Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uncertainty in the Estimation of Stream Metabolism from Open-Channel Oxygen Concentrations

The open-channel oxygen method for estimating stream metabolism avoids many of the problems associated with chamber techniques, but its uncertainty has not been rigorously quantified. Uncertainty in open-channel estimates of photosynthesis (P) and respiration (R) can be estimated by use of a Monte Carlo approach incorporating uncertainty in each of the terms (reaeration rate coefficient, range of temperature oscillation, midpoint temperature, travel time, metabolic rate, and precision of instrument calibration) affecting error in estimates of P and R. The distributions derived from the Monte Carlo simulations provide confidence limits for estimates of P and R. Use of this approach along with simulation of a range of stream conditions indicates that: 1) given equivalent metabolic rates and physical conditions, estimates of R are subject to greater uncertainty than are estimates of P, especially in high-gradient streams, and 2) uncertainty can be minimized by special attention to the precision of measurement for factors affecting the saturation concentration of oxygen. Reasonable confidence limits (95% CL within 30% of mean) can be achieved for estimates of P where daily photosynthetic rates exceed L-1d-1, but in turbulent streams (k20⚬=100/d), rates of R must be nearly 15 mg L-1d-1 to achieve similar precision.
Endless Forms: Species and Speciation

Speciation is one of the great themes of evolutionary biology. It is the process through which new species are born and diversity generated. In this volume, thirty authors at the forefront of research into speciation present the newest findings from their studies and bring readers up to date on species concepts, modes of speciation, the nature of reproductive barriers, the forces that drive divergence of populations, the genetic control of reproductive isolation, and the role played by hybrid zones and hybridization in speciation.
녹두 및 대두추출물의 항암 및 항염증 활성

The quinone reductase (QR) inducing activities of mung bean and soybean solvent extracts were compared using murine hepatoma cells (Hepa 1c1c7). The mung bean extracts (ethylacetate and ethanol) showed higher chemoprevention index values (7.88-8.22) than those of soybean extracts (2.9-5.2) from four different cultivars. The mung bean extracts also had significantly higher inhibitory effects (47-62% at 100 μg/mL) than the soybean extracts (15-42% at 100 μg/mL) against the production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E 2 in lipopolysccharide stimulated macrophage RAW264.7 cells without cytotoxicity. Among seven recovered fractions of mung bean ethanol extract obtained by C 18 silica flash column chromatography, the most non-polar fraction exhibited the highest chemoprevention index of 10.4.
YIELD OF TRIMMED PORK PRODUCT IN RELATION TO WEIGHT AND BACKFAT THICKNESS OF THE CARCASS

Yield of commercially trimmed (CT), boned (B) and boned-defatted (BDF) pork in relation to weight and backfat thickness was evaluated from a sample of 3807 carcasses obtained from the kill lines of three commercial packing plants located in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Sampling procedures at each plant were designed to provide carcasses from 10 males and 10 females in each cell of a grid defined by 10 weight classes (5-kg intervals ranging from 60 to 100 kg) and 13 fat classes (5-mm intervals ranging from 35 to 90 mm). Fat classes were determined on the basis of the sum of two measurements made at the points of minimum back and maximum loin. Fat class was the primary determinant of yield from the individual lean cuts (ham, loin, picnic and butt) with yield of CT, B and BDF product decreasing as fat class increased. Carcass weight had a negligible influence on yield after fat was considered and the effect associated with region and sex, while statistically significant, were also negligible.
Comparison of forced mating behaviour in four taxa of Anonconotus, the Alpine bushcricket

Forced or coercive copulation is known to occur in a variety of insect taxa but until recently, this behaviour had not been recorded in crickets and bushcrickets (Orthoptera: Ensifera). The aim of the present study was to investigate forced mating behaviour in four taxa of Anonconotus Camerano 1878 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), comparing the recently documented forced mating behaviour in the Alpine bushcricket Anonconotus alpinus ghilianii with those of Anonconotus alpinus alpinus, Anonconotus pusillus and Anonconotus baracunensis occidentalis under both laboratory and semi-natural field conditions. In all four taxa, males did not sing to attract females, but instead initiated copulation by stalking the female before leaping onto her and using the sharply pointed cercal spurs to maintain a hold on the female's abdomen. In A. a. ghilianii and A. a. alpinus, the positioning of the male's hind legs appeared to impede the movement of the female's hind legs during copulation. In Anonconotus baracunensis, the duration of copulation was considerably longer than in the other species, lasting a mean of 153 min in the laboratory and 40 min in field enclosures (compared with a mean of 7–9 min in the other taxa). This longer duration of copulation, which occurred following spermatophore attachment, is interpreted as functioning to prolong ejaculate transfer by preventing the female from eating the external portions of the spermatophore. In support of this, male A. baracunensis were found to produce a significantly greater ejaculate mass compared with the other Anonconotus taxa. We propose that members of the genus Anonconotus would make an excellent novel model system for the study of forced copulation from a sexual conflict perspective.
Confocal microscopy and 3-D distribution of dead cells in cryopreserved pancreatic islets

Our laboratory is involved in studies of changes in shape and size of biological specimens under osmotic stress at ambient and sub-zero temperatures. This paper describes confocal microscopy, image processing and analysis of 3-D distribution of cells in acridine orange/propidium iodide (AO/PI) fluorescent stained frozen-thawed islet of Langerhans. Isolated and cultured rat pancreatic islets were frozen and thawed in 2 M dimethylsulfoxide and examined under a Zeiss laser scanning confocal microscope. Two micrometers to five micrometers serial sections of the islets were obtained and processed to obtain high contrast images which were later processed in two steps. The first step consisted of the isolation of the region of interest by template masking followed by grey level thresholding to obtain a binary image. Three-dimensional blob coloring algorithm was applied and the number of voxels in each region and the number of regions were counted. The volumetric distribution of the dead cells in the islets was computed by calculating the distance from the center of each blob to the centroid of the 3-D image. An increase in the number of blobs moving from the center toward the periphery of the islet was observed indicating that the freeze damage was more concentrated in the outer edges of the islet.
Commitment of mesoderm cells in Hensen's node of the to notochord and somite

Hensen9s node in the chick embryo contains prospective cells in a down triangle-shaped midline region of the prospective medial half somite cells in the lateral node mesoderm, whilst lateral somite cells are derived part of the primitive streak (Selleck and Stern, 626, 1991). In the present study, we have investigated of these mesoderm cells to their fates by grafting regions of the node and primitive streak. By this way, we have attempted to discover whether and somite cells can change their fates. We find that cells in the midline down triangle-shaped portion of when grafted into a different region, continue to notochord, or form a separate notochord-like the prospective somitic cells do not appear to be somitic fate.
Encapsulation of Probiotic Bacteria Lactobacillus Acidophilus by Direct Compression

The objective of the work is to evaluate the potential use of compression coating as an alternative method for the encapsulation of probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus to improve their storage stability. Microbial cell containing powders were first compressed into a pellet, which was then encapsulated with a coating material of a combination of sodium alginate and hydroxypropyl cellulose by further compression. The effect of compression pressure on cell viability was studied. Results showed that compression of the microbial cell containing powders at pressures up to 90 MPa caused little loss of viability of the bacteria. Beyond 90MPa, the cell viability decreased almost linearly with the compression pressure. Further compression to form a coating did not cause significant reduction in the cell viability. The stability of the encapsulated bacteria using the compression pressures up to 60MPa was approximately 10 times higher than free cell containing powders and cell pellets after 30 days storage at 25°C.
Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Mammalian Cells

The characteristics of mammalian cells can be influenced by electromagnetic fields (EMFs). The electromagnetic fields have a number of physiological effects on cells and tissues such as alteration of gene expression, cells viability, proliferation, apoptosis, number of mammospheres, cells cycle phase, and invasion. The existing literature proves that the impact of EMFs on mammalian cells depends on the density and uniformity of the field, frequency range, exposure time, cell types, culture environment, and culcure medium. This paper presents a review of the impacts of EMFs on mammalian cells in vitro culture. In this article, we reviewed the contemporary understanding of the various form of electromagnetic radiation effect on cultured mammalian cells in vitro, EMF exposing systems, and internal field mechanism in the cells. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/ijece.v2i2. 269 Full Text: PDF
Heterose sobre os pesos de bovinos Canchim e Aberdeen Angus e de seus cruzamentos recíprocos

The study was conducted to estimate heterosis upon birth weight (PNT), weaning weight (P210), yearling weight (P365) and daily weight gain from birth to weaning (G210) and from weaning to one year of age (G365) in the first, second, third and fourth generations of a rotational crossbreeding system between Canchim (C) and Aberdeen Angus (A). Data from 1,147 calves born from 1981 to 1998 were analyzed by least squares procedures fitting a linear model that included the linear and the quadratic effects of age of the dam of the calf plus the fixed effects of sex, genetic group, month and year of birth of calf. Estimates of heterosis and of other genetic differences were obtained by linear contrasts of appropriate means and tested by the t test. The contrast CA was positive and significant (P<0.001) for all five traits. The contrast F1CAF1AC was negative and highly significant (P<0.001) for P210 and for G210 and significant (P<0.05) for P365. The F1 generation exhibited heterosis of 4.8% for P210 and of 4.9% for G210. Maternal heterosis was 3.7%, 5.8%, 6.3% and 20.4%, respectively, for P210, G210, P365 and G365. The heterosis estimated for the mean of the third and fourth generations of the rotational crossbreeding system between C and A was 4.6% for P210, 5.3% for G210 and 3.5% for P365.
Role of Ethnicity in Sri Lankan Politics

The study attempts to discuss the role of ethnicity and its socio-economic and political implications with the Sri Lankan society. As it is the major purpose of the paper, it does not pay much attention to examine the conceptual base of ethnicity except to examine the role of ethnicity in Sri Lankan politics in pre and post independent Sri Lanka. Objectively the more emphasis is given to discuss the causes and consequences of the conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils with a historical overview of the conflict. At the initial stage, the conflict did not take the form of conflict based on ethnicity but was a war organized by Sinhalese against the South Indian Dravidian invaders. At the second stage in which South Indian Tamil invaders established their colonies in Northern territories, the conflict occurred as the form of the strengthening the central authority over the peripheral disobedient rulers. Yet during the colonial rule especially under the British Empire, the role of ethnicity shifted from its previous form of the conflict between the central authority and the territorial autonomy to acquire more opportunities in colonial politics and administration under the banners of ethno-cultural identities. The role of ethnicity during the post independent Sri Lanka moved towards the conflict between the unitary(ism) and separatism which made a severe damage to the development and progress of the country in human and physical perspectives. Still the ethnicity plays a prominent role in socio-economic and political spheres of the Sri Lankan society.
Abiotic constraints on the establishment of Quercus seedlings in grassland

High evaporative demand and periodic drought characterize the growing season in midwestern grasslands relative to deciduous forests of the eastern US, and predicted climatic changes suggest that these climatic extremes may be exacerbated. Despite this less than optimal environment for tree seedling establishment, deciduous trees have expanded into adjacent tallgrass prairie within the last century leading to a dramatic land cover change. In order to determine the role of light and temperature on seedling establishment, we assessed carbon and water relations and aboveground growth of first‐year Quercus macrocarpa seedlings exposed to one of three conditions: (1) intact tallgrass prairie communities (control), (2) aboveground herbaceous biomass removed (grass removal), and (3) shade plus biomass removal to reduce light (PFD) to levels typical of the grassland‐forest ecotone (shade). In the 2000 growing season, precipitation was 35% below the long‐term average, which had a significant negative effect on oak seedling carbon gain at midseason (photosynthesis declined to 10% of maximum rates). However, net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance in the shade treatment was ca. 2.5 and 1.5 times greater, respectively, than in control treatment seedlings during this drought. During this period, leaf and air temperatures in control seedlings were similar whereas leaf temperatures in the shade treatment remained below air temperature. A late‐season recovery period, coincident with decreased air temperatures, resulted in increased net photosynthesis for all seedlings. Increased photosynthetic rates and water relations in shaded seedlings compared to seedlings in full sun suggest that, at least in dry years, high light and temperature may negatively impact oak seedling performance. However, high survival rates for all seedlings indicate that Q. macrocarpa seedlings are capable of tolerating both present‐day and future climatic extremes. Unless historic fire regimes are restored, forest expansion and land cover change are likely to continue.
Killer Yeasts in the Wine Industry: A Review

Killer yeasts present in musts may dominate wine fermentations initially inoculated with sensitive wine yeasts. Such contaminations can lead to the premature cessation of alcoholic fermentation, high volatile acidity, H2S production, and off-flavors caused by fusel oils, acetaldehyde, and lactic acid. All of these factors can result in serious financial losses to the wine industry. However, the use of killer yeasts as starter cultures in the wine industry to prevent growth of sensitive wild yeast strains has been proposed. In this review paper, the killer phenomenon in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is discussed with emphasis on the significance of K2 killer yeasts in winemaking. The seemingly conflicting reports on the interaction of killer and sensitive yeasts during grape must fermentations, are critically evaluated.
Development of a Maximum Pest Limit for Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Produce Imported into New Zealand

New Zealand is the only major fruit-producing nation that has remained free of economically important fruit fly species. Maintenance of this status is essential not only to guarantee horticultural exports but also to minimize production costs associated with field control and disinfestation treatments against fruit flies after harvest. To guarantee continued freedom from fruit flies, the concept of a maximum pest limit is developed as an alternative to a very restrictive import policy. The maximum pest limit is defined as the maximum number of immature fruit flies that may be present in consignments imported during a specified time to a specified location. To preclude the establishment of fruit flies, we propose a maximum pest limit of three live larvae per day. Applying a treatment of known efficacy ensures that this limit is not exceeded only if the infestation level is below a predetermined value. We describe a sampling model for accurate assessment of the infestation level and examine the practical implications of setting the maximum pest limit.
Studies on insect-resistant transgenic maize (Zea mays L.) harboring Bt cry1Ah and cry1Ie genes.

A plant expression vector pMUHUESGM harboring modified Bt cry1Ah gene,Bt cry1Ie gene and glyphosate-tolerant 2mG2-epsps gene was constructed.The foreign genes cassette of the vector pMUHUESGM was transferred into maize(Zea mays L.) immature embryonic calli by microprojectile bombardment.Twenty-four T0 regenerated plants were obtained with 2mG2-epsps gene as a selectable marker gene and glyphosate isopropylamine salt as a screening agent.PCR analysis showed that 20 plants had the integration of cry1Ah,cry1Ie and 2mG2-epsps genes.T0 and T1 generation plants' molecular detection showed that foreign genes had been not only integrated into the maize genome,but also inherited and expressed stably over generations in maize.Bioassay revealed that transgenic events had high resistance to Asia corn borer.These results provided reference for breeding of new insect-resistant maize,moreover fragment transformation improved biosafety of genetically modified organisms.
Examining growth rate and starvation endurance in pit‐building antlions from Mediterranean and desert regions

Stressful or stochastic environments may have significant selective effects, leading to increased plasticity or stress resistance. Starvation is a type of stress commonly encountered among organisms inhabiting stochastic environments. Indeed, starvation endurance is an important trait, especially in sit‐and‐wait predators, which experience frequent fluctuations in prey arrivals because of their limited mobility. Differences in starvation endurance between antlions originating from Mediterranean (benign and predictable) and desert (harsher and stochastic) regions were investigated by exposing them to starvation in a fully factorial experiment using climate chambers simulating Mediterranean or desert climatic conditions. A trade‐off between growth rate and starvation endurance was also investigated by feeding the antlions at two different frequencies pre‐starvation. Additionally, the existence of growth compensation was tested for by measuring relative growth rate when feeding was resumed post‐starvation. Population of origin did not significantly affect rates of body mass loss during starvation or relative growth rates when feeding was resumed. Antlions that were fed less frequently during the feeding phase lost mass faster during the starvation phase, but grew faster during the compensation phase. This study emphasises the importance of testing responses to stress when investigating life‐history trade‐offs. Some phenotypic differences between populations might be apparent only when exposing the experimental organisms to external stress. Conversely, phenotypic differences apparent under stress‐free conditions might be masked by the effects of the stress factor. Adopting such an integrative approach allows elucidation of the level of plasticity in response to stress in different populations.
Algal biofilms: developing biological indicators to assess river restoration

The extent of human-induced change and damage to riverine habitats has meant that interest and investment in river restoration projects are growing throughout the world, with a concomitant increase in the publication of material on the theories, principles and practices of restoring degraded landscapes (Bernhardt et al. 2005, Lake 2005). Despite the growing consensus among restoration ecologists on the need for an improved scientific basis for restoration projects, there is little agreement among the restoration community on what characterises success and how it is measured (Ryder and Miller 2005). At present, river restoration projects often aim to restore systems to a predetermined state that resembles a reference condition or, less often, towards a more realistic state that represents the most desirable outcome, given the available resources (Palmer et al. 2005). In either process, goals must be stated up front and standards established, against which the success of restoration can be assessed. To do this, a suite of indicators is typically used to assess the ‘health’ of the river (Boulton 1999) and to focus restoration efforts towards achieving the best possible ecological outcome. Indicators of ecosystem structure are commonly used to monitor restoration success. Their selection is usually based on an understanding of the biology (e.g. genetic structure, abundance, richness and diversity) and habitat requirements — such as geomorphic setting or hydrologic requirements — of an organism or population. However, a more important outcome for restoration activities is the return of key processes or ecosystem functions. Measuring ecosystem processes, rather than structural patterns, may provide a better indication of the sustainability of the restored ecosystem. The ease with which biofilm structural and functional attributes can be measured, and the potential for using biofilm structure as a surrogate for ecosystem function, highlights their important role in monitoring programmes for the assessment of restoration success. What are biofilms?
Patterns and Mechanisms of Nutrient Resorption in Plants

Nutrient resorption (NR) plays a key role in the nutrient conservation of plants. However, a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that control NR remains limited. In this review, we examine how intrinsic controls (e.g., genetic variability and plant development) and extrinsic environmental controls (e.g., climate and soil fertility) influence NR. We also examined conceptual NR advances, mass loss correction, measurement in non-leaf plant tissues for whole-plant nutrient budget accounting, and the use of stoichiometric ratios in place of individual elements. Nutrient resorption from senescing leaves is greater than that from stems/culms or roots. Nutrients resorbed from stems and roots in woody plants are lower than in non-woody plants. Deciduous plants are more efficient in resorbing leaf nutrients prior to senescence than are evergreen plants. Furthermore, reproductive efforts tend to increase NR. Along a latitudinal gradient of terrestrial biomes, nitrogen resorption efficiency decreases and phosphorus resorption efficiency increases with increasing temperature and precipitation; however, latitudinal patterns reflect the influences of several coupling factors such as genetic variation, climate, soil, and disturbance history. Nutrient fertilization experiments have demonstrated that increased soil fertility reduces NR. The inquiries into the impacts of ongoing climate change on NR are still at a nascent stage. Future NR studies are needed to better understand the independent effects of a wide range of genetic variation, plant development, and environment, and possibly the different responses of plants to environmental change; particularly elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global warming.