Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infectious Disease and Species Coexistence: A Model of Lotka-Volterra Form

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that infectious disease may influence the species composition of natural communities. We examine the effect of a shared infectious disease on species coexistence in a differential equation model that generalizes to two host species, a one-host one-disease model explored by Anderson and May (1979). In the Anderson-May model, the transmission rate is described by a "mass action" term; there is no acquired immunity; and the infectious disease is the only factor regulating population growth. These assumptions, which are generally more applicable to invertebrate than to vertebrate hosts, are carried over to our two-host model. We show that, just as in the familiar Lotka-Volterra model of direct competition, there are three possible outcomes to the interaction: (1) one host species may unilaterally exclude the other; (2) the two host species may coexist; or (3) either host may exclude the other, with the outcome depending on initial conditions. These outcomes are graphically expressed with isoclines similar to those generated by the Lotka-Volterra model, and the necessary and sufficient condition for species coexistence is given by an expression formally parallel to the coexistence criterion of the Lotka-Volterra model. The numbers of infected individuals sustained by a host species when alone and at equilibrium are shown to be comparable to carrying capacity in the Lotka-Volterra model. Similarly, we show that the ratio of between-species to within-species infection rates is analogous to the competition coefficient. The model identifies three ingredients that must be assessed to predict the consequences of shared infectious disease for species coexistence: the intrinsic capacity for increase of each host; the per capita birth, death, and recovery rates of infected individuals; and the pattern of within- and cross-species infections. The model also leads to two additional conclusions that appear to apply in a broader range of models. First, given certain assumptions, including the assumption that infectious disease is the only factor regulating population growth, at equilibrium the ratio of infected to uninfected individuals in any particular host species is independent of the presence or absence of alternative host species. Second, the basic model does not lead to stable coexistence for an infectious disease that is only transmitted between host species and not within host species (i.e., host-parasite systems involving alternate hosts, such as infectious diseases carried between definitive hosts by intermediate hosts). The paper concludes with some suggestions about how this model can be extended to a broader class of infectious disease systems.
The Role of Permutation Tail Probability Tests in Phylogenetic Systematics

cladistic structure (Faith and Cranston, 1991) and Karl Popper's (1959) concept of corroboration. In so doing, the authors ar? gued that Popper's probabilistic concepts have relevance for cladistics and suggested that PTP-style testing provides a mecha? nism whereby a Popperian justification for cladistic parsimony might be achieved. Faith and Cranston (1992) demonstrated that PTP testing is hypothetico-deductive and consistent with Popperian corrobora? tion. The cladistic structure of most-par? simonious cladograms is evaluated by the testing of a null hypothesis that states that the degree of cladistic structure, or con? gruence, in the most-parsimonious clado? gram can be accounted for by a random? ized data set. The rejection of that null hypothesis results in the purported cor? roboration of the hypothesis that the mostparsimonious cladogram is based on un? derlying hierarchical structure. Popper (1959:269-273) associated logical probabil? ity with a set of "basic statements/' ac? cepted facts, or assumptions. In PTP test? ing, these basic statements are expressed in a null model. Popperian corroboration occurs with the rejection of the null hy? pothesis based on the null model. In this instance "the logical probability is low" and "the observations that are the basis for
Profound loss of GABAergic interneurons in the PPT1 knockout mouse model of infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

Introduction: The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) are progressive neurodegenerative disorders with onset from infancy to adulthood that are manifested by blindness, seizures and dementia. In infantile NCL (INCL), a mutation in the palmitoyl protein thioesterase (PPT1) gene results in loss of PPT1 activity and lysosomal accumulation of autofluorescent proteolipid in the brain and other tissues. We have generated a PPT1 knockout mouse model of INCL (PPT1–/–) and characterized pathological changes in the CNS of these mice, which die by 8 months of age. Results: 7-month-old PPT1–/– exhibited NCL-like pathology with prominent accumulation of autofluorescent lipopigment throughout the CNS, together with pronounced cerebral atrophy. Staining for phenotypic markers normally present in subpopulations of interneurons in the cortex and hippocampus revealed progressive loss of staining in the cortex and hippocampus, with persisting interneurons exhibiting pronounced hypertrophy and abnormal dendritic morphology. Conclusions: Taken together with our findings in the other mouse models of NCL and preliminary data from NCL patient derived tissue, these results provide further substantive evidence for the involvement of interneurons in the NCLs. Acknowledgements: Supported by The Batten's Disease Support and Research Association, The Natalie Fund, The Remy Fund; Batten's Disease Family Association.
Unequal sex ratios in longline catches

There is sometimes a significant bias in the sex ratio of fish caught by longline. Usually, more females than males are caught. The possible reasons for unequal sex ratios in longline catches are listed and discussed. One sex could be more common in the area where the fishery takes place because there really is an unequal sex ratio in the population or because the other sex preferentially occurs in different places. Alternatively, longline fishery might preferentially catch one of the sexes. This could be a result of size difference between the sexes and thus a different response to the given hook size or bait size. Finally, sexes could differ in their feeding behaviour. There is growing evidence that females—not only of fish—are ‘energy maximizers’: they find food faster and spend more time feeding than do males. Thus, fishing methods using bait are likely to catch a higher proportion of females than fishing methods that do not use bait.
Preimaginal development of Anaphes n.sp. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of the carrot weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Abstract The developmental stages of Anaphes n.sp. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of the carrot weevil, Listronotus oregonensis (LeConte) (Coleoptera:Curculionidae), were characterized from material reared at 23 ± 1°C and 18L:6D. The ovarian egg is elongated, stalked, and 170 μm long. Embryogenesis required about 12 h. The first instar is of the mymariform type and is followed by three sacciform instars. Larval development was completed in 4 to 5 days and the mature larva occupied 3 4 of the host egg. Segmentation of Anaphes n.sp. occurred in the pupal stage. Pupation required about 2 days and ended with the discharge of the meconium. Sclerotization of the pharate imago continued for 2 or 3 days and was usually completed by the end of the 10th day. The adult emerged on the morning of the 11th or 12th day.
Hsp90 Regulates a von Hippel Lindau-independent Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α-degradative Pathway*

HIF-1α is a normally labile proangiogenic transcription factor that is stabilized and activated in hypoxia. Although the von Hippel Lindau (VHL) gene product, the ubiquitin ligase responsible for regulating HIF-1α protein levels, efficiently targets HIF-1α for rapid proteasome-dependent degradation under normoxia, HIF-1α is resistant to the destabilizing effects of VHL under hypoxia. HIF-1α also associates with the molecular chaperone Hsp90. To examine the role of Hsp90 in HIF-1α function, we used renal carcinoma cell (RCC) lines that lack functional VHL and express stable HIF-1α protein under normoxia. Geldanamycin (GA), an Hsp90 antagonist, promoted efficient ubiquitination and proteasome-mediated degradation of HIF-1α in RCC in both normoxia and hypoxia. Furthermore, HIF-1α point mutations that block VHL association did not protect HIF-1α from GA-induced destabilization. Hsp90 antagonists also inhibited HIF-1α transcriptional activity and dramatically reduced both hypoxia-induced accumulation of VEGF mRNA and hypoxia-dependent angiogenic activity. These findings demonstrate that disruption of Hsp90 function 1) promotes HIF-1α degradation via a novel, oxygen-independent E3 ubiquitin ligase and 2) diminishes HIF-1α transcriptional activity. Existence of an Hsp90-dependent pathway for elimination of HIF-1α predicts that Hsp90 antagonists may be hypoxic cell sensitizers and possess antiangiogenic activityin vivo, thus extending the utility of these drugs as therapeutic anticancer agents.
Patterns of distribution of macroinvertebrate families in rivers of north‐western Australia

1. The northern half of Western Australia is a large, sparsely populated area with a climate that ranges from monsoonal in the Kimberley to arid in the Gascoyne and Pilbara regions. The aquatic invertebrate fauna is poorly known. 2. Fifty-one sites located on 14 river systems were sampled three times between August 1994 and October 1995. A total of 90 taxa, most identified to family level, were collected. The fauna was dominated by insects, which constituted 74% of the total number of taxa collected. 3. Major habitats at each site were sampled separately and sites with more habitats tended to have a richer fauna. All habitats showed significant differences in taxonomic richness between regions. Family richness decreased with increasing latitude, being highest in the Kimberley region and lowest in the Gascoyne. 4. Despite the differences in taxon richness between regions, community composition of the aquatic invertebrate fauna at the family level did not differ greatly. Four major groups of sites were identified by cluster analysis, based on the invertebrate families present at each site, but differences between groups were small. 5. Significant temporal variation in taxon richness was found in channel habitat but not the three other habitats sampled (riffle, macrophyte, pool-rocks). Community composition in channel habitat varied temporally among groups of sites identified by cluster analysis but the pattern was not consistent.
Review Essay

For well over twenty years, peer review of college teaching has been promoted in the exhortative literature, justified in theory, and supported by reports of experimental and qualitative research. Yet, except for the faculty's role in personnel decision making, peer review is rarely practiced; and even when and where it has been put into place (interestingly, mostly at the departmental level of research universities, where results sometimes have been reported in journals), it hardly ever has sustained itself for any appreciable length of time. In Peer Review of Teaching, Chism suggests that one reason for its infrequent practice is a lack of guiding principles and materials for developing and implementing it. Chism compellingly argues for the involvement of faculty in assessing colleagues' teaching and-probably most significantly-provides a wide range of useful materials for peer review of many teaching-related activities. She clearly describes the potential value of peer review for both improving teaching (formative evaluation) and making decisions regarding reappointment, tenure, promotion, and merit compensation (summative evaluation). She also persuasively argues not only for employing it alongside student ratings of courses and instructors but also for other forms of assessment, recognizing that credible efforts to improve and assess teaching require a comprehensiveness not often found
Effects of busulfan sustained-release emulsion on depletion and repopulation of primordial germ cells in early chicken embryos.

The current study aimed to determine the optimal time of busulfan (1,4-butanediol dimethanesulfonate) administration for the preparation of suitable recipient embryos to generate germline chimeras in chickens. We compared two different administration times, with regards to the degree of endogenous primordial germ cell (PGC) depletion and donor PGC incorporation in recipient embryos. A dose of 75μg busulfan in 50μL sustained-release emulsion was injected into the yolk of chicken embryos incubated for 0h or 24h. Both busulfan treatments resulted in significant reduction in the number of PGCs compared with that of controls (P<0.01). The number of PGCs in the blood at stage 14 was significantly lower after busulfan treatment at 0h of incubation than after treatment at 24h of incubation (P<0.01). No significant difference was observed in the numbers of PGCs in the gonads at stage 29 between the two treatment groups. The number of donor PGCs after busulfan treatment at 0h was significantly higher than that after treatment at 24h and in controls (P<0.01). The ratios of donor to recipient PGCs in the gonads of both busulfan treated groups were higher than in controls (P<0.01). In conclusion, injecting busulfan sustained-release emulsion into the yolk of recipient embryos at 0h of incubation was a suitable method of preparing them for the generation of germline chimeras.
Density-dependent survival and recruitment in a long-distance Palaearctic migrant, the Sand Martin Riparia riparia

Long-term studies can provide powerful insights into the relative importance of different demographic and environmental factors determining avian population dynamics. Here we use 23 years of capture–mark–recapture data (1981–2003) to estimate recruitment and survival rates for a Sand Martin Riparia riparia population in Cheshire, NW England. Inter-annual variation in recruitment and adult survival was positively related to rainfall in the sub-Saharan wintering grounds, but unrelated to weather conditions on the breeding grounds. After allowing for the effects of African rainfall, both demographic rates were negatively density-dependent: adult survival was related to the size of the western European Sand Martin population (probably reflecting competition for resources in the shared wintering grounds) while recruitment was related to the size of the local study population in Cheshire (potentially reflecting competition for nesting sites or food). Local population size was more sensitive to variation in adult survival than to variation in recruitment, and an increase in population size after 1995 was driven mainly by the impact of more favourable conditions in the African wintering grounds on survival rates of adults. Overwinter survival in this long-distance Palaearctic migrant is determined partly by the amount of suitable wetland foraging habitat in the sub-Saharan wintering grounds (which is limited by the extent of summer rainfall) and partly by the number of birds exploiting that habitat.
Vertebrados atropelados na Rodovia Estadual 383 em Rondônia, Brasil

Atropelamento e uma importante causa de mortalidade para varias especies de animais silvestres em todo o mundo. No Brasil sao poucos os estudos sobre esse tema. Dados sobre atropelamentos na Amazonia sao escassos quando comparados com as regioes sul e central. Esse estudo apresenta dados sobre vertebrados atropelados na Rodovia Estadual 383 em Rondonia. Entre maio de 2004 a abril de 2005 foram realizadas 30 amostragens no trecho de 110km da RO 383 entre os municipios de Cacoal e Alta Floresta D’Oeste. Foram registrados 259 especimes pertencentes a 34 especies de vertebrados. Anfibios foi o grupo mais amostrado com 68 individuos (2 spp.), seguido de aves com 67 individuos (12 spp.), repteis com 63 individuos (13 spp.) e mamiferos com 61 individuos (7 ssp.). Oito especies (Leptodactylus gr. pentadactylus, Rhinella sp, Amphisbaena sp., Liophis reginae, Crotophaga ani, Didelphis marsupialis, Euphractus sexcinctus e Cerdocyon thous) foram mais atropeladas e corresponderam a 76% dos vertebrados atropelados nesse estudo. Um maior numero de especimes atropelados foi observado no periodo da seca.
On the Nereididae (Polychaeta: Annelida) fauna of the Bay of İzmir

Abstract This study, dealing with the taxonomic features of Nereididae species, was conducted at 7 stations located in İzmir Bay and its adjacent areas. The benthic samples examined yielded 7 genera and 15 species; of these Micronereis variegata Claparède, 1863 is recorded for the first time in Turkish waters. The morphological characteristics of the specimens collected in various biotopes are discussed and a taxonomic key to the species is provided.
Amyloid β‐Peptide Inhibits High‐Affinity Choline Uptake and Acetylcholine Release in Rat Hippocampal Slices

Abstract: The characteristic pathological features of the postmortem brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients include, among other features, the presence of neuritic plaques composed of amyloid β‐peptide (Aβ) and the loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, which innervate the hippocampus and the cortex. Studies of the pathological changes that characterize AD and several other lines of evidence indicate that Aβ accumulation in vivo may initiate and/or contribute to the process of neurodegeneration and thereby the development of AD. However, the mechanisms by which Aβ peptide influences/causes degeneration of the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and/or the cognitive impairment characteristic of AD remain obscure. Using in vitro slice preparations, we have recently reported that Aβ‐related peptides, under acute conditions, potently inhibit K+‐evoked endogenous acetylcholine (ACh) release from hippocampus and cortex but not from striatum. In the present study, we have further characterized Aβ‐mediated inhibition of ACh release and also measured the effects of these peptides on choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and high‐affinity choline uptake (HACU) in hippocampal, cortical, and striatal regions of the rat brain. Aβ1–40 (10−8M) potently inhibited veratridine‐evoked endogenous ACh release from rat hippocampal slices and also decreased the K+‐evoked release potentiated by the nitric oxide‐generating agent, sodium nitroprusside (SNP). It is interesting that the endogenous cyclic GMP level induced by SNP was found to be unaltered in the presence of Aβ1–40. The activity of the enzyme ChAT was not altered by Aβ peptides in hippocampus, cortex, or striatum. HACU was reduced significantly by various Aβ peptides (10−14 to 10−6M) in hippocampal and cortical synaptosomes. However, the uptake of choline by striatal synaptosomes was altered only at high concentration of Aβ (10−6M). Taken together, these results indicate that Aβ peptides, under acute conditions, can decrease endogenous ACh release and the uptake of choline but exhibit no effect on ChAT activity. In addition, the evidence that Aβ peptides target primarily the hippocampus and cortex provides a potential mechanistic framework suggesting that the preferential vulnerability of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and their projections in AD could relate, at least in part, to their sensitivity to Aβ peptides.
Nearby College Enrollment and Geographical Skills Mismatch: (Re)conceptualizing Student Out-Migration in the American Higher Education System

ABSTRACT Student out-migration is a well-studied topic covering more than 40 years of research. This literature has typically equated student out-migration to out-of-state enrollment and has classified all college attendance taking place in students’ state of residence as in-state enrollment. This study argues that failing to capture students’ out-migration within their states of residence may overestimate the positive returns of “out-migrating” by underestimating the effect of attending college “in state. ” Accordingly, the purpose of the study was 2-fold. First, it relied on geographical network analysis to offer a framework that disaggregated the sole measure of in-state enrollment into (a) nearby college enrollment and (b) within-state out-migration. Second, it tested the impact of these newly proposed conceptualizations of students’ out-migration decisions on educational and financial outcomes. With the use of the Education Longitudinal Study (2002:12) and other individual-, institution-, geographic-, and state-level indicators, findings indicated that the typical in-state versus out-of-state definition exaggerates the assumed benefits of “migrating. ” Indeed, within-state out-migrants attained similar academic and salary-based results while incurring significantly lower undergraduate loan debt compared with students who out-migrated out of state. The study offers evidence of geographical skills mismatch associated with students’ worsened outcomes when enrolling in their 5 closest options and offers a framework to minimize such a mismatch.
The Role of Male Ornaments and Courtship Behavior in Female Mate Choice of Red Jungle Fowl

Mate-choice experiments allowing a female red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) to choose between two roosters showed female preferences for several male secondary sex characters. In 1987, male comb length was most strongly related to mating success, with eye color and the color of some ornamental feathers also being important in choice. In 1988, males with darker, redder eyes were again chosen more frequently, but comb color explained a significant portion of mating-success variation, whereas comb length was unimportant. Females did not choose older males over younger ones, but, in our sample, older and younger roosters did not differ on the basis of traits used in making choices. Male courtship behavior was generally not significantly different between chosen and unchosen males, and behavior was not correlated with morphological characters. Comb characteristics are facultative and are probably good indicators of individual condition, suggesting that females using these traits to distinguish among males could be obtaining good genes for their offspring.
Reproduction of Lake Trout in Algonquin Park, Ontario

Abstract In lakes of Algonquin Park, Ontario, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush namaycush) spawn on clean, wave swept shoals of broken rubble ranging from 1 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter and in water from 6 inches to 12 feet deep. Weather conditions may influence the time and duration of the reproductive period but it most often occurs in the last half of October and lasts about 10 days. Water surface temperatures are usually between 50 and 55°F. Spawning occurs chiefly at night from sunset to about 10:30 p. m. Nightly counts were made of the fish on the beds during spawning in Lake Louisa in 1947. Courtship behaviour is described. Males made up 60–85 percent of the spawning population. The size composition of the spawning population varied markedly from lake to lake because of different growth rates. The smaller trout spawn first. Egg frequency estimates on the spawning beds averaged 50 per square foot. Saprolegnia infection of the eggs on the beds appears to be the main cause of egg mortality. Northern bro.