Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microhabitat effects on herbaceous nutrient concentrations at the community and species level in Mediterranean open woodlands: the role of species composition

The presence of a woody canopy in open oak woodlands affects not only the nutrition but also the species composition of the herbaceous community. Yet, the contribution of both effects (changes in nutrient concentrations and species composition) to total resources that are captured by the herbaceous community is not well understood. We assessed the mineral nutrition (N, P, K and Ca) of three herbaceous species and the herbaceous community as well as the species composition in contrasting microhabitats (beneath trees, beneath a leguminous shrub and in open spaces). Both trees and shrubs increased the nutrient concentrations of the herbaceous species that were studied, except for Taraxacum officinale. Their effects were less consistent when the entire community was considered and depended upon the nutrient being analysed. Species richness and N, P and K concentrations were positively associated, suggesting that more nutrients are captured by the herbaceous community as diversity increases. Our results suggest a close relationship between species composition and nutritional value at the community level that may explain the discrepancies observed between both levels of analysis (species vs. community). Thus, farm-level strategies based on the whole herbaceous community may overlook processes operating at the species level, which can be relevant to achieve sustainable management.
Influence of soy protein hydrolysates on the differentiation progress of human keratinocytes in culture

To evaluate the effect of non-animal protein hydrolysates on keratinocyte differentiation, commercially-available soy protein hydrolysates were employed as feed supplements for serum-free culture medium in the absence or presence of bovine pituitary extract (BPE). Supplementation of keratinocyte culture medium containing BPE with Soy Hydrolysate (1 g/L) or Bacto Soytone (1 or 2 g/L) inhibited the mRNA and protein expression levels of early and late differentiation markers, and also helped cells to maintain a small size, an indication of an undifferentiated state. These results show that the supplementation of protein hydrolysates might be helpful to delay keratinocytes differentiation.
Sequestration of carbon and changes in soil quality under conservation tillage on light-textured soils in Australia: a review

Light-textured soils ( 500 mm) and the differences were restricted to the top 2.5-10.0 cm. The average magnitude of the difference was lower than that reported in the USA. The lack of a positive response to conservation tillage is probably a reflection of a number of factors, namely low crop yield (due to low rainfall), partial removal of stubble by grazing and the high decomposition rate (due to the high temperature). There is evidence suggesting that under continuous cropping in the drier areas, the soil organic carbon level continues to decline, even under conservation tillage. Better soil structure and soil physical properties, namely macro-porosity, aggregate stability and higher infiltration have been reported under conservation tillage when compared with conventional tillage. However, little information on long-term changes of these properties under conservation tillage is available. As many of these soil qualities are associated directly or indirectly with soil organic carbon levels, the lack of significant increase in the latter suggests that many of these improvements may not be sustainable in the longer term, particularly in the drier areas. Continuous monitoring of long-term changes in the soil organic carbon and soil quality under conservation tillage in different agro-ecological zones is needed.
Non‐electrolyte permeability of plant cuticles: A critical evaluation of experimental methods

A method for measurement of non-electrolyte transport through enzymatically isolated cuticles of Ficus elastica Roxb. var. decora is presented. Permeance coefficients and hold-up times are determined under steady-state conditions. The transport system consists of two small reservoirs separated by the cuticle. The compounds tested (4-nitrophenol and pentachlorophenol) differ widely in lipid solubility and enable a critical evaluation of the apparatus used. The sorption capacity of the cuticle for lipophilic compounds is related to their cuticle/water partition coefficients. The problems of unstirred layers and of membrane integrity are discussed. The permeances measured ranged from 10−11 to 10−5 m s−1, the hold-up times from 50 s to 22 h.
Disease Modeling With Patient-Specific Ips Cells

Whether in mice or macaques, disease modeling traditionally has been a tedious and expensive affair, not to mention unreliable, as mutations that are crippling in humans could have negligible impacts in animals, and vice versa. As drug development often requires preclinical animal studies, that disconnect has had real implications for the pharmaceuticals industry, both in money and missed opportunities. Today, researchers increasingly are migrating their models from the mouse house to the culture room. Armed with induced pluripotent stem cells made from patient cells, these investigators are probing everything from basic biology and disease etiology to drug discovery and cell therapeutics. Read the Feature (Full-Text HTML) Read the Feature (PDF) Read New Products (PDF)
Genetic Variability and Relationships of Japanese Native Chickens Assessed by Means of Microsatellite Profiling Approach-Focusing on the Oh-Shamo (Japanese Large Game) and Its Related Breeds

We investigated genetic relationships of nine Japanese native chicken breeds (Oh-Shamo, Ko-Shamo, Yakido, Kinpa, Koeyoshi, Minohiki, Satsuma-dori, Hinai-dori, and Shoukoku) coupled with one foreign breed (White Leghorn) by means of microsatellite profiling technique. Excepting the Shoukoku breed, the other Japanese breeds are classified as Shamo or Shamo-related breeds. Genetic variabilities of 20 microsatellites examined varied depending on the breeds, as the number of alleles per locus, proportion of polymorphic loci, and mean expected heterozygosity ranged from 1.65 to 4.70, 0.50 to 1.00, and 0.206 to 0.670, respectively. Microsatellite alleles being unique to a particular breed were detected in all breeds. Attempted phylogenetic tree reconstruction based on the genetic distance estimated for all possible population combinations revealed that the genetic divergence was evident between the Japanese breeds and the foreign breed. Within Japanese native breeds, three groups could be differentiated : (1) Oh-Shamo and Ko-Shamo, (2) Yakido, Kinpa, and Koeyoshi, and (3) Minohiki and Shoukoku. The Satsuma-dori and Hinai-dori were located far from these 3 groups.
Siamoglaris zebrina gen. n., sp. n., the first representative of Prionoglarididae from the Oriental Region (Insecta: Psocoptera)

Siamo glaris zebrina gen. n. , sp. n. is described and illustrated from a male specimen collected in Thailand. The new genus is closely related to the Palaearctic genus Prionoglaris Enderlein. Illustrations of the type species of that genus, P. stygia Enderlein, are also given. The systematic position of these two genera within the family Prionoglarididae is discussed and the family is subdivided into two subfamilies: Prionoglaridinae Badonnel and Speleketorinae Smithers. A key to the adults of the genera of the family Prionoglarididae is provided.
Immigration and emigration of a pelagic fish assemblage to seamounts in the Gulf of California related to water mass movements using satellite imagery

The appearance of an assemblage of 11 planktivorous and predatory fishes at El Bajo Gorda seamount within the Gulf of California in May 1981 coincided with an increase in surface water temperature and chlorophyll concentration. The assemblage may have either concentrated at the seamount from the surrounding pelagic environment or immigrated from south of the Gulf of California. At t h s time the fall to early spring current flow southeastward toward the Gulf of Tehuantepec reverses to the spring to summer flow northeastward along the mainland into the Gulf to Califoma. One assemblage member, the scalloped hammerhead shark Sphyrna lewini, was monitored as an indicator of assemblage movements in response to water mass changes. The occurrences of 18 individuals tagged with individually recognizable transmitters were recorded over a 10 d period in July and August 1981 by 2 microprocessor monitors deployed at El Bajo Espiritu Santo seamount. Shark returns diminished as a mass of upwelled cold water, originating in the Bay of La Paz, moved over that seamount. The return rate then increased on a single day coincident with the incursion of a warm water mass before the rate decreased as this water mass cooled.
Foraging routines of small birds in winter: a theoretical investigation

We investigate the way in which the opposing forces of starvation and predation combine to influence daily foraging routines in populations of small, wintering birds. To avoid starvation in an unpredictable foraging environment, feeding should take place early in the day to accrue maximal energy reserves. However, a bird attempting to minimize its risk of predation should delay building up its energy reserves until late in the day. We develop dynamic programming models indicating that the compromise between these opposing forces depends upon the nature of environmental stochasticity in food supply. Foraging may peak early in the day and then decrease steadily if (i) interruptions in foraging are not possible, and (ii) the energetic gain from foraging is relatively poor. With a higher energetic gain, or the possibility of interruptions in foraging, a general "bimodal" foraging routine emerges, with peaks of activity around dawn and dusk. The basic bimodal routine reflects an overt compromise between the avoidance of both predation and starvation, with some feeding taking place during both the early and late portions of the day. Such bimodal routines are observed in many small, wintering birds, but explanations for them have typically focused not on starvation-predation trade-offs, but on daily temporal patterns in food availability or temperature. Our models show not only that bimodal routines emerge in static environments, but also that they are robust to time-dependent environmental variation, and may persist, for instance, even if food is maximally available during the middle of the day. There are currently not enough systematic empirical studies of foraging routines to provide a thorough test of our predictions, but available evidence suggests general agreement between theory and observation.
Cytotaxonomy of four species in the Simulium perflavum species group (Diptera: Simuliidae) from Brazilian Amazonia

Polytene chromosomes of four members of the Simulium perflavum species group in Brazil are described, and a standard map for the species group is presented. Simulium rorotaense Floch & Abonnenc, S. perflavum Roubaud and an undescribed species (S.‘X’) are chromosomally conservative, each representing a single species with a unique preimaginal habitat. Chromosomal, morphological and ecological evidence indicates that S. maroniense Floch & Abonnenc, previously considered synonymous with S. rorotaense, is a good species. Independent morphological and chromosomal analyses yielded 99.4% agreement in separating larvae of S. rorotaense and S. maroniense. The two species can be distinguished by gill morphology or by a subterminal inversion on the long arm of chromosome III. Simulium maroniense consists of at least four cytotypes, each with different sex chromosomes and autosomal polymorphism profiles and associated with a particular landscape type, altitude, temperature regime or geographical location. Simulium rorotaense and S. maroniense share one unique inversion, as do S. perflavum and S. ‘X’, indicating two pairs of sister species. The anthropogenic S. perflavum probably dispersed into Central Amazonia sometime after the mid‐1970s.
Influence of Age on Rate of Immune Response of Mice to Formolized Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus

Summary The rate of development of neutralizing antibodies in serum of mice immunized with formalin-inactivated virus of Eastern equine encephalomyelitis has been shown to increase progressively with age. The antibodies in serum of mice immunized at a very early age did not reach the maximum titer found in mice immunized when older. The low degree of active immunity to intracerebral injection of active virus induced in mice 14 days old at the beginning of immunization did not increase from 2 to 4 weeks after immunization. During that interval, mice immunized at 3 months of age maintained a high degree of active immunity.
Swollen-thorn acacias of Central America

Janzen, Daniel H. Swollen-Thorn Acacias of Central America. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, number 13, 131 pages, 119 figures, 1974. -This nomenclatural, taxonomic, and ecological treatment of 1 1 Central American obligate ant-acacias (Acacia allenii, A . chiapensis, A . collinsii, A . cookii, A . cornigera, A . gentlei, A . globulifera, A hindsii, A nzayana, A . melanoceras, and A . sphaerocephala) and one quasi-obligate ant-acacia (Acacia ruddiae) is based on extensive field study from 1963 to 1972 and on herbarium specimens where of use. 7 he population boundaries of all species are mapped and described with respect to ecological parameters. Morphological variation, details of the interaction with the ants, and acacia reproductive biology are presented for most species. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution‘s annual report, Srnithsonian Year. SI PRESS NUMBER 4817. SERIES COVER DESIGN: Leaf clearing from the Katsura tree Cercidiphyllurn japonicum Siebold and Zuccarini. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Janzen, Daniel H: Swollen-thorn acacias of Central America. (Smithsonian contributions to botany, no. 13) Bibliography: p. 1. Acacia. 2. Ants-Central America. 3. Botany-Central America-Ecology. I. Title. 11. QKl.S27 no. 13. [QK495.L52] 581’. 08s [583’. 321] 73-4401 Series: Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian contributions to botany, no. 13. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US. Government Printing O5ce Washington, D.C. 20402 . Price $2.35 (paper cover)
Influence of Genotype, Environment, and Nitrogen Management on Spring Wheat Quality

Bread baking is the primary end-use criterion used to select hard spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes for the northwestern USA, yet the use of hard wheats has expanded beyond traditional pan breads to include Asian noodles. We assessed the relative influence of genotype, N management, and location on quality characteristics of a set of spring wheat cultivars that provided a range in gluten strength and acceptability for bread and Asian noodle quality, and determined whether grain characteristics could predict bread and/or noodle market suitability. Seven spring cultivars were grown at four locations across 3 yr with two levels of N fertilizer in irrigated and moisture-limited conditions. Bread quality, alkaline noodle color, and Chinese noodle color and texture were assessed on grain samples. Cultivar was the most important determinant of bread and noodle quality traits in both the irrigated and moisture-limited environments. Nitrogen level influenced only Chinese noodle color in irrigated environments, but impacted test weight, flour ash, loaf volume, and bake absorption in moisture-limited environments. Responses to N management and location were usually not cultivar specific, as interactions were not important relative to main effects of cultivar and location. Grain protein had more value than test weight or grain hardness in predicting bread and noodle quality, and was most useful in predicting loaf volume and Chinese noodle color characteristics. Cultivar selection is critical for achieving a desired end use, with location effects being of secondary importance. Nitrogen management for a particular end use will be difficult, with N level being much less important than cultivar selection and location. Grain protein may be the best predictor of the suitability of a particular cultivar produced in a specific year for alternative end-use possibilities, with high-protein grain most suitable for bread production and low-protein, high-quality grain more suitable for noodle production.
The mid‐season crash in aphid populations: why and how does it occur?

Abstract. 1. Aphid populations on agricultural crops in temperature regions collapse over a few days from peak numbers to local extinction soon after mid‐summer (e.g. mid‐July in the U.K.). The populations recover 6–8 weeks later. There is anecdotal or incidental evidence of an equivalent mid‐season population crash of aphids on grasses and forbs in natural vegetation.
The Evolution of a Special Class of Modifiable Behaviors in Relation to Environmental Pattern

A simple model is used to compute the selective advantage of one kind of avoidance conditioning. The model is developed in terms of a predator exploiting a stochastic environment of models and indistinguishable Batesian mimics. Nonmodifiable predators that either always eat or always ignore are compared with modifiable predators that ignore for some time, N, once a debilitating model is eaten. Modifiable behavior is superior to nonmodifiable behavior only when models and mimics are clumped. This condition corresponds to one class of relatively predictable environments. Optimal waiting time, optimal N, is an increasing function of the mean clump size of models and the relative badness of models. Thus the model predicts that selection will adjust the waiting time of modifiable predators such that the predator will tend to skip over clumps of debilitating models and exploit the intervening clumps of mimics. Predators should skip further, wait longer, as models become more debilitating. Very long waiting times, N > 100 models and mimics, will sometimes be optimal if the clump size of models is very large. The implications of the model for the evolution of delayed learning, irreversible switches (N near infinity), and predators that modify N with experience are discussed. The model is briefly applied to the evolution of predator avoidance by tube-dwelling worms and to the foraging behavior of predators searching for hidden prey in order to indicate the range of possible applications.
Disease dynamics and the potential role of thermal stress in the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

Evidence from field and laboratory data indicates that warmer ocean temperatures likely play a critical role in the disease dynamics of intertidal populations of the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Urchin populations along the west coast of North America have experienced numerous disease epidemics in the past several decades, and yet little is known about disease transmission, the geographic extent, or contributing factors to these outbreaks. In this study, we examine disease in Pacific Strongylocentrotus urchins over a broad geographic range with repeated sampling. We suggest that what has been assumed to be a single disease might be two distinct diseases presenting two disparate pathologies. Both potential pathologies were extremely rare or absent north of Point Conception, California, in a region associated with strong upwelling and cooler water temperatures but were common at warmer sites in southern Califor- nia and northern Baja California, Mexico. Furthermore, during the survey period, disease prevalence at some of the study sites was positively correlated with sea surface temperatures as estimated from satellite data, leading us to hy- pothesize that heat stress may increase urchin susceptibility to disease. In experimentally elevated water temperatures, diseased individuals had significantly larger lesions and a significantly lower gonadal index, which could have impor- tant implications for urchin population dynamics.
Observations on the tine structure of coccoliths, scales and the protoplast of a freshwater coccolithophorid, Hymenomonas roseola Stein, with supplementary observations on the protoplast of Cricosphaera carterae

A developmental and anatomical re-investigation of a clone of this freshwater coccolithophorid previously examined by Braarud (1954) has shown that its tremaliths (the technical term for the type of coccolith produced) are modified scale rims as in the cognate case of the placoliths of Coccolithus pelagicus and the cricoliths of Cricosphaera carterae for which this was already known. The origin of the tremaliths within the cisternae of the Golgi system is traced, together with that of unmineralized scales which accompany them or of which they form part. In addition, the protoplast of Hymenomonas roseola is shown to be distinguished by peculiarities of the haptonema, pyrenoid and flagellar roots, which are matched exactly in Cricosphaera carterae but not yet known elsewhere. Some of the implications of these findings are discussed, and the importance of the protoplast for the taxonomy of coccolithophorids and for the morphological interpretation of coccoliths is stressed.
The Negative Impacts of Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa and their Mitigation Measures

Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of its dependence on natural resources, fragile economy, weak infrastructure and the already warm weather. Nowadays, food security and agricultural production in some countries in the region are getting worse because of the negative impacts of climate change and variability. Generally, the effect of climate change is higher in the developing nations, those with low economic capacity and of contributing a little to the greenhouse gas emissions than that of the
The small α5β1 integrin antagonist, SJ749, reduces proliferation and clonogenicity of human astrocytoma cells

The potential role of α 5 β 1 integrins in cancer has recently attracted much interest. However, few α 5 β 1 -selective antagonists have been developed compared with other integrins. The most specific nonpeptidic α 5 β 1 antagonist described thus far, SJ749, inhibits angiogenesis by affecting adhesion and migration of endothelial cells. We investigated the effects of SJ749 in two human astrocytoma cell lines, A172 and U87, which express different levels of α 5 β 1 . SJ749 dose-dependently inhibited adhesion of both cell types on fibronectin. Application of SJ749 to spread cells led to formation of nonadherent spheroids for A172 cells but had no effect on U87 cell morphology. SJ749 also reduced proliferation of A172 cells due to a long lasting G 0 -G 1 arrest, whereas U87 cells were only slightly affected. However, under nonadherent culture conditions (soft agar), SJ749 significantly reduced the number of colonies formed only by U87 cells. As U87 cells express more α 5 β 1 than A172 cells, we specifically examined the effect of SJ749 on A172 cells overexpressing α 5 . Treatment of α 5 -A172 cells with SJ749 decreased colony formation similarly to that observed in U87 cells. Therefore, in nonadherent conditions, the effect of SJ749 on tumor cell growth characteristics depends on the level of α 5 β 1 expression. Our study highlights the importance of α 5 β 1 as an anticancer target and shows for the first time that a small nonpeptidic α 5 β 1 -specific antagonist affects proliferation of tumor cells. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(12): 6002-7)
A comparison of the adhesive setae on the feet of lizards and arthropods

Summary The adhesive setae on the feet of four species of climbing lizard are described and illustrated using scanning electron micrographs. In particular, attention is drawn to the fibrillar nature of the bases of the multi-branched gekkonid setae. Explanations of the differences between these adhesive setae and the simpler setae of other climbing lizards are suggested, drawing on the results and conclusions from previous detailed studies on the adhesive setae in beetles and other animals.