Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Aquatic Angiosperm Trapago angulata from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) St. Mary River Formation of Southern Alberta

A floating aquatic dicot with leaves assignable to Trapago angulata has been characterized from Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) deposits of the St. Mary River Formation in southern Alberta, Canada. Reconstruction of the plant is based on nearly 500 specimens of various isolated and attached organs. Prominent floating rosettes of leaves were interconnected by submerged horizontal rhizomes with a distinct, crenulate surface and formed dense mats at the surfaces of small freshwater ponds. At least eight different leaf morphologies were produced. Rosettes bore opposite pairs of simple leaves and compound leaves with three, five, seven, nine, and possibly 11 leaflets. Highly dissected, submerged leaves of differing morphologies occur on rosette-bearing axes and rhizomes. Paired bud scales at the nodes of the crenulate rhizomes subtend both rhizome leaves and elongate, branched roots. Solitary flowers on long pedicels are attached in the axils of compound leaves. These remains are compared to those described as Quereuxia angulata (Newberry) Kryshtofovich from Russia, and extant Trapa L. Specimens from Russia, while showing leaves of morphology similar to that of T. angulata, differ in growth and branching pattern, supporting the interpretation that they are indeed different genera. Although Trapago has commonly been placed in the Trapaceae, the similarities between extant Trapa and Trapago could be attributed to convergence, and the familial affinities of the fossil remain uncertain.
Feeding Tactics of Low-ranking Red Deer Stags at Supplementary Feeding Sites

We tested the hypothesis that low-ranking red deer Cervus elaphus stags adjust feeding tactics according to the spatio-temporal availability of the food. We observed free-ranging red deer at two supplementary feeding sites in the Scottish Highlands. It was predicted that at spatially clumped food, low-ranking stags would avoid high-ranking stags, 1. spatially when food is available only for a short period, but 2. temporally when the food is available continuously. We observed several feeding tactics in low-ranking stags and the prevalence of a feeding tactic was related to the spatial distribution of the food. When food was highly clumped some low-ranking stags rushed in between feeding high-ranking stags, took a bite and retreated to process the bite (sneaking tactic). Bite rate/min did not differ between sneaking (0.29 ± 0.05) and non-sneaking low-ranking stags (0.26 ± 0.05). Compared with non-sneaking low-ranking herd members, sneaking stags took larger bites, as reflected in a significantly longer handling time (125 ± 12.4 s/bite) and thus achieved a higher intake, although still considerably less than high-ranking stags. The temporal availability of the food did not influence feeding tactics in low-ranking stags. Low-ranking stags always avoided higher-ranking herd members spatially but did not shift their feeding bouts to times of the day when high-ranking stags were not feeding.
The epidemiology of potato blight in the East Midlands 1923–74

SUMMARY Examination of the East Midlands records of potato blight epidemics and the meteorological data on critical 90 % relative humidity infection periods for the years 1923–74 indicates the importance of the amount of inoculum carried over from one season to the next in influencing the rapidity of progress of the disease and the date of destruction of the haulm. The success of forecasting outbreaks based on 90% r.h. periods is reviewed. The importance of taking into account both amount of inoculum and weather conditions in devising a disease control programme is discussed. It is concluded that the succession of seasons since 1968 without a major potato blight epidemic was due mainly to a combination of low carry-over of infection and sub-optimal weather conditions for the development of the disease and that the current control measures have not yet been subjected to a severe test.
Toll-like receptors: emerging targets of immunomodulation

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) were shown to play a critical role in the recognition and activation of pathogens by the innate immune system. Pathogen engagement of the TLR–myeloid differentiation protein 88 (MyD88) pathway favours the development of a protective T-helper (TH)1-biased T cell response. Interruption of TLR recognition or signalling has profound effects on protective immunity and enhances a TH2-biased immune response. Agonists or antagonists of specific TLRs have effects beyond infectious control and may represent a novel therapeutic for immunostimulation in vaccines, cancer, inflammatory disorders and allergy.
Effects of dietary inclusion of plant extracts on the growth performance of male broiler chickens

were analysed using one-way ANOVA and means were separated by Tukey’s pairwise comparison. The birds fed on the probiotic-containing diets (T2 and T3) gained significantly more weight than that of birds fed on NC during young ages and the improvements were comparable with the birds fed on the diet containing the antibiotic growth promoter (Table 1). However the significant advantages were mainly confined only to the starter period with both probiotics and antibiotics. Nevertheless, all the treatment groups were numerically heavier than that of NC with varying degrees throughout the experiment though the differences were not statistically significant. Carcase yield or fat : meat ratio was not affected by any of the treatments (results not shown). There was no significant treatment effect on the Lactobacillus, Streptococcus or total microflora of the small intestine of the birds (Table 2). Results revealed that some commercial probiotics could be as effective as antimicrobial growth promoters in broilers, even with local diets under hot humid conditions in Sri Lanka. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Government of Sri Lanka for funding the project.
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-α,γ-Agonist Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Prevents Loss of Left Ventricular Function in Obese Dyslipidemic Mice

Objective—We investigated the effect of a dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α,γ-agonist on atherosclerosis and cardiac function in mice with combined leptin and low-density lipoprotein receptor deficiency (DKO). In these mice, obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia are associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and loss of cardiac function. Methods and Results—We treated 12-week-old DKO mice with the PPARα,γ-agonist (S)-3-(4-(2-carbazol-9-yl-ethoxy) phenyl-2-ethoxy-propionic-acid) for 12 weeks. The agonist lowered free fatty acids with 42% and increased insulin sensitivity with 76%. It had no effect on plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. RT-PCR analysis showed that the agonist increased the expression of fatty acid transport protein-4, fatty acid binding protein-4, glucose transporter-4, hormone-sensitive lipase, and adiponectin in white adipose tissue that was associated with the increase in insulin sensitivity. At 24 weeks, the shortening fraction (SF) of placebo DKO mice was 30% lower than that of C57BL6 mice. The PPAR agonist increased PPARγ but not PPARα expression in the heart and prevented loss of left ventricular function. Adiponectin correlated positively with PPARγ in the heart and with SF. The agonist had no effect on atherosclerosis in the aortic arch of DKO mice. Conclusions—The dual PPARα,γ-agonist improved insulin sensitivity without affecting cholesterol and triglycerides. This was associated with induction of PPARγ in the heart and prevention of loss of left ventricle function.
Application of the One‐Migrant‐per‐Generation Rule to Conservation and Management

Abstract: Endangered species are commonly found in several (partially) isolated populations dispersed on different fragments of a habitat, natural reserve, or zoo. A certain level of connectivity among such populations is essential for maintaining genetic variation within and between populations to allow local and global adaptation and for preventing inbreeding depression. A rule of thumb widely accepted by the conservation community is that one migrant per generation (OMPG) into a population is the appropriate level of gene flow. This rule is based on Wright's study of his island model under a long list of simplifying assumptions. I examined the robustness of the OMPG rule to the violation of each of the many assumptions, quantifying the effect with population genetics theory. I showed that, when interpreted as one effective migrant per generation, OMPG is generally valid for real populations departing from the ideal model in the discrepancies of actual ( N) and effective ( Ne ) population sizes and actual (m) and effective (me ) migration rates. I also addressed the issue of converting the effective number of migrants ( Me= Neme ) into the actual number of migrants (M = Nm ) of a certain age and sex. In particular, Ne< N, a case common for natural populations, did not necessarily require M > Meto maintain a certain level of differentiation among populations. Rather, translating the elusive Meinto the manageable M depends on the specific causes (e.g., biased sex ratio, reproductive skew) that lead to Ne< N.
Contribution of the Chemical Structure of Wheat Starch to Japanese Noodle Quality

Wheat starch has been completely digested with bacterial α-amylase, and the pattern of oligosaccharides obtained from this digestion varies with starches from different wheat varieties. Wheat varieties of good Japanese noodle-making quality (based on sensory testing) give relatively small amounts of oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerisation (DP) of 5 or greater, while varieties of poor noodle-making quality give much greater amounts of these larger oligosaccharides. There is a significant negative correlation between the amount of DP5 oligosaccharide and noodle eating quality. The correlation between the amount of this oligosaccharide and starch paste viscosity was much smaller. The size of the HPLC peak corresponding to this oligosaccharide may be used as a rapid method of screening for noodle-making quality. Because oligosaccharides of greater than DP4 should have at least one branch point, the results suggest that the structure of the amylopectin in starch of good noodle-making wheats has relatively few branch points close together. Amylose also appeared to be important for noodle quality. The optimum amylose content seemed to be about 22% for good quality noodles, with starch of higher or lower amylose content coming from flour of lower noodle-making quality. Factors other than amylose content must contribute to noodle quality, as some flours of relatively poor noodle quality also contained close to the optimum amount of amylose. © 1997 SCI.
Movements and foraging areas of grey seals in the North Sea

Summary 1. Grey seals Halichoerus grypus Fab. are large, numerous marine top predators. Fears concerning competition with fisheries have prompted calls for control measures. However, little is known about the areas where grey seals forage or the distances they may travel. 2. The movements of 14 grey seals caught at the Farnes in north-east England (12) and Abertay in eastern Scotland (2) between August 1991 and July 1993 were investigated using Argos Satellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDLs). A total of 1461 seal days of location and behavioural data (mean 104·3 days per seal) covered all months of the year except February and March. 3. The seal movements were on two geographical scales: long and distant travel (up to 2100 km away); and local, repeated trips from the Farnes, Abertay and other haul-out sites to discrete offshore areas. 4. Long distance travel included visits to Orkney, Shetland, the Faroes, and far offshore into the Eastern Atlantic and the North Sea. During travel the seals moved at speeds of between 75 and 100 km day–1 (0·87 and 1·16 m s–1). Most of the time, long distance travel was directed to known haul-out sites. The large distances travelled indicate that grey seals that haul out at the Farnes are not ecologically isolated from those at Orkney, Shetland and the Faroes. 5. In 88% of trips to sea, individual seals returned to the same haul-out site from which they departed. The durations of these trips were short (mean 2·33 days) and their destinations at sea were often localized areas characterized by a gravel/sand seabed sediment. This is the preferred burrowing habitat of sandeels, an important part of grey seal diet. This, and the fact that dives in these areas were primarily to the seabed, leads us to conclude that these were foraging areas. The limited extents of return-trips from a haul-out site (mean 39·8 km) suggest that the direct impact of seal predation may be greater on fisheries within this coastal zone, especially those near seal haul-out sites, rather than on fisheries further offshore. 6. An average of 43% of all the seals’ time was spent within 10 km of a haul-out site, although localized foraging areas were identified considerably further offshore. Proximity to a haul-out may provide safety from predation. Alternatively, these periods may be used for rest or social interaction, or we may be underestimating foraging activity near haul-out sites. 7. We suggest that the movement patterns observed in this study may persist through time and across the grey seals which haul-out at the Farnes. We also suggest that a study such as this could be combined with diet studies and haul-out censuses to map foraging intensity. Such information is an essential component of seal–fishery interaction models, upon which management decisions should be based.
PHOTOEFFECTS OF VISIBLE AND ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION ON THE TWO‐SPOTTED SPIDER MITE, TETRANYCHUS URTICAE

Abstract— The ability of the two‐spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, to detect and avoid various wavelengths was examined. The mites were given a choice between two regions: an area on a leaf exposed to light of defined spectral composition or an area protected from certain selected wavelength components. The mites showed little avoidance of visible, UV‐A or UV‐C wavelengths. In contrast, the animals strongly avoided the UV‐B spectral region, indicating that this arthropod can discriminate and respond to the presence of UV‐B wavelengths. The adult mites did not appear to be killed by the amount of UV‐B they could receive on a sunny summer day in Kentucky (i.e. 20 SU). However, the egg laying capacity of the females was reduced in a linear fashion as dose increased. Thus, avoidance of high UV‐B regions on a leaf may contribute to the survival of the species in nature.
A simple new algorithm to filter marine mammal Argos locations

During recent decades satellite telemetry using the Argos system has been used extensively to track many species of marine mammals. However, the aquatic behavior of most of these species results in a high number of locations with low or unknown accuracy. Argos data are often filtered to reduce the noise produced by these locations, typically by removing data points requiring unrealistic swimming speeds. Unfortunately, this method excludes a considerable number of good-quality locations that have high traveling speeds that are the result of two locations being taken very close in time. We present an alternative algorithm, based on swimming speed, distance between successive locations, and turning angles. This new filter was tested on 67 tracks from nine different marine mammal species: ringed, bearded, gray, harbor, southern elephant, and Antarctic fur seals, walruses, belugas, and narwhals. The algorithm removed similar percentages of low-quality locations (Argos location classes [LC] B and A) compared to a filter based solely on swimming speed, but preserved significantly higher percentages of good-quality positions (mean ± SE% of locations removed was 4.1 ± 0.8% vs. 12.6 ± 1.2% for LC 3; 6.8 ± 0.6% vs. 15.7 ± 0.9% for LC 2; and 11.4 ± 0.7% vs. 21.0 ± 0.9% for LC 1). The new filter was also more effective at removing unlikely, conspicuous deviations from the track's path, resulting in fewer locations being registered on land and a significant reduction in home range size, when using the Minimum Convex Polygon method, which is sensitive to outliers.
ISOLATION OF A NUCLEUS‐ASSOCIATED MICROTUBULE SCAFFOLD FROM SPIROGYRA (ZYGNEMATALES, CHAROPHYCEAE)

A phragmosome‐like perinuclear scaffold attaches to helical chloroplast bands in the peripheral cytoplasm of Spirogyra crassa Kützing by rigid, stalk‐like cytoplasmic strands. Balanced integration of forces within this scaffold by microfilament‐based tension conveyed along stabilized microtubules (MTs) within the stalks controls transverse centering of the lenticular nucleus in the cylindrical cell prior to mitosis. Nuclei with their associated scaffolds were released from rapidly frozen, shattered cells upon thawing in a MT‐stabilizing buffer and could be purified by a procedure combining filtration, differential centrifugation, and isopyknic centrifugation in a linear density gradient. In the osmotically indifferent gradient medium Nycodenz™, nuclei with adhering scaffolds attained a buoyant density of 1.26–1.27 g·cm−3. The nuclei maintained their energetically unfavorable, lenticular shape in vitro and appeared structurally preserved as judged by video‐enhanced differential interference contrast and by fluorescent staining of DNA with 4′‐6′‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole. The stalks of the scaffold, though still radiating from the nuclear rim, lost their straightness and were often severed during the isolation process. The distal ends of many unsevered stalks and of stalk fragments were still associated with chloroplast fragments. Persistent flexural rigidity of the scaffold stalks and indirect immunofluorescence indicated preservation of MTs. In addition to tubulin, both actin and an intermediate filament antigen of Mr≈ 68 kDa were detected in the isolated nuclei with associated scaffolds by immunoblot with monoclonal antibodies.
The optic lobes of Octopus vulgaris

The optic lobes provide a system for coding the visual input, for storing a record of it and for decoding to produce particular motor responses. There are at least three types of optic nerve fibre, ending at different depths in the layered dendritic systems of the plexiform zone. Here the optic nerve fibres meet the branches of at least four types of cell. (1) Centripetal cells passing excitation inwards. The dendrites of these are very long, with fields orientated more often in horizontal and vertical than in other directions. (2) Numerous amacrine cells, with cone-shaped dendritic fields but no determinable axon. (3) Centrifugal cells conducting back to the retina. (4) Commissural fibres from the opposite optic lobe, and other afferents. After section of the optic nerves the plexiform layer of the corresponding part of the optic lobe becomes reduced, but the tangential layers of dendrites remain. There is a reduction in the thickness of the layers of amacrine and other cells and a shrinkage of the whole lobe. Conversely the tangential layers can be degenerated, leaving the optic nerve fibres, by severing the arteries to the optic lobe. The centre of the optic lobe contains cells with spreading dendritic trees of many forms. Some run mainly tangentially, others are radial cones. Those towards the centre send axons to the optic tract. Small multipolar cells accompany the large neurons of the cell islands. About 2 x 107 optic nerve fibres visible with the light microscope enter the lobes but only 0-5 x 106, or less, leave in the optic tract, these being distributed to some ten centres in the supraoesophageal lobes. It is suggested that the variety of shapes of the dendritic trees within the optic lobes provides the elements of the coding system by which visual input is classified.
Linkage Between RFLP Molecular Markers and the Dwarfing Genes Rht‐B1 and Rht‐D1 in Wheat

Identifying genotypes carrying the dwarfing genes Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 would be of great interest for wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em Thell) breeding. Two RFLP loci were found to be linked to those two genes, Xpsr 114–4B with Rht-B1 on chromosome 4BS and Xglk578-4D with Rht-D1 on chromosome 4DS, by genotyping two F2, populations, Renan (Rht-B1b) × Camp-Remy and Rendez-Vous (Rht-D1b) × Roazon. Utilisation of these markers in breeding schemes is discussed.
Changes in male mate choice in a sexually cannibalistic orb-web spider (Araneae: Araneidae)

In theory, male mate choice should occur when the costs of copulation, in terms of future mating opportunities, are high. The criteria males use to choose mates may change depending upon male mating history and the potential for future matings. We examine male mate choice in the St. Andrew's Cross Spider (Argiope keyserlingi Araneae: Araneidae). Laboratory experiments revealed that death and injury caused by female sexual cannibalism limits males to a maximum of two copulations. We assessed the mate choices of virgin and mated males for females of different reproductive status. We used field and laboratory choice bioassays involving airborne and web-based pheromones. In field experiments, wild males were strongly attracted to webs built by laboratory-raised virgin females. Webs from mated females did not attract males. Male mate choice was affected by male reproductive status: while virgin males strongly preferred penultimate and virgin females to mated females, mated males were apparently indifferent to females of different mating status. Such post-copulatory changes in male mate choice have not been previously documented, and may reflect a decreased potential for future mating.
The flowering-visiting bees at the ecological station of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

The richness and the composition of bee species at the ecological station of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Campus Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, was recorded from January to December 1996. The bee fauna of the ecological station is rich (98 species) in low-density populations species (350 individuals). The composition of the bee fauna is seasonal (Q = 29.35, df = 11, P < 0.002), however the composition in flowering plants showed no seasonality (Q = 17.30, df = 11, P < 0,099). The bee species visited 23 flowering plant species from 11 families. Asteraceae (111 individuals in 53 species) and Convolvulaceae (88 individuals in 26 species) were the most visited families. There was a positive relation between bee abundance and the number of flowering plants (r2 = 0.72, P = 0.0011, n = 12) and bee richness and abundance of flowering plants (r2 = 0.46; P = 0.010, n = 12). In the studied area and other sites at Southeastern Brazil, Apidae was the richer and abundant family and Halictidae was the richer and abundant at South Brazil. Despite its localization in a heavily urbanized area, the ecological station supports a rich bee species assembly.