Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping of the apple powdery mildew resistance gene Pl1 and its genetic association with an NBS‐LRR candidate resistance gene

Molecular markers for the major apple powdery mildew resistance gene Pl1 were identified and are presently used in marker-assisted selection in apple breeding. However, the precise map position of the Pl1 gene in the apple genome was not known. The objectives of this investigation were the identification of the Malus linkage group (LG) carrying the Pl1 locus, mapping of the resistance gene by simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, and the analysis of genetic associations between the Pl1 gene and the numerous NBS-LRR resistance gene candidates already mapped in the apple genome. A two-step linkage mapping was used, based on two different apple families. The identification of LG 12 carrying Pl1 was performed indirectly by mapping the SCAR marker AT20 in an apple progeny for which there was a core genetic map but no mildew data available. Then, the position of Pl1 on LG 12 was determined by SSR markers in a second population which has been scored for mildew over 6 years in a greenhouse and in the field. The SSR Hi07f01, previously mapped on LG 12 [Tree Genet. Genomes, 2 (2006), 202] cosegregated with AT20 and was closely linked (∼1 cM) to the Pl1 gene. The TIR-NBS-LRR resistance gene analogue 15G11 mapped by the SSCP technique was also closely linked to the Pl1 resistance locus and might be a candidate for Pl1 itself, a second powdery mildew major resistance gene (Pld, [Theor. Appl. Genet., 110 (2004), 175]), or two scab resistance genes (Vg, [IOBC/WPRS Bull., 23 (2000), 245]; Vb, [Genome, 49 (2006), 1238]) which all seem to be located in a common R gene cluster at the distal end of apple LG 12.
Produtividade de frutos de meloeiro cultivado em substrato com três soluções nutritivas

The fruit yield of muskmelon plants grown in substrate under three nutrient solutions was obtained. The experiment was conducted in a polyethylene tunnel at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil. Sowing was done on 19th July 2001, in polystyrene trays, using a commercial substrate. On 32 days after sowing, each plant was transferred to a 4.5 L bag, placed inside the tunnel using 1.0 m between rows and 0.3 m within each bag row. During the growing period, plants were trained vertically and two fruits were kept to set in each plant. Exceeding fruits were picked out twice a week. Treatments consisted of three nutrient solutions, used in the commercial production of muskmelon crops. Treatment 1 (T1) was the nutrient solution recommended for growing this crop in NFT system in Sao Paulo State and treatments 2 (T2) and 3 (T3) were those used in substrate in France and in Spain, respectively. In all treatments, 1 L of nutrient solution was supplied weekly to each plant by fertigation. From 35 to 63 days after planting, plant leaf surface was determined weekly by non destructive measurements. Fruit yield, at the end of the experiment was significantly higher on plants supplied with T2 and T3 nutrient solutions when compared with T1 treatment. However, no significant difference was found between T2 and T3 treatments.
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Lower-Polymerized Polyphenols in Oolong Tea

This study investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the fractionated tea extract, a lower-polymerized polyphenol-rich extract ultrafiltrated from oolong tea. The amounts of total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannin were enriched in fractionated tea extract compared to oolong tea. Furthermore, fractionated tea extract was a stronger scavenger of nitric oxide and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl radicals than oolong tea. When lipopolysaccharide-treated RAW264.7 macrophages were co-incubated with both tea extracts (500 μg/mL) or (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (100 μg/mL) for 16 h, all samples (oolong tea, fractionated tea extract, and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate) suppressed nitric oxide production by 60, 48, and 46%, respectively, and the suppression was due to nitric oxide-scavenging. However, only fractionated tea extract lowered the proportion of phospholipid arachidonic acid and type II-cyclooxygenase expression, thereby decreasing PGE2 synthesis by 29%. In conclusion, fractionated tea extract was rich in potent antioxidant substances capable of inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory mediators.
Calculation of the disentropy of the Wigner function using the Lambert–Tsallis Wq function with non-integer q values

The Wigner function is a mathematical tool that provides important information about a quantum light state, like entanglement and quantumness. For example, in a recent work it was shown the disentropy of the Wigner function using the Lambert–Tsallis Wq function with q=2 can be used as a measure of quantumness. When the value of q is non-integer, the disentropy and Wq function have fractional powers and, hence, a negative value of the Wigner function can result in a complex value for the disentropy. This prohibits the use of those functions in the calculation of the disentropy of the Wigner function of highly interesting states, such as Schrodinger cats. In order to overcome this problem, we propose a new disentropy equation inspired by the Renyi entropy. The advantages and disadvantages of this new disentropy are discussed and numerical examples are shown.
Monitoreo del arrecife coralino Meager Shoal, Parque Nacional Cahuita, Costa Rica (sitio CARICOMP)

Monitoring of the Meager Shoal coral reef, Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica (CARICOMP site). The coral reefs at Cahuita National Park, Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, specifically at the CARICOMP site Meager Shoal, have been monitored since 1999. Complete data sets from 2000 and 2004 have shown that live coral cover has increased less than 3 % (from 15 to 17 %), but non-coralline algae cover has increased much (63 to 74 %) and coralline algae cover has decreased (17 to 5 %) significantly. The proportion of affected colonies by diseases, injuries and bleaching decreased from 24 % in 2000 to 10 % in 2004, but the difference was not statistically significant. Densities of the urchin Diadema antillarum increased, and are probably help to maintain the macroalgae biomass low, while those of Echinometra viridis decreased significantly. The coral reef at Cahuita National Park continues to be impacted by chronic terrigenous sediments and does not show a significant recovery since the late 1970's. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (3): 755-763. Epub 2006 Sept. 29.
Host resistance and the evolutionary response of plant viruses

1. Plant virus diseases severely constrain agricultural production world-wide, especially in less developed countries. The use of resistant cultivars may put a selection pressure on the plant virus to evolve towards more aggressive types. We used a modelling approach to show the impact of resistance, expressed through different mechanisms, on selection for plant virus strains with a higher multiplication rate. Begomoviruses (Geminiviridae: Begomovirus) inducing leaf curl diseases on tomato were used as key examples. 2. A model for the epidemiology of the plant-virus-vector system was combined with a model for the within-plant dynamics of the virus. Four types of resistance were defined, each expressing resistance through one or more model parameters. The evolutionary stable strategy (ESS) approach was used to study the effect of resistance on the evolution of within-plant virus multiplication rate. 3. Resistance expressed through reduced virus acquisition by the vector, and resistance expressed through reduced inoculation of the plant, do not put a selection pressure on the virus to evolve towards a higher multiplication rate. 4. Resistance expressed through reducing within-plant virus titre and symptom reducing resistance do put a selection pressure on the virus to evolve towards a higher multiplication rate. 5. Synthesis and applications. We have shown how to disentangle different types of plant resistance. We have also shown that each type of resistance puts a different type of selection pressure on the virus. Virologists and plant breeders can use these results to develop methods to characterize the combination of resistance mechanisms in the cultivars they breed and, on the basis of this, determine whether the cultivar will put a selection pressure on the virus to evolve more harmful types. This new approach to plant resistance against virus diseases has been made possible by combining ecological insight in virus-vector-plant interactions with ESS calculations.
Models of Threshold Voltage and Subthreshold Slope for Macaroni Channel MOSFET

Models of threshold voltage and subthreshold slope (SS) for macaroni channel MOSFET are built for the first time based on the potential model in our previous work. These models clearly illustrate the variations of threshold voltage and subthreshold slope caused by short-channel-effects when changing gate length, silicon thickness, oxide thickness, channel doping concentration, and drain-to-source bias. The good agreements between simulations and models verified the validity of those models.
Problems and Perspectives Regarding Recruitment of Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus argus, to the South Florida Fishery

Inappropriate minimum size, illegal harvest, fishery-induced juvenile growth retardation and mortality, and excessive effort have reduced reproductive contributions and depressed yield-per-recruit in the overcapitalized south Florida spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery. Measures recommended to improve yield-per-recruit are as follows: increase minimum legal size to 85–90 mm carapace length; require escape gaps in traps; eliminate possession of sublegal lobsters aboard vessels; prohibit harvest in nurseries; reduce fishing effort; improve enforcement of fishery regulations; and initiate programs to educate fishermen regarding impacts of fishery practices. International management is recommended to assure larval recruitment among Pan-Caribbean stocks.
Expression of GFP Gene in Cultured PGCs Isolated from Embryonic Blood and Incorporation into Gonads of Recipient Embryos

The present study was conducted to develop a technique for generating primordial germ cells expressing GFP gene and introducing them into gonads of recipient embryos. Primordial germ cells isolated from embryonic blood were cultured on feeder cells for more than 40 days. They proliferated, occasionally formed cell colonies, and showed the characteristics of germline cells as detected by anti-CVH antibody. The cultured PGCs were transferred to the stage X blastoderm, bloodstream of stages 14-15 embryos, and the coelomic epithelium of stages 17-19 embryos, and examined to determine whether they could migrate to the gonads of recipient embryos. As a result, they successfully entered the gonads of recipient embryos when they were transferred to the coelomic epithelium, although they failed to migrate to the gonads of recipient embryos when they were transferred to the stage X blastoderm or bloodstream. The cultured PGCs were then transfected with GFP gene by nucleofection and selected for PGCs expressing GFP gene in the presence of G418. Cultured PGCs expressing GFP gene proliferated slowly, forming cell colonies, and successfully entering the gonads by transferring into the coelomic epithelium of recipient embryos. Those results suggest that gene transfer into the chicken germline is possible via cultured PGCs, and that the PGC culture system thus holds enormous possibilities for avian embryo manipulation.
Caracterização e avaliação de populações de milho crioulo

The choice of germplasm plays an important role in any plant breeding program. The goals of this paper were to characterize and to evaluate the genetic potential of IAPAR's maize (Zea mays L.) landraces for breeding purposes. Characterization of 25 landraces of maize for endosperm type and kernel color is shown. In 1998/99, experiments using randomized complete block designs with two replications were carried out in three locations of Brazil (Londrina-PR, Ponta Grossa-PR, and Anhembi-SP). For grain yield, the most promising landraces were GI156 (Cayano Sobralia) and GI045 (Tupy Pyta Sope). Their performances for grain yield represent 86.9% and 84.6% of the hybrid AG122 yield, respectively, and were of the same magnitude of the adapted varieties (BR-105 and BR-106).
Decision Tree Algorithms for Developing Rulesets for Object-Based Land Cover Classification

Decision tree (DT) algorithms are important non-parametric tools used for land cover classification. While different DTs have been applied to Landsat land cover classification, their individual classification accuracies and performance have not been compared, especially on their effectiveness to produce accurate thresholds for developing rulesets for object-based land cover classification. Here, the focus was on comparing the performance of five DT algorithms: Tree, C5.0, Rpart, Ipred, and Party. These DT algorithms were used to classify ten land cover classes using Landsat 8 images on the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Classification was done using object-based image analysis (OBIA) through the development of rulesets with thresholds defined by the DTs. The performance of the DT algorithms was assessed based on: (1) DT accuracy through cross-validation; (2) land cover classification accuracy of thematic maps; and (3) other structure properties such as the sizes of the tree diagrams and variable selection abilities. The results indicate that only the rulesets developed from DT algorithms with simple structures and a minimum number of variables produced high land cover classification accuracies (overall accuracy > 88%). Thus, algorithms such as Tree and Rpart produced higher classification results as compared to C5.0 and Party DT algorithms, which involve many variables in classification. This high accuracy has been attributed to the ability to minimize overfitting and the capacity to handle noise in the data during training by the Tree and Rpart DTs. The study produced new insights on the formal selection of DT algorithms for OBIA ruleset development. Therefore, the Tree and Rpart algorithms could be used for developing rulesets because they produce high land cover classification accuracies and have simple structures. As an avenue of future studies, the performance of DT algorithms can be compared with contemporary machine-learning classifiers (e.g., Random Forest and Support Vector Machine).
Water Relations and Plant Size Aspects of Flowering for Agave deserti

The percentage of rosettes of the monocarpic perennial Agave deserti that flowered annually in the northwestern Sonoran Desert varied ca. 50-fold for the 8 yr considered. The number of days when the soil water potential in the root zone was above -0.5 MPa, enabling A. deserti to take up water, was approximately linearly related to the annual precipitation, which also varied considerably year-to-year. The percentage of flowering in a particular year could not be predicted from the number of wet days in that year, the year before, or 3 yr before (r2 ≤ .10, P > .5), but there was a positive correlation between percentage of flowering and the number of wet days 2 yr previously (r2 = .33, P = .1). Also, years with much flowering tended to alternate with those of little flowering (r2 = .64, P = .05). Indeed, 95% of the annual variation in the percentage of the rosettes that flowered could be accounted for by the year-to-year alternations together with the number of wet days 2 yr before the flowering (P = .01). Although over 90% of the rosettes with inflorescences were large, averaging 66 leaves and inflorescences 4 m tall, flowering also occurred for a few small rosettes, averaging only nine leaves and inflorescences only 0.8 m tall. The small flowering rosettes were all attached to large flowering rosettes by rhizomes with living cortical cells, suggesting that a hormone or other chemical signal/condition could be passed to the small rosettes leading to their precocious flowering.
Feed Texture and Light Treatment Effects on the Performance of Chicken Broilers

Abstract A total of 4800 broiler chicks from a commercial parent genotype was used in two experiments to evaluate effects of feeding finisher diets containing different levels of “fines”. These experiments also included a comparison of incandescent continuous green lighting and white lighting with continuous and intermittent exposure at different intensities, including one treatment which was phased down to darkness at 21 days of age and continued to 49 days of age. Fines used in these diets were ground pellets having equivalent levels of protein, fat and fiber. Performance of birds fed crumbled starters (1–28d) and pelleted finishers (29–49d) was superior to birds fed all-mash starters and finishers. As the proportion of fines in finisher diets increased, there was a significant decrease in body weights and monetary returns. Performance under both intermittent white lighting vs. continuous white or green lighting had no differential impact with light intensity of . 5 lux or 7 lux from 21 to 49 days of age. Broilers grown in darkness from 21 to 49 days performed well although body weights were reduced compared with birds grown in light. There was no evidence of an interaction between light and feed texture treatments.
Time Measurement in Vertebrate Photoperiodism

Although photoperiodism has been investigated in a substantial number of species of several classes of vertebrates, only scant attention has been given to the problem of the measurement of the duration of the photoperiod by the animal. Recent investigations of the photoperiodic testicular response, published shortly before this symposium by W. M. Hamner on the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), provide the first evidence among the vertebrates that a circadian clock is somehow involved in the measurement of the light period in a photoperiodic response. A series of experiments completed in my laboratory (Farner, P. DeCoursey, Morton, and Lindenau), subsequent to Hamner's report and subsequent to the Symposium, provide evidence for a similar relationship in the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii).
Sequence analysis and immunofluorescence study of α- and β-tubulins inReticulomyxa filosa: Implications of the high degree of β2-tubulin divergence

We have cloned and sequenced 2 α- and 2 β-tubulin isoforms from the giant freshwater amoeba Reticulomyxa filosa. The microtubules of this organism exhibit some unusual properties, including the highest rates of assembly and disassembly known and the inability to be stabilized by taxol. The cloned α-tubulins show a high degree of identity when compared to an α-tubulin consensus sequence. The β-tubulins, however, are more divergent, the β2-tubulin being the most unusual β-tubulin found so far. The deduced amino acid sequence of β2 shows 55% identity to a β-tubulin consensus sequence. It also features 51 unique exchanges which cluster in the C-terminal half of the molecule. Several unique exchanges and two insertions occur in regions adjacent to, or directly implicated in, conserved β-tubulin functions. A phylogenetic analysis places the β-tubulins of R. filosa in the vicinity of β-tubulins from fungi and slime molds. Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies raised against R. filosa tubulins show that the electrophoretic mobility of α- and β-tubulins is reversed with respect to tubulins from most other sources. Immunofluorescence experiments reveal a ubiquitous distribution of both β-tubulins in the amoebal network. Our observations suggest possible links between the aberrant primary structure of the β2-tubulin and the unusual properties of R. filosa microtubules. Cell Motil Cytoskeleton 36:164–178, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Impacts of Two East Asian Atmospheric Circulation Modes on Black Carbon Aerosol Over the Tibetan Plateau in Winter

Light‐absorbing particles over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can accelerate glacial retreat, thus causing a series of serious environmental and social problems. Previous studies mainly focus on seasonal transport of aerosols over the TP, while the potential factors influencing the subseasonal variation in airborne black carbon (BC) are almost ignored. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting coupled with chemistry (WRF‐Chem) model and multiple observations are used to investigate the impacts of East Asian atmospheric circulation on BC aerosol over the TP in winter. Results show that the weakness of westerly wind over northern TP, acceleration of westerly wind over southern TP, and eastward shift of East Asia major trough are responsible for the high BC concentration over east slope of the TP. In this circumstance, more BC from northern India can be transported to eastern TP and the south slopes of the TP by the enhanced westerly wind. The intensified southwesterly wind over eastern TP brings more BC from the Sichuan Basin to northeastern TP. The BC can also penetrate to eastern TP in planetary boundary layer. Subsequently, the weakened westerly wind over northern TP and positive anomalous updrafts over east slope of the TP support the accumulation and uplift of BC. Another circulation mode is opposite to the pattern above and results in low BC concentration over the TP. These two circulation modes are possibly associated with the low‐level meridional temperature anomaly over East Asia, which modulates the upper level atmospheric circulation through the transient eddy feedback.
Evaluation of a thin-layer chromatographic technique for identification of bush species browsed by goats

Diet selection by herbivores is a major determinant of animal and plant production and has a direct bearing on the sustainability of stock farming generally. Fistulated goats were confined in designated plots on the University of Fort Hare research farm and fistula samples were collected by the fistula valve technique. Leaves of preferred bush species were also sampled. Methanol extracts of both fistula and bush samples were prepared and analysed by thin-layer chromatography. Chromatoplates, when visualised under ultraviolet light, revealed a number of fluorescent compounds, some of which were common in both the fistula and bush sample extracts. By comparing the presence of characteristic compounds in the fistula sample with those that appear identical in particular bush species, dietary preferences of browsers can be established. However, any results of this nature need to be confirmed by field observations of the particular animal species.