Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic spatial partitioning and coexistence among tall grass grazers in an African savanna

Competitive relationships among mobile animals may be expressed through dynamically changing spatial relationships over different time frames. Less common species that are apparently inferior competitors may be able to coexist with more abundant species by concentrating in regions of the landscape little utilized by the former at spatio-temporal scales from annual or seasonal ranges to the specific foraging localities exploited at different stages of the annual cycle. Spatial relationships may be influenced further by dependencies on other resources, predation risks and facilitatory interactions under certain conditions. Our study aimed to determine whether competition with more abundant zebra and buffalo restricted the abundance of sable antelope in a region where these three tall-grass grazers overlapped in their herd distributions. We tracked the simultaneous movements of animals representing herds of these species over two dry seasons and one wet season using GPS-GSM collars, and estimated seasonal or monthly range extents and their overlap. We also compared daily separation distances between these animals against the null pattern expected if their movements had been independent, and assessed how prior grazing by buffalo influenced the subsequent use of these localities by sable. The range of the sable herd was mostly separated from the seasonal range of the buffalo herd during the late dry season of 2006 and throughout the dry season of 2007. Seasonal home ranges of zebra herds overlapped partially with the range of the sable herd during most of the year. Even during times when their ranges overlapped, sable were rarely recorded within  1 km of the buffalo herd. Prior grazing by buffalo beyond a threshold level inhibited later use of these localities by sable, but the sable were nevertheless able to exploit places that were little utilized by buffalo at that time. Sable were less able to evade overlap with the small, mobile zebra herds, and hence more vulnerable to competitive exclusion by zebra than by buffalo. Our findings demonstrate how less abundant species can restrict competition from more abundant competitors through dynamic spatial partitioning in regions where their home ranges overlap.
Changes in physiology, composition and sensory characteristics of Australian papaya during ripening

Australian papaya fruit were held at 20, 25 and 30°C and physico-chemical and sensory changes occurring during ripening observed. Fruit at 20°C showed a respiratory climacteric after about 5 days at which time peel colour was 20-50% yellow. The peak in ethylene production occurred about 1 day after the climacteric. The major physico-chemical changes were increases in ascorbic acid and total carotene, and a decrease in benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC). Maximum sensory characteristics were attained 2 days after peel showed a full yellow colour. Fruit held at 25 and 30°C ripened faster, had higher concentrations of total carotene and ascorbic acid, firmer flesh texture, a lower BITC level, more intense yellow peel colour and more acceptable eating attributes. Australian papaya would therefore be more acceptable to consumers if ripened at elevated temperatures rather than at 20°C.
Building Connections: Reducing Social Isolation for Mothers in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities through a Sharing and Learning Group

Social isolation is an everyday experience for many mothers and children within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Engaging in group experiences with others provides authentic opportunities to make social connections, along with sharing common interests. This paper reports on a project that involved working within a transdisciplinary team at a community group in Brisbane, Australia. The Women and Children’s Learning and Sharing Community Group was a targeted program to foster mental health and feelings of well-being for mothers and children who were identified as at risk of social isolation. Semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were conducted to gain the experiences of being involved in the community group from the perspectives of mothers and support workers. Summative Content Analysis is used to explore the transcribed accounts of the mothers and support workers who came together at the women’s sharing and learning group and, in particular, how the group facilitated growth-fostering connections to reduce the impact of social isolation. Using a Relational-Cultural Theory and a Relational Agency Framework lens, thematic Content Analysis of the mothers’ accounts reveal three themes of 1) Freedom, 2) Connection, and 3) Transformation. Exploration of mothers and support workers’ accounts highlighted four interactional elements as foundational to the program: 1) Respecting Group Identity, 2) Building a relaxed, mother-focused, and child-inclusive atmosphere, 3) Respecting diversity and the mutual enhancement of competence and 4) Fostering positives and strengths of the members. Recommendations are provided when working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities include: 1) Provide concrete support; 2) Make use of participants’ strengths and partnerships, 3) Provide culturally sensitive and inclusive practice, 4) Build a sense of community, mutual support and connections. Proposed key learnings highlight the importance of transdisciplinary teams and strength-based approaches when working in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
LAND USE AND SLOPE POSITION EFFECT ON THE HYDROLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF SANDY LOAM SOILS OF KOUPENDRI CATCHMENT, NORTH-WEST OF BENIN

<p><strong>Background. </strong> Land use and landscape characteristics influence soil hydrological properties and catchment hydrology. <strong>Objective. </strong> To investigate the effect of land use and slope positions on soil hydrological properties. <strong>Methodology. </strong>The study was done in Koupendri catchment, northwest Benin. The experimental design was a 2x2 factorial scheme replicated ten times. The study considered two land use types and two slope positions. The soil texture was sandy loam with high gravel (50-71%) and low organic carbon (11-18.4 g/kg) contents. <strong>Results. </strong>The Ksat in-situ and steady state infiltration were significantly (p<0.05) influenced by land use. Higher Ksat values of 5.33-11.96 cm/h and steady state infiltration (13.53 cm/h) were obtained under fallow shrub-grassland (FSG) compared to 2.21-3.04 cm/h and 3.58 cm/h respectively under tilled maize-beans (MBT). At both daily and 30-minute timescales, the maximum in-situ soil moistures were 0.270cm<sup>3</sup>/cm<sup>3</sup> and 0.393cm<sup>3</sup>/cm<sup>3</sup>, respectively under FSG compared to 0.221cm<sup>3</sup>/cm<sup>3</sup> and 0.202cm<sup>3</sup>/cm<sup>3</sup> recorded under MBT. The coefficient of variation (CV) of the soil hydrological properties was low (<10%) for BD and porosity, moderate (<30%) for <! --? mso-application progid="Word.Document"? --> 14 Î¸i"> , <! --? mso-application progid="Word.Document"? --> 14Î¸f"> , and Ksat in-situ and very high (>50%) for Ksat-Lab. <strong>Conclusion. </strong>Land use significantly influenced soil hydrological properties </p>
INVESTIGATION THE EFFECT OF THE PERCENT COMPOSITION OF EXHAUST GASES FROM A COMBUSTION CHAMBER OF A THREEBED REGENERATIVE THERMAL OXIDIZER IN THE HEAT RADIATION EXCHANGE DEVELOPED DURING COMBUSTION, THAT NEUTRALIZES GASEOUS POLLUTANTS FOR A GIVEN PLANT CA

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of the composition of the flue gases on the thermal radiation inside the combustion chamber of a three-stage regenerative oxidizer that neutralizes gaseous pollutants for a given plant capacity. This composition is expressed by the corresponding partial pressure of each constituent gas. It is assumed that the flue gases are gray and obey Lambert’s law, so that the gas mixture is assumed to be composed of water vapor and carbon dioxide plus a neutral one. Accurate estimates of each gaseous component emissivity were calculated from the experimental data charts provided by H. Hottel by employing regression analysis. The total emissivity coefficients of the gaseous mixture are evaluated with the help of the above emissivities and they are incorporated into the energy conservation equation that relates the heat exchange among the chamber walls.
Determination of age and age classes of Akodon olivaceus in Southern Chile

Abstract Age and age classes in Akodon olivaceus brachiotis were determined by means of a modification of the method used by Sluiter (1961) to quantify tooth wear. Ten age categories were obtained. From April to July the population was mainly composed of young animals. From November to March the population was heterogeneous due to the coexistence of new‐born animals and animals born in the previous reproductive season.
Metabolism of 2‐oxoaldehyde in yeasts

An enzyme catalyzing the reduction of methylglyoxal was isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its enzymatic properties were analyzed. The enzyme, specifically eluted from a blue-dextran – Sepharose CL-6B column by the substrate, methyglyoxal, was homogeneous on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme consisted of single polypeptide chain with a relative molecular mass of 43 000. The enzyme was glycoprotein and contained 6.6% carbohydrate. NADPH was specifically required for activity and the Km for NADPH was 2.0 × 10−7 M. The enzyme was active on various glyoxals such as glyoxal, methylglyoxal (Km= 5.88 mM) and phenylglyoxal (Km= 1.54 mM). The reaction catalyzed by the enzyme was virtually irreversible. The activity was inhibited by sulfhydryl agents and activated by reducing agents such as glutathione. Intermediates in glycolysis, nucleosides, nucleotides, polyamines and various metal ions showed little inhibitory or activating effects on enzyme activity. Tricarboxylic acids showed a slight inhibitory effect. The activity of the enzyme was strongly inhibited by anionic detergents. The enzyme was rapidly inactivated by incubating with the substrates probably because of the non-enzymatic interaction between glyoxals and NH2 groups in arginine residues in the enzyme. NADP, one of the reaction products, also inhibited the enzyme activity and the Ki for NADP was about 0.07 mM. We tentatively designated the enzyme methylglyoxal reductase.
Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System: Double-Edged Sword in COVID-19 Infection

The role of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS) in Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has become a controversial topic of discussion. RAAS inhibitors, such as Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), which are used to treat cardiovascular diseases, have been implicated in potentially increasing cell surface levels of ACE2. ACE2 is the host receptor for COVID-19 that was discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Since December, COVID-19 has transmitted rapidly across the world and has become a global pandemic. COVID-19 is similar to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) with the first case reported in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. COVID-19, also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is also similar to SARS-CoV, which first infected humans in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2002, and caused an epidemic between November 2002 and July 2003. Both SARS-CoV and COVID-19 use ACE2 to enter host cells. ACE2 is primarily expressed in the mouth, lung, heart, esophagus, kidney, bladder, and intestines, and is a component of RAAS, which serves to maintain vascular tone and blood volume. Inhibition or activation of other components of RAAS has been shown to directly increase or decrease the expression and/or activity of ACE2. Furthermore, RAAS-targeting therapeutics, such as ACE inhibitors and ARBs, have also been shown to regulate the expression and/or activity of ACE2, albeit in animal models. Although these changes in ACE2 have been demonstrated only in animal models, there is no evidence that administration of RAAS-targeting therapeutics to humans for the treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and other cardiovascular diseases (e.g., myocardial infarction and heart failure) causes changes in ACE2 expression. Nor is there clinical evidence that RAAS-targeting therapeutics augment COVID-19 infection, morbidity, or mortality. However, clinical evidence does suggest that ACE2 expression may protect against respiratory distress caused by a variety of noxious agents. This review attempts to provide a balanced overview of the potential role of RAAS in regulating ACE2, and the role of ACE2 during COVID-19 infection. Evidence is provided to show that the expression of ACE2 may mediate both positive and negative outcomes, depending on the timing of ACE2 expression.
Creative education for the improvisation of experimental teaching materials for training qualified biology teachers

The core objective of the research was to improvise unconventional teaching materials from locally available resources and employ for experimental biology lesson delivery processes in training qualified biology teachers. The research populations were 24 trainees of biology PGDT that used creative education to improvise supportive teaching materials and used for the delivery processes of both purposive “identifying the acidity or basicity of solutions” and five various referenced experimental biology lesson topics. Trainees used improvised experimental teaching materials for lesson delivery processes through peer teaching and the effectiveness of performances and experience construction was measured through observation checklists composing of data collections variables identified using quasi-experiment methods. Performance effectiveness of biology trainees on of purposive and referenced lesson delivery process conducted through peer-teaching was assessed using Likert scale of 10% levelled scoring systems. As a result, the average performance effectiveness and experience construction scored through conducting peer-teaching of trainees was 82.5% in training productive and effective qualified biology teachers. The research was concluded by the fact that creative education is helpful in improvising proper teaching materials and enhanced in mind mapping and constructing basic concepts both theoretically and practically and supported learners in understandable and doable conditions of the prescribed curricula and designated contents and beyond.
Prevalence of Agrochemicals Use on Irrigated Vegetables Farms along River Moiben, Uasin-Gishu County

The purpose of this study was to carry out a survey on farming practices and agrochemical application along River Moiben in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County where intense agricultural practices are done especially during the dry season. As many other areas near water places, irrigated farming is done along Moiben River during dry season. Structured questionnaires were randomly administered through personal interviews and focused group discussion among farmers who practiced irrigated farming along River Moiben and a total of 136 respondents were interviewed. Data were collected in the month of March, 2019 and entered into the Statistical Package of Social sciences (SPSS) after which it were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that eight villages practiced crop irrigation in Moiben Sub County and they include; Koisagat, Kapsurur, Kaptik, Sasitwo, Kapsoni, Kabomoi, Meibeki and Kapsiliot. From each of these villages, 17 farmers were interviewed. It was also indicated from the results that 94 % of the farmers obtain irrigation water from River Moiben. The main crop grown under irrigation was tomatoes with 91.7 %, others were collard greens, black night shade, cabbage, maize, beans, spinach, coriander and black pepper. The most applied fertilizer was Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) with 99.2 % followed by Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) with 73.3 %, others were urea, Mono-Ammonium Phosphate, farm yard manure and ammonia. The study further recorded the most applied pesticides to be insecticides at 72.5 % of the respondents to be applying them. Labda Cyhalothrin active ingredient was the most applied chemical under insecticide with 31.9 % of the farmers applying it on tomatoes, cabbages and kales. It was noted that some farmers applied fertilizers and pesticides above the recommended level. The study recommends farmers training on appropriate agrochemicals application to reduce the possibility of detrimental effects and on the adverse effects of agrochemicals use on environment and human health.
Control of the invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia with Ophraella communa and Epiblema strenuana

Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. is native to North America, and was unintentionally introduced into China in the 1930s, where it has become invasive. The two insect species Epiblema strenuana and Ophraella communa have been considered as biological control agents of A. artemisiifolia in China. The purpose of this study was to examine the control effect of O. communa + E. strenuana on A. artemisiifolia in the field. The mortality of A. artemisiifolia plants increased with time and increasing initial release densities of O. communa and/or E. strenuana in 2008 and 2009. The treatments of 0.53 O. communa + 0.53 E. strenuana per plant and 12 O. communa + 16 E. strenuana per plant at early (60–70 cm tall) and later (90–100 cm tall) growth stages could subsequently kill all plants prior to seed production in both 2008 and 2009. Thus, the two initial densities of the two insect species may be recommended when they are jointly used for biological control of A. artemisiifolia at the two growth stages. However, all or some plants could survive and bear seeds in any other treatment and in the non-treated control plots. This implies that biological control of A. artemisiifolia with the two biological control agents will be recommended in the areas invaded by A. artemisiifolia in China.
Habitat utilization by the giant water bug, Appasus (=Diplonychus) major (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae), in a traditional rice paddy water system in northern Osaka, central Japan

To elucidate the seasonal pattern of habitat utilization by Appasus (=Diplonychus) major, a mark and recapture census was carried out. We categorized ten bodies of water for investigation into five categories: permanent pool, temporary pool, ditch, paddy and marsh, according to the water regime and vegetation structure. A total of 1,143 adults were marked, and 383 (34%) were recaptured more than once during the study period. Adults marked in June were recaptured in the same or the following month, while those marked between July and December were recaptured until the following July. The results show that A. major has a univoltine life cycle at the study site, overwintered adults reproduce in June and July, and adults of the new generation appear from July. Adults and nymphs of all instars were observed in all five types of waters, and the density was high in the ditch. Overwintering adults were observed on the moist ground of the drained paddy as well as in the water of the ditch. Overwintering adults had the ability to walk around and forage even in winter. A total of 50 movements of adults were observed among different types of waters, and adult movement was most frequent between April and July. The existence of different types of waters in the traditional rice paddy water system such as the study site was favorable for maintaining the population of A. major.
Infección Gástrica y su asociación con Helicobacter Pylori en pacientes que acuden al subcentro de salud Machalilla

La Helicobacter pylori es el unico agente patogeno causante de infeccion gastrica, es una de las condiciones mas comunes a nivel mundial con una alta prevalencia. La presente investigacion se realizo para determinar infeccion gastrica y su asociacion con Helicobacter pylori en pacientes que acuden al subcentro de salud de la parroquia Machalilla, el tipo de estudio fue observacional, prospectivo, analitico, de corte transversal, el tipo de muestreo fue probabilistico voluntario empleando los criterios de inclusion y exclusion representada por 89 muestras de heces de pacientes con diagnostico presuntivo de infeccion gastrica con previa revision de historia clinica y consulta medica para conocer los sintomas que presentaban, para el analisis de la muestra se realizo por el metodo de inmunocromatografia en heces, mediante la cual se determino el antigeno de Helicobacter pylori el 61,80% de la muestra en estudio se determino la presencia de antigeno, el 38,20% no presenta antigenos de Helicobacter pylori; para la recoleccion de datos se utilizo encuesta, el factor de riesgo relacionados a infeccion gastrica fue lavado de manos antes y despues de ir al bano estuvo relacionado con la presencia de antigeno de Helicobacter pylori represento el 59,6%, el 2,2% si lavaba sus manos tuvo presencia de antigeno de Helicobacter pylori y el 38,2 era negativo para antigeno de Helicobacter pylori, concluyendo que en algunos casos es asintomatica.
The sensitivity of larval Plodia interpunctella and Ephestia elutella (Lepidoptera) to light during the photoperiodic induction of diapause

ABSTRACT. The incidence of diapause in larvae of Plodia interpunctella and Ephestia elutella held under two light systems was examined. Both systems progressively shortened the photophase of 24‐h cycles, one with a motorized dimming switch providing dawns and dusks about 1 h long, the other switching the lights instantaneously. The mean critical photoperiod for P. interpunctella was about 131/4 h and for E. elutella just over 14 h. In both species light intensities as low as 0.2 lx influenced the induction of diapause. In P. interpunctella the critical photoperiod and sensitivity to light were similar at 23. ±. ;5°C and 20.5±0.5°C. At 22.5°C the percentage of diapausing larvae of E. elutella increased from 2% in long photoperiods (> 15 h light), to 100% in short photo‐periods (t 12.5h light). Fox P. interpunctella, at 22.5°C the percentage increased from zero in long photoperiods (> 14 h light) to about 98% in short photoperiods (< 11.5h light), and at 20°C from 12% to 100% over a similar photoperiodic range. Similar results were obtained under selected fixed photoperiods, switched on or off instantaneously.
Respiratory chain components of iron-oxidizing acidophilic bacteria

Some of the components that are likely to be involved in the respiratory chains that transfer electrons from the ferrous iron substrate of various acidophilic bacteria have been revealed by spectroscopic analysis. An apparently unique, soluble and acid-stable cytochrome was found in Leptospirillum ferrooxidans which appeared to lack any of the major cytochromes or the rusticyanin of the better-studied iron-oxidizing mesophile, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. A specific absorption peak, only found in iron-grown cells, was revealed in a whole cell spectra of thermoacidophilic archaebacteria of different genera.