Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plant traits and species interactions along gradients of N, P and K availabilities

Plant performance is driven by nutrient availability. So far, studies on plant nutrient relationships mostly focused on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), whereas potassium (K) received less attention. We evaluated whether plant responses to variation in nutrient availability are similar or different for the nutrients N, P and K and whether the same plant traits are decisive for the competitive ability of species along gradients of N, P and K availabilities. We studied plant trait responses of three temperate perennial grass species (Alopecurus pratensis, Agrostis capillaris and Anthoxanthum odoratum, each dominant under N limitation, P limitation and K limitation, respectively). Each gradient consisted of eight treatments (N1–N8, P1–P8, K1–K8), with N:P:K supply rates being 1:0.8:6 (N1), 128:0.8:6 (N8), 12:0.075:6 (P1), 12:9.6:6 (P8), 12:0.8:0.56 (K1) and 12:0.8:72 (K8) (total supply per plant individual in mg). Plant individuals were kept either in single‐species pots (intraspecific competition) or in mixed‐species pots (interspecific competition). After 2 months, plant biomass, leaf and root traits and root enzyme activity were measured. Most below‐ground traits (e.g. total root length, root diameter) responded most strongly to competition as predictor variable and only secondly to the type of nutrient or their supply rates (unlike RGRTₒₜₐₗ and SLA). Leaf chlorophyll content and root enzyme activity responded most strongly to supply rate of nutrients and the interaction of nutrient type and supply rate, respectively. In line with our prediction, A. pratensis was the superior competitor under N limitation and A. odoratum was the superior competitor under K limitation (assessed by relative dominance [RD] and relative competitive strength [RCS]). Both species showed high investment in total root length. Opposite to our expectation, A. capillaris was a bad competitor under P limitation, with low root length but higher root phosphatase activity. Our results indicate that below‐ground plant traits are decisive in nutrient‐related competition between plant species. Further, competitive strength is determined by a high total root length per soil volume both under N and K limitation. Under P limitation, the model species A. capillaris showed a weak competitive performance either because it was lacking colonization with mycorrhiza and/or the high investment in phosphatase activity posed a trade‐off with higher N investment in phosphatase production. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Optimization of a scanning radar altimeter for forest inventory; a simulation method

Evaluating the accuracy of a scanning radar altimeter for forest inventory is problematic, as no feasible radars exist, and the ground truth data collected by conventional means is often not accurate enough. In this paper, a simulation method, J. Hyyppa (1993), for optimizing the technical parameters of a scanning radar altimeter and evaluating the radar's accuracy for forest inventory is described. The method is based on statistical information of boreal forest stands, radar-derived stand profiles and simulation.
Neurophysiological substrates of configural face perception in schizotypy

Face perception is a highly developed function of the human visual system. Previous studies of event-related potentials (ERPs) have identified a face-selective ERP component (negative peak at about 170 milliseconds after stimulation onset, N170) in healthy participants. In contrast, patients with schizophrenia exhibit reduced amplitude of the N170, which may represent a pathological deficit in the neurophysiology of face perception. Interestingly, healthy humans with schizophrenia-like experiences (schizotypy) also exhibit abnormal processing of face perception. Yet, it has remained unknown how schizotypy in healthy humans is associated with the neurophysiological substrate of face perception. Here, we recruited 35 participants and assessed their schizotypy by the magical ideation rating scale. We used high-density electroencephalography to obtain ERPs elicited by a set of Mooney faces (face and non-face conditions). We divided the participants into two groups (high and low schizotypy) by a median split of schizotypy scores. We investigated mean reaction times and the N170 component in response to the stimuli. We found significant slowed reaction times and reduced amplitude of the N170 component in response to the face stimuli in the high-schizotypy group. In addition, across the full data set, we found that the schizotypy scores were significantly correlated with both the reaction times and the N170 amplitude. Our results thus support the model of schizotypy as a manifestation of a continuum between healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia, where the N170 impairment serves as a biomarker for the degree of pathology along this continuum.
How the perception of quality for beef evaluated by the buyer at the time of purchase: Study in three Brazilian cities of different sizes – Curitiba, Campo Mourão and Palotina

In order to evaluate how beef buyers in the State of Parana, Brazil south value meat quality indicators, and attributes of credibility, 519 interviews were conducted in three cities with different sizes (Big – Curitiba, Medium – Campo Mourao and Small – Palotina). The interviews were applied after the meat was placed in the shopping cart and were composed of five questions, including question of spontaneous response: (i) factors that the buyer considers at the purchasing time; (ii) information which the buyer considers important to appear on the meat label; and three questions of stimulated response: (i) preference for meat preparation and exposure for sale, (ii) factors that the buyer considers when purchasing the meat, and (iii) preference for marbling (by photograph) according to the beef preparation. The results showed that beef buyers are more concerned with extrinsic meat quality indicators than the intrinsic ones, especially the meat presentation and hygiene of the sale point; have little knowledge about the factors that positively influence the eating experience of beef and do not cares about attributes of credibility, except for the meat expiration date. Beef buyers from medium (Campo Mourao) and small (Palotina) cities have a similar behavior, and differ from the buyers of a big (Curitiba) city among the attributes surveyed, in relation to the greater appreciation of inspection, tenderness and marbling, and less importance given to the expiration date. Beef buyers prefer meat cut by the butcher; however, this preference is higher in the small city.
Highly Genotype- and Tissue-specific Single-Parent Expression Drives Dynamic Gene Expression Complementation in Maize Hybrids

Maize exhibits tremendous gene expression variation between different lines. Complementation of diverse gene expression patterns in hybrids could play an important role in the manifestation of heterosis. In this study, we used transcriptome data of five different tissues from 33 maize inbreds and 89 hybrids (430 samples in total) to survey the global gene expression landscape of F1-hybrids relative to their inbred parents. Analysis of this data set revealed that single parent expression (SPE), which is defined as gene expression in only one of the two parents, while commonly observed, is highly genotype- and tissue-specific. Genes that have SPE in at least one pair of inbreds also tend to be tissue-specific. Genes with SPE caused by genomic presence/absence variation (PAV SPE) are much more frequently expressed in hybrids than genes that are present in the genome of both inbreds, but expressed in only a single-parent (non-PAV SPE) (74.7% vs. 59.7%). For non-PAV SPE genes, allele specific expression was used to investigate whether parental alleles not expressed in the inbred line (“silent allele”) can be actively transcribed in the hybrid. We found that expression of the silent allele in the hybrid is relatively rare (∼6.3% of non-PAV SPE genes), but is observed in almost all hybrids and tissues. Non-PAV SPE genes with expression of the silent allele in the hybrid are more likely to exhibit above high-parent expression level in the hybrid than those that do not express the silent allele. Finally, both PAV SPE and non-PAV SPE genes are highly enriched for being classified as non-syntenic, but depleted for curated genes with experimentally determined functions. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the potential role of non-PAV SPE and PAV SPE genes in heterosis.
INNOVATION OF JAM FROM GURMA MELON PULP AS UN TRADITIONAL SOURCE

Gurma melon (Nubian or Seed melon) Citrullus lantus var. colocynthoides, became animportant crop in Egypt. It was cultivated for seeds only, while the residue of fruits are removed aswaste. The main objective of the study is to investigate the possibility of utilization Gurma melon pulpin an economic nutrient food products as jam. The obtained results declared that Gurma melon wasteswhich represented about 95% of crop contained moisture 94.55%, protein 0.84%, fat 0.19%, crudefiber 0.12%, mineral matter 0.21, TSS 4.32° Brix and acidity 0.18%. Gurma melon pulp were used toprepare both flavored jam by adding up to 1.5% of cinnamon and mixed jam by substituting up to 30%of fig with Gurma melon. All the jam samples were stored in sterilized glass jars at room temperaturefor 6 months and the physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics were studied. The resultsindicated that high acceptance jam could be processed from Gurma melon pulp plain or flavored by1% cinnamon. Also Gurma pulp up to 20% could incorporated in blends with fig fruits for producinggood quality fig-melon mixed jam.
EFFECT OF DIETARY ARGININE SUPPLEMENTATION ON SOME HORMONES AND ITS RELATION TO PERFORMANCE OF SILVER MONTAZAH CHICKEN. 2- THE EFFECT ON LAYING DURATION.

This experiment was conducted in Inshas Poultry Research Station, Ministry of Agricultural, Egypt, A total number of 420 hens and 105 cocks from Silver Montazah chickens (SM) (Egyptian local strain) flock were used to investigate the effect of dietary supplemental of arginine (Arg) levels on plasma nitric oxide (NO) and Insulinlike growth factor (IGF-I), testosterone (Testo) and luteinizing (LH) hormones concentrations, and their relation to productive and reproductive performance during laying period (28-40 wks of age). Birds were randomly divided into 7 experimental groups (each of 3 replicates). Each replicates consisted of 20 hens and 5 cocks. The 1 group (T1) was fed the basal diet and served as the control group with no additional Arg (15, 12.5 and 12.8 g Ar /kg diet) for the starter, grower and finisher diet, respectively. The 2, 3 and 4 groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 2, 2.5 and 3 g Arg/kg diet, respectively, from one-day old to 40 wks of age (17, 17.5 and 18 g Arg /kg diet) for the starter, (14.5, 15 and 15.5 g Arg /kg diet) for the grower and (14.8, 15.3 and 15.8 g Arg /kg diet) for the finisher diet was used. However, the 5, 6 and 7 groups were fed the basal diet (15 g and12.5 Arg/kg diet) for the starter, grower diet and the basal diet supplemented with 2, 2.5 and 3 g Arg/kg diet (14.8, 15.3 and 15.8 g Arg/kg diet) for the finisher diets, respectively, only from 28 to 40 wks of age. Results indicated that hens fed Arg supplementation significantly improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) for all treatments except T2 and T3 groups in compared with control group. Egg production, egg mass and total leucocytes count was higher in treated hens from 28 to 40 wks of age than in control ones. Most semen quality parameters, fertility, hatchability and lymphocyte (L) ratio were improved by dietary treatments. However, hetrophils (H) and H/L ratio were decreased by Arg supplementation. Significant increase (P≤0.05) appear in NO trait, IGFI, LH and Testo hormones concentrations for hens in T6 and T7 from 28 to 40 wks of age in compared with treated hens from one-day old to 40 wks of age (T2, T3 and T4) and the control group. While, there were no significant differences in live body weight, feed consumption, egg weight and egg quality traits among all treatments in compared with control group at 40 wks of age. It could be concluded that dietary Arg supplementation to SM hens from 28 to 40 might improve the egg production, reproductive performance and some semen quality parameters. Also, it might have a mediated effects on NO, IGF-I, LH and testosterone hormones levels.
Effect of Azadirachta indica (Sapindales: Meliaceae) Oil on Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Larvae and Adults

Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Meliaceae) is used to control insects due to its compounds that have insecticidal, repellent, and antifeedant properties. These effects also may cause sublethal impacts on insects that reduce populations of target species. Such species can have economic importance, like Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which feeds on various plant species. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the larval mortality, lethal concentration, and sublethal effects on larvae, pupae, and adults of S. frugiperda after larvae were fed on an artificial diet containing A. indica oil at different concentrations. The oil was incorporated into the artificial diet at the concentrations of 5,000, 10,000, and 15,000 ppm, plus a control group. Four replicates of 35 second instar caterpillars were made for each treatment, and observed daily until pupation and emergence. The larval survival, duration of the larval and pupal periods, pupal weight and viability, wing length, and deformation of adults were evaluated. Longevity, fertility, and fecundity also were recorded for each pairing (mating arrangement) of males and females that developed on either a diet without oil and propanone, with propanone only, and with both oil and propanone. Azadirachta indica oil in the diet reduced survival and prolonged duration of the larval and pupal periods. Pupae in the groups that contained oil weighed less, and the adults had smaller wing length than in the control group. There was no influence on pupal viability, but the number of deformed adults increased. The oil reduced fecundity and longevity, but it did not alter fertility. These results suggest that the oil may reduce the probability of this insect remaining in the environment due to its ability to decrease the offspring and longevity of this species.
High resolution FM-CW SAR performance analysis

The combination of compact FM-CW technology and high resolution SAR techniques seems of special interest for the implementation of a low cost, airborne imaging radar. A project has been started to investigate the feasibility of FM-CW SAR. A system simulation is in development to estimate the performance of FM-CW SAR. The performance is probably limited by phase noise. Therefore, a study has been made of the effects of phase noise and a time domain description of phase noise has been developed.
Performance and carcass characteristics of broilers fed whole corn germ

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of including whole corn germ (WCG) on the performance; diet metabolizability; yields of carcass, cuts, and offal; and quality of meat of broilers. A total of 648 chicks were assigned to six treatments in a completely randomized design with six replicates, with 18 birds in each. Treatments consisted of a corn- and soybean meal-based control diet (0 g kg−1 WCG) and five test diets including WCG at the levels [. ]
Geo-Reactive: An Efficient and Reliable Hybrid Routing Protocol for VANETs

Objective: The main objective of this paper is to find an efficient and reliable path for routing data packets in vehicular ad hoc networks using hybrid routing. The hybrid routing protocol, Geo-Reactive, comprises of geographical routing and reactive routing with stable links. Method/Analysis: An analytical model has been derived for selective forwarding of Route Request (RREQ) packets through stable links. The mobility trace is generated using SUMO (Simulation of Urban Mobility) tool. This trace file is fed to NS-2 (Network Simulator) to compare the performance of our proposed protocol with GPSR in terms of packet delivery ratio, packet drop ratio and end-end delay. Findings: The simulation results obtained have been compared with GPSR and the results were promising in terms of packet delivery ratio, packet drop ratio and average end-end delay. The packet delivery ratio of Geo-Reactive increases when compared with GPSR as packets are forwarded only through stable links. This avoids frequent link failures thus improving the packet delivery ratio. This is also reflected in packet drop ratio. In Geo-Reactive protocol the Sequence number in the packet header of the reactive phase ensures that packets never get into loops which forces packets to be dropped after the Time-To-Live (TTL) expires. Also reduction in frequent link failures reduces packet drop ratio. As Geo-Reactive establishes a path with stable links, end to end communication delay is also reduced. Thus Geo-Reactive outperforms GPSR. Improvement: Geo-Reactive protocol definitely improves the performance of position based greedy forwarding technique by adopting a reactive protocol with stable links as recovery strategy. This hybrid mechanism of forwarding data packets using stable links outperforms GPSR.
UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA "JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO" FACULDADE DE ARQUITETURA, ARTES E COMUNICAÇÃO PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM DESIGN A influência do design na aplicação de forças manuais para abertura de embalagens plásticas de refrigerantes

The design of hand interfaces should use the ergonomic knowledge related to biomechanical forces involved in manipulation by individuals with different characteristics, including age and genders groups. Among the most common interfaces in the daily living are packagings, which are essential to conservation, transportation and sales of most products on the market. Deficiencies in the design of these packagings can lead users to have difficulties in opening, and this applies to many packagings with screw caps, which represent a constraint to users, especially to users with smaller biomechanics capacity, such as women or the elderly. In Brazil, this type of packaging are used for non-alcoholic soft drinks, or just soft drinks, which are widely consumed by individuals of various ages and both genders. This study aimed to evaluate and analyze the influence of design in the application of manual forces during the opening simulation of soft drinks plastic packagings. Hence, a biomechanical assessment was conducted (torque prehension), in simulated activities with 180 Brazilian adults of different genders and age groups, using five plastic bottles of different formats. Additionally, we collected the user’s perception of difficulty for each packaging analyzed. The results indicate that the adult age group (30-55 years old) has greater capacity for opening in relation to others (18-29 years, refereed as young; and over 55 years, elderly). Also could be noted significant differences between genders and between dominant and non-dominant hand in all situations. Moreover, the biomechanical capabilities of these groups were compared to the real need for application of forces to open the packaging, allowing to estimate that a large proportion of the population that has to make great efforts to open this type of packaging.
The development of biomedical instrumentation using backscattered laser light

This thesis is concerned with the measurement of blood flow and oxygen saturation in the microcirculation using the techniques of laser Doppler flowmetry and pulse oximetry. An investigation of the responses of Doppler flowmeters using different signal processing bandwidths and laser sources revealed two major findings. Firstly, that careful choice of processing bandwidth is required in order to sample the whole range of possible Doppler frequencies present in the backscattered light. Secondly, that the choice of laser source is important in governing the output stability of a flowmeter. Another investigation focused on the evaluation of a dual channel laser Doppler flowmeter using both in vitro and in vivo models. It was demonstrated that the instrument permitted a useful method of obtaining flow information by comparing simultaneous responses at experimental and control sites. The choice of laser wavelength was investigated in a study to determine whether blood flow measurements are obtained from different depths within the skin tissue. The results indicate that some depth discrimination is obtainable using instruments operating at different wavelengths, however it is difficult to demonstrate the effect in vivo. In a separate study it was shown that pressure applied to the skin surface greatly affects the underlying blood flow. It is recommended that care has to be taken when positioning Doppler probes on the skin. A reflection pulse oximeter was developed using laser light backscattered from the skin. The instrument was evaluated in vitro and in vivo by comparing desaturation responses with a commercial transmission pulse oximeter. The reflection oximeter was demonstrated to reliably follow trends in oxygen saturation but several problems prevented instrument calibration. Finally, a device combining laser Doppler flowmetry with reflection pulse oximetry was developed and used in vivo to follow trends in blood flow and oxygen saturation from the same tissue sample.
Small-signal MMIC amplifiers with bridged T-coil matching networks

Addresses the application of bridged T-coils to the design of multiplicative gain monolithic microwave IC (MMIC) amplifiers. The multiplicative gain MMIC amplifier exploits the broad-band matching properties of T-coils to achieve good input and output return loss, as well as high gain per stage. After reviewing the main theoretical aspects of this design approach, an actual circuit that provides gain, input, and output return losses in excess of 6, 10, and 8 dB, respectively, in the 50-MHz to 6-GHz bandwidth is described. >
Revision and Morphological Phylogeny of Ephedranthus, a Neotropical Genus of Annonaceae

Ephedranthus S. Moore is a Neotropical genus of Annonaceae distributed from Colombia and the Guianas to Bolivia and southeastern Brazil, comprised of seven species: E. amazonicus R. E. Fr. , E. boliviensis Chatrou & Pirie, E. colombianus Maas & Setten, E. dimerus J. C. Lopes, Chatrou & Mello-Silva, E. guianensis R. E. Fr. , E. parviflorus S. Moore, and E. pisocarpus R. E. Fr. The genus is recognized by the combination of leaves with impressed adaxial veins, short pedicels, two to five bracts, androdioecy (i.e., some plants with only staminate flowers, other plants with only bisexual flowers), and 1-seeded monocarps. This revision updates the knowledge about the genus, providing a morphological phylogenetic analysis of Ephedranthus species, with a key, descriptions, distribution maps, and illustrations of the diagnostic characters of the species. The phylogenetic analysis shows Ephedranthus defined by having staminate flowers and basal placentation, and the seven species related as ((E. colombianus, E. boliviensis) ((E. guianensis, E. amazonicus) (E. dimerus (E. parviflorus, E. pisocarpus)))); based on this, the current subdivision of Ephedranthus is not monophyletic, and the sections are here synonymized.