Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Introduction: management for the survival of Sonoran pronghorn in the United States

Wildlife Society Bulletin 2000, 28(4):5–xxx Peer refereed Historical population estimates of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in North America are as high as 60,000,000 (O’Connor 1939). In 2000 the population of pronghorn was estimated at 799,200 (Yoakum 2004). Currently there are 5 recognized subspecies of pronghorn based on differences in color, size, and form: American pronghorn (A. a. americana), Mexican pronghorn (A. a. mexicana), peninsular pronghorn (A. a. peninsularis), Oregon pronghorn (A. a. oregona), and Sonoran pronghorn (A. a. sonoriensis). However, recent genetic analyses have not revealed differences significant enough to retain these subspecies designations. Some suggest that a species decline is more legitimate than the 5 subspecies classified (Malone et al. 2002, O’Gara and Janis 2004). As genetic tools allow biologists to learn more about the genome of all species, classifications will evolve. However Sonoran pronghorn are eventually classified subspecifically, they will be protected under the Isolated Vertebrate Population Policy in the Endangered Species Act (United States Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). Current management of Sonoran pronghorn is also controversial (Paradiso and Nowak 1971, Cockrum 1981, United States Fish and Wildlife Service 1998, Malone et al. 2002, O’Gara and Janis 2004). The United States government listed Sonoran pronghorn as endangered in 1967. Since then, recovery efforts have been limited because much of Sonoran pronghorn habitat in the United States is inaccessible. Sonoran pronghorn historically ranged from eastern California into southeastern Arizona and south to Sonora, Mexico but are currently limited to <25% of their historical habitat in Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. Estimated numbers in the United States have been low since the early 1900s, ranging from approximately 100 in 1925 to <300 in 1998 (United States Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). However, during the current drought, numbers plummeted to <30 in 2002, and the subspecies was on the verge of extinction in the United States. The population of Sonoran pronghorn increased to <51 by December 2004 (J. C. deVos, Jr., Arizona Game and Fish Department, personal communication), but their survival is precarious and drastic and untested methods are ongoing to pull the subspecies from the brink of extinction. Aggressive management tactics including manipulation of forage and water availability and captive breeding have been initiated; efforts that some question. In the past decade, dedicated and determined individuals from the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service initiated recovery efforts that had been proposed for nearly 3 decades. Those individuals (some of whom are authors and coauthors of the following papers) generated funds, interest,
Characterisation of cyclohexane hydroxylase; involvement of a cytochrome P-450 system from a cyclohexane grown Xanthobacter sp.

Growth of a Xanthobacter sp. on cyclohexane as the sole source of carbon and energy leads to the introduction of a soluble. NADPH-dependent cyclohexane hydroxylase. Studies with this enzyme have indicated it to possess cytochrome P-450 as the terminal oxidase. Cytochrome P-450 was shown to be induced concomitantly with cyclohexane hydroxylase activity following growth of Xanthobacter sp. on cyclohexane. The enzyme has a broad substrate specificity which includes alkyl substituted cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, a bicyclic terpene and heterocyche rigs. Cyclohexane hydroxylase was shown to be sensitive to sulphydryl group inhibitors and to show differential sensitivity to metal chelators.
Prevalence, Detection Methods and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Listeria monocytogens Isolated from Milk and Soft Cheeses and its Zoonotic Importance

The present study was carried out to detect Listeria monocytogenes prevalence by conventional isolation, colony PCR and enrichment PCR methods in 200 dairy product samples (50 each of market raw milk, bulk tank milk, Damietta cheese and kareish cheese), as well as 120 human specimens. While conventional biochemical tests revealed that 36% (72/200) of the dairy products were positive for L. monocytogenes, only 14% (28/200) of these products were positive for L. monocytogenes using colony PCR method. Enrichment PCR method, however, indicated that 23% (46/200) of samples tested were confirmed as L. monocytogenes. Only 5% (2/40) of stool specimens from apparently healthy dairy handlers were positive for L. monocytogene by enrichment PCR method which is proven to be more precise and fast. The fifty four L. monocytogenes strains detected by colony PCR method were multidrug resistant. Pasteurization should be applied to milk and milk used for cheeses manufacture. There is a need of continuous surveillance and more prudent use of antibiotics in human and dairy farms.
THE DIFFERENTIAL TEMPERATURE RESPONSES OF THE GROWTH OF CERTAIN PLANT SPECIES FROM DIFFERENT ALTITUDES. I. GROWTH ANALYSIS OF PHLEUM ALPINUM L., P. BERTOLONII D. C., SESLERIA ALBICANS KIT. AND DACTYLIS GLOERATA L.

SUMMARY The growth rates of Dactylis glomerata L. and Phleum bertolonii D.C., which are essentially lowland species in Britain, show a large response to an increase in day temperature from 10 to 20 ? C, while those of Sesleria albicans Kit. which occurs from sea-level to 900 m, and Phleum alpinum L. (600 to 1200 m) show little response. These differences can be attributed to the greater leaf-area ratio, and to the increased rates of both leaf-initiation and leaf-expansion of the lowland species at higher temperatures. Net assimilation rates are scarcely affected by temperature. The differences are therefore due to morphogenetic effects and not to differences in the rates of physiological processes.
A theoretical basis for measures of kin selection in subdivided populations: finite populations and localized dispersal

The analysis of kin selection in subdivided populations has been hampered by the lack of well‐defined measures of genealogical relatedness in the presence of localized dispersal. Furthermore, the usual arguments underlying the definition of game‐theoretical measures of inclusive fitness are not exact under localized dispersal. We define such measures to give the first‐order effects of selection on the probability of fixation of an allele. The derived measures of kin selection and relatedness are valid in finite populations and under localized dispersal. For the infinite island model, the resulting measure of kin selection is equivalent to a previously used measure. In other cases its definition is based on definitions of relatedness which are different from the usual ones. To illustrate the approach, we reanalyse a model with localized dispersal. We consider sex ratio evolution under sex‐specific dispersal behaviour, and the results confirm the earlier conclusion that the sex ratio is biased towards the sex with the dispersal rate closer to the optimal dispersal rate in the absence of sex‐specific dispersal behaviour.
Rodent Communities in a Grazed and Ungrazed Arizona Grassland, and a Model of Habitat Relationships Among Rodents in Southwestern Grass/Shrublands

Abstract We live-trapped rodents in 2000–2001 at eight sites on a 3160 ha grassland and mesquite-oak savanna in southeastern Arizona that had been ungrazed since 1968, and on eight paired sites on adjacent cattle ranches. There were 917 captures of 14 species during 5760 trap-nights. Four species of Muridae (Sigmodon fulviventer, Baiomys taylori, Reithrodontomys megalotis and R. fulvescens) were significantly more common on ungrazed plots, while no species was more abundant on grazed plots. However, Heteromyidae as a group (especially Chaetodipus hispidus and Perognathus flavus) comprised a significantly higher proportion of total captures on grazed plots, and heteromyids as a percentage of total captures was positively correlated across all plots with amount of bare ground. One of the eight cross-fence sites also had been trapped in 1981–1983. In the 17 y between trapping events at this site: (1) the grass canopy on both grazed and ungrazed plots had become dominated by taller species, (2) a kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) that had been the second most common species in grazed areas disappeared from both plots, (3) pocket mice increased on the grazed plot and declined on the ungrazed plot and (4) Muridae (excluding Peromyscus) as a percent of all captures increased by greater than 1.5-fold on both plots. Based on these results, and those from other field studies, we propose a model for the composition of rodent communities in grass/shrublands of the Southwest and Intermountain West, based on ground cover. Kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) are abundant in areas with the most bare soil, Muridae (specifically, Sigmodon, Baiomys and Reithrodontomys) dominate areas with the most and tallest ground cover, and pocket mice (Chaetodipus and Perognathus) are common in areas of intermediate cover. In relatively mesic grasslands, livestock grazing and fire drive the rodent community toward one dominated by heteromyids instead of murids. In more arid landscapes, grazing and fire favor kangaroo rats over pocket mice.
Effects of Osmotic Stimulation on Expression of Neurohypophysial Hormone Genes in Pre-Spawning Chum Salmon

Abstract Changes in expression of vasotocin (VT) and isotocin (IT) genes were analyzed in chum salmon during the last stages of spawning migration. Pre-spawning chum salmon were caught at following four locations in the Sanriku coast of the Pacific Ocean in Japan: 1) the off-coast area north to the Otsuchi Bay, 2) the mouth of the Otsuchi Bay, 3) inside of the Otsuchi Bay, and 4) the place 500 m upstream to the mouth of the Otsuchi River. In addition, effects of hypo-osmotic stimulation by transition from sea water (SW) to freshwater (FW) were examined in animals caught at the mouth of the Otsuchi Bay. The levels of VT and IT mRNAs in the forebrains were determined by Northern blot analysis. The plasma osmolality and the levels of Na+ and Cl− were also analyzed. Expression patterns of VT and IT genes were different between the males and the females. In the males, VT and IT gene expression were maintained essentially at the same levels from the off-coast area to the Otsuchi River. In contrast, in the females, the level of VT-I mRNA was significantly increased in the fish caught at the mouth of the bay. After entering the bay, the level of VT-l mRNA was decreased and maintained at a low level through the final stages of spawning migration. Such sexual difference in VT and IT gene expression found in the field fish was further analyzed by a SW to FW transition experiment, in which fish were divided into two groups, those retained in SW and others replaced with FW. In the FW-replaced fish, the levels of VT and IT mRNAs were decreased in both sexes, although much more conspicuous in the females. In the SW-retained animals, changes in the levels of VT and IT mRNAs were sexually different. The levels of VT and IT mRNAs were increased in the males, whereas they were decreased in the females, when compared to the initial levels just before the experimental treatments. These results suggest that regulation of VT and IT gene expression is sexually dimorphic in pre-spawning chum salmon.
Microbiology of plant foods and related aspects

Vegetables and fruits are staple food for the human mankind, and they are also considered as the symbol of healthy nutrition. They are consumed fresh and cooked, in salad mixes, freshly pressed, fermented, minimally processed form, stored under different conditions, etc. Since they are in close contact with the environment, natural or artificial, and have a natural microbiota on their surface highly variable as a function of the surrounding, they are prone to get contaminated with human pathogens, too. More attention is paid to the food-borne outbreaks in the last 10 years related to the consumption of contaminated plant foods, and it is also in the focus of our interest. The main activities of the Unit cover the following areas: microbial contamination of fruits and vegetables, also in relation to the soil, the methods of cell count reduction using also non-thermal methods, the biofilm formation and the response of Bacillus cereus to the technological stresses.
Life History and Propagation of the Endangered Fanshell Pearlymussel, Cyprogenia stegaria Rafinesque (Bivalvia:Unionidae)

Aspects of the reproduction, age, growth, fish hosts, and culture of juveniles were determined for the endangered fanshell pearlymussel, Cyprogenia stegaria Rafinesque, 1820, in the Clinch River, Tennessee. Glochidia of C. stegaria are contained in red, worm-like conglutinates that resemble oligochaetes. Conglutinates are 20 to 80 mm long and are released through the excurrent aperture. Estimated fecundity was 22,357 to 63,459 glochidia/mussel. Eighty-four valves of C. stegaria were thin-sectioned for aging; ages ranged from 6 to 26 y. Of 16 fish species tested, 9 hosts were identified through induced infestations of glochidia: mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi), banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae), greenside darter (Etheostoma blennioides), snubnose darter (Etheostoma simoterum), banded darter (Etheostoma zonale), tangerine darter (Percina aurantiaca), blotchside logperch (Percina burtoni), logperch (Percina caprodes), and Roanoke darter (Percina roanoka). Newly metamorphosed juveniles were cultured in recirculating and nonrecirculating aquaculture systems within dishes containing sediments of 300 to 500 μm diameter (sand) or <105 μm diameter (silt), and fed either the green algae Neochloris oleoabundans or Scenedesmus quadricauda daily. Growth and survival of juvenile mussels were highest in the nonrecirculating aquaculture system, with a mean survival of 72% after 2 wk and 38% after 4 wk.
Ethylene Signal 1s Transduced via Protein Phesphorylation Events in Plants

A plethora of abiotic and biotic environmental stresses exert their influence on plants via the gaseous hormone ethylene. In addition, aspects of plant development and climacteric fruit ripening are regulated by ethylene. Sensitivity to ethylene is presumably mediated by a specific ethylene receptor whose activation signal is then transduced via an unknown cascade pathway. We have used the plant pathogenesis response, exemplified by the induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, as a paradigm to investigate ethylene-dependent signal transduction in the plant cell. Ethylene application induced very rapid and transient protein phosphorylation in tobacco leaves. In the presence of the kinase inhibitors H-7 and K-252a, the transient rise in phosphorylation and the induced expression of PR genes were abolished. Similarly, these inhibitors blocked the response induced by an ethylene-dependent elicitor, a-AB. Reciprocally, application of okadaic acid, a specific inhibitor of phosphatases type 1 and type 2A, enhanced total protein phosphorylation and by itself elicited the accumulation of PR proteins. In the presence of H-7 and K-252a, PR protein accumulation induced by okadaic acid was blocked. In contrast to the action of ethylene and aAB, xylanase elicits the accumulation of PR protein by an ethyleneindependent pathway. Xylanase-induced PR protein accumulation was not affected by H-7 and K-252a. The results indicate that responsiveness to ethylene in leaves is transduced via putative phosphorylated intermediates that are regulated by specific kinases and phosphatases.
The Decline of the Gastropod Nucella Lapillus Around South-West England: Evidence for the Effect of Tributyltin from Antifouling Paints

A survey of the gastropod Nucella lapillus around the south-west peninsula of England has revealed that the incidence of ‘imposex’, the induction of male sex characters in the female, is widespread, that all populations are affected to some degree and that the phenomenon is most prevalent along the south (Channel) coast. Populations close to centres of boating and shipping activity show the highest degrees of imposex, especially those within the vicinities of the Helford, Fal, Salcombe and Dart estuaries and in Plymouth Sound and Tor Bay. Within Plymouth Sound the degree of imposex increased markedly between 1969 and 1985, coinciding with the introduction and increasing usage of antifouling paints containing tributyltin (TBT) compounds.
PHOTOSYNTHETIC FUNCTION IN DUNALIELLA TERTIOLECTA (CHLOROPHYTA) DURING A NITROGEN STARVATION AND RECOVERY CYCLE

Phytoplankton can be exposed to periods of N starvation with episodic N resupply. N starvation in Dunaliella tertiolecta (Butcher) measured over 4 days was characterized by slow reduction in cell chl and protein content and chl/carotenoid ratio and a decline in photosynthetic capacity and maximum quantum yield of photosynthesis (Fv/Fm). In the early stages of N starvation, cell division was maintained despite reduction in cellular chl. Chl content was more sensitive than carotenoids to N deprivation, and cellular chl a was maintained preferentially over chl b under N starvation. NO3− resupply stimulated rapid and complete recovery of Fv/Fm (from 0.4 to 0.7) within 24 h and commencement of cell division after 10 h, although N‐replete levels of cell chl and protein were not reestablished within 24 h. Recovery of Fv/Fm was correlated with increases in cell chl and protein and was more related to increases in Fm than to changes in F0. Recovery of Fv/Fm was biphasic with a second phase of recovery commencing 4–6 h after resupply of NO3−. Uptake of NO3− from the external medium and the recovery of Fv/Fm, cell chl, and protein were inhibited when either cytosolic or chloroplastic protein synthesis was inhibited by cycloheximide or lincomycin, respectively; a time lag observed before maximum NO3− uptake was consistent with synthesis of NO3− transporters and assimilation enzymes. When both chloroplastic and cytosolic translation was inhibited, Fv/Fm declined dramatically. Dunaliella tertiolecta demonstrated a capacity to rapidly reestablish photosynthetic function and initiate cell division after N resupply, an important strategy in competing for limiting inorganic N resources.
Responses to grain feeding by grazing dairy cows

Summary. Two experiments were conducted on feeding grain supplements to dairy cows during summer. In experiment 1, dairy cows in mid–late lactation were offered one of 2 pasture allowances (about 20 and 40 kg DM/cow.day) with and without a supplement of a grain mix (5 kg of a 70 : 30 mixture of barley and lupins). This experiment was conducted twice over 2 consecutive summer–autumn periods (years 1 and 2). Milk yields were higher at the high pasture allowance and with grain feeding. The marginal response to grain feeding (kg milk/kg grain DM consumed) was 0.7 at both pasture allowances in year 1, and 1.1 and 0.8 at the low and high pasture allowance, respectively, in year 2. Diet had no significant effect on milk composition. Pasture intake was reduced by supplementary feeding and the level of substitution depended on pasture allowance. The alkane-based and sward sampling techniques were used to estimate pasture intake and diet digestibility. Estimates of pasture substitution, based on measurements made with the alkane technique, were 0.3 and 0.6 kg DM reduction in pasture/kg DM grain consumed at the low and high pasture allowance, respectively, in both years. In year 1, the pasture substitution measured with the pasture difference method was 1 kg pasture DM/kg grain DM at both pasture allowances. In year 2, estimates of substitution calculated using the pasture difference method were 0.2 and 0.5 kg pasture DM/kg grain DM at the low and high pasture allowance respectively. In the second experiment (year 3), the effects of level of feeding barley on pasture intake, diet digestibility and milk production were measured during summer. The 4 levels of grain consumed were 0, 1.8, 3.4 and 6.7 kg barley DM/cow. day. Higher grain intake resulted in higher milk yield, higher protein concentration and yields of fat, protein and lactose. Milk yield responses per kilogram of barley diminished from 1.6 at the low barley intake to 0.8 kg milk/kg barley DM at the highest barley intake. It is suggested that higher levels of substitution and a potentially less efficient use of grain contributed to the poorer production responses at higher levels of grain feeding.
Conservation Research Needs of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) Marine Turtles

Abstract Easter Island has experienced a marked increase in tourism during the past few decades; this has intensified the use of natural resources, which has in turn posed new threats to marine wildlife. To gather information on marine turtle species inhabiting Easter Island and research needs for their conservation, we conducted interviews with local communities and combined them with coastal and underwater surveys. Interviews indicated the presence of five marine turtle species and highlighted an important historical connection with the Rapa Nui culture; we identified several potential threats associated with growing tourism that should be taken as a research priority and integrated with environmental education programs in order to ensure the long-term conservation of marine turtles on this remote island in the Southeast Pacific.
Relative importance of nymphal and adult resource availability for reproductive allocation in Melanoplus sanguinipes (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Abstract A better understanding of the relative effects that nymphal and adult resource availabilities have on reproductive allocation is needed, given the potentially important implications for the prediction of grasshopper population dynamics. I conducted a field experiment to examine the importance of nymphal and adult resource availabilities on reproductive allocation in the grasshopper Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius). Female nymphs were reared on either high or low nymphal resource availability, with watered and ambient-level adult resource treatments. Adult resource treatments were initiated below the carrying capacity, to allow an examination of food limitation effects on reproductive allocation, while minimizing strong density dependent effects. Although nymphs reared with ad libitum resources had higher adult body mass, nymphal resource availability did not affect reproductive allocation or adult survival. Female M. sanguinipes grasshoppers responded to the increased host plant availability in the watered treatment, by increasing reproduction allocation over the course of the experiment. M. sanguinipes females did not reduce vitellogenesis in response to decreased adult resource availability, but completed development of a lower percentage of ovarioles that initiated development. Although resource dynamics in semi-arid grasslands can change rapidly during grasshopper development, there were no direct effects of limited resource availability for developing nymphs that subsequently affected per capita reproduction of adults.