Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictions of climate change infer increased environmental harshness and altered connectivity in a cluster of temporary pools

SUMMARY 1. Future moderate changes in evaporation and precipitation regimes could have pronounced effects on zooplankton populations in small and temporary aquatic habitats, by causing higher salinity and a shorter wet phase and by reducing passive dispersal via hydrological connections between pools and increasing it by exposing propagules to the wind. 2. Using a hydrological model, we simulated various climate change scenarios in a natural cluster of temporary rock pools in South Africa. 3. In our simulations, a shift towards a drier climate was associated with reduced permanence and increased conductivity, resulting in a lower percentage of inundations sufficient for the hatching, growth and reproduction of aquatic organisms (up to a 21% decline for a fairy shrimp). Connections between pools by overflowing occurred less frequently (by up to 28%). However, more frequent desiccation events (by up to 15%) led to increased exposure of dormant propagules to wind, possibly promoting dispersal within the pool cluster but also leading to losses from the propagule bank. 4. Our results suggest that environmental change might not only affect local (within-pool) selection pressures but also regional dynamics in rock pool metapopulations and communities.
Comparison of Grizzly Bear Ursus arctos Demographics in Wilderness Mountains Versus a Plateau with Resource Development

We studied migration, birth rate and death rate of 59 grizzly bears Ursus arctos on a plateau (N = 29) with extensive forestry activities, and adjacent relatively undeveloped mountains (N = 30) during 1998–2003, to examine population parameters and/or limiting factors that might have contributed to a large difference in grizzly bear density between landscapes. Female bears in our low-density area (i.e. plateau) were heavier, in better condition, and more often accompanied by cubs than their mountain counterparts. Survival rates were comparable for adult bears but were significantly lower for subadult bears on the plateau. All deaths of bears which lived on the plateau for which cause of death was identified were human-caused as compared with one of three in the mountains. Plateau bear deaths were highest in fall coinciding with people hunting other species. Density-dependent factors appeared to be more important to mountain bear demographics, whereas bears on the plateau appeared to be limited by human-caused bear mortality. Forest harvest did not appear to have negative effects on reproductive parameters of female bears, but associated towns and roads allowed for high human-caused bear mortality. We did not record female dispersal between landscapes leading us to conclude that dispersal from the mountains is unlikely to offset human-caused mortality on the plateau.
A review of the lichen family Parmeliaceae - history, phylogeny and current taxonomy.

The largest family of lichen-forming fungi, the Parmeliaceae, is reviewed. It includes 79 genera in current use and ca 2726 species, a large majority of which belong to one of five main clades: the parmelioid, cetrarioid, usneoid, alectorioid and hypogymnioid. However, 21 genera are positioned outside these clades, and four genera in current use still lack DNA- data. The family has been shown to be monophyletic and the generic classification is relatively well-settled compared with other lecanoralean families. Each clade and its genera are presented here with the latest results from phylogenetic analyses and current taxonomy. In addition, a historical outline of the family and its most prominent researchers is provided.
Morphological and molecular diversity of Radopholus on coffee in Vietnam and description of R. daklakensis sp. n. from Robusta coffee

Four isolates of Radopholus arabocoffeae and one isolate of R. duriophilus were collected during a survey of plant-parasitic nematodes on coffee in Vietnam. Radopholus species only occurred in the Western Highland region. Information on the degree of variability in morphometrics, and morphological and molecular characters amongst and within these species are reported. The survey also yielded a Radopholus isolate collected from Robusta coffee roots and soil in Dak Lak, which is herein described as a new species, R. daklakensis sp. n. Within the genus, R. daklakensis sp. n. is most similar to R. arabocoffeae and R. duriophilus in morphology and morphometrics. It differs from R. arabocoffeae by the stylet knobs always directed posteriorly and the conical tail shape with rounded terminus in females. Radopholus daklakensis sp. n. differs from R. duriophilus by the stylet knobs, which are always directed posteriorly vs rounded, and dorsal knob sometimes projected anteriorly, and sperm rod-shaped vs oval and kidney-shaped. Radopholus daklakensis sp. n. differs from R. similis by the absence of a postrectal intestinal sac, four incisures of the lateral fields terminating far posterior to the position of the phasmid, the bursa in male reaching one-third of tail to half, never reaching tail terminus and smaller stylet length in females. The canonical discriminant analysis separated the Radopholus species by characters such as lip height, stylet length, b, b′, c, V and ratio tail length/stylet length. Phylogenetic analysis of Radopholus species using ITS-rDNA sequences or sequences from the D2-D3 expansion region of the 28S rRNA gene also confirm R. daklakensis sp. n. to be distinct.
Viscosity of solutions of xanthan/locust bean gum mixtures

Xanthan and locust bean gums are polysaccharides able to produce aqueous solutions with high viscosity and non-Newtonian behaviour. When these solutions are mixed a dramatic increase on viscosity is observed, much greater than the combined viscosity of the separated polysaccharide solutions. In this work the influences of different variables on the viscosity of solutions of mixtures of xanthan/locust bean gum have been studied. Total polysaccharide concentration, xanthan and locust bean ratio on mixture and temperature at which the gum was dissolved (dissolution temperature) for both xanthan and locust bean gums have been considered. Under these different operational mixture conditions shear rate and time have also been considered to describe the rheological behaviour of the solutions studied. The high viscosity increase observed in these mixtures is due to the interaction between xanthan gum and locust bean gum molecules. This interaction takes place between the side chains of xanthan and the backbone of the locust bean gum. Both xanthan molecule conformation in solution – tertiary structure – and locust bean gum structure show great influence on the final viscosity of the solution mixtures. Xanthan conformation changes with temperature, going from ordered structures to disordered or chaotic ones. Locust bean gum composition changes with dissolution temperature, showing a dissolved galactose/mannose ratio reduction when temperature increases, ie the smooth regions – zones without galactose radicals – are predominantly dissolved. The highest viscosity was obtained for the solution mixture with a total polysaccharide concentration of 1.5 kg m−3 and a xanthan/locust ratio of 2:4 (w/w) and when xanthan gum and locust bean gum were dissolved at 40°C and 80°C, respectively. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry
NON‐RANDOM PREY LOCATION BY THE PHYTOSEIID PREDATOR METASEIULUS OCCIDENTALIS: DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES TO SEVERAL SPIDER MITE SPECIES

Metaseiulus (= Typhlodromus) occidentalis (Nesbitl) is an effective predator of the spider mites Tetranychus urticae (Koch) and T. pacificus McGregor in vineyards and almond orchards in the San Joaquin Valley of California. It is less effective against the Willamette mite (Eotetranychus willamettei (McGregor)), the European red mite (Panonychus ulmi (Koch)), the citrus red mite (P. citri (McGregor)) and the brown mite (Bryobia rubrioculus (Scheuten)) in these crops. Behavioral observations and experiments documented that M. occidentalis detects cues deposited on leaves by several prey species, including T. urticae, T. pacificus and E. willamettei but weakly detects or responds to cues (silk and other residues) deposited by B. rubrioculus, P. citri, and P. ulmi. The cues continue to elicit a specialized “search” behavior by M. occidentalis for several days. but the cues can be removed partially by ageing or by washing the discs with water. Therefore, prey location is not due only to random encounters but is influenced by cues deposited by spider mites on leaf surfaces. We suggest that M. occidentalis‘ prey finding behavior is enhanced by silk and kairomonal cues which act as a releaser to switch a hungry predator into a special search mode, thereby increasing the likelihood that the predator will encounter prey.
Chemotaxonomy and flavonoid diversity of Salvia L.(Lamiaceae) in Iran

In this study, we evaluated the chemotaxonomic status and chemical diversity of Salvia L. species in Iran using leaf flavonoid profiles. From natural habitats in the country, we collected samples of 14 species of the genus: S. spinosa L. ; S. macrosiphon Boiss. ; S. reuterana Boiss. ; S. sharifii Rech.f. & Esfand. ; S. nemorosa L. ; S. virgata Jacq. ; S. syriaca L. ; S. mirzayanii Rech.f. & Esfand. ; S. atropatana Bunge; S. limbata C. A. Mey; S. sclarea L. ; S. ceratophylla L. ; S. multicaulis Vahl. ; and S. hydrangea Dc. ex Benth. Two-dimensional maps of these species were created with thin-layer chromatography. In order to study the taxonomic position of these species and 37 accessions, cluster analysis was applied. The results of the cluster analysis showed that S. spinosa was distinct from S. reuterana. Despite considerable morphological similarity between S. nemorosa and S. virgata, those two species are definitely distinguished. In addition, S. spinosa and S. macrosiphon were roughly grouped, whereas S. ceratophylla and S. multicaulis composed two separate groups. In the 14 species collected, the flavonoids identified were flavones, flavonols, flavanones, isoflavones, dihydroflavonols and chalcones. We found that flavonoids are appropriate indicators to determine the taxonomic position of Salvia species.
Binding of the G domains of laminin α1 and α2 chains and perlecan to heparin, sulfatides, α‐dystroglycan and several extracellular matrix proteins

The C‐terminal G domain of the mouse laminin α2 chain consists of five lamin‐type G domain (LG) modules (α2LG1 to α2LG5) and was obtained as several recombinant fragments, corresponding to either individual modules or the tandem arrays α2LG1‐3 and α2LG4‐5. These fragments were compared with similar modules from the laminin α1 chain and from the C–terminal region of perlecan (PGV) in several binding studies. Major heparin‐binding sites were located on the two tandem fragments and the individual α2LG1, α2LG3 and α2LG5 modules. The binding epitope on α2LG5 could be localized to a cluster of lysines by site‐directed mutagenesis. In the α1 chain, however, strong heparin binding was found on α1LG4 and not on α1LG5. Binding to sulfatides correlated to heparin binding in most but not all cases. Fragments α2LG1–3 and α2LG4‐5 also bound to fibulin‐1, fibulin‐2 and nidogen‐2 with Kd = 13–150 nM. Both tandem fragments, but not the individual modules, bound strongly to α‐dystroglycan and this interaction was abolished by EDTA but not by high concentrations of heparin and NaCl. The binding of perlecan fragment PGV to α‐dystroglycan was even stronger and was also not sensitive to heparin. This demonstrated similar binding repertoires for the LG modules of three basement membrane proteins involved in cell–matrix interactions and supramolecular assembly.
Disulphide Bonds in Wheat Gluten Proteins

Abstract Disulphide bonds play a key role in determining the structure and properties of wheat gluten proteins. Comparison of the sequences of monomeric gliadins and polymeric glutenin subunits allows the identification of conserved and variant cysteine residues. Direct disulphide bond determination demonstrates that the conserved cysteine residues present in S-rich prolamins (α-type gliadins, γ-type gliadins and LMW subunits) form intra-chain disulphide bonds while additional cysteines residues present only in the LMW subunits form inter-chain bonds with cysteines in HMW subunits and other LMW subunits. Conserved and variant cysteine residues are also present in the HMW subunits but their patterns of disulphide bond formation are less well understood. Further information on the abilities of individual cysteine residues to form intra- and inter-chain disulphide bonds has also been obtained by heterologous expression of wild type and mutant proteins inE. coliand, in the case of the HMW subunits, by examination of the patterns of dimers recovered on partial reduction of glutenin or resulting from the expression of subunits in transgenic tobacco plants. Wheat gluten proteins are folded and assembled within the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum of the developing endosperm cells, where disulphide bond formation and exchange may be catalysed by the enzyme protein disulphide isomerase. Similarly, disulphide bond reduction, for example to facilitate mobilisation during germination, may be catalysed by thioredoxinh. Understanding the mechanism and specificity of disulphide bond formation in gluten is crucial for the manipulation of its functional properties by genetic engineering or chemical modification.
A window to the past: documenting the status of one of the last remaining ‘megapopulations’ of the threatened staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis in the Dominican Republic

1. Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral) and Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral), once common features of shallow Caribbean reefs observed growing as large stands or thickets, are now found mainly as remnant pockets or isolated colonies at a fraction of their historical areal extent. 2. In February 2010, a large, surviving population of A. cervicornis was surveyed at Cabezos del Cayo, Punta Rusia, Dominican Republic to document its present condition and potential threats to its persistence. 3. The A. cervicornis surveyed at Cabezos del Cayo provides a rare glimpse of the habitat structure that these keystone components of coral reefs once provided. The staghorn population covers an area of 2 ha and is formed by interlocking skeletons of unusually large and thick A. cervicornis colonies. 4. The large size of its colonies (maximum branch length 250 cm; average linear length of live tissue 471 cm; maximum number of branch tips 141 per colony; maximum branch diameter 5 cm) and the complex open canopy of these colonies, have not been described, to our knowledge, in the recent literature. 5. The site is within Montecristi National Park but there is no active protection in this area and signs of overfishing are evident based on low fish abundance and complete lack of fish >20 cm in length. 6. The stressors associated with this population include significant predation by gastropods and fireworms, overgrowth by macroalgae, damselfish ‘gardening’ activities, and white band disease. 7. The management priority for the staghorn population at Cabezos del Cayo, Dominican Republic, should be to enforce the legal framework that is already in place for the protection of Montecristi National Park, limiting unsustainable and damaging fishing practices, and limiting land-based sources of pollution associated with increasing population numbers and future coastal development. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DESIGN HINTS FOR SMART AGENTS AS TEACHERS IN VIRTUAL LEARNING SPACES

Immersive virtual learning environments can be used to teach a wide range of competences. Usually the learners are alone in such learning worlds. For help, they then necessarily turn to their class teacher. An alternative is the use of a smart agent as an aid. This approach is known as intelligent tutorship. The difference, however, lies in the immersive nature of the learning environment. This work is based on a literature review to identify requirements for smart agents in the context of a virtual classroom. In addition to multimodal conversation skills and pedagogical competences, the role as a central point of interaction and mentor/tutor is also part of this. The outer appearance (i.e., embodiment) should have a visible shape and be animated. The second part of the work deals with the practical conception of a smart agent. By means of a survey, the preferred visualization of a smart agent for a specific target group was identified. This showed that smart agents with human appearance were preferred.
Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Novel Human Diacylglycerol Kinase (*)

Diacylglycerol (DAG) occupies a central position in the synthesis of complex lipids and also has important signaling roles. For example, DAG is an allosteric regulator of protein kinase C, and the cellular levels of DAG may influence a variety of processes including growth and differentiation. We previously demonstrated that human endothelial cells derived from umbilical vein express growth-dependent changes in their basal levels of diacylglycerol and diacylglycerol kinase activity (Whatley, R. E., Stroud, E. D., Bunting, M., Zimmerman, G. A., McIntyre, T. M., and Prescott, S. M.(1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 16130-16138). To further explore the role of diacylglycerol metabolism in endothelial responses, we used a degenerate reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method to identify diacylglycerol kinase isozymes expressed by human endothelial cells. We report the isolation of a 3.5-kilobase cDNA encoding a novel diacylglycerol kinase (hDGK) with a predicted molecular mass of 103.9 kDa. Human DGK contains two zinc fingers, an ATP binding site, and four ankyrin repeats near the carboxyl terminus. A unique feature, as compared with other diacylglycerol kinases, is the presence of a sequence homologous to the MARCKS phosphorylation site domain. From Northern blot analysis of multiple tissues, we observed that hDGK mRNA is expressed at highest levels in brain. COS-7 cells transfected with the hDGK cDNA express 117-kDa and 114-kDa proteins that react specifically with an antibody to a peptide derived from a unique sequence in hDGK. The transfected cells also express increased diacylglycerol kinase activity, which is not altered in the presence of R59949, an inhibitor of human platelet DGK activity. The hDGK displays stereoselectivity for 1,2-diacylglycerol species in comparison to 1,3-diacylglycerol, but does not exhibit any specificity for molecular species of long chain diacylglycerols.
Mandibular advancement devices: a real alternative to CPAP therapy?

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by interruption of breath during sleep. OSAS is related to hypertension, type II diabetes and obesity. This disease has various implications on patient’s quality of life. The gold standard for OSAS treatment is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Due to the high level of patients that complain about CPAP therapy, mandibular advancement devices could play an important role in OSAS treatment. Objectives: The purpose of this review is to appraise scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs) for OSAS treatment and look over MADs designs that are currently being used scanning for its efficacy. Data sources: Five databases will be accessed (SCOPUS, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct and Wiley Online Library) and 6 keywords will be combined. Study eligibility and criteria: This systematic review will only include study’s developed with humans diagnosed with OSAS and with more than eighteen years old. English is the only language accepted. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: Studies assessment will be made by two authors (HCS and FM) and organized in three different parts: screen all articles; screen all abstracts, screen all full texts. In all phases articles that don’t have interest for this systematic review will be excluded. Two review authors (HCS and FM) will also assess the risk of bias and the quality of evidence, taking as a reference the Cochrane Collaboration’s Tool.
Host preferences of the parasitoid Bracon brevicornis Wesmael (Hym., Braconidae) and host sensitivity to its venom

Laboratory studies were undertaken to investigate host preferences and host sensitivity to venom of the ectolarval parasitoid, Bracon brevicornis as indicated by numbers of fully paralyzed host larvae during limited period. Larvae of Sesamia cretica were used in all trails. When 5 host species (Galleria, Ephestia, Sesamia, Spodoptera and Ostrinia) exposed to the parasitoid separately, Galleria was significantly the most sensitive, with Ephestia the least susceptible. When 3 host species (Spodoptera, Sesamia, and Ostrinia) were accessible to the parasitoid in close confinement, Spodoptera was significantly the most preferred with Ostrinia the least. When 2 borers (Sesamia and Ostrinia) were exposed jointly, Sesamia was significantly more favored than Ostrinia. When 2 hosts (Sesamia and Spodoptera) exposed in combination, Spodoptera was favored. Wasp venom is known to be effective in 24 hosts (review + present study). Time required for full paralysis varied significantly among different species of larvae. Zusammenfassung Wirtswahl des Parasitoiden Bracon brevicornis Wesm. (Hym., Braconidae) und Wirtsempfindlichkeit gegenuber dem Gift des Parasitoiden Es wurden Laboruntersuchungen durchgefuhrt, um die Wirtswahl von B. brevicornis und die Wirtsempfindlichkeit seinem Gift gegenuber zu testen. Bezuglich der Giftempfindlichkeit erwies sich von 5 Wirtsarten (Galleria, Ephestia, Sesamia, Spodoptera und Ostrinia), die getrennt dem Parasitoiden dargeboten wurden, Galleria als signifikant am empfindlichsten, Ephestia als am unempfindlichsten. Wurden 3 Wirtsarten (Spodoptera, Sesamia und Ostrinia) zusammen dem Parasitoiden dargeboten, war die Reihenfolge der Wirtswahl: Spodoptera, Sesamia, Ostrinia. Wenn 2 Arten, Sesamia und Ostrinia, gemeinsam dargeboten wurden, wurde Sesamia signifikant bevorzugt. Bei Darbietung von Sesamia und Spodoptera in Kombination wurde Spodoptera bevorzugt. Das Schlupfwespen-Gift erwies sich als 24 h lang wirksam. Die zu einer vollen Paralyse notwendige Zeit variierte zwischen den verschiedenen Raupenarten.
Deep Homography for License Plate Detection

The orientation of plate images in license plate recognition is one of the factors that influence its accuracy. In particular, tilted plate images are harder to detect and recognize characters with than aligned ones. To this end, the rectification of plates in a preprocessing step is essential to improve their performance. We propose deep models to estimate four-corner coordinates of tilted plates. Since the predicted corners can then be used to rectify plate images, they can help improve plate recognition in plate recognition. The main contributions of this work are a set of open-structured hybrid networks to predict corner positions and a novel loss function that combines pixel-wise differences with position-wise errors, producing performance improvements. Regarding experiments using proprietary plate images, one of the proposed modes produces a 3.1% improvement over the established warping method.