Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Natural Hermaphroditic Toad (Bufo microscaphus × Bufo woodhousii)@@@Natural Hermaphroditic Toad (Bufo microscaphus X Bufo woodhousii)

Hermaphrodites, although well documented among fishes, are relatively rare among the tetrapods (Warner, 1978). Among the amphibians, it has long been known that the Bidder's organ of male toads (attached to the anterior of the testes) will develop into functional ovarian tissue if the testes are removed (Pancak, 1987; Pancak-Roessler et al., 1990). However, this phenomenon has rarely been reported under natural conditions (see reviews in Witschi, 1933; Pancak, 1987; Pancak-Roessler and Norris, 1991). Herein we report on a toad taken from an area of hybridization between Bufo microscaphus and B. woodhousii that exhibited typical male secondary sexual characters (advertisement and release call production, well-developed nuptial pads, and clasping behavior) while it simultaneously extruded eggs. We observed the toad in a breeding aggregation of B. microscaphus, B. woodhousii, and putative hybrids along Black Canyon Creek, 1 km north of Black Canyon City, Yavapai County, AZ, at 2030 h on 15 March 1994. The toad was producing advertisement calls in alternation with six other males (hybrids and B. microscaphus) chorusing along 6 m of shoreline. We saw a recently (< 12 h based on developmental stage and absence of silt) deposited clutch at the calling site of the hermaphrodite, although no females were observed in the vicinity and chorusing activity had just been initiated (< 30 min). For each toad, we recorded three or more advertisement calls with a Sennheiser ME 80 microphone (K3U power module) and Marantz PMD 430 cassette recorder. We collected each
Sex Expression and the Evolutionary Advantages of Male Flowers in an Andromonoecious Species, Sagittaria guyanensis subsp. lappula (Alismataceae)

Sex expression in Sagittaria guyanensis H.B. K. subsp. lappula (D. Don) Bojin is typically andromonoecious while the other species in the same genus are basically monoecious. The evolutionary advantages of male flowers and hermaphrodite flowers in S. guyanensis subsp. lappula were assessed by measuring sex allocation and pollen movements in two wild populations of the species. Two cultivated populations served as controls. The percentage of male flowers was very low in the two wild populations in Dongxiang, Jiangxi Province and Wuyishan, Fujian Province, viz., 2.48% and 0.96% respectively. In the two cultivated populations, male flower percentage significantly increased when the soil was of higher nutrient content. This indicates that the allocation to male versus female reproduction might change in response to environmental factors. Pollen production per male flower was 4.1 times higher than that of a hermaphrodite flower. The floral shape and size of male and hermaphrodite flowers were similar. No difference was observed between these dimorphological flowers in pollen germination rate in vitro and in the speed of pollen tube growth in vivo . Anthesis was only 4-5 h. Male flowers usually opened 0.5 h earlier than hermaphrodite flowers. An unexpected finding was that no pollen from the male flowers was found on the stigmas of the hermaphrodite flowers, in spite of the occasional visits by insects to both types of flowers in both wild and control populations. A consistent pattern of fruit development was found to exist in open pollinated flowers as well as in flowers that had been bagged. The sex ratios did not have significant influence on fruit set. Approximately 25% of the pistils in a gynoecium failed to develop into fruits because no pollen was deposited on them, indicating that the fruit set of this andromonoecious plant is mainly affected by pollen limitation rather than resource limitation. Reproduction in S. guyanensis subsp. lappula in the habitats was dependent on self_pollination in hermaphrodite flowers. The male flowers in this species might be a potential source of additional pollination and may facilitate cross_pollination. The fact that the flowers of monoecious species in Sagittaria pollinated by a wide diversity of insect visitors may contribute enormously to the diversification of sex expression in this genus.
Energy Requirements for Lactation and Postnatal Growth in Captive Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels

Pregnant female golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus saturatus) were captured in the field and maintained in the laboratory at 22° C on a diet of Purina Rodent Chow. ® Three to five young were born (mode 4) in each litter. Growth of young was linear (2.13 g • d⁻¹) for the first 30-35 d, by the end of which the young reached thermal and nutritional independence. From the time of this transition until adult body mass was reached at day 60, the linear growth rate increased more than 2.5-fold (5.67 g • d⁻¹). Pup body mass at birth was independent of litter size (mean 5.97g), but the average mass of young in the smallest litters was significantly greater than that in the largest litters by day 35. Over the course of lactation mothers showed an average 2.1-fold increase in food consumption, with an increase of about 10% in body mass and about 20% in rate of both whole-animal and mass-specific oxygen consumption. Estimated milk production per pup was 115 kJ • d⁻¹ milk energy for litters of three versus 104 kJ • d⁻¹ for litters of five. For the largest litters, milk production approached an apparent limit to maximal daily rate of energy intake. However, we also found, by raising litters of four under cold conditions (5° C); that energy intake could be increased an additional 25% above the rate of mothers raising four young at 22° C and 10% above that of mothers raising five young at 22° C. Rate of energy intake was not enhanced by providing a meat diet, which was more highly digestible (96.5%) than Rodent Chow (80. 0%). Body mass of young raised at 5° C or with mothers on the meat diet did not differ from that of young with control mothers. The intensity of energy demand during peak lactation suggests that production of the maximal litter size of five pushes the mother near physiological limits. However, the mechanistic basis of this limit and its implications for the trade-off between fecundity and survival require further investigation.
Accumulation and changes in molecular size distribution of polymeric proteins in developing grains of hexaploid wheats : role of the desiccation phase

Two varieties of wheat differing in high molecular weight glutenin subunit composition (Soissons, 5+10, Glu-D1a allele; Thesee, 2+12, Glu-D1a allele) were examined to follow the accumulation of polymeric proteins and the changes in molecular size distribution of these proteins during grain filling. The accumulation behaviour of polymeric proteins was determined by size-exclusion-HPLC, multistacking SDS-PAGE and the constituent polypeptides (high molecular weight and low molecular weight glutenin subunits) by reversed-phase-HPLC. For both cultivars, the accumulation of each class of protein was highly asynchronous, especially between the early deposition of SDS-soluble polymers and the late deposition of SDS-insoluble polymers, such that the average molecular size of polymeric protein increased in the period from 30 to 45 days after anthesis in natural conditions. By applying premature grain desiccations during the cell enlargement phase, it was demonstrated that the SDS-insoluble polymers formation was closely related with the process of water loss from the grain. Moreover, the rapid accumulation of SDS-insoluble polymers coincided with a rapid decrease in mass of both SDS-soluble polymers and monomers, suggesting an aggregative mechanism. Over the same period, the molecular size distribution of the polymers which can be used to differentiate the two genotypes studied, is highly correlated with the percentage of high molecular weight glutenin subunits in glutenins present in kernels when desiccation occurred. The formation of SDS-insoluble fraction is discussed in connection with the specific contribution of high molecular weight glutenin subunits to the formation of polymers (subunits linked by disulfide bonds).
ESTIMATING SUBTERRANEAN SPECIES RICHNESS USING INTENSIVE SAMPLING AND RAREFACTION CURVES IN A HIGH DENSITY CAVE REGION IN WEST VIRGINIA

Species richness in a group of caves in the 21.25 km² corner of the USGS 7 ½ minute Williamsburg quadrangle, West Virginia, was investigated to (1) increase our knowledge of species richness for this area, (2) determine how many caves need to be sampled to achieve an accurate estimate of species richness and (3) estimate how many species are present in this area. Eighteen subterranean invertebrate species were collected from 65 caves within the study area. Seven caves were needed to collect 95% of the species. By sampling only the largest seven caves, 89% of the species were captured. However, the species accumulation curve did not reach an asymptote, and estimations based on species rarity show that half of the species were not collected at all. Therefore, the observed patterns should be interpreted with caution, and more data are needed.
Taxation and the Cost of Capital: The

This paper is a critical survey of the recent literature on the tax effects on corporate finance and investment decisions. It corrects a common misinterpretation of the "new" view, emphasizes the cushion effect of financial optimization, dismisses the view that optimizing firms behave as if they maximized their cost of finance, studies the role of immature firms, questions the alleged support of the old view by the occurrence of share repurchases, comments on a potential US budget compromise, and suggests the idea of a Political Miller Equilibrium.
The characterization, functional expression, and localization of the first arthropod myokinin receptor from the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Acari: ixodidae)

The Characterization, Functional Expression, and Localization of the First Arthropod Myokinin Receptor from the Southern Cattle Tick, Boophilus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae). (December 2003) Steven P. Holmes, B.S., Brigham Young University; M.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Patricia V. Pietrantonio Myokinins are invertebrate neuropeptides with myotropic and diuretic activity. The lymnokinin receptor from the snail Lymnaea stagnalis was the only previously identified myokinin receptor. A cDNA encoding a neuropeptide receptor was cloned from the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus. The deduced amino acid sequence was 40 % identical to the lymnokinin receptor. The receptor transcript is present in all tick life stages as determined by semiquantitative RT-PCR. When expressed in mammalian CHO-K1 cells, myokinins at nanomolar concentrations induced increases in intracellular calcium as measured by fluorescent cytometry. The rank order of potency for peptides tested was FFFSWS-NH2≥FFFSWG-NH2≥FFSWG-NH2>FYSWGNH2>muscakinin>lymnokinin>>APTGFFGVR-NH2. The receptor coupled to a pertussis toxin insensitive G protein. Absence of extracellular calcium did not inhibit the calcium response, indicating the release of Ca from intracellular stores. Receptor transcript was detected by RT-PCR in the dissected synganglia, ovaries, salivary glands,
Dual efflux pumps satA and satB are associated with ciprofloxacin resistance in Streptococcus suis isolates.

Received: Revised: Accepted: September 25, 2013 April 09, 2014 May 18, 2014 Streptococcus Suis is an important zoonotic pathogen and is gaining attention due to emergence of drug resistance and recently reported some deaths of human by this pathogen. Recently, fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistant strains of Streptococcus suis in animal as well as in human clinics are increasingly reported worldwide. Up to now no study on role of efflux pumps in FQs resistance has been documented, therefore we analyzed resistance mechanisms for FQs in stepwise induced mutants of S. suis strains. Results showed some resistant strains without alterations within QRDR of DNA gyrase enzyme and topoisomerase IV but with a FQs-resistant phenotype. MIC of ciprofloxacin, not enrofloxacin against resistant isolates can be reduced by adding reserpine. It suggests that there were any efflux pumps contributed to ciprofloxacin resistance in S. suis. Furthermore, growth inhibition assays and its parallel assays were performed and the results intensively indicated there are any efflux pumps in ciprofloxacin resistant strains. Based on the high homology of SatA, SatB and SmrA with PatA, PatB and PmrA, which mediated resistance to FQs in Streptococcus pneumococcus, thus the mRNA expression level of satA, saB and smrAwere investigated. Overexpression of satA and satB was found in ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates but expression levels of smrA were not significantly changed in resistant strains if compared with their parental sensitive strains. In addition, isolates overexpressing satA and satB accumulate significantly less ciprofloxacin. In conclusion, all these data represent that SatA and SatB, not SmrA play a clinically relevant role in ciprofloxacin resistance. ©2014 PVJ. All rights reserved
Effect of Spraying Micronutrient and Amino Acids on Growth and Quality of Lonicera japonica Thunb

To study the growth and quality under Phe,Lyr,Zn2+and Cu2+with different concentrations, which were controlled by foliage spray,we selected 2-year-old Lonicera japonica as the material.The results showed that:(1)Spraying the Phe,Lyr,Zn2+and Cu2+with different concentrations has no appreciable effect on leaf area.When increasing spraying time,the content of chlorophyll under different treatments appeared some decline in resistance.The proper concentration is helpful for the synthesis of chlorophyll. Spraying the Phe,Lyr,Zn2+and Cu2+with certain concentration can increase the weight of flower.For example,the flowers,fresh and dry weight increased 20.1% and 51.4%than control after 1 000mg/g Phe treatment. (2)By spraying the Phe,Lyr with different concentrations can affect the C-metabolism remarkable,but made opposite effection on N-metabolism.Zn2+and Cu2+can exert obvious influence on carbon and nitrogen metabolism.For example,CuSO4and ZnSO4with 10mg/L can raise the content of starch and sol-uble carbohydrate. (3)There was no significant difference between the content of flavonoids in flower than control except Zn2+. All of the content of total flavonoids was lower than that of control,but the chlorogenic acid was opposite. (4)The spraying time or concentration have more influence on the ion content of leaf.The Zn2+,Cu2+,Fe2+content of flower was significantly lower than that of control except 30mg/L CuSO4treatment.It can be inferred that spraying the Phe,Lyr(For 1 000mg/g Phe,2 000mg/g Lyr),Zn and Cu(For 50mg/L ZnSO4,10mg/L CuSO4)with proper concentration can improve the growth of L.japonica,and increase the quality and yield on the branch initial stage of the first florescence of L.japonica.
A Factor Analytic Study of the Boredom Proneness Scale

This study investigated the factor structure of the Boredom Proneness (BP) Scale. Previous research on boredom indicates the existence of at least five factors that comprise this construct. Data from 385 participants on the BP scale items were analyzed through a principal components factor analysis with a varimax rotation in which five factors were requested. The results supported the hypothesis that boredom proneness, and therefore the BP scale, consists of at least five factors that are conceptually similar to those discussed in the literature. The findings are discussed in terms of how they provide a more precise measurement of the construct, and how this may have implications for counseling, education, and industry.
MEASURING SUPPORT FOR ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION: A VALIDITY STUDY '

A 30-item version of the Perceived Support for Innovation scale was completed by 30 employees from an engineering firm judged to be ‘innovative’ by local businesspersons and 30 from a similar firm judged to be ‘noninnovative’ by these persons. Employees from the innovative firm obtained significantly higher mean scores than those from the noninnovative firm on each of the five subscales. Factor analysis of the responses of the two groups of employees both yielded a single general factor, rather than the five separate factors posited by the scale developers. Significant positive relationships were found between the scores on Perceived Support for Innovation and, respectively, job satisfaction, work motivation, and job involvement. These results are interpreted as providing some support for the validity of the inventory, beyond the school setting in which it was developed.
Host specificity and habitat preference of Laboulbenia slackensis

Experiments were carried out with Laboulbenia slackensis (Ascomycetes, Laboulbeniales), an ectoparasitic univorous fungus of Pogonus chalceus (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Relative growth of Laboulbenia slackensis populations was significantly affected by environmental conditions, i.e., the soil composition, under which the typical host was reared. Optimal conditions for the development of the fungus corresponded with the optimal habitat selected by the typical host, i.e., pure salt marsh clay. Artificial infections with L. slackensis showed that the fungus was potentially plurivorous on Carabidae and that its specificity was not fully accounted for by the host physiology or integumental characteristics. L. slackensis was successfully transferred to 19 atypical carabid host species, and the morphological characteristics used to differentiate it from related taxa are stable on these hosts. As with the typical host, successful establishment of L. slackensis on an atypical host also depended on the soil c.
Diffusion approximations for queues with server vacations

This paper studies the standard single-server queue with unlimited waiting space and the first-in first-out service discipline, modified by having the server take random vacations. In the first model, there is a vacation each time the queue becomes empty, as occurs for high-priority customers with a non-preemptive priority service discipline. Approximations for both the transient and steady-state behavior are developed for the case of relatively long vacations by proving a heavy-traffic limit theorem. If the vacation times increase appropriately as the traffic intensity increases, the workload and queue-length processes converge in distribution to Brownian motion with a negative drift, modified to have a random jump up whenever it hits the origin. In the second model, vacations are generated exogenously. In this case, if both the vacation times and the times between vacations increase appropriately as the traffic intensity increases, then the limit process is reflecting Brownian motion, modified by the addition of an exogenous jump process. The steady-state distributions of these two limiting jump-diffusion processes have decomposition properties previously established for vacation queueing models, i.e., in each case the steady-state distribution is the convolution of two distributions, one of which is the exponential steady-state distribution of the reflecting Brownian motion obtained as the heavy-traffic limit without vacations.
Pond Drying, Predators, and the Distribution of Pseudacris Tadpoles

crucifer) and the striped chorus frog (P. triseriata), with respect to pond drying and predation. These species breed in ponds ranging from those that dry each summer to those that are permanent on the order of decades. Among nonpermanent ponds, the timing of pond drying varies among years; and particularly in dry years, many ponds dry before larvae reach metamorphosis. More permanent ponds have higher densities of tadpole predators, and predators are larger in body size. Predator taxonomic composition also changed markedly over the permanence gradient. More permanment ponds contained several taxa (e.g., salamanders, fishes) known to have pronounced effects on tadpole survivorship. Pseudacris triseriata and P. crucifer larvae co-occurred in most ponds. There was, however, large variation in relative abundance: P. triseriata larvae were totally absent from permanent ponds and were most abundant relative to P. crucifer in the most temporary ponds. Pseudacris triseriata larvae grew faster and reached metamorphosis sooner than P. crucifer. Relative density measurements over the course of the larval period suggest that P. crucifer survived better than P. triseriata prior to metamorphosis or pond drying. Larvae of the two species appear to differ in their susceptibility to pond drying and predators. These differences may bely a trade-off between abilities to garner resources and avoid predation, which contributes to segregation in larval distributions between Pseudacris species.
Production of immunoglobulin A protease by Streptococcus pneumoniae from animals

Human isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae tested by traditional immunochemical methods produce a protease that cleaves human immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) into Fab and Fc fragments. The protease may be an important virulence factor, but studies of its pathogenetic significance have been hampered by lack of a suitable animal model. Since S. pneumoniae is a respiratory pathogen for several species of animals, we sought to determine whether isolates of this organism from animals with pneumococcal infection, including fatal diplococcal pneumonia, produced an IgA protease. Isolates from six animal species including the mouse, rat, dog, guinea pig, rhesus monkey, and chimpanzee were tested for protease activity against IgA preparations from the mouse, rat, dog, guinea pig, rabbit, rhesus and cynomolgus monkeys, gorilla, and human. Cleavage of IgA was demonstrated by the appearance of Fc fragments in Western blots (immunoblots) treated with specific antisera. All these isolates except that from the guinea pig produced a protease that cleaved IgA of human, rhesus monkey, and gorilla origin. Cleavage was inhibited by 5 mM EDTA. IgA cleavage from the other species could not be demonstrated. Although S. pneumoniae can colonize the respiratory tracts of several animal species, it is a significant pathogen principally of humans and some other primates. Our data suggest that some species of nonhuman primates including the rhesus monkey could be suitable for experimental studies on the significance of IgA protease in the pathogenesis of pneumococcal disease.
Relationship between physical and chemical characteristics of carrots grown at northern latitudes

SummaryThe study describes the variation in physical and chemical data from a trial with carrots grown outdoors and in plastic greenhouses during two years at three geographical locations in Norway, 59°40’N, 63°28’N and 69°39’N, and analysed by principal component analysis (PCA), partial least square and multiple linear regression (MLR). The most important principal component (PCI) to describe the total variation was the root weight, root diameters, and the carotene content. PCI described 53–65% of the total variation. Further 13–17% of the variation could be explained by a second component which included the air temperature a fortnight prior to harvest, and the sugar content of the roots. PLS and MLR revealed relationships between chemical and physical variables. Physical variables were able to predict 55% of the variation in chemical variables by the first two PLS components. The biological development of the carrot roots was best described by the root weight and a computed variable containing root dry .