Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SEASONAL AND SEX-RELATED VARIATION IN THE ACTIVITY PATTERNS OF COMMON SEALS (PHOCA VITULINA)

SUMMARY (1) Radio-telemetry was used to study common seal activity patterns around Orkney, and to assess the degree of individual, seasonal and sex-related variation in haul-out behaviour in 1984-86. (2) During the summer, both males and females hauled-out regularly, in a marked diurnal pattern, but there were differences in other aspects of their haul-out behaviour. (3) Males showed a marked change in their haul-out behaviour at the beginning of moult. At this time, they hauled-out every day and, consequently, male behaviour became more synchronous. The change in behaviour of the male followed in 1985 was closely related to changes in abundance at the haul-out site that he used over this period. (4) In contrast, females showed no sign of a similar change in behaviour at the beginning of moult, but appeared to spend more of their time at sea after lactation. (5) During the winter, seals appeared to spend more time in offshore waters, although they regularly returned to the inshore study area to haul-out. At this time of year there was no marked diurnal haul-out pattern. (6) There was a high degree of individual variation in the effect of the tidal cycle on activity patterns, which appeared to be related to tide-related changes in food and habitat availability. Overall, however, the tidal cycle had less effect on haul-out behaviour in summer, when strong circadian patterns were more important. (7) The variations in activity patterns found in this study are discussed in relation to seasonal changes in feeding activity and the demands of breeding and moult.
Chilling injury in mango fruit in relation to biosynthesis of free polyamines

Summary Mature green mango (Mangifera indica L. ‘Kensington Pride’) fruit were stored at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20°C for 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 d during 1999 to induce different levels of chilling injury (CI) and to investigate its relationship with endogenous polyamines during storage. In second experiment during 2000, fruit were stored at 5 and 15°C for two weeks and allowed to ripen at 22±1°C to elucidate the relationship between endogenous free polyamines and CI during ripening. CI index on fruit increased as the storage temperature was decreased from 10 to 0°C and the storage period was prolonged from 1 to 28 d. CI symptoms progressed during the ripening period in fruit stored at 5°C for two weeks. Total free polyamines in the skin and pulp were higher in the chill injured fruit as compared with the non-chill injured fruit during storage and ripening except on day 4 of the ripening period. Accumulation of putrescine and depletion of spermidine and spermine in the skin and pulp of the chill injured fruit was recorded during the storage and ripening periods. In third experiment during 2000, amongst different concentrations of three polyamines tested, exogenous application of spermine (0.50 mM) was most effective in reducing CI. In conclusion, putrescine accumulation did not inhibit CI in mango fruit – rather the chilling stress promoted its accumulation at the early stages of ripening. The depletion of endogenous spermidine and spermine with CI and the reduction of CI with pre-storage application of these polyamines indicate that CI development in mango fruit seems to be associated with the biosynthesis of polyamines.
Genotype Ã environment interaction and stability of grain yield and selected quality traits in winter wheat in Central Asia

Abstract: High grain yield and improved quality determine the commercial success of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties in Central Asia. This study was conducted to determine the effect of environment on grain yield, 1000-kernel weight (TKW), test weight (TWT), protein, and gluten content, and to identify superior wheat genotypes for yield and quality. Thirty winter wheat genotypes were evaluated in 3 years (2010-2012) over multiple locations. A genotype and genotype A environment interaction biplot analysis was used to determine the superior genotypes. There were significant effects of environment and genotype A environment interaction on yield and quality traits. The 30 wheat genotypes showed variations for grain yield (3.7-5.6 t ha-1), TKW (33.6-42.4 g), TWT (753-797 g/L), protein (13.3%-14.8%), and gluten (27.2%-29.5%) content. There was a significant positive correlation between grain yield and TKW in three out of seven environments. There was no correlation of grain yield with TWT, protein, and gluten content with one exception. There were different sets of five most superior genotypes for individual traits. However, certain genotypes were superior based on grain yield and quality traits. Gozgon, Elomon, ID800994.W/Vee//Lagos-12, Jaikhun, and Kroshka were the five most superior genotypes for four quality traits. Elomon, Gozgon, Jaikhun, ID800994.W/Vee//Lagos-12, and Kiriya were the five most superior genotypes based on grain yield, TKW, TWT, protein, and gluten content. This study demonstrates success in wheat breeding for combined high yield and improved quality in winter wheat. This study provides information on the combined stability of high yield and improved quality of the internationally important winter wheat genotypes. Therefore, the results of this study could be valuable for national and international winter wheat breeding programs to develop new varieties with high stable grain yield and quality.
Neural Mechanisms of Food-Anticipatory Circadian Rhythms in Rats

Rats can anticipate a fixed daily mealtime by entrainment of a circadian timekeeping mechanism anatomically separate from the light-entrainable circadian pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Neural substrates of this food-entrainable circadian system have not yet been fully elucidated. A role for the thalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVT) is suggested by observations that scheduled feeding synchronizes daily rhythms of glucose utilization and immediate early gene and circadian clock gene expression in this area. One study has reported absence of food anticipatory circadian activity rhythms in rats with PVT ablations. To determine whether this effect extends to other behavioral measures of food anticipation, rats received large radiofrequency lesions aimed at the PVT and were maintained on a 3h meal provided each day 6h after lights-on. Rats with unambiguously complete PVT ablation exhibited increased total daily activity, a change in the waveform of the nocturnal activity rhythm, but no change in the amplitude, duration, latency to appearance or persistence during total food deprivation of food anticipatory activity measured by activity at or near a food bin accessible via a small window in the recording cage. These results indicate that, while the PVT may modulate light-entrainable rhythms, it is not a critical input, oscillator or output component of the circadian system by which rats behaviorally anticipate a daily mealtime.
Facilitation of coral reef biodiversity and health by cave sponge communities

Marine caves are understudied ecosystems that are frequently associated with coral reef communities; many are tidally influenced and may host a highly diverse sponge fauna. Although each cave represents a distinct habitat likely structured by site-specific hydrographic processes, a more complete understanding of the ecology of these communities requires com parative studies. Based on a gradient of sponge cover within 5 Bahamian caves, we conducted a natural experiment in sponge-derived nutrient enrichment of nearby patch reefs. We tested the hypothesis that water exiting the cave during low tide provides a nutrient-rich resource that facilitates the diversity and health of nearby reef communities. The percent cover and diversity of corals surrounding the openings of caves were significantly higher than in similar habitats farther removed from these communities. There was a significant correlation between percent sponge cover within the caves and nitrate concentrations in seawater flowing out of the caves, and δ15N stable isotope signatures indicated enrichment of the nearby reefs by sponge-derived nitrate. Zooxanthellae abundance and total protein concentration were higher in corals from reefs near cave entrances, suggesting that those corals benefited more from cave nutrients than did corals farther from cave openings. In addition to corals, percent algal cover increased near cave entrances, but these potential competitors of corals were kept in check by increased levels of herbivory relative to sites removed from cave mouths. As global environmental changes continue to impact coral reef ecosystems, diversity ‘hot spots’, such as these marine caves, could serve as refuges and ‘seedbanks’ for nearby dwindling reef habitats.
The control of insect-transmitted viruses of cereals

Barley yellow dwarf virus is the most widespread and damaging of insect-transmitted viruses of cereal crops in Britain but the losses it causes differ greatly in different parts of the country and from year to year. Isolates of the virus differ in virulence and not all are transmitted equally well by the several species of aphid vector. Crops in south and south western counties are worst affected because the mild winters enable vectors to overwinter on hosts of the virus infected with virulent isolates. Field studies of the occurrence of infective aphids in eastern counties have helped to show when insecticides should be applied, but the virus spread too little in the experiments for spraying to have large effects on yield. It is hoped that the virus incidence can eventually be predicted from knowledge of overwintering vectors and when and how many carry virus into the crops.
II. The Role of Nucleating Sites in Shape Development

The proposal made in the preceding paper that the species-specific shape of Ochromonas is mediated by cytoplasmic microtubules which are related to two nucleating sites has been experimentally verified. Exposure of cells to colchicine or hydrostatic pressure causes microtubule disassembly and a correlative loss of cell shape in a posterior to anterior direction. Upon removal of colchicine or release of pressure, cell shape regenerates and microtubules reappear, first in association with the kineto-beak site concomitant with regeneration of the anterior asymmetry, and later at the rhizoplast site concomitant with formation of the posterior tail. It is concluded that two separate sets of cytoplasmic tubules function in formation and maintenance of specific portions of the total cell shape. On the basis of the following observations, we further suggest that the beak and rhizoplast sites could exert control over the position and timing of the appearance, the orientation, and the pattern of microtubule distribution in Ochromonas. (a) the two sites are accurately positioned in the cell relative to other cell organelles; (b) in regenerating cells microtubules reform first at these sites and appear to elongate to the cell posterior; (c) microtubules initially reappear in the orientation characteristic of the fully differentiated cell; (d) the two sets of tubules are polymerized at different times, in the same sequence, during reassembly or resynthesis of the microtubular system. Experiments using cycloheximide, after a treatment with colchicine, have demonstrated that Ochromonas cannot reassume its normal shape without new protein synthesis. This suggests that microtubule protein once exposed to colchicine cannot be reassembled into microtubules. Pressure-treated cells, on the other hand, reassemble tubules and regenerate the normal shape in the presence or absence of cycloheximide. The use of these two agents in analyzing nucleating site function and the independent processes of synthesis and assembly of microtubules is discussed. The preceding paper (Bouck and Brown, 1973) examines the fine structure of vegetative and dividing cells of Ochromonas and describes, (a) a close correlation between the distribution of cytoplasmic microtubules and the asymmetric cell shape, and (b) the association of these microtubules with two distinct sites in the cell anterior. These observations implied a cytoskeletal role for microtubules and further suggested that control of microtubule distribution, and hence control of cell shape, may be effected by restricting microtubule assembly to specific nucleating sites (terminology of Tilney and Goddard, 1970). The present study was undertaken to determine if the observed microtubule distribution is obligatory to development and/or maintenance of cell shape, as well as to clarify whether the presumptive nucleating sites do in fact function as sites of initial microtubule assembly. It was found that microtubule depolymerizing agents (colchicine
Municipal wastewater-induced histopathological lesions in gills of freshwater fish Labeo rohita – A SEM study

The fingerlings of fish Labeo rohita were subjected to chronic (15, 30, and 60 days) and recovery (60 days) experiments for histopathological studies using sublethal concentrations (35.4%, 26.6%, and 17.7% v/v) of municipal wastewater of Tung Dhab drain, Amritsar, India. Control fish were maintained for same exposure periods using tap water. Scanning electron microscopic studies exhibited dose- and duration-dependent alterations on gill surface ultra-structure. Control fish exhibited functionally normal gills with normal mean degree of tissue change. Fifteen different types of lesions were identified out of which 9, 5, and 1 were of the stage I, II, and III, respectively. The mean degree of change values in the treated groups ranged from 14.8 ± 0.5 (17.7%, 15 days) to 116. ± 17 (35.4%, 60 days) demonstrated gill damages of slight to irreparable lesions. The recorded alterations were epithelial lifting and intraepithelial edema, reduction of water spaces, lamellar fusion, lamellar telangiectasia, swelling and fusion of filaments, sloughing of lamellar epithelium, hypertrophy and hyperplasia of mucous and chloride cells, and necrotic lamellae. The recovery experiments showed positive improvement as the intensity of damage was less than recorded for 60 days of treatment. This study clearly indicated toxicity of drain water to fish at cellular and organ level. The study recommends environmental agencies to make and enforce decisions regarding improvement of water quality of Tung Dhab drain, and further incorporating histopathological studies as an analytical tool.
Nutrition and gut health of the young pig around weaning: what news?

Gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) disorders, infections and diarrhoea increase at the time of weaning in young pigs. Weaning is a complex step involving many stresses that interfere deeply with feed intake, GIT development and adaptation to the weaning diet. The European ban put on in-feed antibiotic growth promoters has stimulated research on the mechanisms of GIT disorders and on nutritional approaches for preventing or reducing such disturbances. From the data accumulated over the past years, it appears that products like spray dried plasma and various organic acids are among the most effective. Other substances under study are also providing promising results. Increasing numbers of studies with prebiotics and probiotics provide evidence for the potential of these approaches. Conversely, many plant extracts and natural substances, used alone or in combinations have given frequently inconsistent results in vivo, despite their demonstrated anti-bacterial effects in vitro. Therefore, additional work is needed for precising the bioavailability of such substances.
Reward allocation in preschool children.

LANE, IRVING M. , and COON, ROBERT C. Reward Allocation in Preschool Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1972, 43, 1382-1389. The reward allocation behavior of 4and 5-year-old children was studied within the framework of equity theory. Children worked on a task with a fictitious partner whose performance they observed to be superior, equal, or inferior to their own. The children were then given rewards that their team had earned and told to divide them between themselves and their partner. Results indicated that 4-year-old children tended to distribute rewards self-interestedly by taking significantly more than half for themselves. The behavior of the 5-year-old children was consistent with the assumption that they employed the norm of equality when distributing rewards. No evidence was found to indicate that the behavior of preschool children is influenced by equity, the norm that mediates adult behavior in reward-allocation situations.
Nonegocentric Communication Abilities in Preschool Children.

MARATSOS, MICHAEL P. Nonegocentric Communication Abilities in Preschool Children. CHLD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 697-700. A very simple referential communication task was administered to 3-5-year-old Ss. Each S communicated either to an E who apparently could not see the referents that S was referring to or to an E who could see the referents. The Ss communicating to an apparently blind E were far more explicit verbally than those communicating to an E who could see.
Praxis and Action: Contemporary Philosophies of Human Activity

Preface to the New Edition Preface Introduction Part I. Praxis: Marx and the Hegelian Background Part II. Consciousness, Existence, and Action: Kierkegaard and Sartre Part III. Action, Conduct, and Inquiry: Peirce and Dewey Part IV. The Concept of Action: Analytic Philosophy Epilogue Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects
Les biofilms bactériens Bacterial biofilms

Les biofilms sont des structures heterogenes constituees par des populations bacteriennes englobees dans une matrice extracellullaire, fixees sur des surfaces naturelles ou artificielles. Les principales caracteristiques du biofilms sont rappelees et les techniques d’etudes son presentees. Elles ont permis d’etablir un modele du developpement des biofilms en cinq etapes : adhesion reversible des bacteries de la phase planctonique a une surface, irreversibilite de l’adhesion correspondant a la synthese de structures a la surface des bacteries, formation de microcolonies, puis developpement de ces microcolonies traduisant le stade de maturation du biofilm et colonisation de nouvelles surfaces. Les cooperations metaboliques entre cellules et les echanges d’informations sont evoquees. Les aspects negatifs des biofilms sont decrits dans le domaine de la sante humaine et veterinaire et celui de l’industrie, mais ils jouent egalement un role ecologique capital et contribuent tres largement au bon fonctionnement de la plupart des ecosystemes, en participant notamment aux cycles du carbone, de l’eau et de l’azote.
Troop Size and Structure in Free-ranging Formosan Macaques (Macaca cyclopis) at Mt. Longevity, Taiwan

Among the 19 extant species of the genus Macaca that are found in southern and eastern Asia as well as northwestern Africa, the Formosan macaque is one of the least known. A long-term field study to investigate the population dynamics and social behavior of 716 troops of free-ranging Formosan macaques at Mt. Longevity, Taiwan has been conducted since July 1993. Between Dec. 1994 and Dec. 1997, a systematic census was conducted on a biweekly basis to record data on the demography of Formosan macaques. We used focal animal sampling and ad libitum sampling twice per week in respective troops to record data on social behavior including male replacement and fission processes. The maximum density of macaques has been estimated as 26 individuals per km^2 in Oct. 1997. The average troop size was 26.1 ± 9.7 (n =7) in Jan. 1995 and it reached the highest level of 47.0 ± 21.2 (n =13) in Aug. 1997. Two cases of fission were observed. The branch troops, la and Aa, that were formed as a result of fission had the smallest size with 9 individuals in the beginning, while troop I had the largest size of 86 individuals. Births were recorded mainly between Apr. and June (970/0) with a peak in mid-Apr. to mid-May. The annual average overall sex ratio was 1.06 ± 0.28, while the adult sex ratio (adult males to adult females) was 0.53 ± 0.12. The average tenure length of alpha males was 16.8 ± 18.9 mo (n =34) and ranged from 1 wk to a maximum of 6 yr. The average alpha male tenure in newly formed troops was significantly shorter (p ＜ 0.01) than that in the remaining troops. About 880/0 of alpha male changes occurred between Oct. and Feb., which paralleled the peak and the end of the mating season, respectively.
Mutants Constitutive for Nucleoside‐Catabolizing Enzymes in Escherichia coli K 12

Regulatory mutants of Escherichia coli, which synthesize cytidine deaminase and uridine phosphorylase constitutively have been isolated by different selection procedures and have been characterized. These mutants were also found to synthesize four other nucleoside-catabolizing enzymes, thymidine phosphorylase, deoxyriboaldolase, phosphodeoxyribomutase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase in amounts 3- to 10-fold in excess of wild-type levels. This phenotype was found to be caused by mutations in one regulatory gene designated cytR. Another class of regulatory mutants containing levels of deoxyriboaldolase, thymidine phosphorylase, phosphodeoxyribomutase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase 10- to 100-fold above wild-type levels have been isolated by similar selection procedures. These mutants are a result of a mutation in another regulatory gene, designated deoR, and were shown to contain low, inducible levels of cytidine deaminase and uridine phosphorylase. The cytR and deoR genes have been found by P1-mediated transductions to be located at 76.5 min and 18.5 min, respectively, on the E. coli chromosome.
Thermal climate-linked variation in annual survival rate of hibernating rodents: shorter winter dormancy and lower survival in warmer climates

Summary In seasonal climates, many animals, including a wide range of small mammals, are physiologically capable of prolonged dormancy (˜hibernation), when foraging-related activity ceases entirely for part the year. Low metabolic rates while dormant minimise energy and water requirements, but the behavioural state of inactivity also reduces exposure to mortality risks, especially predation. Thermal effects on activity underlie spatial patterns in annual survival rate of ectothermic animals. We hypothesised that, because local thermal conditions affect the duration of mammalian hibernation, positive effects of dormancy on survival could also underlie a negative relationship between spatial variation in thermal climate and annual survival rate among populations of hibernating rodents. We applied mixed models to test for effects of local thermal climate on collated data of hibernation duration and annual survival rate among populations of hibernating and a representative sample of non-hibernating rodent species. Our analyses revealed strong negative effects of mean annual temperature on hibernation duration and adult annual survival rate within hibernating species (β: −8·6 day and −5·1% per 1 °C) but no effect in non-hibernating rodent species. This thermal climate-linked pattern in annual survival rate seems to be unique among mammals. A parsimonious explanation lies in the large increase in monthly survival rates during hibernation compared to activity. The current spatial pattern suggests ongoing climate warming might reduce annual survival rates of hibernating rodents by shortening their hibernation season. Decreased annual survival because of increased activity in warmer climates with shorter winter seasons is an unappreciated mechanism leading to impacts of global warming on animal populations in temperate climates.