Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Germination and Seedling Establishment in California Annual Grassland

(1) Data for plant density, germinable seed in the soil, and seed production in annual grassland were obtained at Hopland Field Station, California, U.S.A. , in 1973 and 1974. The study combined indirect estimates of numbers of seed in the soil, germination in soil samples containing natural seed, and estimation of plant density. (2) Autumn patterns of establishment differed significantly between the two study years. Plant density increased through the autumn, reaching peaks of 261 8 and 345*3 plants per dM2 in the seventh week after germination began, in 1973 and 1974 respectively. (3) The numbers of germinable seed in the top 6.4 cm of the soil prior to the start of the growing season were 6705 per dM2 in 1973 and 6102 per dM2 in 1974, and thus showed little difference between years. (4) Comparison of depletion of the seed-bank in the soil and increase of plant density showed that seeds germinating in the first week of the growing season produced fewer established seedlings than seeds germinating in the second or third weeks. The few seeds remaining in the fifth and sixth weeks had a high probability for successful establishment. (5) Six species-groups exhibiting contrasting strategies for germination and establishment are discussed in detail.
Thermal3DImage

Abstract Energy saving is an important issue. Heating and cooling systems in buildings consume too much energy. Therefore new regulations have appeared in Europe to control the energy consumed by such systems. Building insulation efficiency is our concern here, not the heating or cooling systems themselves. Thermography is a practical tool for checking insulation efficiency. This tool requires the geometry and visible view of the building concerned, to compute correctly the amount of heat emitted and then check it against the accepted limits. In this paper, an integration technique for the thermal image, the laser scanner point cloud/mesh and the digital image is introduced. After registering and fusing the three data sets a Themal3DImage is created. An evaluation test was performed and it was found that registering the thermal and visual images using two-dimensional transformation equations provided reliable results.
Review of Map Reduce Scheduling Algorithms

---------------------------------------- ************************ ---------------------------------- Abstract: Big data is a technology that refers to massive, intensive data that is changing rapidly. Such diverse and huge volume data is very difficult to handle by present technologies and infrastructures. Hadoop overcomes this drawback with powerful programming model called MapReduce. The implementation of Map Reduce needs storage and parallel processing. HDFS is commonly used for storing and processing of the data. In this paper we suggest various scheduling algorithms for MapReduce that help increase the resource utility and speedup the response time of the system. Each of the algorithms are compared, nature and drawbacks of algorithms are mentioned.
Decline of raccoon dog populations resulting from sarcoptic mange epizootics

Pour etablir la repartition de la gale sarcoptique des chiens viverrins au Japon et pour examiner l'impact des epizooties sur leur dynamique de population, nous avons etabli un questionnaire national. Les chiens viverrins galeux ont ete consideres comme trouves et/ou proteges dans onze des quarante-sept prefectures du Japon, de 1987 a 1992. Les adultes galeux ont ete plus souvent proteges en hiver et au printemps, ce qui indique que la survie des animaux infectes au cours de l'hiver est difficile. Le nombre d'adultes galeux proteges chaque annee s'accroit rapidement; quelques annees apres le nombre d'adultes non galeux proteges s'accroit. Un tres important declin du nombre des adultes proteges se produit au cours des annees qui suivent le pic des adultes galeux. L'accroissement de la densite des hotes peut permettre l'augmentation et la diffusion des parasites; lors des densites elevees des populations des hotes des epizooties de gale sarcoptique peuvent se produire et determiner le declin fatal des populations des hotes.
Nucleotide Sequences and Distribution of Chrysanthemum Stunt Viroid in Japan

We assayed for Chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd) in cultivated chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) collected from 10 prefectures in Japan and 8 wild species (Chrysanthemum spp.) cultivated at the National Institute of Floricultural Science (NIFS), Japan and determined complete nucleotide sequences of CSVd isolates infecting plants. CSVd was detected in 80 of 89 samples of cultivated chrysanthemum, and samples from all prefectures were infected. Since all 8 wild species had CSVd in RT-PCR results, they were recognized as hosts of CSVd, even though no stunt symptoms were observed. Five sequence variants of CSVd were distinguished among the 21 isolates based on the difference of the nucleotide sequences. Mutations were common in the P (pathogenicity) domain. Variant 5 from C. morifolium, and variant 4 from C. yoshinaganthum had different nucleotide sequences from those reported previously. Variant 1 was most frequently detected from samples in 6 prefectures and is assumed to be the predominant CSVd variant distributed in Japan.
Cloning and expression of a novel UDP-GlcNAc:α-d-mannoside β1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase homologous to UDP-GlcNAc:α-3-d-mannoside β1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I

A TBLASTN search with human UDP-GlcNAc:α-3-d-mannoside β-1,2- N -acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GnT I; EC 2.4.1.101) as a probe identified human and mouse Unigenes encoding a protein similar to human GnT I (34% identity over 340 amino acids). The recombinant protein converted Man(α1–6)[Man(α1–3)]Man(β1-) O -octyl to Man(α1–6)[GlcNAc(β1–2)Man(α1–3)]Man(β1-) O -octyl, the reaction catalysed by GnT I. The enzyme also added GlcNAc to Man(α1–6)[GlcNAc(β1–2)Man(α1–3)]Man(β1-) O -octyl (the substrate for β-1,2- N -acetylglucosaminyltransferase II), Man(α1-) O -benzyl [with K m values of ≈ 0.3 and > 30mM for UDP-GlcNAc and Man(α1-) O -benzyl respectively] and the glycopeptide CYA[Man(α1-) O -T]AV ( K m ∼ 12mM). The product formed with Man(α1-) O -benzyl was identified as GlcNAc(β1–2)Man(α1-) O -benzyl by proton NMR spectroscopy. The enzyme was named UDP-GlcNAc:α-d-mannoside β-1,2- N -acetylglucosaminyltransferase I.2 (GnT I.2). The human gene mapped to chromosome 1. Northern-blot analysis showed a 3.3kb message with a wide tissue distribution. The cDNA has a 1980bp open reading frame encoding a 660 amino acid protein with a type-2 domain structure typical of glycosyltransferases. Man(β1-) O -octyl, Man(β1-) O - p -nitrophenyl and GlcNAc(β1–2)Man(α1–6)[GlcNAc(β1–2)Man(α1–3)]Man(β1–4)GlcNAc(β1–4)GlcNAc(β1-) O -Asn were not acceptors, indicating that GnT I.2 is specific for α-linked terminal Man and does not have N -acetylglucosaminyltransferase III, IV, V, VII or VIII activities. CYA[Man(α1-) O -T]AV was between three and seven times more effective as an acceptor than the other substrates, suggesting that GnT I.2 may be responsible for the synthesis of the GlcNAc(β1–2)Man(α1-) O -Ser/Thr moiety on α-dystroglycan and other O-mannosylated proteins.
Trapping and shooting of Corncrakes Crex crex on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

Summary Fieldworkers counted traps, guns and nets used for bird trapping in sample sections of a 1 km wide strip of land adjacent to the shore on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt in the autumn of 1994. These data were used to estimate the number of traps, guns and nets in use in the whole 1 km coastal strip. Information obtained by interviewing bird trappers was used to estimate the number of Corncrakes taken per trap, net and gun in the 1993 and 1994 seasons and from this the total number taken was about 9,000 and 14,000 respectively. Trapping methods and intensity varied with locality but the taking of Corncrakes was widespread. It was estimated that about 9,000 people were involved in trapping and shooting in the coastal strip. The average proportion of the European Corncrake population taken per year on the coast was estimated to be in the range 0.5–2.7%, though this range would be lower if, as seems probable, Corncrakes from Asia are among those passing through Egypt. Further surveys are required to estimate the numbers of Corncrakes taken further inland.
The electrolyte leakage method can be misleading for assessing the frost hardiness of roots

Abstract The relative electrolyte leakage (REL) method is often used to assess the frost hardiness of plant organs. However, testing the frost hardiness of roots with REL yields different results when the roots are frozen while remaining in the soil or in some other substrate than when REL follows a freezing test made on excised root segments. In this study, we show that the electrolytes may already leak out of injured roots during freeze/thaw treatment and during washing of the roots after the treatment. In this case, the conductivities measured after the freezing test and killing of the tissue both give lower readings than expected for injured samples, and hence the results of the REL are incorrect. We suggest that roots should be washed free of soil and placed in test tubes prior to the freezing test. The leakage of electrolytes from injured roots to soil may also limit the use of the REL method for measuring root viability.
Nitrogen for growth of stock plants and production of strawberry runner tips

The objective of this research was to determine growth and dry matter partitioning among organs of strawberry stock plants under five Nitrogen concentrations in the nutrient solution and its effects on emission and growth of runner tips. The experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions, from September 2010 to March 2011, in a soilless system with Oso Grande and Camino Real cultivars. Nitrogen concentrations of 5.12, 7.6, 10.12 (control), 12.62 and 15.12 mmol L-1 in the nutrient solution were studied in a 5x2 factorial randomised experimental design. All runner tips bearing at least one expanded leaf (patent requested) were collected weekly and counted during the growth period. The number of leaves, dry matter (DM) of leaves, crown and root, specific leaf area and leaf area index (LAI) was determined at the final harvest. Increasing N concentration in the nutrient solution from 5.12 to 15.12 mmol L-1 reduces growth of crown, roots and LAI of strawberry stock plants but did not affect emission and growth of runner tips. It was concluded that for the commercial production of plug plants the optimal nitrogen concentration in the nutrient solution should be 5.12 mmol L-1.
Juncus bulbosus as a pioneer species in acidic lignite mining lakes: interactions, mechanism and survival strategies

Bulbous rush (Juncus bulbosus) initiates plant colonization in extremely acid lakes resulting from coal mining operations. Various analytical techniques (methylene blue/agar method, Ti 3+ -citrate solution) X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) were used to assess the mechanisms and strategies employed by J. bulbosus to overcome the extreme conditions. The plant releases oxygen into the rhizosphere in turn increasing the redox potential and inducing iron oxide plaque formation. XRD showed that the iron oxide of the plaque is mainly goethite that has been developed in the presence of CO 2 ; SEM showed that there is a micro-space between the roots and sand grains which is inhabited by microorganisms. Furthermore, SEM-EDX studies on internal iron distribution demonstrate that iron toxicity is delayed by the physiological and biochemical structure of the plant. It is suggested that J. bulbosus uses a variety of mechanisms and strategies (morphological, physiological and biochemical adaptation) which are mainly complementary and which interact with each other to help J. bulbosus to manage its growth and survival in an extreme environment.
Ecometabolomics: optimized NMR‐based method

Metabolomics is allowing great advances in biological sciences. Recently, an increasing number of ecological studies are using a metabolomic approach to answer ecological questions (ecometabolomics). Ecometabolomics is becoming a powerful tool which allows following the responses of the metabolome of an organism environmental changes and the comparison of populations. Some Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) protocols have been published for metabolomics analyses oriented to other disciplines such as biomedicine, but there is a lack of a description of a detailed protocol applied to ecological studies. Here we propose a NMR‐based protocol for ecometabolomic studies that provides an unbiased overview of the metabolome of an organism, including polar and nonpolar metabolites. This protocol is aimed to facilitate the analysis of many samples, as typically required in ecological studies. In addition to NMR fingerprinting, it identifies metabolites for generating metabolic profiles applying strategies of elucidation of small molecules typically used in natural‐product research, and allowing the identification of secondary and unknown metabolites. We also provide a detailed description to obtain the numerical data from the 1H‐NMR spectra needed to perform the statistical analyses. We tested and optimized this protocol by using two field plant species (Erica multiflora and Quercus ilex) sampled once per season. Both species showed high levels of polar compounds such as sugars and amino acids during the spring, the growing season. E. multiflora was also experimentally submitted to drought and the NMR analyses were sensitive enough to detect some compounds related to the avoidance of water loses. This protocol has been designed for ecometabolomic studies. It identifies changes in the compositions of metabolites between individuals and detects and identifies biological markers associated with environmental changes.
Identification of Yeasts Isolated from Wild Flowers Collected in Coast Areas of Korea Based on the 26S rDNA Sequences

Several yeast colonies were isolated from wild flowers collected from East, West and South coast areas of Korea by plating of flower suspensions on the YPD plates containing antibiotics, streptomycin and ampicillin. Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were performed for the amplification of D1/D2 region of 26S rDNA for those colonies. PCR-amplified nucleotide sequences were compared using BLAST for their identification. As results, 27 yeast strains belonged to 15 species were isolated from wild flowers collected at Donghae, where is located in eastern coast of Korea. Also, 34 strains belonged to 17 species were isolated from wild flowers of Daecheon, where is located in western coast of Korea. In addition, 22 strains belonged to 13 species were isolated from wild flowers collected at Wando, where is located in southern coast of Korea. Among those 45 species isolated from 3 different collection sites, only 4 species including Cryptococcus laurentii, Metschnikowia koreensis, Pseudozyma rugulosa, and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa were found from all 3 different collection sites. And 5 species including Cryptococcus aureus, Cryptococcus flavus, Hanseniaspora uvarum, Pichia guilliermondii, and Rhodosporidium fluviale were overlapped from the at least 2 different collection sites. Other 23 species were found only in a specific collection sites implying that each area has distinctive yeast flora.
Purification of a third distinct xylanase from the xylanolytic system of Trichoderma harzianum

Three of the xylanases produced by Trichoderma harzianum E58 passed through a polysulfone membrane with molecular mass cut-off of 10 000 daltons, even though their molecular mass had been estimated to be 20 000, 22 000, and 29 000 daltons. The 22 000 dalton xylanase was purified to homogeneity from a preparation containing a mixture of 22 000 and 20 000 dalton xylanase using a combination of hydrophobic column chromatography and chromatofocusing. This enzyme has a pI of 8.5, a specific activity of 0.28 U/mg, a temperature optimum between 45 and 50 °C, a pH optimum between 4.5 and 5.0, and the ability to cleave xylotriose. It differs from the other two xylanases by having a lower pI, a lower specific activity, and a lower thermal tolerance. All three xylanases are highly specific for xylan hydrolysis and they do not cleave xylobiose or release arabinose substituents from arabinoxylan. Their amino acid compositions suggest that they are three distinct gene products. The three enzymes are major components of.
Enhanced nuclear factor-κB activation induced by tumour necrosis factor-α in stably tat-transfected cells is associated with the presence of cell-surface-bound Tat protein

Objective:An enhanced nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation in response to tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α has been observed in stably tat-transfected cells. Recent experimental evidence suggests that Tat may autocrinously influence both cellular physiology and HIV-1 long terminal repeat-directed gene expression in Tat-producing cells. Therefore, the possible association of a Tat autocrinous loop with the enhanced NF-κB-binding activity induced by TNF-α in Tat-producing cells was studied by anti-Tat antibody blocking experiments. Design and methods:Permanently tat-transfected Jurkat cells, maintained either in the presence or absence of anti-Tat antibody, were studied for the presence of TNF-α-induced NF-κB-binding activity (quantified by electrophoretic mobility shift assays) and the presence of cell-surface-bound Tat (determined by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy of anti-Tat immunofluorescence-stained cell preparations). Results:The enhanced production of TNF-α-induced NF-κB binding activity exhibited by tat-transfected Jurkat cells was completely abolished in cell cultures maintained in the presence of anti-Tat antibody, thus indicating that the increased TNF-α-induced NF-κB binding activity observed in Jurkat-tat cells was dependent on the presence of Tat protein in an antibody-accessible location. In accordance with these findings, immunofluorescence-stained preparations of unfixed tat-transfected Jurkat cells showed the presence of cell-surface-bound Tat protein which was completely absent in cells incubated in the presence of anti-Tat antibodies. Conclusions:This study demonstrates that the enhanced NF-κB activation exhibited by stably tat-transfected cells in response to TNF-α, is associated with cell surface interaction of extracellularly released Tat protein. These data add further evidence to the possible relevance of a Tat autocrinous loop in the physiology of Tat-producing cells and suggest that in HIV-1-infected cells Tat is likely to behave as a bifunctional molecule which not only acts from within facilitating NF-κB recruitment in the viral transcription complex, but may also act from without increasing the availability of activated NF-κB.
Modeling Social Insect Populations. I. Ergonomics of Foraging and Population Growth in Bumblebees

This paper discusses a number of approaches to modeling some aspects of the ergonomics of bumblebee colonies and should be regarded as a prolegomenon to the modeling of insect societies. I have raised many more questions than are answered. My intent has been to formulate these questions in precise terms. A concisely posed question is, however, only the first step toward understanding a phenomenon; the value of a model lies not only in its capacity to explain the unknown but also to suggest new experiments. If the models developed herein provoke such experimentation, my efforts will have been amply rewarded.
I AUDTING BASED SECURE ROUTING BY DETECTING MISBEHAVING NODE IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK

—We address the problem of identifying and isolating misbehaving nodes that refuse to forward packets in multi-hop ad hoc networks. We develop a comprehensive system called Audit-based Misbehavior Detection (AMD) that effectively and efficiently isolates both continuous and selective packet droppers. The AMD system integrates reputation management, trustworthy route discovery, and identification of misbehaving nodes based on behavioral audits. Compared to previous methods, AMD evaluates node behavior on a per-packet basis, without employing energy-expensive overhearing techniques or intensive acknowledgment schemes. Moreover, AMD can detect selective dropping attacks even if end-to-end traffic is encrypted and can be applied to multi-channel networks or networks consisting of nodes with directional antennas. We show via simulations that AMD successfully avoids misbehaving nodes, even when a large portion of the network refuses to forward packets.
Two-Year Creel Census of the Little Salmon River, Idaho

Abstract The use of stratified periods, random sampling days and voluntary information provided by the participating anglers provided a method of creel census which required a minimum of working days and still allowed constant highway travel in the working area to flow uninterrupted. A maximum of two men on 24 days was used to census a season total of nearly 7,000 anglers on 24 miles of the stream. In 1952, of 1,107 anglers interviewed 940 (84.9 percent) returned catch data. In 1953 1,140 anglers were interviewed and 1,042 of these (91.4 percent) responded. Total estimated catch was 47,772 in 1952 and 46,997 in 1953. Hatchery-reared rainbow trout comprised 2,223 of the 1952 catch and 4,867 of the catch in 1953. Recovery of these planted fish amounted to 37.1 percent of 6,000 released in 1952 and 57.9 percent of 8,400 in 1953. Anglers retained an estimated 58.5 percent of the total catch in 1952 and 72.2 percent in 1953. Statistical analysis proved the estimate of the total reported catch to be within the .
Online City Scale Taxi Ridesharing

----------------------------------------************************---------------------------------Abstract: The current system is design and developed a taxi-sharing system that accepts taxi passengers’ real-time ride requests through smartphones and schedules proper taxis to pick up them via ridesharing, subject to time, capacity, and monetary constraints. The monetary constraints provide incentives for both passengers and taxi drivers: passengers will not pay more compared with no ridesharing and get compensated if their travel time is lengthened due to ridesharing; taxi drivers will make money for all the detour distance due to ridesharing. While such a system is of significant social and environmental benefit, e.g., saving energy consumption and satisfying people’s commute, real-time taxi-sharing has not been well studied yet. To this end, we devise a mobile-cloud architecture based taxi-sharing system. Taxi riders and taxi drivers use the taxi-sharing service provided by the system via a smart phone App. The Cloud first finds candidate taxis quickly for a taxi ride request using a taxi searching algorithm supported by a spatiotemporal index. A scheduling process is then performed in the cloud to select a taxi that satisfies the request with minimum increase in travel distance. We built an experimental platform using the GPS trajectories generated by over 33,000 taxis over a period of three months. A ride request generator is developed (available at http://cs.uic.edu/_sma/ridesharing) in terms of the stochastic process modelling real ride requests learned from the data set. Tested on this platform with extensive experiments, our proposed system demonstrated its efficiency, effectiveness and scalability. For example, when the ratio of the number of ride requests to the number of taxis is 6, our proposed system serves three times as many taxi riders as that when no ridesharing is performed while saving 11 percent in total travel distance and 7 percent taxi fare per rider.