Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Height–Diameter Models Using Stand Characteristics for Pinus banksiana and Picea mariana

Height–diameter relationships based on stand characteristics (stand density, basal area and site index) were investigated for jack pine and black spruce trees using the data from permanent growth study plots in northern Ontario, Canada. Approximately half of the data was used to estimate model parameters and the rest was used for model evaluation. Multiple Chapman–Richards growth functions with parameters expressed in terms of various stand characteristics were fitted to determine the best models for predicting height. Models providing the most accurate predictors of height included basal area, trees ha−1 and diameter at breast height. The inclusion of site index did not increase predictive accuracy.
New observations of the terrestrial holoparasite Chlamydophytum aphyllum Mildbr. and its consumption by bonobos at Kokolopori, Democratic Republic of Congo

Little is known about the life history of many Balanophor-aceae,amostlytropicalfamilyofholoparasiticangiosperms.This is particularly true for Chlamydophytum aphyllum, thathas been described on the basis of only four specimens col-lected from three locations in West⁄Central Africa (Molau,1995). What little information exists on its ecology can befound in Halle (1978) and Hansen (1986). Kuijt (1969)speculated, on the basis of reproductive morphology, thatfrugivorous animals may act as seed dispersers but noobservations of such an interaction are yet available. HerewepresentnewdataontheperiodofﬂoweringofC. aphyllumandprovideashortreportontheoccasionalconsumptionofthis plant by bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Kokolopori BonoboReserve, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This is onlythe fourth and eastern-most locality for which the presenceof Chlamydophytum has been established in Africa and theﬁrstreportofthisplantasafooditemforagreatapespecies.
Larval fish assemblages in nearshore waters of southeast Gulf of California: vertical and temporal patterns

The influence of salinity and temperature on larval fish assemblages, as well as, temporal and vertical patterns on larval fish assemblages off the inlet of the Presidio River, southeast coast of the Gulf of California were evaluated. Samplings for ichthyoplankton and environmental parameter measurements were carried out at three depths, in five sampling sites, during September and December 1994, and April and June 1995. Anchovies and herrings (Clupeiformes) were the most abundant larval fish accounting for 77% of the total abundance. A significant relationship between salinity and the abundance of larval herrings (Opisthonema medirastre and O. dovii) and between the water temperature and the abundance of the weakfish (Cynoscion reticulatus) was found. Anchovies (Anchoa lucida, A. walkeri, and A. nasus) were present in all sampled months, while O. medirastre and O. dovii occurred in December and June, and C. reticulatus in September. Larvae of pelagic fish were more abundant near the surface, while larvae of demersal fish were more abundant near the bottom. The present study, by emphasising the importance of considering temporal and vertical changes in larval fish assemblages in coastal environments with ecological and economic importance, will be useful for designing more efficient sampling programs.
Oral administration of cholecystokinin receptor antagonists increase feed intake in rainbow trout

Individual immature rainbow trout consumed 1–2% body weight per day, but significantly more (P < 0·001) when fed by hand than by demand feeder. When treated with CCK antagonists (L 364, 718; 100 μg kg−1 on day 12 or SR 27, 897; 50 μg kg−1 on day 16), the fish ate significantly more than their mean daily intake on the other days of the experiment. This increase in feed intake was affected by the feeding technique: hand-fed fish increased by 70–80% their feed intake while in demand-fed fish the increase was significantly less (50–60%). However, the increase in feed intake observed on days 12 and 16 was identical for both drugs used.
Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) treatment attenuates oxidative stress and rescues angiogenic capacity in aged cerebromicrovascular endothelial cells: a potential mechanism for the prevention of vascular cognitive impairment.

Age‐related impairment of angiogenesis likely has a critical role in cerebromicrovascular rarefaction and development of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) in the elderly. Recently, we demonstrated that aging is associated with NAD+ depletion in the vasculature and that administration of NAD+ precursors exerts potent anti‐aging vascular effects, rescuing endothelium‐mediated vasodilation in the cerebral circulation and improving cerebral blood supply. The present study was designed to elucidate how treatment with nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), a key NAD+ intermediate, impacts age‐related impairment of endothelial angiogenic processes. Using cerebromicrovascular endothelial cells (CMVECs) isolated from young and aged F344xBN rats, we demonstrated that compared with young cells, aged CMVECs exhibit impaired proliferation, cellular migration (measured by a wound‐healing assay using electric cell‐substrate impedance sensing [ECIS] technology), impaired ability to form capillary‐like structures, and increased oxidative stress. NMN treatment in aged CMVECs significantly improved angiogenic processes and attenuated H2O2 production. We also found that pre‐treatment with EX‐527, a pharmacological inhibitor of SIRT1, prevented NMN‐mediated restoration of angiogenic processes in aged CMVECs. Collectively, we find that normal cellular NAD+ levels are essential for normal endothelial angiogenic processes, suggesting that age‐related cellular NAD+ depletion and consequential SIRT1 dysregulation may be a potentially reversible mechanism underlying impaired angiogenesis and cerebromicrovascular rarefaction in aging. We recommend that pro‐angiogenic effects of NAD+ boosters should be considered in both preclinical and clinical studies.
SIZE-NUMBER TRADE-OFFS, AND POLLEN PRODUCTION BY PAPILIONACEOUS LEGUMES

The intra- and interspecific relations between the size and number of pollen grains were examined for 21 species of papilionaceous legumes to test for the trade-off expected from the subdivision of limited resources. We observed a tradeoff between pollen grain diameter and the number of grains produced per flower within 17 of the 21 species examined. For 12 of these species, the observed partial regression coefficient for ln (pollen grain diameter) equaled -3, as expected. The remaining five species exhibited more negative partial regression coefficients than expected. Relations between pollen grain size and number that are more negative than expected may result from a decelerating relation between pollen grain size and the resource investment per grain. Flower production significantly influenced pollen production for only eight species so that pollen production seems to be determined primarily on a per flower basis. Interspecifically, pollen size also varied inversely with pollen number for the 21 species even after the effect of phylogenetic relatedness was removed. Pollen size varies relatively little compared to the number of pollen grains produced per flower and therefore may be the primary target of natural selection. The presence of a trade-off in pollen production probably constrains the evolutionary options by which flowering plants can maximize male success. Inverse relations between the size and number of products occur frequently in nature and are exhibited intraand interspecifically by a variety of angiosperms (e.g., Wilbur, 1977; Stanton, 1984; Wolf et al., 1986; Cipollini and Stiles, 1991; Mione and Anderson, 1992; Shipley and Dion, 1992; Mehlman, 1993). In the context of reproduction, such relations arise simply from the division of a fixed expenditure of resources on reproduction (E) among N reproductive units (gametes or offspring) of size s, such that:
Memory keeps you at home: a mechanistic model for home range emergence

Despite its central place in animal ecology no general mechanistic movement model with an emergent home-range pattern has yet been proposed. Random walk models, which are commonly used to model animal movement, show diffusion instead of a bounded home range and therefore require special modifications. Current approaches for mechanistic modeling of home ranges apply only to a limited set of taxa, namely territorial animals and/or central place foragers. In this paper we present a more general mechanistic movement model based on a biased correlated random walk, which shows the potential for home-range behavior. The model is based on an animal tracking a dynamic resource landscape, using a biologically plausible two-part memory system, i.e. a reference- and a working-memory. Our results show that by adding these memory processes the random walker produces home-range behavior as it gains experience, which also leads to more efficient resource use. Interestingly, home-range patterns, which we assessed based on home-range overlap and increase in area covered with time, require the combined action of both memory components to emerge. Our model has the potential to predict home-range size and can be used for comparative analysis of the mechanisms shaping home-range patterns.
Developing a Strength and Conditioning Technical Framework: An Example From a Canoe Slalom National Performance Program

Canoe slalom requires technical ability, well-developed energetics, a high level of maximum force production, and range of movement to perform a variety of complex paddle stokes, while maneuvering through a challenging whitewater course. The strength and conditioning (S&C) coach should provide strategic direction across a network or department including S&C coaches working toward identified outcomes and measures. S&C coaches should collaborate with a multidisciplinary support team (i.e., sport coaches, physiotherapists, physiologists, etc.) to develop a technical framework. The technical framework may allow for development of training strategies that provide a clear breakdown of the outcomes, adaptations, exercises, and testing methods. The current article articulates this process related to a canoe slalom national performance program. INTRODUCTION E ffective leadership of any strength and conditioning (S&C) program requires practitioners to demonstrate how the development of key biomotor qualities may be relevant for the respective sport, by providing an evidence-based rationale. Furthermore, the S&C program should have defined objectives that are strategically aligned with the goals of the training program. This may be achieved through the development of a technical framework, whichmay assist in decision making in regard to programming by outlining the physiological demands of the sport and the biomotor qualities contributing toward improving sports performance. In order for a technical framework to be developed, S&C coaches must develop a thorough understanding of the sport. When starting work in a new sport, practitioners often are required to develop a program within a short period and without any previous knowledge of the sport, posing a potential challenge. Therefore, it is important to have a clear process for deconstructing sports performance. The aim of the current article is to elaborate a process that may be used to conduct an in-depth needs analysis to establish potential physical determinants of performance and build a technical framework. This process requires S&C coaches to use their understanding of functional anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology, to establish its kinetic and kinematic demands. In addition, it investigates key injuries within a sport and associated risk factors. Because of the complexity of this task and the breadth of expertise required, it is important that practitioners work collaboratively and use the expertise of members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) (i.e., technical coaches, physiotherapists, physiologists, etc) to further their understanding of key areas and enhance the technical framework. Furthermore, collaboration with the MDT may also ensure that S&C program is strategically aligned with the goals of Address correspondence to Ishan RawlleySingh, ishanrawlley@hotmail.com.
Influence of brood rearing temperature on honey bee development and susceptibility to poisoning by pesticides

Summary Adult honey bees (Apis mellifera) usually maintain colony brood rearing temperature between 34–35°C by thermoregulation. The brood may, however, also be subjected to suboptimal temperature. Here we investigated whether a decrease of brood rearing temperature may have effects on larval mortality, adult emergence, longevity, morphology and susceptibility to poisoning by pesticides (dimethoate). Using the in vitro rearing protocol of Aupinel (2005), we were able for the first time to control the brood temperature not only during the pupal stage but also during the larval stage. Honey bee larvae were reared in vitro at 35°C (optimal) and 33°C (suboptimal) from 12 h after hatching for 15 days. Dimethoate was tested by ingestion either on 4-day old larvae or on 7-day old adults. Our results showed that lower rearing temperature had no significant effects on larval mortality and adult emergence, but adult bee mortality was strongly affected. Moreover, adult workers emerging at 33°C were significantly more susceptible to dimethoate. Larval LD50 (48 h) was, however, 28 times higher at 33°C than at 35°C. The striking differences between larvae and adults may be explained by differential larval metabolism at 33°C and resulting slower active ingredient absorption. We conclude that adult honey bees reared at even slightly suboptimal brood temperature may be more susceptible to pesticide poisoning and be characterised by reduced longevity. Thus, low temperature brood rearing could be another stress factor for colonies.
Deep Learning in Unconventional Domains

Machine learning methods have dramatically improved in recent years thanks to advances in deep learning (LeCun et al., 2015), a set of methods for training high-dimensional, highly-parameterized, nonlinear functions. Yet deep learning progress has been concentrated in the domains of computer vision, vision-based reinforcement learning, and natural language processing. This dissertation is an attempt to extend deep learning into domains where it has thus far had little impact or has never been applied. It presents new deep learning algorithms and state-of-the-art results on tasks in the domains of source-code analysis, relational databases, and tabular data.
Isoetes × truncata: a newly considered pentaploid hybrid from western North America

Three Isoetes found in Pyramid Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta, constitute populations of tetraploid (2n = 44)I. maritima, hexaploid (2n = 66)I. occidentalis, and an abortive-spored, pentaploid hybrid (2n = 55) with intermediate morphological characteristics. Although the hybrid has been present in the lake since at least 1918, I. maritima and I. occidentalis were previously unknown in Alberta. The presence of these aquatics hundreds of kilometres from their next known populations in central British Columbia is suspected to reflect the floristic and faunal affinity of the Pyramid Lake area to biotic regions in the interior of British Columbia. Morphological, scanning electron microscopy, and cytological data are provided to support our conclusion that the Alaskan type material of I. × truncata is synonymous with the Pyramid Lake pentaploid. Investigations of similar taxa in western North America detected several I. occidentalis populations in Alaska where it was previously unknown. This represents the.
Microsatellite loci in the Japanese subterranean termite, Reticulitermes speratus

Reticulitermes termites have such a cryptic life style and complex colony structure that polymorphic microsatellite markers are desired to investigate their population and colony structures. We successfully isolated seven microsatellite loci in R. speratus , the Japanese subterranean termite, five of which were polymorphic. These polymorphic loci had 2–8 alleles per locus and their observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.059 to 0.438. These five loci were also polymorphic in R . kanmonensis , distributed sympatrically with R. speratus in the Kanmon Region, western Japan; the number of alleles per locus was 2–5, and observed heterozygosity was 0.176–0.625.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE NUMERICAL ALTERATIONS IN SPLENOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS OF THE COTTON RAT (SIGMODON HISPIDUS) ACROSS SEASONS

Abstract Previous research in our laboratory has documented seasonal alterations in humoral and cell‐mediated immunity in cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) populations. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that these seasonal differences in immune function were attributable in part to qualitative and quantitative numerical changes in specific splenocyte subpopulations. Lymphocytes were harvested from spleens of 139 cotton rats collected from a tallgrass prairie in central Oklahoma from December 1991 to September 1992. Unique splenocyte subpopulations were identified using fluorescein conjugated cell surface markers (concanavalin‐A, peanut agglutinin, soybean agglutinin, Helix pomatia agglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, and rabbit‐anti‐rat immunoglobulin‐G). All subpopulations examined were more abundant in fall and winter than spring and summer. Several plausible explanations for seasonal variation in abundance of splenocyte subpopulations are discussed.
Why do Females Make it so Difficult for Males to Fertilize their Eggs

Abstract In terms of its structure, chemical composition and immune response, the female reproductive tract of mammals and birds is particularly hostile to sperm. Only a tiny proportion of the sperm transferred during copulation ever reach the ova. We consider a number of explanations for why female anti-sperm responses have evolved in birds and mammals, including avoidance of the following: infection, unfit sperm and polyspermy. We present a new hypothesis which proposes that anti-sperm responses allow females, through sexual selection, to exercise choice over which male or which sperm fertilize their eggs. We propose that females which are constrained in their initial choice of partner copulate with more than one male during a single reproductive cycle and allow the sperm from the different males to compete for fertilizations. This could work in two ways: either females exploit the hostile nature of their reproductive tract, which evolved for other reasons, to select sperm. Or, the hostility of the female tract has evolved, in part at least, to "test" sperm. If females have evolved more and more effective barriers to sperm in their reproductive tract as means of mate choice, coevolution between female anti-sperm responses and male abilities to overcome these will result in increasingly elaborate forms of female hostility towards sperm.
ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PLANTS AND HUMMINGBIRDS IN A SUCCESSIONAL TROPICAL COMMUNITY

At Monteverde, Costa Rica, 10 successional plant species used 14 hummingbird species for pollination. Displacement among flowering seasons suggests that the plants competed for polli- nators. There was no evidence that the flowering of one plant influenced hummingbirds to abandon another. Pollination in simultaneously flowering plants likely suffered nonetheless, since birds tended to move indiscriminately among flowers of different species and could lose much pollen between successive visits to conspecific plants. This may have led to scatter in flowering peaks by favoring the quick establishment of plant colonists with unique flowering seasons over colonists whose flow- ering seasons coincided with those of established species. The continuous supply of nectar provided by staggered flowering peaks maintained a continuous supply of hummingbirds competing for nectar. Even inconspicuous plants with few flowers received sufficient hummingbird visits for moderate to high potential rates of outbreeding. At large, flower- laden trees and shrubs, hummingbirds defending feeding territories evidently effected much inbreed- ing, but movements of intruders between territories kept inbreeding from becoming absolute. Nectar secretion rates varied widely among flowers of each of the 5 plant species in which nectar volume was measured. Many flowers produced little or no nectar, while a few secreted quite copious volumes. This "bonanza" pattern may benefit plants by reducing caloric expenditures on nectar while increasing the duration of hummingbirds' foraging bouts. The latter possibility was tested and verified experimentally with artificial flowers exposed to a free-living hummingbird on Trinidad, West Indies. When pollinators are abundant, plants with "bonanza" patterns can attract consistent visitors and rare, inconspicuous plants can count on consistent service. At Monteverde, the unspecialized, op- portunistic nature of both plants and birds assured abundant hummingbirds and resulted in a well- integrated complex of plants and pollinators despite the transient nature of the successional habitats.
The Effects of Stocking Density, Bag Mesh Size, and Bottom Sediment on the Growth and Survival of the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, with Emphasis on Controlling Oyster Spat Fouling

This study was designed to determine if oyster spat fouling upon adult oysters, Crassostrea virginica, cultured in coastal Georgia could be controlled by stocking density, bag mesh size, substrate type, and tidal level (intertidally or subtidally). Oyster gowth and survival was also monitored for each treatment. Sediment type had no effect on the number of spat per oyster either in intertidal or subtidal areas. Greater growth occurred in subtidal bags placed on sandmud and sandclay substrates. Intertidal mud and sandhnud bottom treatments showed the least growth. Survival of oysters grown intertidally (64%) was better the those cultured subtidally (27%). Mesh size of the oyster growing bags -had no effect upon oysler fouling or growth (shell length) and survival of the oysters they contained. Stocking density did affect oyster fouling, with lower fouling per oyster in higher density treatments. Density had no effect on oyster growth (shell length) or survival at the levels tested. Heavy fouling occurred o.
Cortisol/cortisone levels and quality of life in individuals with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Individuals with pulmonary arterial hypertension experience debilitating symptoms and psychological distress which may influence their cortisol regulation. We describe associations between diurnal salivary cortisol/cortisone levels and quality of life in adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Findings suggest potential clinical utility of cortisol/cortisone assessment as applied to a pulmonary arterial hypertension population.