Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incestuous Mating in a Communal Bird: A Family Affair

In the past, observations of animal dispersal has been taken as evidence of inbreeding avoidance. Reduced dispersal by the young of communal breeders makes them ideal for investigating the possibility of inbreeding and/or inbreeding avoidance. Communally breeding pukeko are especially suitable for such a study because they exhibit extreme philopatry, have a polygynandrous mating system, and engage in readily observed copulations. Results from a 7-yr study show that most pukeko remain and breed in their natal territory and incestuous matings are common. In contrast, incidents of dispersal out of the natal territory were infrequent, involving only males. Outbreeding appeared less common than inbreeding. Dispersal by breeding males that had mated previously with their offspring could not be logically linked to incest avoidance, but movements of nonbreeding subadults might have been related to either incest avoidance or intersexual dominance. Except for young nonbreeding males that tend to be subordinate to breeding females, male pukeko dominate females. A few subadult males that were stopped from copulating by the aggressive behavior of their mothers subsequently dispersed, whereas others showed reduced sexual behavior in the presence of their mothers. Both incest avoidance by the mothers (but not the sons) and parental dominance could explain these observations. Parental dominance seems to be a viable explanation because there were no examples of daughters avoiding matings with their fathers or sisters avoiding matings with brothers. Results from other studies of communally breeding birds also show various degrees of incestuous mating. Data from one in-depth study on acorn woodpeckers, from which incest-avoidance mechanisms have been postulated, is considered in detail; the results appear equivocal and do not exclude alternative explanations. Additional factors, such as a level of fecundity markedly higher than that of survival and a long history of communal (and presumably incestuous) habits in pukeko, lead us to question whether inbreeding among pukeko is likely to have deleterious genetic effects. The possibility of nonrandom fusion of gametes would also support this view. Overall, pukeko appear to demonstrate higher levels of incestuous matings than current research and theories on the evolution of vertebrate mating systems would have predicted. We argue that this conflict arises as a product of the unquestioning assumption by many workers that behavior leading to inbreeding has been selected against or that inbreeding-avoidance mechanisms have been selected for in animal populations.
Locating genotypes and genes for abiotic stress tolerance in barley: a strategy using maps, markers and the wild species

summary This paper reviews the results of several years'study by a multidisciplinary team comprising geneticists, physiologists, ecologists and statisticians of abiotic stress tolerance in barley. The strategy involves genetic fingerprinting of wild barley lines (Hordeum spontaneum C. Koch) from a range of habitats and testing these for responses to abiotic stresses under controlled conditions. Multiple regression analysis is used to identify genetic markers associated with experimentally determined stress responses. These data are related to site-of-origin ecogeographic data and used to identify areas of useful wild variation. Markers associated with traits of interest can be mapped in genetic mapping populations, revealing areas of the barley genome carrying genes controlling stress responses. This paper highlights our work on associations of amplied fragment length polymorphisms with salt tolerance and describes some initial results of the use of SSRs in studying drought tolerance in barley.
Developmental capacity of mouse oocytes following maintenance of meiotic arrest in vitro

It was shown previously that the frequencies of fertilization and pre- and post-implantation embryonic development of mouse oocytes matured in vitro were similar to those of oocytes matured in vivo (Schroeder and Eppig, Dev Biol 102:493–497, 1984). The present study determined the developmental capacity of mouse oocytes after they had been maintained in meiotic arrest in vitro by substances thought to be important regulators of meiosis in vivo. Oocytes were maintained in meiotic arrest for 12 or 24 h in medium containing maturation inhibitor(s), washed free of inhibitor, and cultured 16 h in inhibitor-free (control) medium to permit meiotic maturation. Four different medium supplements were used to maintain meiotic arrest: (1) 100 μM dibutyryl cAMP plus 1 mM hypoxanthine; (2) 4 mM hypoxanthine plus 0.75 mM adenosine (H + AR); (3) 300 μM dibutyryl cAMP; and (4) 50 μM IBMX. Parallel groups of oocytes were treated to the same experimental protocol except that no inhibitory compounds were used; eg, oocytes were cultured a total of 28 or 40 h in control medium that permitted the resumption of maturation. These latter groups tested the effect of extended culture of mature oocytes on subsequent development. Control oocytes were cultured 16 h in control medium. Oocytes were inseminated and subsequently assessed for development to two-cell and blastocyst stages. When oocytes were first cultured 12 or 24 h in medium that maintained meiotic arrest, development to two-cells in all groups but one were within 10% of controls (70%). The 24 h H + AR group was the one exception (47% two-cells). By contrast, culturing oocytes for 28 or 40 h in inhibitor-free medium resulted in a precipitous decrease in development to two cells (27% and 7%, respectively). Blastocyst development followed the same pattern. When uridine (U) was added to H + AR medium, development to two cells was increased significantly. Also, the addition of FSH to the maturation medium significantly increased both two-cell and blastocyst development in the H + AR and H + AR + U groups. Transfer of compacted morulae from the H + AR + U/FSH group into pseudopregnant hosts produced live young 19 days postinsemination. These data demonstrate that prolonged culture of oocytes matured in vitro decreased their capacity to undergo normal development following insemination, but if oocytes were maintained in meiotic arrest during prolonged culture and then allowed to mature spontaneously, their developmental potential was significantly preserved. These results also lend support for a physiological role of cAMP and purines in the maintenance of meiotic arrest in vivo.
The problem of Lyme borreliosis infections in urban and rural residents in Poland, based on National Health Fund data.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE Some fragmentary studies show that the incidence of Lyme borreliosis in Poland is increasing. It has been generally accepted that the most affected are forestry workers and farmers. The aim of the study is to compare the incidence of borreliosis in urban and rural residents in 2008-2016. MATERIAL AND METHODS Databases on Lyme borreliosis from the National Health Fund and Central Statistical Office in Poland were analyzed. For each patient, ambulatory or discharged from every hospital, the diagnosis was compulsorily reported as encoded following the International Classification of Diseases. RESULTS A steadily increasing number of patients with borreliosis in Poland was found, which doubled in 2008 - 2016. The incidence was similar in urban and rural residents. In all the provinces in Poland, an increase in incidence of borreliosis was observed, although there were big differences between them. The highest frequency of borreliosis was in Podlasie and Warmia-Masuria provinces. The lowest incidence of borreliosis was noticed in Wielkopolska province. In the most provinces the increase in the incidence of borreliosis was steady, except Warmia-Masuria, where it was very low in 2008, and soaring since 2011. The number of cases per year between 2008 - 2016 increased in both in males and females. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest the need for higher awareness of the risk of Lyme borreliosis in urban residents, because the incidence of Lyme borreliosis is growing independently of the place of residence. Prompt measures to prevent tick bites and appropriate education are urgently needed.
Phase-Shift PWM-Controlled DC–DC Converter with Secondary-Side Current Doubler Rectifier for On-Board Charger Application

A novel circuit topology for an on-board battery charger for plugged-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is presented in this paper. The proposed on-board battery charger is composed of three H-bridges on the primary side, a high-frequency transformer (HFT), and a current doubler circuit on the secondary side of the HFT. As part of an electric vehicle (EV) on-board charger, it is required to have a highly compact and efficient, lightweight, and isolated direct current (DC)–DC converter to enable battery charging through voltage/current regulation. In this work, performance characteristics of full-bridge phase-shift topology are analyzed and compared for EV charging applications. The current doubler with synchronous rectification topology is chosen due to its wider-range soft-switching availability over the full load range, and potential for a smaller and more compact size. The design employs a phase-shift full-bridge topology in the primary power stage. The current doubler with synchronous recitation is placed on the secondary. Over 92% of efficiency is achieved on the isolated charger. Design considerations for optimized zero-voltage transition are disused.
Experimental study on seismic performance of steel‐reinforced recycled concrete frame with infill wall

In order to investigate the seismic performance of steel‐reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) frame with infill wall, low cyclic loading tests on four frames with infill wall and one frame without infill wall were conducted. The failure modes, hysteresis loops, skeleton curves, bearing capacity, ductility, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation capacity of specimens were analyzed. The seismic performance of SRRC frames with and without infill wall was compared. The influence of the aspect ratio of infill wall, the axial compression ratio of column, and the distance of horizontal reinforcements of infill wall were investigated. Test results show that compared to the SRRC frame without infill wall, the SRRC frame with infill wall had higher bearing capacity and initial stiffness, but faster stiffness degradation and worse energy dissipation capacity. With the increase of aspect ratio of infill wall and axial compression ratio of column, the bearing capacity and initial stiffness of SRRC frame with infill wall increased, whereas the ductility decreased. With the decrease of distance of horizontal reinforcements of infill wall, the initial stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of SRRC frame with infill wall increased. After the infill wall fails under earthquake, the remaining SRRC frame has good seismic performance.
Courtship displays and mounting calls are honest, condition-dependent signals that influence mounting success in Hermann's tortoises

Like other terrestrial tortoises, the courtship behaviour of Hermann's tortoises (Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789) is based on a multiple signalling system that involves visual, olfactory, tactile, and acoustic signals. In this study, we analysed relationships between male morphology, hematological profile, courtship intensity, vocalizations, and mounting success in Hermann's tortoises breeding in semi-natural enclosures to investigate the effects of male condi- tion on signals exhibited during courtship and on their mounting success. Results showed that mounting success of Hermann's tortoise males was positively affected by the number of sexual interactions/h, number of bites given to the female during interactions, and by call rate and frequency-modulation range. Call rate, frequency-modulation range, and number of sexual interaction/h increased with hematocrit value, while number of bites given to females decreased with leukocyte concentration. In conclusion, courtship signals exhibited by Hermann's tortoise males, including vocaliza- tions, reliably reveal different components of male condition, and females may use these multiple traits to choose high- quality partners. This is the first study documenting the condition-dependent nature of tortoise courting signals and their effect on male mounting success.
THE SENSITIVITY OF DIFFERENT BREWING YEAST STRAINS TO CARBON DIOXIDE INHIBITION: FERMENTATION AND PRODUCTION OF FLAVOUR‐ACTIVE VOLATILE COMPOUNDS

The sensitivity of brewing yeast strains, with different oxygen demands, to carbon dioxide inhibition was investigated. Laboratory fermentations were performed with, and without, protein-based “yeast foods” to lower dissolved CO2 during fermentation. Differences were observed in yeast fermentative performance in the presence and absence of “yeast foods” for all yeast strains tested. Fermentation performance was improved with the addition of “yeast foods”. There was improved carbohydrate utilisation and amino acid uptake, while acetaldehyde levels at the end of fermentation were decreased. There was an increase in fusel oil production and acetate ester levels at the end of fermentation. Sulphur dioxide levels at the end of fermentation were unaffected by “yeast food” addition. Different yeast strains displayed differing sensitivity to CO2 inhibition for all parameters tested. Sensitivity to CO2 was not found to be related to oxygen demand of the yeast strains.
Attribute-Cooperated Convolutional Neural Network for Remote Sensing Image Classification

Remote sensing image (RSI) classification is one of the most important fields in RSI processing. It is well known that RSIs are very complicated due to its various kinds of contents. Therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish different scene categories with similar visual contents, like desert and bare land. To address hard negative categories, an attribute-cooperated convolutional neural network (ACCNN) is proposed to exploit attributes as additional guiding information. First, the classification branch extracts convolutional neural network feature, which is then utilized to recognize the RSI scene categories. Second, the attribute branch is proposed to make the network distinguish scene categories efficiently. The proposed attribute branch shares feature extraction layers with the classification branch and makes the classification branch aware of extra attribute information. Finally, the relationship branch constraints the relationship between the classification branch and the attribute branch. To exploit the attribute information, three attribute-classification data sets are generated (AC-AID, AC-UCM, and AC-Sydney). Experimental results show that the proposed method is competitive to state-of-the-art methods. The data sets are available at https://github.com/CrazyStoneonRoad/Attribute-Cooperated-Classification-Data sets.
The effect of concentration and form of dietary nitrogen on the utilization and excretion of nitrogen by lactating dairy cows

Three total mixed rations containing differing sources and levels of protein were fed to 18 lactating cows in a 3 × 3 Latin square design with the objective of quantitating nitrogen losses for specific feeding regimes. Feeding a total mixed ration containing 12.3% crude protein reduced the amount of nitrogen excreted and increased the proportion of dietary nitrogen secreted in the milk. The diet supplemented with corn gluten meal resulted in high blood urea nitrogen levels and higher losses of nitrogen in the urine. It was concluded that diet formulation impacts on nitrogen wastage. Key words: Lactating cows, nitrogen source, level and wastage
Processing of potential upper respiratory tract probiotics by spray drying

Abstract To shorten the duration of upper respiratory tract (URT) diseases or reduce the symptoms alternative treatments to antibiotics and decongestants are needed, due to their side effects and frequent failure. Recent human microbiome research has led to the hypothesis that beneficial bacteria, capable of colonizing the human URT, could constitute an interesting approach to prevent and reduce URT diseases. Since probiotics are live microorganisms with a beneficial effect on the host, it is important that the probiotic bacteria are delivered at the site of action, without hampering their viability. Here, the formulation applicability of eight new probiotic candidates belonging to the Lactobacillus genus was evaluated after spray drying. Besides viability, growth and fermentation abilities after drying were confirmed through experiments. A promising strain was chosen for further optimization. Microscopic visualization and flow cytometry of bacterial morphology identified spray drying as a suitable processing method. Adhesion experiments indicated no changes in functionality. Lastly, the contact time between bacteria and hot drying air was identified as a crucial parameter in spray drying of probiotics.
Pharmacognostic and Phytochemical Studies of Leaves of Psydrax horizontalis Schum. and Thonn (Rubiaceae)

Medicinal plants are one of the sources of natural products for the treatment and management of debilitating diseases. The use of plant extracts and isolated pure compounds has provided the basis for the production of herbal medicines and phytopharmaceutical compounds.1 For a healthcare product to be globally accepted, it must be scientifically validated to ascertain its level of purity, potency, efficacy and safety.2,3
Using a Strategic Environmental Assessment framework to quantify the environmental impact of bioenergy plans

Renewable energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets are driving an acceleration in the use of bioenergy resources. The environmental impact of national and regional development plans must be assessed in compliance with the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive (2001/42/EC). Here, we quantify the environmental impact of an Irish Government bioenergy plan to replace 30% of peat used in three peat‐burning power stations, located within the midlands region, with biomass. Four plan alternatives for supplying biomass to the power plant were considered in this study: (1) importation of palm kernel shell from south‐east Asia, (2) importation of olive cake pellets from Spain and (3) growing either willow or (4) Miscanthus in the vicinity of the power stations. The impact of each alternative on each of the environmental receptors proposed in the SEA Directive was first quantified before the data were normalized on either an Irish, regional or global scale. Positive environmental impacts were very small compared to the negative environmental impacts for each of the plan alternatives considered. Comparison of normalized indicator values confirmed that the adverse environmental consequences of each plan alternative are concentrated at the location where the biomass is produced. The analysis showed that the adverse environmental consequences of biomass importation are substantially greater than those associated with the use of willow and Miscanthus grown on former grassland. The use of olive cake pellets had a greater adverse environmental effect compared to the use of peat whereas replacement of peat with either willow or Miscanthus feedstocks led to a substantial reduction in environmental pressure. The proposed assessment framework combines the scope of SEA with the quantitative benefits of life cycle assessment and can be used to evaluate the environmental consequences of bioenergy plans.
MACHINE LEARNING MODEL FOR ESTIMATION OF SYSTEM PROPERTIES DURING CYCLING OF COAL-FIRED STEAM GENERATOR

The intermittent nature of renewable energy, variations in energy demand, and fluctuations in oil and gas prices have all contributed to variable demand for power generation from coal-burning power plants. The varying demand leads to load-follow and on/off operations referred to as cycling. Cycling causes transients of properties such as pressure and temperature within various components of the steam generation system. The transients can cause increased damage because of fatigue and creep-fatigue interactions shortening the life of components. The data-driven model based on artificial neural networks (ANN) is developed for the first time to estimate properties of the steam generator components during cycling operations of a power plant. This approach utilizes data from the Coal Creek Station power plant located in North Dakota, USA collected over 10 years with a 1-hour resolution. Cycling characteristics of the plant are identified using a time-series of gross power. The ANN model estimates the component properties, for a given gross power profile and initial conditions, as they vary during cycling operations. As a representative example, the ANN estimates are presented for the superheater outlet pressure, reheater inlet temperature, and flue gas temperature at the air heater inlet. The changes in these variables as a function of the gross power over the time duration are compared with measurements to assess the predictive capability of the model. Mean square errors of 4.49E-04 for superheater outlet pressure, 1.62E-03 for reheater inlet temperature, and 4.14E-04 for flue gas temperature at the air heater inlet were observed.
Entomological profile and new registers of the genera Anopheles (Diptera, Culicidae) in a Brazilian rural community of the District of Coxipó do Ouro, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso

The order Diptera is constituted of insects that possess numerous varieties of habitats, these winged, commonly called mosquitoes, comprise a monophyletic group. Malaria transmitters in Brazil are represented by mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus, being it principal vector species Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) darlingi Root. Collectings were accomplished in the rural area of Cuiabá in the region of Coxipó do Ouro/MT, and a total 4,773 adult mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles were obtained. The prevailing species in the collectings where An. (Nys.) darlingi with 3,905 (81.8%), considered the vector of major epidemiological expression in the region, followed by Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) argyritarsis (Robineau-Desvoidy) 267 (5.6%) and Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) triannulatus (Neiva & Pinto) 226 (4.7%). This report might be useful to entomological surveillance, demonstrating that the Coxipó do Ouro/MT locality might be elected as an area to be monitored, once the presence of such vector in this type of environment indicates a potential malaria transmission risk for the neighbouring regions in the state of Mato Grosso.