Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non‐equilibrium succession dynamics indicate continued northern migration of lodgepole pine

Because species affect ecosystem functioning, understanding migration processes is a key component of predicting future ecosystem responses to climate change. This study provides evidence of range expansion under current climatic conditions of an indigenous species with strong ecosystem effects. Surveys of stands along the northern distribution limit of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) in central Yukon Territory, Canada showed consistent increases in pine dominance following fire. These patterns differed strongly from those observed at sites where pine has been present for several thousand years. Differences in species thinning rates are unlikely to account for the observed increases in pine dominance. Rates of pine regeneration at its range limits were equivalent to those of spruce, indicating a capacity for rapid local population expansion. The study also found no evidence of strong climatic limitation of pine population growth at the northern distribution limit. We interpret these data as evidence of current pine expansion at its range limits and conclude that the northern distribution of lodgepole pine is not in equilibrium with current climate. This study has implications for our ability to predict vegetation response to climate change when populations may lag in their response to climate.
The Effects on Intertidal Fucoid Algae of Exposure to Air under Various Conditions

Pelvetia canalicufata and Fucus spiralis plants were exposed to air at different temperatures and water potentials, then resubmerged in seawater and observed in culture. Drought injury was manifested as an initial decrease in fresh weight followed by the appearance of dead, discolored spots on the thallus, damage to growing apices and temporary curtailment of growth. Plants subsequently recovered except when injury was extreme. Damage was greater at 25 °C than at 9° C and increased with duration of exposure. At 25 °C, partial dehydration (-100 to -395 bars water potential) was more harmful than desiccation to -1375 bars; hence rapid tissue water loss during tidal exposure is advantageous to these algae. Simulated rainfall caused little injury even at 25° C. However, fresh water sprayed on air-dry plants accentuated the effects of dehydration. Results are discussed in relation to an earlier field study which showed that intertidal fucoid algae are most critically affected by prolonged emersions during warm weather.
Sequence characterization of a novel α-neurotoxin from the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) venom

Abstract Several postsynaptic neurotoxins (α-neurotoxins) with distinct pharmacological and biochemical properties were isolated and purified from the King cobra venom ( Ophiophagus hannah ) by employing sequentially preparative-scale cation-exchange chromatography on SP-Sephadex C-25 coupled with gel filtration and reversed-phase HPLC. The complete sequence of one neurotoxin was determined by N-terminal Edman degradation with the automatic pulsed-liquid phase sequencer on some peptide fragments generated from the endopeptidases, i . e . trypsin, S . aureus V 8 protease and lysyl endopeptidase. This novel neurotoxin is a basic polypeptide of pI 9.05, consisting of 72 amino-acid residues with 10 cysteine residues. It is found to share about 60 % sequence homology with Toxins a and b isolated from the same venom and the well established α-bungarotoxin, a major postsynaptic toxic ligand for acetylcholine receptor isolated from Bungarus multicinctus . The characterized α-neurotoxin molecules were also shown to bind specifically with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of the electric eel, Torpedo californica .
Bioacoustics and Systematics of the Poecilimon hamatus Group (Tettigonioidea: Phaneropteridae: Poecilimon: Hamatopoecilimon n. subg.)

Abstract The genus Poecilimon, with more than 150 species, is the largest genus of the family Phaneropteridae. According to DNA data (Ullrich et al. 2010) the most basal branch of the genus is formed by the P. hamatus group (Hamatopoecilimon n. subgen.). The coloration and a male calling song composed of series of short syllables, which follow each other at a relatively high frequency (9–26 Hz at 25°C), are important characteristics of this group. For all species of the subgenus, male calling songs, stridulatory movements (except for one species), and diagnostic genital morphology are described and figured. The females respond acoustically to the male song with a delay of about 30 ms. In four of six species the males have been observed to use two types of calling song, obviously connected to the female response behavior. The reasons for this behavior are discussed, as well as the phylogeny of the group, considering also its biogeography.
Effect of dietary garlic meal on histological structure of small intestine in broiler chickens

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of garlic (Allium sativum) meal on the intestinal mucosal morphology of broiler chickens between 21 and 42 days of age. A total of 1800, 21 days old Ross 308 broiler chicks were weighed and randomly allotted into 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2% dietary garlic meal groups of each 100 birds. Experimental diets were formulated by addition of each level of garlic meal to commercial finisher mash diet (CP : 20.45%, ME : 3,130kcal/kg), and fed ad libitum for 21d. At day 42, 15 chicks from each treatment were randomly killed to obtain intestinal samples.Villus height, epithelial thickness, goblet cell numbers, crypt depth and the ratio of crypt depth to villus height in each intestinal segment were compared using a light microscope. Garlic meal as a feed additive significantly enhanced villus height and crypt depth and decreased epithelial thickness and goblet cell numbers in duodenum, jejunum and ileum of birds. Fundamentally, jejunum and ileum revealed an almost similar morphological alteration to that in the duodenum except that dietary garlic meal supplement resulted in an increase in the ratio of crypt depth to villus height in duodenum but a decrease in jejunum and ileum. In present study, small intestinal morphological changes in chickens due to dietary garlic meal supplement demonstrate that absorptive process could be activated by garlic meal as an antibiotics alternative growth promoter.
DNA rearrangements affecting dosage sensitive genes

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) are two dominantly inherited disorders affecting the peripheral nervous system. The relationship between these two disorders is unique among related syndromes. The tandem duplication of a 1.5 Mb region located on chromosome 17 (17p11.2–p12), which contains the peripheral myelin protein gene PMP22, results in a CMT1A phenotype, whereas the reciprocal deletion of this 1.5 Mb region yields an HNPP phenotype. Therefore, CMT1A duplication patients are triploid for this region of chromosome 17, and HNPP deletion patients are haploid. The genetic mechanism that generates the phenotypic features in aneuploid mental retardation syndromes like Down syndrome (trisomy 21) and Miller-Dieker syndrome (del 17p13) may prove to be similar to the PMP22 gene dosage effects, which result in CMT1A and HNPP. Studying the relationship between the phenotypic features and the underlying mechanism of these two neuropathies may elucidate unique features of neuronal genes that predispose them to dosage sensitivity. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Comparison Between Potassium Bromate and Ozone as Flour Oxidants in Breadmaking

ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to compare the efficacy of potassium bromate with that of ozone treatment in wheat flour oxidation for breadmaking. In the first experiment, flour was treated with ozone at 1,500 ppm for 2, 4.5, 9, and 18 min. In the second experiment, flour was fully treated with ozone at 1,500 ppm for 45 min and then blended with control flour at concentrations of 10–30% (w/w). Flour became whiter and less yellow as ozonation time increased when compared to control flour. Size-exclusion HPLC detected an increase in SDS buffer insoluble polymeric proteins in flour exposed to ozone. Bread made from flour treated with ozone for 2–4.5 min and bread that was made from flour blended with fully ozonated flour at 5 and 10% (w/w) was not significantly different for specific volume when compared with bread made with flour containing potassium bromate. Bread made from flour treated with ozone for 2, 4.5, and 9 min had a greater number of cells in crumb with larger loaf volumes than contr.
Relationships between egg size, chick size at hatching, and chick survival in the Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

The relationships between egg size, chick size at hatching and chick survival in Whimbrels Numenius phaeopus were studied over a three-year period in the Shetland Isles. Three measurements of chick size at hatching were all positively correlated with egg volume, though the relationship was strongest with hatchling body-weight. In two of the three years the proportion of chicks from a brood which survived to fledging increased significantly with the mean hatching weight of chicks in the brood. Within broods, a significant effect of hatching weight on survival was detectable only up to 7 days after hatching. Between years the egg volumes and hatchling weights of individual female Whimbrels showed relatively little variability, indicating that these attributes could be controlled to a large extent by inheritance.
The semicircular canal system and locomotion: The case of extinct lemuroids and lorisoids

Paleontologists reconstruct the locomotor and postural behavior of extinct species by analogy with living forms and biomechanical analyses. In rare cases, behavioral evidence such as footprints can be used to confirm fossil‐based reconstructions for predominantly terrestrial orders of mammals. For instance, the chalicothere prints from Laetoli show that these perissodactyls supported their body weight on the metacarpals, as previously reconstructed. 1 Unfortunately, primates are mostly arboreal and rarely leave footprints. The cercopithecid and hominin prints at Laetoli are a rare exception. We have recently shown that the semicircular canal system can be used to test and augment locomotor reconstructions based on postcranial material or to provide first estimations of locomotor behavior for taxa not known from the postcranium. Using a sample of modern primates, we have been able to demonstrate that the radii of curvature of the semicircular canals are significantly correlated with both body mass and agility of locomotion. 2 This paper reviews those results and examines the relationship between semicircular canal morphology and other evidence in efforts to reconstruct locomotor behavior in subfossil lemurs from the Holocene of Madagascar and fossil lorisoids from the Miocene of Africa.
Symposium: Insect Behavioral Ecology--'80: Moth Sex Pheromones: An Evolutionary Perspective

"The greater peacock moths cross hills and valleys in the darkness, with a heavy flight of wings spotted with inexplicable hieroglyphics. They hasten from the remotest depths of the horizon to find their 'sleeping beauties,' drawn thereto by unknown odours, inappreciable by our senses, yet so penetrating that the branch of almond on which the female has perched, and which she has impregnated with her effluvium, exerts the same extraordinary attraction" (J. H. C. Fabre in Legros 1971: 131). "In the obscurity of a dark chamber this splendid moth emits phantasmal radiations, perhaps intermittent and reserved for the season of nuptials, signals invisible to us, and perceptible only to those children of the night, who may have found this means to communicate one with another, to call one another in the darkness, and to speak with one another" (J. H. C. Fabre in Legros 1971: 309).
Comparative winter diets of elk in New Mexico

Winter diet quality of elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) was studied in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, during January-April 1980 on a recently-burned montane area (BURN) and an unburned upper montane area (BACA). Grasses dominated diets in the BURN, but nearly equal proportions of browse and grass were eaten in the BACA. Botanical composition of diets did not vary during the study at either site. Crude protein and in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) in forages did not differ between locations. Grasses were more digestible than browse, but crude protein content was similar between forage classes. IVDOM and protein increased significantly in grasses with advancing season, but not in browse. Dietary protein ranged from 3.5 to 7.2% in the BURN and from 4.7 to 7.5% in the BACA and was consistently superior in the BACA. Diet IVDOM in the BURN surpassed that in the BACA. Increases in diet quality were correlated with changes in quality of grasses ingested by elk. Forage quality was more variable than was diet quality, indicating the ability of elk to maintain relatively constant diet quality when confronted with large fluctuations in forage quality. 1 figure, 3 tables.
THE BIOLOGY OF THE ORANGEBREASTED WAXBILL

Summary Colahan, B. D. 1982. The biology of the Orangebreasted Waxbill. Ostrich 539–30 A general biological study of the Orangebreasted Waxbill Sporaeginthus subflavus, with an emphasis on breeding biology, was conducted in Hypharrenia grassland near Salisbury, Zimbabwe, mainly in 1973 and 1974. It is primarily a bird of open grassland and vleis and is found mainly above 1 000 m in Zimbabwe. Mensural data are presented, and seasonal variation in the weights of adults examined. General behaviour and habits are described and 13 different calls identified. Small, dry grass seeds picked off the ground make up the bulk of the diet, but small insects, green grass seeds and shoots are also taken. Moult appears to be prolonged and remex moultMaypossibly take as long as 7 months. Breeding has been recorded from December to July in Zimbabwe, but over 75% of records are for March and April, coinciding with the transition from the wet to the dry season. The species is monogamous and a small territory around the nest .
Immunoreactivity of neurosecretory granules in the brain-retrocerebral complex of Manduca sexta to heterologous antibodies against Bombyx prothoracicotropic hormone and bombyxin

Summary A monoclonal antibody against a synthetic pentadecapeptide corresponding to the N-terminal end of Bombyx-prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH: 1–15) and a monoclonal antibody against a synthetic decapeptide corresponding to the N-terminal portion of the A-chain of bombyxin-1, bombyxin (1–10), were used as parallel probes to localize both molecules at the cellular and subcellular levels in the brain-retrocerebral complex of Manduca sexta. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that molecules immunochemically similar to Bombyx-PTTH were localized in the cytoplasm of two pairs of dorso-lateral neurosecretory cells (L-NSC III) and could be traced along their axons to the corpora cardiaca (CC) and corpora allata (CA), whereas bombyxin-like material was absent from these cells and was detected only in the cytoplasm of four pairs of median neurosecretory cells (M-NSCs). Immunocytochemical labelling at the ultrastructural level using the PTTH antibody showed high specificity with the 5 nm immunogold particles .
The Higgs mass derived from the U(3) Lie group

The Higgs mass value is derived from a Hamiltonian on the Lie group U (3) where we relate strong and electroweak energy scales. The baryon states of nucleon and delta resonances originate in specific Bloch wave degrees of freedom coupled to a Higgs mechanism which also gives rise to the usual gauge boson masses. The derived Higgs mass is around 125 GeV. From the same Hamiltonian, we derive the relative neutron to proton mass ratio and the N and Delta mass spectra. All compare rather well with the experimental values. We predict scarce neutral flavor baryon singlets that should be visible in scattering cross-sections for negative pions on protons, in photoproduction on neutrons, in neutron diffraction dissociation experiments and in invariant mass spectra of protons and negative pions in B-decays. The fundamental predictions are based on just one length scale and the fine structure constant. More particular predictions rely also on the weak mixing angle and the up–down quark flavor mixing matrix element. With differential forms on the measure-scaled wave function, we could generate approximate parton distribution functions for the u and d valence quarks of the proton that compare well with established experimental analysis.
Isolation of Birnavirus from Japanese Pearl Oyster Pinctada fucata

Since 1994, mass mortality of the Japanese pearl oyster Pinctada fucata has widely occurred in the southwestern part of Japan. The cause of mass mortality was investigat ed in terms of change of current, decrease in feed plankton, increase in seawater temperature, genetic fac tors, and water pollution. However, the cause of mortality has not been identified. Virus infection is thought to be one of the causes because it has been reported in the past that herpes virus-like particles1) and birnaviruses2) were found in several bivalves. Pathogenicity of birnavirus against hard clam Meretrix lusoria has been reported.3) The authors recently isolated the birnaviruses from Agemaki (jack knife clam) Sinonovacura consticta which originated in Ariake Bay, Saga Prefecture, Japan, as well as in an area on the Korean coast.4) The strain AGJ-90 that was isolated from the Ariake Bay samples showed patho genicity against Agemaki when the shells were exposed to physiological stress.4) The birnavirus genome was detected in high ratios by PCR, suggesting that the birnavirus is widely distributed in Agemaki.4) Therefore, we investigat ed the existence of viruses in Japanese pearl oyster. In this report, we describe the isolation and detection of birnavi rus from Javanese vearl oyster. Japanese pearl oyster samples were collected in the Uwajima and Uchiumi fishing grounds in Ehime Prefec ture, Japan, in October 30, 1996. Three shells taken from the same group were pooled per sample and 6 different samples were employed for analysis. Mainly liver and geni tal organs were used for the experiment. In order to eliminate virus contamination from seawater or digestive systems, gill, mantle lobe and rectum were not included in a sample. Birnavirus genome was surveyed by using 2-step PCR targeting in the VP2/NS junction region of genome segment A. We previously established this method for de tecting birnavirus genome.5) The cDNA fragment obtained by nested-PCR was directly sequenced by the dideoxy-ter minator method as previously described.4) Virus isolation was performed with cultured CHSE-214 and RSBK-2 cells. Liver and genital organs were pooled and weighed; 9-fold volume of Hanks' balanced salt solution was added and homogenated with a stomacker. The homogenates were filtrated through a 220-nm pore filter and 25 and 50 ,u l were inoculated to the cells cultured in a 24-well culture plate. Incubation was performed at 20•Ž. Supernatant of CPE-appearing cultures was inoculated to newly cultured
Physicochemical and enzymatic changes of cod muscle proteins subjected to different freeze-thaw cycles

The effects of freeze–thaw cycles on the physicochemical and enzymatic changes of cod muscle proteins were investigated. The activities of α-glucosidase and β-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase increased as the the number of freeze–thaw cycles increased. A loss of Ca2+-ATPase and Mg2+-Ca2+-ATPase activities was observed, while Mg2+-EGTA-ATPase activity increased, especially after one cycle of freezing–thawing, with a concomitant decrease in Ca2+ sensitivity. The surface sulphhydryl group content decreased with increasing freeze–thaw cycles, while no changes in total sulphhydryl group content were found. The surface hydrophobicity of actomyosin did not change significantly with the number of freeze–thaw cycles. The loss of protein solubility increased with increasing freeze–thaw cycles. However, no cross-linked proteins induced by formaldehyde were found. The results revealed that freeze–thaw cycles directly affected the physicochemical and enzymatic properties of cod muscle proteins. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry
Comparison of the growth pattern and Rosharinic acid production in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) shoots and genetically transformed callus cultures

Abstract Rosmarinic acid is a natural antioxidant and is found as a secondary metabolite in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). It is of interest in food preservation due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Previously maintained shoot‐based clonal line of rosemary designated as R‐l (based on RA content, total phenolics content, tolerance to Pseudomonas sp and RA stimulation) was used in this study to compare RA biosynthesis in shoot vs callus cultures. Callus cultures were generated from shoot cultures of R‐l line following transformation with Agrobacterium rhizogenes‐containing a natural plasmid that alters plant development. The shoot and transformed callus cultures of R‐l were isolated and maintained separately on hormone free Murashige and Skoog medium (MS/HF). The effect of light and dark conditions on callus growth and RA production was investigated. RA biosynthesis in shoot cultures was also compared due to its relevance to greenhouse production and organ culture. We found that callus m.
A mechanical analysis of a hind leg of a frog (Rana temporaria)

An attempt is made to relate the structure and properties of the principal extensor muscles and bones of the frog leg, to their performance in jumping and swimming. The following data are presented in turn. First, the muscles are described and their dimensions, and moment arms about the joints, are given. Secondly, the maximum isometric tension of each muscle, measured in tests with excised muscles, is reported. Stresses are calculated from these forces and the dimensions previously given. Thirdly, measurements are presented of the changing angle of each joint as the leg extends in jumping, and of the magnitude and direction of the forces exerted on the ground (measured by means of a force platform). The angles are used, in conjunction with the moment arms, to calculate the range and rate of shortening of each muscle, and hence the strain and rates of strain of their component fibres. The forces are used, with the moment arms, to calculate the forces and stresses exerted by the muscles. Fourthly, measurements taken from film of frogs swimming are used to estimate the force exerted on the water during the propulsive stroke. Muscle performance in swimming and jumping is compared. Finally, measurements of the stiffness and strength in bending of the femur and tibiofibula are presented, and related to the forces which act in jumping. The Discussion section of the paper includes an attempt to define the optimal working conditions for a muscle subjected to inertial loading.