Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential pollen longevity in Dura and Pisifera oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) fruit types at storage temperatures

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is the richest source of vegetable oil in the world. Specific reproductive nature of the crop necessitates artificial pollination by collection and storage of pollen for breeding as well as generation of planting material for commercial cultivation. However, little information is available on the pollen viability and storage behavior of oil palm. The present study was conducted to standardize the processing and storage of oil palm pollen in respect of Dura and Pisifera fruit forms/types. Pollen of these two fruit forms were stored up to one year at room temperature (33±2°C), refrigerator(5°C), freezer (-5°C) and in deep freezer (-20°C) and the viability as well as germination were compared. For both the fruit types, pollen viability and germination declined as the storage temperature increased up to room temperature and the maximum germination was recorded in pollen stored under -20°C storage. Therefore, deep freezer can be used without any deleterious effect on pollen viability as well as germination. Pollen longevity was significantly reduced when stored at room temperature. Of the two oil palm fruittypes, Pisifera retained greater pollen viability and germination than Dura under all four storage temperatures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of differential response of pollen from Dura and Pisifera fruit types in oil palm to storage temperatures.
Excised root exudation—a standing-gradient osmotic flow

It has been demonstrated that root pressure exudation from excised primary roots of Zea mays is adequately described by a standing gradient osmotic flow model. The differential equations set out by Diamond & Bossart (1967) to describe isotonic water transport across animal epithelia have been modified to render them more appropriate to the excised root, and solved by an analogue programme. A good fit of the experimentally determined values of water flux, salt flux and exudate salt concentration has been obtained providing the osmotic permeability of the root is allowed to vary with distance from the root tip. The anatomical identity of the exudate channel is discussed, but no firm assignment can be made.
EFECTO DEL RECUENTO DE CÉLULAS SOMÁTICAS SOBRE LA APTITUD QUESERA DE LA LECHE Y LA CALIDAD FISICOQUÍMICA Y SENSORIAL DEL QUESO CAMPESINO

ANTECEDENTES: En Colombia, el alto recuento de celulas somaticas (RCS) en la leche es un problema para la industria lechera. Altos recuentos pueden afectar de manera considerable los rendimientos y calidad final del queso. Varios paises han establecido limites maximos estandarizados para el RCS a nivel de pais. Colombia no lo ha hecho de manera oficial y tan solo unas pocas industrias manejan sus propios limites. OBJETIVOS: Determinar el efecto del recuento de celulas somaticas (RCS) sobre parametros de aptitud quesera de la leche y la calidad sensorial del queso campesino. METODOS: Se tomaron muestras de leche de seis tanques con altos y bajos RCS y se realizaron mezclas para obtener 30 baches con diferentes RCS (desde 150.000 hasta 1.200.000 cel/ml). Con estas mezclas se elaboraron 30 quesos tipo campesino a los cuales se les determinaron variables de aptitud quesera (tiempo de coagulacion, rendimientos y perdidas en suero) y la calidad organoleptica a traves de una prueba sensorial descriptiva de puntajes con panel de 6 jueces con experiencia previa y entrenados en queso campesino. Las variables de aptitud quesera fueron analizadas por regresion multiple y los resultados de la evaluacion sensorial con la prueba no parametrica de Friedman. RESULTADOS: La aptitud quesera disminuyo con RCS superiores a 200.000 cel/ml. El tiempo de coagulacion (R 2 = 0,74; p<0,001) y las perdidas de proteina en el lactosuero (R 2 = 0,55; p<0,001) aumentaron, mientras que los rendimientos (R 2 =0,31; p<0,01) disminuyeron a medida que aumento el RCS. La calificacion de los panelistas para textura y apariencia disminuyo con RCS mayores a 600.000 cel/ml (p<0,01) y el sabor y el aroma a partir de 800.000 cel/ml (p<0,01). CONCLUSIONES: Aumentos en el RCS en leche afecta negativamente parametros de aptitud quesera y la calidad sensorial del queso campesino. Se sugiere que los impactos seran menores en rendimiento mientras el RCS sea menor y la calidad organoleptica cuando la leche tenga RCS por debajo de 600.000 cel/ml.
Phylogenetic position and morphology of Abrothrix illutea Thomas, 1925, with comments on the incongruence between gene trees of Abrothrix (Rodentia, Cricetidae) and their implications for the delimitation of the genus

Abrothrix illutea Thomas, 1925 is a poorly known sigmodontine rodent of the recently diagnosed tribe Abrotrichini. Here we report new locality records in northwestern Argentina, describe in detail several morphological traits of this mouse and provide an emended diagnosis for the species. Abrothrix illutea is characterized by a unique combination of characters, including uniform dark olive-grey dorsal coloration; skull robust, with the interorbital constriction hourglass shaped and smoothly rounded; muzzle elongate; nasals and premaxillae slightly projected anterior to the incisors; palate ending at about the plane of the last upper molars; upper incisors broad and orthodont; molars hypsodont, M1 with anteroloph and mesoloph well developed; stomach unilocular-hemiglandular; terminal crater of the phallus ventrally directed; cartilaginous distal baculum reduced, composed of two lateral digits. These morphological features are discussed at the light of phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Results of these analyses, the first to include A. illutea, are incongruent between loci. It is suggested that the nuclear based tree better reflects the pattern of morphological variation, and presumably the species tree, than the mitochondrial tree. These aspects are discussed in reference to the contents and limits of the genus Abrothrix.
Accounting for the effect of temperature on squid growth in nature: from hypothesis to practice

The impact of temperature on cephalopod growth has become a productive area of study. Current knowledge of squid growth owes much to earlier laboratory studies on octopuses and cuttlefishes that revealed rapid temperature-sensitive growth. Advances in laboratory culture of squids eventually revealed the dramatic extent to which rising water temperature accelerates growth rates. This led to proposal and testing of a working hypothesis, the Forsythe Hypothesis, that during periods of gradually warming temperature, monthly cohorts of squids experience warmer conditions and grow faster, and perhaps larger, than older, earlier-hatched cohorts. The advent of statolith increment analysis for determining age in field-caught squids has provided a powerful tool in ground-truthing this hypothesis in nature. This hypothesis, now termed here the Forsythe Effect, has been laboratory- and field-tested over the past 10 years and been strongly supported. Food availability and inherent species-specific physiological limits must also be accounted for in predicting growth. Gaps still exist in our precise understanding of the temperature-induced changes in form and duration of squid growth. Acute and chronic ocean-scale seawater-temperature change events will compel us to look to squids as ‘bioindicators’ of environmental condition and to statoliths as the ‘archives’ of this information.
Habitat area but not habitat age determines wild bee richness in limestone quarries

Summary 1 Within highly modified European landscapes, limestone quarries can act as important secondary habitats for a range of endangered wild bee species. However, the relative influence of quarry habitat area, habitat age and within-habitat diversity on the conservation value of these secondary habitats is mainly unknown. 2 We assessed species richness and abundance of wild bees by variable transect walks in 24 limestone quarries ranging in size from 0·01 to 21·2 ha. Species traits such as social status, resource specialization and nesting substrate were used to define functional guilds of bees. 3 In total, 41% of all wild bee species known from southern Lower Saxony, Germany, were found in the studied quarries. Total species richness increased with habitat area but, in contrast to our expectations, not with habitat age, although we tested an age gradient of over 120 years. Solitary species were more strongly affected by decreasing habitat area than social species but response did not differ with respect to habitat age. 4 Hierarchical partitioning analyses revealed that habitat area per se, within-habitat diversity and sampling effort were of similar importance in explaining species richness patterns. 5 Synthesis and applications. Even newly created limestone quarries provide an important secondary habitat for wild bees. Therefore, maintenance and management of secondary succession of these sites should be given high priority in species conservation plans. Landscape management schemes involving filling or flooding such quarries should be prevented.
Release of nanomaterials from solid nanocomposites and consumer exposure assessment – a forward-looking review

Abstract The European chemical legislation requires manufacturers and importers of chemicals to do consumer exposure assessment when the chemical has certain hazards associated to it (e.g. explosive, carcinogenicity, and hazardous to the aquatic environment), but the question is how this obligation can be met in light of the scientific uncertainty and technical challenges related to exposure assessment of nanomaterials. In this paper, we investigate to what extent the information and data in the literature can be used to perform consumer exposure assessment according to the REACH requirements and we identify and discuss the key data needs and provide recommendations for consumer exposure assessment of nanomaterials. In total, we identified 76 studies of relevance. Most studies have analyzed the release of Ag and TiO2 from textiles and paints, and CNT and SiO2 from nanocomposites. Less than half of the studies report their findings in a format that can be used for exposure assessment under REACH, and most do not include characterization of the released particles. Although inhalation, dermal, and oral exposures can be derived using the guidelines on how to complete consumer exposure assessments under REACH, it is clear that the equations are not developed to take the unique properties of nanomaterials into consideration. Future research is therefore needed on developing more generalized methods for representing nanomaterial release from different product groups at relevant environmental conditions. This includes improving the analytical methods for determining nanomaterial alteration and transformation, as well as quantification, which could subsequently lead to more nano-specific consumer exposure assessment models.
ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY USING EPIPHYTIC DIATOM ASSEMBLAGES ON CLADOPHORA FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER (CANADA)

Diatoms epiphytic on Cladophora were examined from 36 sites in the Saint Lawrence River between Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Ile d'Orleans (Quabec, Canada). A total of 129 diatom taxa were identified from Cladophora in June 1995, and of these, 34 species were present at a relative abundance ≥ 1% at three or more sites. The four most abundant taxa were Cocconeis pediculus, Achnanthes minutissima, Rhoicosphenia abbreviata and Gomphonema minutum. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to explore the relationship between diatom assemblages on Cladophora and measured environmental variables. Conductivity, turbidity, temperature, distance downstream from Cornwall (Ontario), and fecal coliform concentrations were significantly (p>0.05) related to the distribution of the diatoms; the primary response was to conductivity. Although this relationship was not strong (λ1=0.13 and λ2=0.08), the calibration set model generated to infer conductivity had moderate predictive ability (r2 jack=0.24 and RMSEjack=51.
Cytonuclear discordance and the species status of Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii (Chiroptera)

We used both highly variable mitochondrial and nuclear loci to investigate the large mouse‐eared bat species complex in the Western Palaearctic to clarify their systematic position. Although mitochondrial lineages show no species segregation and some haplotypes are shared between Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii sensu lato, Bayesian clustering methods based on multilocus genotypes indicate highly concordant nuclear and morphological species assignment. These multilocus, nuclear analyses detected only a single putative F1 hybrid in the extensive areas of sympatry sampled, thus confirming the biological species status of M. myotis and M. blythii s.l. We propose that the strong cytonuclear discordance in these species complex results from a combination of prior spatial isolation of the two species in different glacial refugia, followed by a succession of mitochondrial introgression events that occurred during the eastward and westward expansions of M. myotis and of M. blythii, respectively. The nuclear markers further indicate the presence of a notable genetic discontinuity within M. myotis that broadly separates populations into an eastern and a western component with an overlap zone in the Balkans. This eastern and western discontinuity is also apparent in the mitochondrial lineages with the D haplogroup largely confined to samples found in Thrace and Asia Minor. None of these genetic discontinuities correspond to the distribution of the two commonly recognized M. myotis subspecies (myotis and macrocephalicus). We also show that distinct morphological subspecies within M. blythii (oxygnathus, omari, risorius and lesviacus) in Europe and the near‐East do not correlate with significant evolutionarily units, whether identified by mitochondrial or nuclear data and thus only represent local morphological variants with little taxonomic relevance.
INHERITANCE OF POST-HARVEST SEED DORMANCY AND KERNEL COLOUR IN SPRING WHEAT LINES

The inheritance of post-harvest seed dormancy was studied in F7 lines of a cross between Renown—a dormant red spring wheat, and Cascade—a non-dormant white spring wheat. The estimate of heritability of seed dormancy was 73 per cent. The inheritance of seed coat colour was controlled by three pairs of duplicate genes. Red seed coat colour was found to be associated with seed dormancy. All lines with white seed coat colour were non-dormant. The moisture content of the seed was found to influence seed dormancy. Although moisture affected the dormancy status of the seed, other factors appeared to be involved as significant differences between lines of red seed coat colour were obtained at similar moisture levels. It is postulated that the degree of seed dormancy is controlled by the multiple genes which govern seed colour. The inheritance of phenol colour reaction of the seed was monogenic, and no association was found between seed dormancy and phenol colour reaction.
Maillard Browning Reaction of Sugar‐Glycine Model Systems: Changes in Sugar Concentration, Color and Appearance

The reactivities of glucose, fructose, and sucrose with glycine (1:1 molar ratio) at 60°C and pH 3.5, were compared over 280 hr. While fructose initially browned at a faster rate, it was overtaken by glucose after 80 hr. Initially more fructose than glucose was consumed, but the reverse was true after 60 hr. Sucrose was readily hydrolyzed under these reaction conditions and underwent Maillard browning reactions, its color and appearance being similar to the glucose solutions at the later stages of the experiment. Glucose and sucrose solutions developed considerable haze while the fructose-glycine solution remained clear.
Improved Sulfatide-Containing Liposomes as Carriers of Adriamyein

Various molar ratios of the constituents of sulfatide-containing liposomes (egg phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and sulfatide) were examined with respect to liposomal efficiency to entrap adriamycin (ADM) and to the tissue distribution. Among the ratios of the constituents examined, 5:4:1 was the best in terms of entrapment efficiency for both multilamellar vesicles (MLV) and small unilamellar vesicles (SUV). Tissue distribution studies of liposome-entrapped ADM showed that the blood clearance and cardiac uptake of ADM were significantly reduced when the drug was entrapped in the above liposomes, especially in the MLV. Incorporation of ADM into ovarian tumors transplanted into nude mice was increased when the drug was entrapped in the SUV.
The dispersal of traditionally managed hay meadow plants via farmyard manure application

The dispersal of plants within botanically rich grassland is an important area of study if such swards are to be maintained. The application of farmyard manure provides a possible mechanism by which seeds contained within hay can be returned/introduced to grasslands. In this study, hay, dung and manure samples taken from farms with botanically rich meadows contained very limited quantities of seeds of desirable species. Digestion by cattle, and storage within a manure heap for 6 months or longer, further reduced seed germination. Samples were characterized by an abundance of the grass, Poa trivialis, with few forbs present. Confirmation of the negative effect of the digestive processes of cattle on seed viability was achieved using an in vitro laboratory experiment. However, this experiment did show that the perennial herbs, Filipendula ulmaria and Sanguisorba officinalis, were able to survive digestion at least as well as P. trivialis. The burial of known quantities of seeds in a manure heap also showed these perennial herbs to be at least as resistant to damage as P. trivialis. The results demonstrate that, given appropriate timing of the hay cut, seeds of species with high conservation value could become incorporated into manure for subsequent dispersal. However, manure dispersal would appear to be of limited value for many species desirable from a conservation viewpoint.
Growth and Development of Hairy Vetch Cultivars in the Northeastern United States as Influenced by Planting and Harvesting Date

Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) is a winter annual legume that has become an important cover crop for sustainable production systems. New cultivars of hairy vetch, developed in the southern United States, need to be tested as cover crops in the northeastern states. Research was conducted at three locations (Salisbury, MD; Beltsville, MD; and Freeville, NY) that represent a range from a relatively mild coastal climate to a colder interior climate. Four cultivars of hairy vetch (common and three cultivars developed at Auburn University, AU Early Cover, Advanced Population 8, and Advanced Population 26) were planted at either optimum or delayed dates, and biomass was harvested when either vegetative or flowering. Common hairy vetch biomass was equal to or higher than the Auburn cultivars at all locations and years. The Auburn cultivars were winter hardy under Maryland but not under New York conditions. The Auburn cultivars reached 50% flowering an average of 15 d earlier than common hairy vetch. Delaying planting by 2 to 3 wk reduced hairy vetch biomass by 43% when harvested vegetative and by 20% when harvested at flowering. Hairy vetch growth and development could be predicted on the basis of growing degree days (GDD) with a base temperature of 4°C. The biomass of common hairy vetch increased linearly by 41 g m -2 for every 100 GDD, and there was no significant difference in the slope of biomass gain between cultivars. Results suggest that the Auburn cultivars are an alternative for Maryland growers desiring a legume cover crop that flowers earlier than common hairy vetch but that delayed planting may compromise adequate winter ground cover and spring biomass regardless of cultivar.
Parasitism and epibiosis in native and non‐native gammarids in freshwater in Ireland

The introduced amphipod crustaceans Gammarus pulex and G. tigrinus are displacing the native G. ducheni celticus in a number of freshwater sites in Northern Ireland. We investigated parasite and epibiont infection in populations in the Rivet Lagan and Lough Neagh where both native and invading species occur. Prevalence of the four parasites and epibionts observed was higher in the native G. d. celticus than in the invading amphipods at both field sites. In Lough Neagh. G. d. celticus individuals suffered higher burdens of the rotifer Embata parasitica and the protozoan Epistylis in comparison with the invading species. These patterns may reflect host specificity by the parasites or may result from different susceptibilities of the native and invading host species. We consider the influence of parasitism on host invasions and resulting species distributions.
Long‐term land‐use changes and extinction of specialised butterflies

Abstract. 1 Land‐use change in 450 ha in southern Sweden between 1814 and 2004 was recorded. Butterflies and burnet moths were surveyed in 1904–1913 and 2001–2005. 2 We explore if local extinctions were related to land‐use changes and species attributes. 3 Land use changed drastically over the 190‐year period, and the largest relative change occurred for hay meadows with late harvest, which decreased from 28% to 0%. The area changed from grasslands and grazed forests to being dominated by timber forests. Previous open grazed mixed woodlands changed to spruce plantations with clear‐cuts. 4 Of the 48 resident butterfly and burnet moths found a century ago, 44% have become extinct. The extinct Aporia cratægi, Colias palaeno, and Leptidea sinapis were abundant 100 years ago and had their highest densities in flower‐rich glades in forest, a habitat which no longer exists. 5 The butterfly extinctions could be predicted from species‐specific attributes as a short flight length period (P < 0.02), narrow habitat breadth (P < 0.02), small distribution area in Europe (P = 0.033) and possibly larvae food plant nitrogen class (P < 0.06). In a multiple logistic regression, the flight length period was the only significant variable because the independent variables were intercorrelated. 6 We conclude that the most important factor explaining the high extinction rate is that flower‐rich habitats have disappeared from both woodlands as well as from open farmlands. The most sensitive species are specialised species with a short summer flight which have gone extinct. Only the most unspecialised species still persist in the current landscape.
Synthesis of Messenger RNAs for Transforming Growth Factors α and β and the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor by Human Tumors

Human tumors and tumor cell lines were analyzed for the presence of mRNA coding for transforming growth factors α and β (TGF-α and -β) and the epidermal growth factor receptor. TGF-α mRNA was not detectable in hematopoietic tumor cell lines but was found in a variety of solid tumor cells, particularly carcinomas. Many of the tumors that contained TGF-α mRNA also expressed high levels of epidermal growth factor receptor mRNA. The concentration of TGF-α in the media of several tumor cell lines did not necessarily correlate with TGF-α mRNA levels, as a substantial fraction of TGF-α can remain cell associated. The levels of TGF-α mRNA in tumor cell lines and tumor specimens were variable, but higher in tumors than in the adjacent normal tissues.