Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Farm‐scale spatiotemporal dynamics of predatory beetles in arable crops

Summary 1 The spatial dynamics of farmland invertebrates can provide essential information relevant to their management for pest control and biodiversity conservation in sustainable agriculture. Carabid beetles are one of the most important groups contributing to biological control in arable fields. Previous studies have focused on spatial dynamics within single fields and years. In this study we examined their larger scale, long-term dynamics, thereby taking into account the impact of changes in crop rotation and the influence of field size. 2 The spatial distributions of four beetle species were investigated at an unprecedented spatial scale in a grid of 973 pitfall trap locations across six fields encompassing 64 ha of arable land. Week-long trapping was conducted four times in the first year and twice in the two following years. 3 All species showed strong aggregation but the size and location of patches differed among species. The distribution of Pterostichus melanarius was stable within and between years, with a single large patch close to the field boundaries. Patches of Poecilus cupreus were also located close to field boundaries but their location changed between years. Pterostichus madidus and Philonthus cognatus distributions extended across field boundaries and were less stable, with patch locations changing between years. 4 Synthesis and applications. The spatial extent of a population patch for a given species was species-specific. Species overwintering in field boundaries remained in proximity to these throughout the summer, whereas patches of mid-field overwintering species were more extensive. Patches were generally stable within years but varied for some species between years. Species therefore differ in their response to crop management practices and consequently blanket management approaches for these important generalist predators of crop pests are inappropriate. For spatially stable species (e.g. Pterostichus melanarius) it may be possible to determine their specific habitat requirements and to devise predictive and protective measures to preserve populations or manipulate them at the farm-scale. More mobile species may be better at responding to pest aggregations at the farm-scale. However, operations that deplete populations, e.g. soil cultivations, should be spatially and temporally desynchronized at the farm-scale to conserve populations and enable functional biocontrol.
Variation in germination response within Scotch thistle, Onopordum acanthium L., populations matured under greenhouse and field conditions

Abstract The effects of two maturation conditions (greenhouse and field) on germination percentages and rates were determined for cypselas (seeds) of Scotch thistle, Onopordum acanthium L. Four collections from each of three populations were tested in 1996 and 1997 (one of the same 1996 populations was used again in 1997, but two were different). Cypselas from all collections were incubated within three days of collection at 25˚C and 10˚C, for 14 hours light, and 10 hours dark, respectively. In general, cypselas that matured under warmer temperatures (greenhouse) germinated at higher percentages than those that matured under cooler temperatures (field). For example, in the Environmental Sciences Western (ESW) population at least five times as many cypselas from each greenhouse collection germinated than from the comparable field collection. Cypselas that matured early in the season were usually more germinable than those that matured later. However, field-produced cypselas from half of the populations had the opposite trend. Overall, all populations that matured under warmer conditions germinated at higher percentages than those matured under cooler conditions. Germination rates showed no clear trends among collections or between greenhouse- and field-matured cypselas.
Molecular studies on the sweet potato virus disease and its two causal agents

The studies presented in this thesis contribute to an increased understanding of the molecular aspects, variability and interaction of the two most important viral pathogens of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L): Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) and Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV), which cause the severe sweet potato virus disease (SPVD) when co-infecting sweet potato plants. SPVD is the most important disease affecting sweet potato in Africa, and may be the most important virus disease of sweet potato globally. The coat protein gene sequences of several African SPFMV isolates were determined and compared by phylogenetic analyses. Results showed that East African SPFMV isolates were genetically distinct. They could furthermore be divided into two serotypes which differed in their ability to systemically infect the sweet potato cultivar Tanzania. The aetiology of SPVD was studied in sweet potato plants co-infected with SPFMV and SPCSV using nucleic acid hybridisation, bioassays, tissue printing and thin section immunohistochemistry. Resistance to SPFMV in East African sweet potato cultivars was found to be due to inhibition of virus replication rather than movement and resistance was suppressed by infection with SPCSV, resulting in a ca. 600-fold increase in titres of SPFMV. Furthermore, in SPVD affected plants SPFMV is detected outside of the phloem, whereas SPCSV is detected only inside the phloem, which suggests novel as yet unknown mechanisms how SPCSV synergises SPFMV. The genomic sequence of SPCSV was determined. It was composed of two RNA molecules (9407 and 8223 nucleotides), representing the second largest (+)ssRNA genome of plant viruses. The genomic organization of SPCSV revealed novel features for the genus Crinivirus, such as i) the presence of a gene putatively encoding an ribonuclease III-like protein, ii) near-identical, 208 nucleotides long 3’-sequences on both viral RNAs, and iii) the placement of the SHP gene at a new position on the genome of SPCSV relative to other closteroviridae. Northern analyses showed the presence of several sub-genomic RNAs, of which the accumulation was temporally regulated in infected tissues. The 5’-ends of seven sub-genomic RNAs were determined using a PCR based method, which indicated that the sgRNAs were capped.
Liposomes as Tools in Basic Research and Industry

The Liposomes Importance of Liposome Characteristics on Their Properties and Fate, R.R. C. New. Chemistry of Ligand-Coupling to Liposomes, F. Schuber. Nonphospholipid Molecules and Modified Phospholipid Components of Liposomes, J.R. Philippot, P. Milhaud, and C. Puval. Liposomes at the Industrial Scale, G. Redziniak, P. Perrier, and C. Marechal. Liposomes as Cell or Membrane Models Liposomes as Tools for the Reconstitution of Biological Systems, J.-L. Rigaud and B. Pitard. Liposomes as Tools in Immunological Studies, P. Walden. Liposomes as Tools for Elucidating the Mechanisms of Membrane Fusion, N. Dnzgnnes and S. Nir. Liposomes, Viruses, and Membrane Fusion, M.C. P. Lima and D. Hoekstra. New Developments of Liposomes Gene Transfer with Cationic Amphiphiles, J.-S. Remy, C. Sirlin, and J.-P. Behr. Cationic Liposome-Mediated Gene Transfer In Vitro and In Vivo, R. Debs. Sterically Stabilized StealthLiposomes: Pharmacological Properties and Drug Carrying Potential in Can cer, A. Gabizon. Liposomes as Carriers of Antigens, M. Friede. pH-Sensitive Liposomes as Tools for Cytoplasmic Delivery, D. Collins. Liposomes as Transporters of Oligonucleotides, L. Leserman. Imaging Tools: Liposomal Agents for Nuclear Medicine, Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance, and Ultrasound, C. Tilcock. Nonphospholipid Liposomes: Principles and Bulk Applications, D.F. H. Wallach and R. Mathur. Nonphospholipid Vesicles as Experimental Immunological Adjuvants, C. Varanelli, S. Kumar, and D.F. H. Wallach. Index.
Book review: “From knowledge management to learning organisation to innovation”

Consumers have been found to respond to perceived risk, which is their subjective belief about the characteristics and severity of a risk to their organization, by applying consideration sets. The use of a consideration set is a cognitive reduction strategy that reduces available options in making retail, product or service decisions to a more manageable number. Little research has been devoted to understanding the order in which the consideration of products and/or services and retailers occurs in this reduction process. The basic sequences consumers can apply in constructing a consideration set are retail store first, product brand second; or product brand first, retail store second. The first sequence implies a retailer preference and the second suggests a product preference. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the order of the consumer’s consideration set. A qualitative research design, ex post facto, was employed, exploiting a grounded methodology in three focus group interviews, and the Delphi method in two expert panels used to review the data obtained from the focus groups to provide more robustness to the conclusions. The study focused on the participants’ main concerns in their decision-making, and how they tried to resolve them. This study suggests that decision risk was reduced by the home-improvement consumers forming consideration sets populated in part or in whole by retailer brands as an experiential shortcut. The data demonstrates that trust, perceived risk, involvement and brand are originators of this formation. Brands are seen by the home-improvement consumer as a bundle of attributes with the ability to deliver problem-solving benefits. Brand loyalty is the proxy in the decision process. The use of this proxy as a heuristic reduced the perceived risk of the home-improvement consumers. It enables the customer, at least in part, to sidestep the final decision about which product or service to purchase when choosing from amongst the options presented by the retailer.
Effect of timing and intensity of grazing on the herbage quality of a Mediterranean rangeland

The main objective of this study was to determine the quality of herbage grazed by cattle in hilly Mediterranean grassland under different grazing management systems. The study was conducted at the Karei Deshe experimental farm, located in eastern Galilee (Israel), between the 2003 and 2005 grazing seasons. Treatments comprised stocking rates of 0.9 and 1.8 ha per cow, and systems of continuous and seasonal (early vs late) grazing. Herbage was sampled at four periods during each grazing season. Samples were analysed for digestibility, protein, ADF, NDF and ash contents using near infrared refl ectance spectroscopy. Signifi cant differences in herbage quality were found between periods, years and their interaction. Herbage quality in paddocks grazed continuously or early in the season was signifi cantly higher than in those grazed late in the season. Stocking rate had a relatively minor effect on herbage quality.
Anaerobic digestion of the microalga Spirulina at alkaline conditions (pH~10; 2.0 M Na+): biogas production and metagenome analysis

Extensive use of fossil fuels has encouraged governments and research community to find alternative energy sources in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. One of these alternative energy sources is biogas, a mixture of gases, mainly CH4 and CO2, produced by the anaerobic fermentation of organic matter. One of the multiple substrates for the production of biogas are microalgae which are microorganisms that can transform sunlight and CO2 into biomass. In this work, a new approach for the production of biogas from the anaerobic fermentation of microalgae was investigated. Here we propose to perform the anaerobic digestion at alkaline conditions (pH~10; 2.0 M Na+). This can have several advantages over traditional anaerobic digestion systems. One advantage is that due to the higher CO2 solubility at alkaline conditions, the medium in the anaerobic reactor can act as a CO2 scrubber resulting in biogas rich in methane. To perform the anaerobic digestion at such alkaline conditions, sediments from alkaline lakes were used as inoculum. Several anaerobic reactors were set up to study the anaerobic digestion of Spirulina. These reactors were used to determine the optimal process parameters such as hydraulic retention time and organic loading rate. Several bottle necks were identified in this new approach, mainly related to ammonia inhibition and to poor granule formation. The produced biogas was rich in methane which made it suitable for the direct use in national gas grids or as fuel for vehicles. Metagenome analysis was the applied method to taxonomically and functionally characterize the unique extremophilic microbial community present in the alkaline anaerobic reactors. The taxonomy profile of this particular anaerobic alkaline community was similar, at higher taxonomic levels, to known traditional anaerobic digester communities with Bacteria clearly dominating over Archaea. The main observed differences could be attributed to the type of bacteria and archaea found, mainly haloalkaliphilic. Uncultured haloalkaline bacteroidetes and other halotolerant bacteria such as Halanaerobium were among the most dominant bacteria, while among the methanogenic archaea a clear dominance of Methanocalculus was observed. Genes related to the different strategies used by haloalkaline bacteria to cope with high pH were detected in the functional analysis. In the alkaline anaerobic reactor, the hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis pathway was the most prominent pathway while most genes of the acetoclastic pathway were practically absent.
When experiences of presence go awry: A survey on psychotherapy practice with the ambivalent-to-distressing 'hallucination' of the deceased.

OBJECTIVES Experiences of presence, involving the sensory perception or felt presence of the deceased, are common amongst the bereaved (30-60%). Despite them being predominantly comforting and reassuring, a minority (approximately 25%) report ambivalent or distressing experiences. The study's aim was to explore how psychotherapy is practised with this subset. METHOD A mixed-method approach, involving both quantitative analysis and thematic analysis, was used to analyse data from an online survey, conducted in English and Spanish, amongst mental health therapists (i.e., psychologists, psychotherapists, and counsellors). Seventy responded to the survey and four of them were further interviewed. RESULTS The participants primarily framed interventions for ambivalent-to-distressing experiences of presence as grief therapy, with the severity of the presentation as the main factor influencing their clinical decision-making, but several perspectives co-existed regarding how to intervene. These discourses were categorized into two themes: 'A normalising and exploratory psychotherapy' and 'A grief stages psychotherapy'. The main sources of patient's distress, as understood by the sample, were located in the bereaved-departed relationship, in pre-existing mental health issues, and in a societal taboo or stigma. CONCLUSION After comparing and contrasting the participants' working hypotheses with existing knowledge on experiences of presence, and contemporary theories in the research area, guidelines are presented on how to intervene with people disturbed by their experiences of presence. PRACTITIONER POINTS Perceiving the deceased person, or feeling their presence, is common and normal amongst bereaved people. When these experiences are distressing or ambivalent, therapists' share that psychological suffering may originate from the departed-bereaved relationship, pre-existing mental health issues, or the effect of societal taboo or stigma. Psychotherapy is frequently aimed at normalizing, accepting, supporting, and exploring patient's experience.
Mechanisms linking plant species richness to foraging of a large herbivore

Summary 1. There is general concern that local loss of plant diversity will adversely impact net primary productivity and other ecosystem properties. However, mechanisms linking plant diversity with other trophic levels, especially for large herbivores, are poorly understood. 2. We examine the responses of foraging sheep to changes in plant species richness in an indoor cafeteria experiment involving six plant species richness levels (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11 species) and three plant functional group compositions within each level, and in a field experiment involving three plant species richness levels (1, 4–6 or >8 species). 3. Sheep preferred a diverse diet over a single diet even when palatable species were in the diet. Voluntary daily intake steadily rose with increases in plant species richness in both cafeteria and field experiments. The overall nutrient intake (i.e. daily energy and protein intakes) of sheep in the cafeteria also rose significantly with increased plant species richness until it reached a plateau at eight species. The quality of the diet selected by sheep was also significantly affected by plant species richness, but the variation of dietary quality was small and variable. 4. High nutrient acquisition by the sheep depended on selecting those palatable species with high nutrient content from the plant forage on offer together with the complementary effects of plant species richness, especially for plant functional group richness. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our experiments demonstrate an asymptotic relationship between plant species richness and voluntary intake by sheep. Increases in plant species richness from a low level led to increased daily nutrient intake, and presumably performance of the sheep. Natural grasslands are generally low in nutritional quality and so plant species richness will critically influence herbivore food intake and nutrition. The asymptotic relationship indicates that the maintenance of plant species richness in rangelands will benefit both domestic herbivore production and the conservation of biodiversity.
Prueba de inmunodifusión radial con hapteno nativo para diferenciar bovinos con revacunaciones repetidas con la cepa S19 de Brucella abortus

El objetivo del estudio fue establecer la capacidad de la inmunodifusion radial (IDR) con hapteno nativo, para diferenciar anticuerpos post-vacunales de anticuerpos por infeccion, en bovinos con revacunaciones repetidas de cepa S19. Se trabajo en un establo del estado de Mexico, con presencia de abortos, retencion de placenta, expulsiones y fetos momificados. Las becerras se vacunaban con dosis clasica de cepa S19 de B. abortus, y ya adultas revacunaciones anuales repetidas con dosis reducida de la misma vacuna, existiendo vacas que tenian entre dos a seis revacunaciones. Se realizo un muestreo serologico a todas las hembras en edad reproductiva (n=300), con base en los registros se buscaron vacas con problemas reproductivos, resultando de esta seleccion 90 vacas (30 %). Los sueros se analizaron con las pruebas de tarjeta, rivanol e IDR con hapteno nativo. De las 90 vacas con problemas reproductivos, se colectaron muestras de leche y exudado vaginal, para diagnostico bacteriologico. De 300 bovinos muestreados se presentaron 157 positivos a tarjeta (52.3 %), 98 a rivanol (32.6 %). De las 90 vacas con problemas reproductivos se presentaron 88 positivos a tarjeta (97.7 %), 67 a rivanol (74.4 %) y 19 a IDR (21.1 %). De las 19 vacas positivas a IDR, 17 de ellas (89.4 %) se consideraron infectadas ya que eran positivas en 1:200 a rivanol y 2 (10 %) resultaron negativas a rivanol. De leche, se aislaron tres cepas de B. abortus biotipo 1. Se concluye que la inmunodifusion radial es util para diferenciar vacas infectadas de aquellas revacunadas repetidamente con dosis reducida de la cepa S19.
Presencia de epimastigotes de Trypanosoma cruzi en el plasma seminal de ratones con infección aguda

Se reporta la presencia de formas evolutivas de Trypanosoma cruzi en el plasma seminal (PS) de ratones NMRI, inoculados por via subcutanea con 2x104 tripomastigotes metaciclicos cepa P6 obtenidos de Rhodnius prolixus. Al separar las muestras de sangre a los 15 dias posinfeccion, un raton eyaculo espontaneamente y el examen directo del PS revelo la presencia de formas epimastigotes de T. cruzi en activo movimiento mezclados con los espermatozoides. Las preparaciones del PS coloreadas con Giemsa, mostraron formas epimastigotes libres y en division, tripomastigotes y amastigotes extracelulares y dentro de celulas fagociticas. Los resultados de este estudio revelaron los diferentes estadios de T. cruzi en el PS de raton, con morfogenesis similar a como ocurre en el insecto vector. El parasitismo encontrado en el PS del raton con infeccion aguda, aporta importante informacion epidemiologica sobre la via de transmision sexual de T. cruzi, principalmente entre la poblacion de reservorios silvestres que se encuentran en areas endemicas y no endemicas para la enfermedad de Chagas.
Joint precoding and antenna selection in massive mimo systems

Esta dissertacao apresenta uma visao geral sobre MIMO (do termo em ingles, multiple-input multiple-output) massivo e propoe novos algoritmos que permitem a pre-codificacao de sinais e a selecao de antenas de forma simultânea. MIMO massivo e uma nova tecnologia candidata para compor a quinta geracao (5G) dos sistemas celulares. Essa tecnologia utiliza uma quantidade muito grande de antenas na estacao-base e, sob condicoes de propagacao favoravel ou assintoticamente favoravel, pode alcancar taxas de transmissao elevadas, ainda que utilizando um simples processamento linear. Entretanto, os sistemas MIMO massivo apresentam algumas desvantagens, como por exemplo, o alto custo de implementacao das estacoes-bases. Uma maneira de lidar com esse problema e utilizar algoritmos de selecao de antenas na estacao-base. Com esses algoritmos e possivel reduzir o numero de antenas ativas e consequentemente reduzir o custo nas estacoes-bases. Essa dissertacao tambem apresenta uma classe pouco estudada de pre-codificadores nao-lineares que buscam sinais pre-codificados esparsos para realizar a selecao de antenas conjuntamente com a pre-codificacao. Alem disso, este trabalho propoem dois novos pre-codificadores pertencentes a essa classe, para os quais o numero de antenas selecionadas e controlado por um parâmetro de projeto. Resultados de simulacoes mostram que os pre-codificadores propostos conseguem uma BER (do termo em ingles, bit-error rate) menor que os algoritmos classicos usados para selecionar antenas. Alem disso, resultados de simulacoes mostram que os pre-codificadores propostos apresentam uma relacao linear com o parâmetro de projeto que controla a quantidade de antenas selecionadas; tal relacao independe do numero de antenas na estacao-base e do numero de terminais servidos por essa estacao.