, odors from females in different stages of the reproductive cycle induced different sexual activities from males. Odors from gravid females increased copulation trials, whereas those from parturient females increased male-male interactions without changing copulatory activity. These results suggest that (1) female western mosquitofish may produce sex pheromones and (2) female pheromones from different stages of the reproductive cycle stimulate different male sexual activities, suggesting that males may discriminate parturient females from others based on pheromonal output. In populations where the operational sex ratio (OSR) is female-biased, the discrimination of reproductive stages of females by males could increase male reproductive success by allowing males to avoid spending mating efforts with females whose eggs they are unlikely to fertilize.
TOXICITY EVALUATION OF THIAMETHOXAM AND TRIAZOPHOS TO THE FRESHWATER BIVALVE LAMELLIDENS MARGINALIS (LAMARK)

Acute toxicity testing of freshwater bivalve, Lamellidens marginalis to Thiamethoxam, an organophosphate and Triazophos, a Neonicotenoid insecticide was carried out. The median lethal concentration (LC50) of Thiamethoxam and Triazophos for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hrs. was 91.83, 61.91, 38.46 and 25.79; 28.03, 13.39, 8.833 and 7.340 ppm respectively. Analysis of results indicates that Lamellidens marginalis is highly sensitive to Triazophos than Thiamethoxam.
The role of agroecosystems for invasion of a generalist herbivore

Ov arenko, Irina The role of agroecosystems for invasion of a generalist herbivore Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2014, 70 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Biological and Environmental Science ISSN 1456-9701; 287) ISBN 978-951-39-5794-0 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-5795-7 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Kasvihuoneviljelyn merkitys generalistikasvinsyöjän levittäytymisessä. Diss. Agricultural insect pests are among the first studied invasive species. By inhabiting crop plants they became mobile elements in global network of agroecosystems connected through plant trade. The greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) is a widespread invasive pest. Since 1920 the species has managed to survive in Finland without any overwintering resting stage in the matrix of greenhouse habitats. To understand the factors affecting species persistence in boreal climate I analyzed the role of greenhouse habitats, crop cultivation practices and surrounding natural vegetation for naturalization of T. vaporariorum. I also compare the factors contributing to genetic structure of T. vaporariorum populations in boreal and Mediterranean regions and study the global genetic diversity of T. vaporariorum and its endosymbionts. Results indicated that greenhouse habitats can have an impact on pest persistence and naturalization in the boreal climate. Variation in the pest responses to insecticide treatments suggests pest persistence in the study area. Continuous cultivation of the same greenhouse crop species creates possibilities for host adaptation and maintains high propagule pressure with sources of fecund and persistent pest populations. Furthermore, natural species are preferred over the cultivated crops as host plants for whiteflies, which could facilitate pest dispersal into natural vegetation. However, greenhouse habitats can also create physical barriers to pest dispersal in both climate zones. This can be observed by significant genetic structure of greenhouse populations, which contrasted with low genetic diversity of the species and its endosymbionts on a global scale. My results suggest that greenhouse agroecosystems can extend the distribution of pests. However, crop cultivation practices also affect their ecology and contribute to reduction of genetic diversity, which in turn, can influence their long term persistence.
FACTORS AFFECTING BAT HOUSE OCCUPANCY IN COLORADO

Abstract Artificial roosts known as bat houses have been developed to replace natural roosts that are destroyed and to create new roosts where they are lacking. I investigated the effects of variables related to bat house characteristics and ecological conditions on patterns of roost occupancy in 95 bat houses. Bat houses seem to have been used exclusively as day roosts, with an overall occupancy rate of 11.6%. The presence of bats roosting in the immediate area prior to the placement of the house was an important predictor of occupancy. When bats were already present at a site, the occupancy rate increased to 63.6%. Likelihood of occupancy also was increased by providing houses with larger landing areas, by mounting them on buildings instead of trees, and by placing houses in areas with low canopy cover and low levels of human disturbance. Bat houses are probably best used when a roost is going to be destroyed, or a colony excluded, and when the houses can be placed in the immediate area of the old roost.
Research on Target Counting Based on Improved YOLOv5 and SORT Algorithms

In order to solve the statistical problem of some targets when fishing vessels are operating, based on deep learning technology, this paper uses the improved YOLOv5s and SORT algorithms to achieve target statistics. First, YOLOv5s is fused with CBAM and SE attention mechanism modules, respectively, to reduce the interference of complex backgrounds and improve the model detection accuracy simultaneously. Comparing the three models, the target detection model with a better effect is selected. Secondly, through the threshold method, SORT algorithm combined with the detection line and DeepSORT three algorithms to achieve the count of some targets, respectively. The results show that the accuracies of YOLOv5s, YOLOv5s fused CBAM, and YOLOv5s fused SE are 97.2%, 84.8%, and 98.9%, respectively. Among them, the YOLOv5s fusion SE module has the best effect, which is 1.7% and 14.1% higher than the other two results. Among the three target statistics methods, the SORT algorithm combined with the detection line is the best, with an average count accuracy rate of 85.7%. The count accuracy rates of the three categories of Fish_basket, Fish_net, and Process_ship are 96.5%, 85.8%, and 75%, respectively, compared with the other two species have improved significantly. The research results can provide an informational reference for the automated counting of targets during fishing vessel operations.
Evolution of regulatory complexes: a many-body system

The recent advent of large-scale genomic sequence data and improvement of sequencing technologies has enabled population genetics to advance from a mostly abstract theoretical basis to a quantitative molecular description. However, functional units in DNA are typically combinations of interacting nucleotide segments, and evolutionary forces acting on these segments can result in very complicated population dynamics. The goal is to formulate these interactions in such a way that the macroscopic features are independent of the microscopic details, as in statistical mechanics. In this thesis, I discuss the evolutionary dynamics of regulatory sequences, which control the production of protein in cells. One of the primary forms of regulation occurs through interactions of proteins called transcription factors, with binding sites in the DNA sequence, and the strength of these interactions influence the individual's fitness in the population. What makes this an ideal model system for quantitative analysis of genomic evolution, is the possibility of inferring this relationship. Compared to prokaryotes and yeast, gene regulation is much more complex in higher eukaryotes. Regulatory information is organized in modules with multiple binding sites that are linked to a common function. In Chapter. 2, we show that binding site complexes are commonly formed by local sequence duplications, as opposed to forming from scratch by single point mutations. We also show that the underlying regulatory grammar is in tune with this mechanism such that the duplication events confer an adaptive advantage. Regulatory complexes resemble a many-particle system whose function emerges from the collective dynamics of its elements. In Chapter. 3, we develop a thermodynamic framework to characterize the effective affinity of site complexes to multiple transcription factors with cooperative binding. These affinities are the phenotype, or trait of binding complexes on which selection acts, and we characterize their evolution. From the yeast genome polymorphism data, we infer a fitness landscape as a function of binding affinity by using the novel method developed in Chapter. ~ 4. This method of quantitative trait analysis can deal with long-range correlations between sites which arise in asexual populations. Our fitness landscape quantitatively predicts the amount of conservation of the phenotype, as well as the amount of compensatory changes between sites. Our results open a new avenue to understand the regulatory "grammar" of eukaryotic genomes based on quantitative evolution models. They prove that a combination of theoretical models, high-throughput experimental measurements, and analysis of genomic variation is necessary for a proper quantitative understanding of biological systems.
Responses of different herbivore guilds to nutrient addition and natural enemy exclusion

Abstract We experimentally investigated the effects of plant quality and natural enemies on the abundance of different herbivore guilds on oak trees. Two oak species (Quercus laevis and Q. geminata) and four guilds of leaf herbivores (leaf miners, gall-formers, leaf-rollers, and chewers) were studied using a factorial design that manipulated predation/parasitism pressure and plant nutritional quality. Forty plants of each species were divided into four treatments: 1) control plants (nutrients and natural enemies unaltered); 2) nutrients added, natural enemies unaltered; 3) nutrients unaltered, natural enemies removed; and 4) nutrients added and natural enemies excluded. Fertilized plants exhibited significantly higher foliar nitrogen for both oak species, and tannins tended to increase over time and decrease with fertilization, but only for Q. geminata was this trend significant. Fertilized plants supported significantly higher densities of all herbivore guilds than did unfertilized plants, but exclusion of natural enemies did not significantly affect herbivore abundance for any guild studied. Our results demonstrate that all herbivores on oaks, regardless of guild type, respond more strongly to bottom-up effects such as host-plant quality than to top-down effects caused by natural enemies.
Microbial Carbon Assimilation within the Walls of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vent Chimneys

Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth stored in a multitude of reservoirs and constantly cycled through various processes occurring on our planet. Although it represents only a small percentage of the total carbon on Earth the biosphere is the most active of all carbon reservoirs. We have a comparatively large knowledge of the surface biosphere and primary production associated with phytoplankton and green plants as well as respiration of organic compounds. A substantial biosphere driven by "dark energy" or chemical disequilibria may exist for kilometers beneath the continents and the seafloor. Water-rock reactions at high temperatures mobilize the reducing power of the deep Earth and upon mixing with seawater produce copious and diverse energy sources which can support autotrophic growth. Several remarkable cases of chemotrophic carbon assimilation have been demonstrated since the discovery of the deep-sea vents more than 30 years ago (e.g. bacterial endosymbionts inhabiting the tube worm trophosome) and the isolation of a number of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic chemolithoautotophs. To date there are six known pathways of carbon assimilation including the canonical Calvin Benson-Bassham pathway. All of the most recently discovered pathways have been found in thermophiles and Archaea specifically all likely to occurring at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. This study seeks to document the occurrence of autotrophic microorganisms in the context of thermal and chemical gradients within the walls of deep-sea vent chimneys. Furthermore we show that the phylogeny of genes associated with the Calvin Benson-Bassham cycle is associated with the environmental characteristics in which it occurs. This work has implications for understanding feedbacks between environmental characteristics and carbon assimilation as well as the evolutionary history of carbon fixation pathways. These pathways were likely operative since early in Earth's history and overlap with conditions which favor the abiotic synthesis of small organic molecules. Research in this realm thus may provide clues to the origins and diversification of carbon fixation pathways as well.
PREDATION RISK ASSOCIATED WITH GROUP SINGING IN A NEOTROPICAL WOOD-QUAIL

Abstract Decades of fruitful research on the study of vocal communication in birds have provided surprisingly little evidence of a predation cost associated with singing. In this paper, I report the first observational evidence of a risk of predation associated with chorusing in a Neotropical wood-quail. Black-breasted Wood-Quail (Odontophorus leucolaemus) live in groups year-round and produce coordinated group choruses or duets. Three mammalian and two avian species of predators were attracted to playbacks of recorded wood-quail choruses that I used during population surveys and capture attempts from March to August, 2000–2002. The trade-off between signaling and predation risk may be an important force in the evolution of chorusing in New World quails.
The influence of non-uv light on soil surface microbial community development and the fate of crop protection products

Crop protection products (CPPs) are an essential component of modern agriculture, necessary to improve crop yield to feed the ever-increasing world population. Regulation and safety testing of CPPs entering the environment is mandatory to ensure that their use is not at the detriment of environmental or human health. Regulatory laboratory studies typically over-estimate the persistence of CPPs within the environment as they are not representative of environmental conditions. This study investigated the role of non-UV light on CPP degradation and the development of soil surface communities. The inclusion of non-UV light in laboratory studies impacted the degradation of fludioxonil and cinosulfuron, increasing and decreasing the rate of transformation relative to dark conditions, respectively. Further, the inclusion of light increased non-extractable residues (NER) formation in fludioxonil, paclobutrazol and benzovindiflupyr. In a field based degradation experiment, the availability of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) increased the transformation of benzovindiflupyr relative to when PAR was restricted. Further, the formation of paclobutrazol and benzovindiflupyr NERs was increased when PAR was not restricted, and the proportion of CPP remaining at the soil surface (0-5 mm) was higher when PAR was restricted. Targeted amplicon sequencing (Illumina MiSeq) revealed that bacterial and phototrophic communities at the soil surface changed with time, and that communities formed when PAR was available were structurally distinct relative to communities when PAR was restricted. In a further experiment, analysis of bacterial and phototrophic communities under crops with differing canopy characteristics showed that distinct communities formed at the soil surface relative to bulk soil, and that phototrophic communities of bare soil and under low-density canopies were structurally distinct to those that formed under high-density canopies. This work has potential implications for regulatory CPP degradation studies, and furthers the understanding of soil surface community development in temperate environments.
Effects of the synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, esfenvalerate, on larval leopard frogs (Rana spp.)

Leopard frog (Rana spp.) tadpoles exposed to esfenvalerate in the laboratory experienced a decrease in activity at concentrations as low as 1.3 μg/L and exhibited a convulsive, twitching response at concentrations of 3.6 μg/L. The 96-h median lethal concentration was 7.29 μg/L. Temperature influenced amphibian mortality; the mortality concentration-response slope at 22°C was significantly greater than at 18°C. Tadpoles exposed in a pond showed the same responses (inactivity, convulsive actions, and death) at similar concentrations as laboratory test organisms. Surviving tadpoles from laboratory tests resumed normal behavior 1 week after being placed into clean water, but most of those tadpoles that exhibited convulsive behavior during initial exposure eventually died. Tadpoles surviving pond exposures showed no later mortality, but rather exhibited a negative density-growth relation. Measured pyrethroid concentrations in ponds and streams adjacent to sprayed fields do not exceed levels associated with convulsive twitching or mortality in larval amphibians; however, they do exceed concentrations associated with inactivity and fish and invertebrate mortality, which may indirectly affect larval amphibians.