Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategic early treatment for control of sheep flystrike: potential economic benefits examined using a weather-driven model of flystrike risk

The application of preventive treatment against flystrike early in spring (before strike occurs) may reduce the reproductive success of the sheep blowfly, thereby maintaining a low risk of flystrike throughout the fly season. This hypothesis has been examined using a weather-driven model of flystrike (incorporating a reduced risk due to early treatment), based on previous experimental studies. The model indicates that in the Gunning area (with a high flystrike risk), this reduction in seasonal risk would reduce total costs related to flystrike, reduce the overall use of preventive chemical treatment and reduce the number of sheep struck. However, in a lower risk area (Flinders Island), the value of early treatment would depend on the date of shearing and the local risk of flystrike. Under some conditions, no preventive treatment would be necessary in most years because of a regional low risk of flystrike, so there would be no economic benefit from always using early treatment. Early treatment is least likely to be cost-effective when shearing is required soon after the optimal date for early treatment. Further experimental studies are recommended to fully examine whether the previously reported reduction in flystrike resulting from early treatment is consistent over a wider range of climatic conditions.
Feeding specificity and photosynthetic activity of Korean sacoglossan mollusks

Received 14 October 2010, Accepted 06 November 2010 *Corresponding Author E-mail: ghkim@kongju.ac. kr Tel: +82-41-850-8504, Fax: +82-41-850-8504 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Feeding specificity and photosynthetic activity of Korean sacoglossan mollusks Tatyana A. Klochkova, Jong Won Han, Ju-Hyoung Kim, Kwang Young Kim and Gwang Hoon Kim Department of Biology, Kongju National University, Kongju 314-701, Korea Department of Oceanography, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea
Vascular Smooth Muscle: Availability of Calcium Through α‐Adrenoceptor Stimulation

In strip preparations from the rabbit main pulmonary artery, it was not possible to differentiate convincingly between α1- and α2-adrenoceptors, when selective agonists such as methoxamine, St 587, B-HT 920, and clonidine, as well as selective antagonists such as prazosin and yohimbine were used for receptor characterization. Measurements of the membrane potential of the vascular smooth-muscle cells with intracellular glass micropipettes showed similar depolarizations in response to the α1-selective methoxamine and the α2-selective B-HT 920. These observations suggest the occurrence of a uniform α-adrenoceptor population in the rabbit main pulmonary artery. However, in contrast to α1-agonists, contractile responses to α2-agonists differed considerably in their dependence on external Ca, as revealed in Ca withdrawal experiments, as well as by the use of Ca antagonists. Furthermore, inactivation of the guanine nucleotide-binding inhibitory protein (Ni protein) by pertussis toxin impaired vasoconstriction, in response to α2-agonists, but left that to α1-agonists unaffected. It is suggested that α1- and α2-agonists induce two distinct conformational changes in an otherwise uniform α-adrenoceptor of the rabbit main pulmonary artery. By the mediation of Ni protein, α2-agonists appear to allow influx of Ca into the vascular muscle cells through a type of Ca channel that is unlikely to be controlled by voltage.
Antibacterial activity of some ethnomedicinal plants from the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India

The present investigation encompasses antibacterial potential of three medicinal plants used by the tribals of Nilgiris for the treatment of various skin ailments. About 18 extracts at three concentrations (10, 5, 2.5 mg/ml) of different plant parts of Siegesbeckia orientalis Linn. , Berberis tinctoria Lesch. and Justicia betonica Linn. were tested against pathogenic bacteria, viz. Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella sp. , Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae and V. parahemolyticus. All the extracts exhibited broader antibacterial activity against the tested pathogens.
PP.26.09: SPIKE RATE OF MULTI-UNIT MUSCLE SYMPATHETIC NERVE FIBERS FOLLOWING CATHETER-BASED RENAL NERVE ABLATION

Objective: Patients with treatment-resistant arterial hypertension exhibited profound reductions in single sympathetic vasoconstrictor fiber firing rates following renal nerve ablation. In contrast, integrated multi-unit muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) changed little or not at all. We hypothesized that conventional MSNA analysis may have missed single fiber discharges, thus, obscuring sympathetic inhibition following renal denervation. Design and method: We studied patients with difficult to control arterial hypertension (age 45–74 years) before, 6 (n = 11), and 12 months (n = 8) following renal nerve ablation. Electrocardiogram, respiration, brachial, and finger arterial blood pressure (BP), as well as the MSNA raw signal were analyzed. We detected MSNA action potential spikes using 2 stage kurtosis wavelet denoising techniques to assess mean, median, and maximum spike rates for each beat-to-beat interval. Results: Supine heart rate and systolic BP did not change at 6 (&dgr;HR: -2 ± 3 bpm; &dgr;SBP: 2 ± 9 mmHg) or at 12 months (&dgr;HR:-1 ± 3 mmHg, &dgr;SBP: -1 ± 9 mmHg) after renal nerve ablation. Mean burst frequency and mean spike frequency at baseline were 34 ± 3 bursts per minute and 8 ± 1 spikes per sec. Both measurements did not change at 6 months (-1.4 ± 3.6 bursts/minute; -0.6 ± 1.4 spikes per sec) or at 12 months (-2.5 ± 4.0 bursts/minute; -2.0 ± 1.6 spikes per sec) following renal nerve ablation. After renal nerve ablation, BP decreased in 3 out of 11 patients. BP and MSNA spike frequency changes were not correlated (slope = -0.06; p = 0.369). Conclusions: Spike rate analysis of multi-unit MSNA neurograms further suggests that profound sympathetic inhibition is not a consistent finding following renal nerve ablation.
Small molecule profiling and imaging of the zebra finch song system

29 INTRODUCTION.29 MATERIALS AND METHODS.31 RESULTS.33 DISCUSSION . 36 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 39 FIGURES AND TABLES.40 REFERENCES.46 CHAPTER 3 SMALL MOLECULE ANALYSIS AND IMAGING FATTY ACIDS IN THE ZEBRA FINCH SONG SYSTEM USING TIME OF FLIGHT – SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETRY ABSTRACT.49 INTRODUCTION.49 MATERIALS AND METHODS.52 RESULTS.54 DISCUSSION . 58 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 63 FIGURES AND TABLES.64 REFERENCES.78. 49 INTRODUCTION.49 MATERIALS AND METHODS.52 RESULTS.54 DISCUSSION . 58 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 63 FIGURES AND TABLES.64 REFERENCES.78 CHAPTER 4 METABOLIC PROFILING OF THE ZEBRA FINCH AUDITORY FOREBRAIN AFTER SONG EXPOSURE ABSTRACT.82 INTRODUCTION.82 MATERIALS AND METHODS.83 RESULTS.87 DISCUSSION . 90 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 95.82 INTRODUCTION.82 MATERIALS AND METHODS.83 RESULTS.87 DISCUSSION . 90 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 95
Cytogenetics and Morphology in Relation to Evolution and Speciation of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes

Adaptation to plant parasitism has occurred extensively in nematodes in the order Tylenchida and four genera of the order Dorylaimida. The ancestors of plant parasites probably possessed a protrusible stylet for feeding, before they became gradually adapted to plant parasitism. First, they may have lived in the rhizosphere and fed on fungi and other lower microorganisms; then they fed on plants as ectoparasites of roots and above-ground parts; and finally, they entered the various plant tissues to become highly adapted endoparasites (2, 35, 38). Once some weakly plant-parasitic forms became
K-Medoids Clustering Based Next Location Prediction in Wireless Local Area Network

User mobility prediction in wireless network is being investigated from various angles to improve performance of the network. Access to user’s movement information such as time, direction, speed etc provides an opportunity for wireless networks to effectively manage resources to satisfy user needs. A next location prediction technique is required for transferring the existing connections of user to the next Access Point (AP) beforehand to ensure better Quality of Service (QoS) of the network. There are several techniques for next location prediction of mobile users in Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) which include Indoor Next Location Prediction with Wi-Fi model, Extended Mobility Markov Chain Model, Hidden Markov Model and Mixed Membership Stochastic Blockmodel. In the Indoor Next Location Prediction with Wi-Fi model the area of prediction is fixed and small which makes this approach inefficient when the number of locations traversed by the mobile user is large. The paper addresses the issue of predicting the next location of mobile users in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) when the area of prediction is vast. In this paper an intelligent clustering technique i.e., the K-Medoids clustering algorithm has been implemented on the indoor next location prediction, which is based on a Markov-chain model, for predicting the next location of a user when the number of locations traversed by the user is vast. The accuracy of prediction of mobile user’s next location by the proposed K-Medoids clustering based next location prediction technique ranges from 67% to 97%.
Subtype Specificity of α‐Adrenergic Receptors in Rat Heart

Summary Recent studies suggest that two subtypes of a-adrenergic receptors (α1 and α2) can be distinguished on the basis of the differential affinities of certain adrenergic ligands for each subtype. We have investigated the binding characteristics of several such ligands for α-adrenergic receptors in membrane preparations derived from rat heart. α-Adrenergic antagonists competed for binding sites identified by the nonsubtype selective α-adrenergic ligand [3H]dihydroergocryptine (DHE) in the order of potency expected for α1-receptors, namely, prazosin (EC50 = 0.35 nM) > phentolamine (EC50) = 37 nM) > yohimbine (EC50 = 918 nM). Furthermore, the nonsubtype selective radioligand [3H]DHE identified a quantitatively similar number of specific binding sites in rat cardiac membranes as the α2-selective radioligand [3H]prazosin (33 and 36 fmoles/mg protein, respectively), while the α2-selective ligand [3H]clonidine at concentrations up to 20 nM demonstrated negligible specific binding. We conclude that the α-adrenergic receptors of rat heart homogenates demonstrate binding characteristics typical of α2-receptors. While we cannot exclude the presence of small numbers of α2-receptors, the similar number of binding sites identified at saturation for the α1-specific ligand [3H]prazosin and for the nonsubtype selective ligand [3H]DHE supports the hypothesis that the a-receptors of rat heart are predominantly of the α1-subtype.
Variations in the alkaloidal and phenolic profiles in the genus Atropa (Solanaceae)

Abstract A chemical comparison between Atropa acuminata and A. belladonna shows that there are significant differences in the secondary metabolites present. The purple-black berry pigment of A. acuminata is the anthocyanin delphanin, while that of A. belladonna is the O -methylated derivative, petanin. There are differences in the flavonols and hydroxycinnamic acid esters present, e.g. quercetin 3-methyl ether is restricted in its occurrence to A. belladonna . Likewise, the amounts of major alkaloids vary greatly, especially in the roots, and the minor alkaloids also differ. The distribution within the plant can also vary: 6-hydroxyhyoscyamine is present in the stem of A. acuminata and in the root of A. belladonna . The chemical results thus suggest that A. acuminata should be maintained as a species distinct from A. belladonna.
A Novel Methodology to Study Synchrony, Causality and Delay in EEG Data

Synchrony and causality analyses performed in EEG data have improved the understanding of complex interactions within the human brain. However, few attempts have been conducted for using the delay magnitude as a feature of synchrony events. A new methodology for studying synchrony in EEG data is presented here. It includes synchrony detection and a novel mechanism to estimate delay magnitude and sign - hence causality - between narrow bandwidth signals. Synchrony detection and delay estimation are separated in two steps: first, significant synchrony is detected using a measure based on phase differences, then, the delay is estimated by analyzing the dispersion of measure maxima in the space spanned by time, frequency and delays. Synthetic EEG data is used to validate the methodology using a synchrony spectral model with controlled bandwidth and multivariate autoregressive models (MVAR). The proposed methodology achieves a superior performance in causality estimation than state-of-the-art techniques in accuracy and robustness to noise. We also present an analysis of data from a psychophysiological experiment of figure categorization. This methodology provides a reliable method to estimate the delay magnitude of synchrony events and it is a better alternative for studying causality than the state-of-the-art techniques employed here.
Association of Spot14α Gene Polymorphisms with Body Weight in the Chicken

In mammals, thyroid hormone responsive Spot14 (THRSP) is a small acidic protein that responds to thyroid hormone stimulation and, therefore, is thought to play a role in growth. The current study was designed to investigate the associations of Spot14alpha gene polymorphisms on chicken growth and body composition traits. The Northeast Agricultural University Resource Population (NEAURP) was used in the present study. The NEAURP was established by crossing broiler sires, derived from Northeast Agricultural University broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat content, with Baier layer dams, a local Chinese breed. The F(1) birds were intercrossed to produce the F(2) population. Body weight and body composition traits were measured in the F(2) population. Polymorphisms of the gene were detected between parental lines by DNA sequencing. Primers were designed according to the chicken Spot14alpha gene (AY568628). The PCR-RFLP and PCR-length polymorphisms methods were then developed to genotype polymorphisms in the NEAURP. The A213C and 9 bp insertion-deletion of the Spot14alpha gene in the F(2) population was found to be associated with BW, which implied that Spot14alpha gene or a tightly linked gene had an important effect on growth in the chicken.
A Formula Diamond Encoding Data Hiding Scheme

Recently, many data hiding schemes based on the Exploiting Modiﬁcation Directions (EMD) method have been proposed. In particular, the EMD-type with diamond encoding (DEMD) method improves upon the original EMD method from 1 . 16 bpp (bits per pixel) to log 2 (2 k 2 + 2 k + 1) / 2 bpp per pixel pair for embedding secret data. However, the DEMD-scheme needs additional space to store and calculate the diamond characteristic value (DCV) matrix. To overcome this disadvantage, a formula diamond data hiding scheme will be proposed in this paper. According to the simulation results, we show our proposed scheme embeds secret data directly without calculating the DCV matrix by using a formula and also maintains good embedding capacity and stego image quality .
Age, Growth and Reproduction of Coryphaena hippurus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Maltese Waters, Central Mediterranean

Age, growth and reproduction of the dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 collected from the Central Mediterranean in the period 2004-2010 by the traditional Maltese fish aggregating devices (FAD) and surface longline fisheries were studied. The a and b parameters of the length-weight relationship for fish 11-142 cm fork length (FL) (n = 4042) were determined as a = 0.018 and 0.022 with b = 2.85 and 2.79, for males and females respectively. The counting of annual increments from dorsal spines of >65 cm FL dolphinfish at X25 magnification (n = 47) permitting an age reading resolution in years , and the counting of daily increments from sagittal otoliths of <65 cm FL dolphinfish at X400 magnification (n = 583) permitting an age reading resolution in days, were estimated; the von Bertalanffy growth model applied to these fish gave the following parameters: L ∞ = 107.8 cm FL and 120.2 cm FL, and K = 1.9 yr -1 and 1.56 yr -1 , for males and females respectively. The maximum age observed was 2 years. Size at 50% maturity for fish 10-131 cm FL (n = 1376) was 58.9 cm FL and 62.5 cm FL for males and females, respectively. The sex ratio for the fish sampled from the FAD fishery (10.5-131 cm FL) was 1:1.54 (M:F) and for dolphinfish sampled from the surface longline fishery (91-130 cm FL) was 1:0.76 (M:F). Back-calculated hatch dates from age-0 dolphinfish (n = 518) suggested that spawning occurs from June to September with the highest levels in June. This study is the first to use dorsal spines to determine the age of adult dolphinfish.
Potential ecological consequences of forest biomass harvesting in California

ABSTRACT The expansion of forest biomass markets may affect California’s forests both positively and negatively. Existing research does not permit an exact assessment of biomass harvesting impact in each forest type, but policy decisions can still benefit from a synthesis of the available science. Biomass markets may permit the harvest and removal of trees that would previously have been left in the woods to die, so they may reduce the prevalence of key habitat elements such as snags and downed logs. Water quality, soils, and site productivity can also be affected by reductions in dead wood brought about by increased biomass harvesting. At the same time, new markets may allow for the restoration of forests that have become unnaturally dense because of fire exclusion (i.e., densities are outside the historic range of variability). Restoration can change fire behavior, and the removal of low value trees can benefit the remaining trees. However, the retention of large pieces of dead wood can limit the risk of biomass harvests, impinging on biodiversity, while keeping small pieces of dead wood and foliage on-site can benefit water quality, soils, and site productivity.
Effect of different temperature regimes on the biology of Bracon brevicornis Wesmael (Braconidae: Hymenoptera) on different host larvae.

Bhendi or Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (Malvaceae) is one of the important vegetable crops grown throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. It is ravaged by many insect pests right from germination to harvest. Among the insect pests, fruit borers viz., Earias spp. and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) causes extensive damage to fruits and results in 50 per cent yield loss. Management with biocontrol agents is the most appreciated method for environmental safety. Among the various groups of biocontrol agents, braconid parasitoids are well known for the management of different lepidopteran larvae, including bhendi fruit borer complex. The braconid parasitoid, Bracon brevicornis Wesmael was found to be very effective against bhendi fruit borers. However, temperature and host insects play a major role in the developmental biology of the parasitoids which ultimately decides its efficacy. Experiments conducted on the effect of different temperature viz., 20, 25, 30 35C and room temperature, on the developmental biology of B. brevicornis on different host larvae viz., E. vittella and H. armigera in comparison with the laboratory host, C. cephalonica revealed that the temperature regime of 25C is highly suitable with a short life cycle of 8.22, 8.27 and 8.07 days respectively followed by room temperature (ranged between 22 to 32°C). Among the host larvae studied, C. cephalonica and E. vittella were found to be more suitable with maximum number of eggs, grubs, cocoons, adult males and females respectively. H. armigera was next in the order of preference recording less number of eggs, grubs, cocoons, and adults. The developmental period was also found to be less in C. cephalonica and E. vittella followed by H. armigera. Though the life cycle is very short at 35C, the progeny production is comparatively less with more males than females. At 20C the life cycle is prolonged with minimum progenies yielding more males than females.
Factors Regulating Insect Walking

The last review of insect walking that appeared in the Annual Review of Entomology was written nearly twenty years ago. In that review, Wilson (43) strongly espoused the view that walking in insects was controlled in the central nervous system (CNS) by a number of what are termed pattern generators, which are networks of neurons that are able to generate a properly timed, rhythmic series of nerve impulses in the absence of all externally generated timing cues from sense organs. This point of view turned out to have wide­ spread applicability throughout the animal kingdom. It led to the recognition that much of the fundamental timing of repetitive movements, not only in locomotion but indeed in all rhythmic behavior, could be generated by the CNS without the necessity for any timing signals from rhythmically stimulated sense organs (19). During the period in which the concept of pattern generators was being developed, researchers emphasized the independence of the timing of the components of rhythmic motor patterns from sensory input. Nevertheless, it was always clear that such input could in fact play an important role in modulating the timing of these components relative to one another. With the generality of the concept of pattern generators now well established, many researchers in the field of motor control have begun to investigate the role that sensory input plays not only in modulating but even in generating the properly timed sequence of muscle action that underlies any coordinated, rhythmic behavior. In this review, I summarize recent work dealing with the regulation of insect walking by sensory input. The review concentrates specifically on the regula-
HIGH-THROUGHPUT CELL CULTURE CONDITION SCREENING BY MICROENVIRONMENT ARRAY

We report a microenvironment array: perfusion culture microchamber array with different cell culture conditions. The microenvironment array provides the 4 x 4 combinatorial cell culture conditions composed of four different soluble factors and four different extracellular matrixes (ECM). We present the high-throughput cell culture condition screening by the microenvironment array. The cultivable condition for Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells without the serum was successfully detected by the microenvironment array.