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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202106.0162.v1

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Capirona (Calycophyllum spruceanum Benth.) from the Peruvian Amazon Assessed by RAPD Markers

Carla Saldaña, Johan Cancan, Wilbert Cruz, Mirian Correa, Miriam Ramos, Eloy Cuellar, Carlos Arbizu

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: Amazon forest; capirona; molecular markers; genetic diversity; population structure

Online: 7 June 2021 (10:06:14 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202105.0553.v1

New Reports of Wild Mushroom Diversity from Foothill Region of Uttarakhand

Vasundhra Sharma, A. K. Jaitly

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: mushroom; organic-debris; fruiting bodies; diversity; frequency

Online: 24 May 2021 (10:22:51 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202105.0465.v1

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of a Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayana) Collection

Alemayehu Teressa Negawo, Meki S. Muktar, Yilikal Assefa, Jean Hanson, Alieu M. Sartie, Ermias Habte, Chris S. Jones

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: DArTSeq markers; genetic diversity; Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana); subset

Online: 20 May 2021 (09:46:57 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202105.0305.v1

Distance Only Brings You Closer: Application of ISSR Markers to Analyze Molecular Relationships in Roses (Rosa spp.) - The Symbol of Love

Tanay Joshi, Santosh Kumar, Lalit Arya, Amritbir Riar

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: ISSR; Rosa spp.; DNA fingerprinting; genotypes; genetic diversity

Online: 13 May 2021 (14:01:21 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202105.0050.v1

Diversity and Reassortment Rate of Influenza a Viruses in Wild Ducks and Gulls

Yulia Postnikova, Anastasia Treshchalina, Elizaveta Boravleva, Alexandra Gambaryan, Aydar Ishmukhametov, Mikhail Matrosovich, Ron A.M. Fouchier, Galina Sadykova, Alexei Prilipov, Natalia Lomakina

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: Avian influenza; Reassortment; Diversity

Online: 5 May 2021 (12:32:39 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202104.0746.v1

Urbanization Effect on the Ant Diversity and Composition in an Arid City

Mahmoud Saleh Abdel-Dayem, Gamal Mohamed Orabi, Mostafa Rizk Sharaf, Jonathan David Majer, Mohammed Khalid Al-Sadoon, Abdulrahman Saad Aldawood, Hathal Mohammed Aldhafer

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: abundance; diversity; indicator species; Riyadh, species richness, urbanization; Wadi Hanifa

Online: 28 April 2021 (10:42:11 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202104.0659.v1

A Checklist of Indigenous Ichthyofauna in the Dhanu River and Surrounding Wetlands of Bangladesh: Current Status, Population Trends and Threats

Debasish Pandit, Shuva Saha, Mrityunjoy Kunda, Ahmed Harun-Al-Rashid

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: Beel, conservation, fish diversity, IUCN, native fishes

Online: 26 April 2021 (12:06:18 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202104.0644.v1

Simulating Imaging Spectroscopy in Tropical Forest with 3D Radiative Transfer Modeling

Dav M. Ebengo, Florian de Boissieu, Gregoire Vincent, Christiane Weber, Jean-Baptiste Féret

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science And Meteorology Keywords: Diversity mapping; Imaging spectroscopy; Leaf traits; Radiative transfer; DART; PROSPECT

Online: 23 April 2021 (13:47:28 CEST)

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Optical remote sensing can contribute to biodiversity monitoring and species composition mapping in tropical forests. Inferring ecological information from canopy reflectance is complex and data availability suitable to such a task is limiting, which makes simulation tools particularly important in this context. We explored the capability of the 3D radiative transfer model DART to simulate top of canopy reflectance acquired with airborne imaging spectroscopy in complex tropical forest, and to reproduce spectral dissimilarity within and among species, as well as species discrimination based on spectral information. We focused on two factors contributing to these canopy reflectance properties: the horizontal variability in leaf optical properties (LOP) and the fraction of non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPVf). The variability in LOP was induced by changes in leaf pigment content, and defined for each pixel based on a hybrid approach combining radiative transfer modeling and spectral indices. The influence of LOP variability on simulated reflectance was tested by considering variability at species, individual tree crown and pixel level. We incorporated NPVf into simulations following two approaches, either considering NPVf as a part of wood area density in each voxel or using leaf brown pigments. We validated the different scenarios by comparing simulated scenes with experimental airborne imaging spectroscopy using statistical metrics, spectral dissimilarity (within crowns, within species, and among species dissimilarity) and supervised classification for species discrimination. The simulation of NPVf based on leaf brown pigments resulted in the closest match between measured and simulated canopy reflectance. The definition of LOP at pixel level resulted in conservation of the spectral dissimilarity and expected performances for species discrimination. Our simulation framework could contribute to better understand performances for species discrimination and relationship between spectral variations and taxonomic and functional dimensions of biodiversity.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202104.0250.v1

Guaranted Diversity and Optimality in Cost Function Network Based Computational Protein Design Methods

Manon Ruffini, Jelena Vucinic, Simon de Givry, George Katsirelos, Sophie Barbe, Thomas Schiex

Subject: Computer Science And Mathematics, Computer Science Keywords: Computational Protein Design; Graphical Models; Automata; Cost Function Networks; Structural Biology; Diversity.

Online: 9 April 2021 (09:47:16 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202103.0379.v1

The Genomic Organisation of the TRA/TRD Locus Validates the Peculiar Characteristics of Dromedary δ-Chain Expression

Serafina Massari, Giovanna Linguiti, Francesco Giannico, Pietro D'Addabbo, Salvatrice Maria Ciccarese, Rachele Antonacci

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: γδ T cell; T cell receptor; TRA/TRD locus; Variable, Diversity, Joining and Constant genes; complementarity determining region-3; δ chain; somatic hypermutation; Camelidae

Online: 15 March 2021 (12:32:41 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202103.0254.v1

Distribution of Insect in Protected Forest Area in Ambon City

fransina latumahina

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: Insects; Diversity; ecosystem health; Ambon

Online: 9 March 2021 (10:03:23 CET)

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Working Paper ESSAY

Shifting Our Value System Beyond Citations for a More Equitable Future

Sarah Davies, Hollie Putnam, Tracy Ainsworth, Julia Baum, Colleen Bove, Sarah Crosby, Isabelle Côté, Anne Duplouy, Robinson Fulweiler, Alyssa Griffin, Torrance Hanley, Tessa Hill, Adriana Humanes, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Anna Metaxas, Laura Parker, Hanny Rivera, Nyssa Silbiger, Nicola Smith, Ana Spalding, Nikki Traylor-Knowles, Brooke Weigel, Rachel Wright, Amanda Bates

Subject: Social Sciences, Other Keywords: mentorship; citations; bias; sexism; racism; equity; diversity; inclusion; wellbeing

Online: 22 February 2021 (16:17:45 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0614.v1

Unlocking the Patterns of the Tunisian Durum Wheat Landraces Genetic Structure Based on Phenotypic Characterization in Relation to Farmer’s Vernacular Name

Cyrine Robbana, Zakaria Kehel, Karim Ammar, Carlos Guzmán, M’Barek Ben Naceur, Ahmed Amri

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: Durum wheat; Tunisian landraces; genetic diversity; population structure; phenotypic characterization

Online: 29 January 2021 (11:53:26 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0238.v1

Artificial Reefs in the North-East Atlantic Area: Present Situation, Knowledge Gaps and Future Perspectives

Bianca Reis, Pieter van der Linden, Isabel Sousa Pinto, Emanuel Almada, Maria Teresa Borges, Alice E. Hall, Rick Stafford, Roger J.H. Herbert, Jorge Lobo-Arteaga, Maria José Gaudêncio, Miriam Tuaty-Guerra, Océane Ly, Valentin Georges, Mariane Audo, Nassim Sebaibi, Mohamed Boutouil, Elena Blanco-Fernandez, João N. Franco

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: Artificial reefs; design; building material; bio-monitoring; species diversity; European Atlantic

Online: 13 January 2021 (10:31:56 CET)

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Artificial reefs have been deployed in multiple regions of the world for different purposes including habitat restoration and protection, biodiversity and fish stock enhancement, fisheries management and recreation. Artificial reefs can be a valuable tool for ecosystem protection and rehabilitation, helping mitigate the effects of anthropogenic impacts that we face today. However, knowledge on artificial reefs is unevenly distributed worldwide, with some regions having much more quality information available and published (e.g. European Mediterranean Sea area), while others, for instance the North-East Atlantic area, do not. Here, we provide a characterization of purposely built artificial reefs in North-East Atlantic area based on all available literature (i.e. research papers and reports), highlighting the needs and gaps that are vital for establishing future perspectives for artificial reef deployment and research. In the North-East Atlantic area, sixty-one purposely built artificial reefs have been deployed since 1970, mostly between the years 1990-2009, with Spain being the country with the highest number of artificial reefs. The most reported purpose for their deployment is fisheries productivity and habitat/species protection, although, most artificial reefs are multipurpose in order to maximise the benefits of a given financial investment. The majority of artificial reefs were submerged at < 50 m, mainly between 10-20 m of depth. The most used designs were cubic blocks and complex designs made by an array of combined shapes, which mostly consist of concrete (79%). From all the analysed data on artificial reefs, 67% of the cases reported surveys to assess biodiversity after the deployment. However, in 26% of those cases, data was not available. When data was available, only 31% of cases reported long-term biomonitoring surveys (3 years or more). Based upon these findings, we noticed a general lack of scientifically robust data, including records of species and abundance of both fish and invertebrates, as well as macroalgae. Preventing an adequate determination of the best balance between shape, construction material and bio-colonization. Critiques and suggestions are discussed in the light of current available data in order to perform more efficient research, evaluation and functioning of future artificial reefs.

Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0236.v1

Facing Racism and Sexism in Science by Fighting against Social Implicit Bias: A Latin and Black Woman Perspective.

Karin Calaza, Fatima Erthal, Mirtes Pereira, Kita Macario, Veronica Daflon, Isabel David, Helena Castro, Maria Vargas, Laura Martins, Jasmin Stariolo, Eliane Volchan, Leticia Oliveira

Subject: Social Sciences, Psychology Keywords: implict bias; gender disparity; diversity; racial dispariry

Online: 12 January 2021 (17:51:36 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0173.v1

Molecular Epidemiology Surveillance of SARS-Cov-2: Mutations and Genetic Diversity One Year After Emerging

Alejandro Flores-Alanis, Armando Cruz-Rangel, Flor Rodríguez-Gómez, James González, Carlos Alberto Torres-Guerrero, Gabriela Delgado, Alejandro Cravioto, Rosario Morales-Espinosa

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; genetic diversity; molecular surveillance; natural selection; non-synonymous substitution

Online: 11 January 2021 (09:50:55 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0172.v1

Seeing and Overcoming the Complexities of Intersectionality

Cate Thomas, Colleen MacMillan, Merryn McKinnon, Hayley Torabi, Megan Osmond, Ellen Swavley, Tamzen Armer, Kimberley Doyle

Subject: Business, Economics And Management, Accounting And Taxation Keywords: Intersectionality; gender equity; Intersectionality Walk; organisational change; inclusion; strategy; STEMM; diversity

Online: 11 January 2021 (09:48:59 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0045.v1

Kombucha Tea as a Reservoir of Cellulose Producing Bacteria: Assessing Diversity Among Komagataeibacter Isolates

Salvatore La China, Luciana De Vero, Kavitha Anguluri, Marcello Brugnoli, Dhouha Mamlouk, Maria Gullo

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: Kombucha tea; microbial diversity; bacterial cellulose; Komagataeibacter xylinus; repetitive elements sequence-based rep-PCR; typing

Online: 4 January 2021 (13:24:41 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202012.0713.v1

The Moderating Effects of Institutional Qualities and Energy Use on the Economic Output

Abdulrasheed Zakari, Jurij Toplak

Subject: Business, Economics And Management, Accounting And Taxation Keywords: Economic output; Energy use; Institutional quality; cultural diversity; FMOLS

Online: 29 December 2020 (07:44:08 CET)

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Preprint COMMUNICATION | doi:10.20944/preprints202012.0590.v1

Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands

Axel Hacala, Clément Gouraud, Wouter Dekoninck, Julien Pétillon

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science And Meteorology Keywords: sampling method; estimated richness; functional diversity; maritime cliffs; Western France

Online: 23 December 2020 (13:54:54 CET)

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Preprint CONCEPT PAPER | doi:10.20944/preprints202012.0514.v1

Seeing the Trees in the World’s Forests: An Extension of the Forest Transition Concept

Jean-Daniel Bontemps, Jean-Christophe Hervé, Pascal Marty

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: forest transition; land-use change; returning forests; global change; growing stock; stand structure; composition; diversity; forest policy

Online: 21 December 2020 (11:32:35 CET)

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The forest transition – or forest-area transition – has been put forward as a land-use concept by A.S. Mather in 1992 (The forest transition. Area 24, 367-379), to describe the historical trend generally observed in the forest area of developed countries, embodied in a V-shaped curve of the forest area over time, and that may serve as a paradigm to understand and anticipate deforestation in the developing world. Well in line with a geographical approach to forests, forest transition has thus been defined as one-dimensional, forest area being the reference state variable. From a forestry perspective, the analysis appears to be reductive, as forests are described by many other state variables than area, including forest growing stock, composition in tree species, or stand structure. Whether the drivers of forest transition (population dynamics, economic modes of production and consciousness, as classified by Mather) also impact these other forest state variables in a general way thus comes forth as a logical issue.From a deductive analysis of forest transition drivers, and from forest trends brought to light in Europe, France, and at other places in the world, we here argue that the forest transition concept can be extended to a multi-dimensional space of forest attributes, characterized by typical ideal dynamics. Cumulative impacts onto forests and irreversible losses in forest biodiversity over a forest transition are hence highlighted. Global change, as a parallel consequence of countries’ developing process, further appears as one additional albeit less coupled dimension of forest transition, as it modifies forest productivity and vitality over time. Since forest ecosystem services and forest profitability primarily depend on such attributes, we argue that the extension of the forest transition concept has significance for land-use change and forest protection issues. A prospect on future changes in the forests of developed countries with the European space as a benchmark is finally proposed that leads to extend the temporal significance of forest transition. Though poorly described, returning forests on abandoned agricultural lands are significant, and deserve greater attention.

Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0313.v2

Complementary Approaches to Understand Anthelmintic Resistance Using Free-Living and Parasitic Nematodes

Janneke Wit, Clayton Dilks, Erik Andersen

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science And Zoology Keywords: drug resistance; natural diversity; C. elegans; anthelmintics

Online: 25 November 2020 (14:47:29 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0454.v1

Molecular Epidemiology of Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) Isolates of Hospitalized Children from Bolivia Reveal High Heterogeneity and Multidrug-Resistance

Enrique Joffre, Volga Iñiguez

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: Enteroaggregative E. coli; infant diarrhea; genetic diversity; severity; multidrug-resistance E. coli; Bolivia

Online: 17 November 2020 (14:10:29 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0385.v1

mySORT: A Web Framework by using Deconvolution Approach to Estimating Immune Cell Composition from Complex Tissues

Shu-Hwa Chen, Bo-Yi Yu, Wen-Yu Kuo, Ya-Bo Lin, Sheng-Yao Su, I-Hsuan Lu, Chung-Yen Lin

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Immunology And Allergy Keywords: Cancer; Immunotherapy; Deconvolution; Alpha diversity; Beta diversity; Precision medicine; Microenvironment; Single-cell RNA sequencing

Online: 13 November 2020 (14:18:40 CET)

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Cancer immunotherapy reaches a remarkable achievement in various cancer types and brings new possibilities to improve cancer patients’ long-term survival. However, outcomes vary from case to case, and the present protocol benefits a small fraction of patients. One notable factor is the tumor microenvironment, especially the immune cell components, that may reflect the immune response's status quo on site. Thus, understanding the content of infiltrating immune cells in tumors is not only for research interesting but also a crucial subject toward precision medicine. We implement an algorithm for resolving relative proportions of twenty-one immune cell subclasses from a human tissue profiled transcriptome by microarray technology to reach the goal above. By selecting gene features and then adopting ?-Support Vector Regression, we can construct a deconvolution model and resolve the immune cell context. The excellent consistency between the estimated values and the correct immune-cell composition further demonstrates this approach provides a more natural alternative to revealing samples' immune cell content and reliable results like recent single-cell technologies. Based on this algorithm, the web-based deconvolution tool implemented named mySORT provides a user-friendly interface for estimating the immune cell content by uploading gene expression profiling. We also present comprehensive visualization 2D/3D plots in mySORT so that users can easily make a comparison between different samples. Finally, we synthesized pseudo-bulk expression data from single-cell transcriptomic datasets of 17 melanoma and 16 head and neck cancer patients. The deconvolution results of microarray-based data in the previous study and synthetic pseudo-bulk data all proved the excellent performance of mySORT. We believe that mySORT can help researchers in all fields easily understand complex immune microenvironment. The website of mySORT is freely accessible on https://symbiosis.iis.sinica.edu.tw/mySORT/.

Preprint CONCEPT PAPER | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0342.v1

You are Welcome Here: Considerations of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Embracing New Ecologists

Bonnie M. McGill, Madison J. Foster, Abagael N. Pruitt, Samantha Gabrielle Thomas, Emily R. Arsenault, Janaye Hanschu, Kynser Wahwahsuck, Evan Cortez, Kaci Zarek, Terrance D. Loecke, Amy J. Burgin

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: Undergraduate research experience; diversity; equity; inclusion; science communication

Online: 12 November 2020 (11:31:22 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0308.v1

Seascape Genomics of the Sugar Kelp Saccharina latissima Along the North Eastern Atlantic Latitudinal Gradient

Jaromir Guzinski, Paolo Ruggeri, Marion Ballenghien, Stephane Mauger, Bertrand Jacquemin, Chloe Jollivet, Jerome Coudret, Lucie Jaugeon, Christophe Destombe, Myriam Valero

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: local adaptation; genetic diversity; outlier loci; environmental variables; phylogeography; SNPs and microsatellites

Online: 10 November 2020 (12:11:18 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0290.v1

Diverse and Integrative Explanations for Plant Productivity–Richness Relationships

Zhenhong Wang, Juan Arratia, Ting Yan, Cong Zhang, Alessandro Chiarucci

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Plant Sciences Keywords: plant diversity; plant productivity; humped pattern; intrinsic rate of species richness; complementary effect; resource availability; disturbance; species pool effect; competition exclusion; process integration

Online: 10 November 2020 (08:28:28 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0220.v1

Tree – Open Grassland Structure and Composition Drive Greenhouse Gas Exchange in Holm Oak Meadows of the Iberian Peninsula

Mercedes Ibañez, María José Leiva, Cristina Chocarro, Salvador Aljazairi, Àngela Ribas, Maria Teresa Sebastià

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science And Meteorology Keywords: canopy; CH4; CO2; dehesas; diversity-interaction model; N2O; plant functional types

Online: 5 November 2020 (17:53:12 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0065.v1

Phylogenetically Diverse Escherichia Coli Strains From Chicken Co-Harbour Multiple Carbapenemase Encoding Genes (blaNDM-blaOXA-blaIMP)

Erkihun Aklilu, Azian Harun, Kirnpal Kaur Banga Singh, Shamsaldeen Ibrahim, Nor Fadhilah Kamaruzzaman

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE); E.coli; Antimicrobial Resistance; Multidrug resistance; Phylogenetic diversity; chicken; food animals; Antimicrobials

Online: 2 November 2020 (17:14:31 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202010.0604.v1

People-Centeredness, Chronic Conditions and Diversity Sensitive eHealth: Exploring Emancipation of the ‘Health Care System’ and the ‘Patient’ in Health Informatics

Lars Botin, Pernille S. Bertelsen, Christian Nøhr

Subject: Computer Science And Mathematics, Algebra And Number Theory Keywords: eHealth; end-user; chronic disease; participatory design; socio-technical; diversity in care

Online: 29 October 2020 (09:30:26 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202010.0149.v1

Advances in Melon Breeding (Cucumis melo L.): An Update

Hari Kesh, Prashant Kaushik

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: breeding; diversity; genetic engineering; genomics; male sterility; melon; QTLs

Online: 7 October 2020 (09:22:33 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0584.v1

Impact of Eukaryotic Enteric Pathogens on Malian Children’s Gut Mycobiota

Aly Kodio, Estelle Menu, Safiatou Doumbo, Drissa Coulibaly, Abdoulaye Kassoum Koné, Salimata Konaté, Mamadou Lamine Tall, Ogobara K. Doumbo, Didier Raoult, Mahamadou Aly Thera, Stéphane Ranque

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: fungal community; gut mycobiota; diversity; ITS metabarcoding; intestinal parasites; children; Mali

Online: 24 September 2020 (12:24:53 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0387.v1

Environmental Diversity Assessment to Enhance Attractineness of Eco-tourism in Asir Region, Saudi Arabia

Jamilah Al Mohaya, Mena Elassal

Subject: Social Sciences, Geography, Planning And Development Keywords: environmental diversity; eco-tourism; Asir region; GIS; RS

Online: 17 September 2020 (08:06:50 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0378.v1

The Relationship Between Category Richness and Morphological Diversity in Jewel Beetles

Yijie Tong, Haidong Yang, Xingke Yang, Ming Bai

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Insect Science Keywords: morphological diversity; species richness; jewel beetle; geometric morphometrics; elytron; pronotum

Online: 17 September 2020 (05:56:52 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0303.v1

The Strawberry Line’s Breeding Birds and their Biophilic Benefits (Vale of Winscombe Section)

Lincoln Garland

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: Breeding birds; bird diversity; birdsong; biophilic; mental wellbeing; Nature’s Fix; Strawberry Line; Vale of Winscombe; Mendip Hills

Online: 13 September 2020 (23:51:52 CEST)

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Working Paper COMMUNICATION

A Robust Goal Is Needed for Species in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Brooke A. Williams, James E.M. Watson, Stuart H.M. Butchart, Michelle Ward, Thomas M. Brooks, Nathalie Butt, Friederike C. Bolam, Simon N. Stuart, Louise Mair, Philip J. K. McGowan, Richard Gregory, Craig Hilton-Taylor, David Mallon, Ian Harrison, Jeremy S. Simmonds

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: Post-2020; Global Biodiversity Framework; Zero draft; Aichi Targets; Convention on Biological Diversity; biodiversity; extinction; conservation; IUCN Red List

Online: 5 September 2020 (06:27:39 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201906.0019.v2

Mathematical Basis for the Assessment of Antibiotic Resistance and Administrative Counter-Strategies

Hans H. Diebner, Anna Kather, Ingo Roeder, Katja de With

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: antibiotic cycling; antibiotic mixing; antibiotic resistance; diversity; entropy; heterogeneity

Online: 27 August 2020 (08:03:07 CEST)

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Diversity as well as temporal and spatial changes of the proportional abundances of different antibiotics (cycling, mixing or combinations thereof) have been hypothesised to be an effective administrative control strategy in hospitals to reduce the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in nosocomial or community-acquired infections. However, a rigorous assessment of the efficacy of these control strategies is lacking. The main purpose here is to present a mathematical framework for the assessment of control stategies from a processual stance. To this end, we adopt diverse measures of heterogeneity and diversity of proportional abundances based on the concept of entropy from other fields and adapt them to the needs in assessing the impact of variations in antibiotic consumption on antibiotic resistance. Thereby, we derive a family of diversity measures whose members exhibit different degrees of complexity. Most important, we extent these measures such that they account for the assessment of temporal changes in heterogeneity including otherwise undetected diversity-invariant permutations of antibiotics consumption and prevalence of resistant pathogens. We apply a correlation analysis for the assessment of associations between changes of heterogeneities on the antibiotics and on the pathogen side. As a showcase, which serves as a proof-of-principle, we apply the derived methods to records of antibiotic consumption and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant germs from University Hospital Dresden. Besides the quantification of heterogeneities of antibiotics consumption and antibiotic resistance, we show that a reduction of prevalence of antibiotic-resistant germs correlates with a temporal change of similarity with respect to the first observation of antibiotics consumption, although heterogeneity remains approximately constant. Although an interventional study is pending, our mathematical framework turns out to be a viable concept for the assessment and optimisation of control strategies intended to reduce antibiotic resistance.

Preprint TECHNICAL NOTE | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0467.v1

Selective HLA Restriction Permits the Evaluation and Interpretation of Immunogenic Breadth at Comparable Levels to Autologous HLA

Jonathan Hare, Andrew Fiore-Gartland, Edward McGowan, Rachel Rosenthal, Eric Hunter, Jill Gilmour, Morten Nielsen

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: HLA diversity; HLA frequency; predicted T-cell epitopes; immunogenic breath

Online: 21 August 2020 (03:39:15 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0326.v1

New Methods for Improved Prosumer Trading and Energy Poverty Mitigation in Microgrids using Crowdsourcing Concepts and Blockchain Technologies

Bogdan-Constantin Neagu, Ovidiu Ivanov, Gheorghe Grigoras, Mihai Gavrilas, Dumitru-Marcel Istrate

Subject: Engineering, Electrical And Electronic Engineering Keywords: local electricity market, smart grids, distributed generation, prosumers, blockchain, energy poverty, market diversity.

Online: 14 August 2020 (12:03:19 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0256.v1

New Methods for Improved Prosumer Trading and Energy Poverty Mitigation in Microgrids using Crowdsourcing Concepts and Blockchain Technologies

Bogdan-Constantin Neagu, Ovidiu Ivanov, Gheorghe Grigoras, Mihai Gavrilas, Dumitru-Marcel Istrate

Subject: Engineering, Electrical And Electronic Engineering Keywords: local electricity market; smart grids; distributed generation; prosumers; blockchain; energy poverty; market diversity

Online: 11 August 2020 (07:53:27 CEST)

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Preprint COMMUNICATION | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0021.v1

Safe Fieldwork Strategies for At-Risk Individuals

Amelia-Juliette Demery, Monique Pipkin

Subject: Social Sciences, Safety Research Keywords: diversity; inclusion; equity; fieldwork; research

Online: 2 August 2020 (11:55:47 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202007.0668.v1

Gut Microbiome in Children from Indigenous and Urban Communities in Mexico: Different Subsistence Models Different Microbiomes

Andres Sanchez-Quinto, Daniel Cerqueda-García, Luisa I. Falcón, Osiris Gaona, Santiago Martinez, Javier Nieto, Isaac González-Santoyo

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: Intestinal microbiome; infant microbiota; diet; westernized; non-westernized; lifestyle; microbial diversity; human health

Online: 28 July 2020 (08:37:38 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202007.0333.v1

The Impact of Climate Change and Global Warming on Utilization of Crop Genetic Resources

Ardeshir B. Damania

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Agricultural Science And Agronomy Keywords: Abiotic stress; Biotic stress; Adaptation; Climate change; Diaseases; Diversity; Genetic Resources; Gene bank; Wild relatives

Online: 15 July 2020 (11:21:07 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202007.0218.v1

Temporal and Cultivar-Specific Effects on Potato Root- and Rhizosphere Fungal Diversity

Kaire Loit, Liina Soonvald, Alar Astover, Eve Runno-Paurson, Maarja Öpik, Leho Tedersoo

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Agricultural Science And Agronomy Keywords: Solanum tuberosum; agroecosystems; high-throughput sequencing; fungal guild, fungal diversity; host specificity; potato cultivars

Online: 11 July 2020 (02:02:34 CEST)

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Working Paper ARTICLE

A Novel Clinical Research Modality for Enrolling Diverse Participants Using a Diverse Team

Phoebe Lay

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Clinical Medicine Keywords: brain injuries; traumatic brain injury; children; diversity; student-led; participant-focused; recruitment; sample; methods

Online: 7 July 2020 (04:42:39 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202006.0323.v1

Understanding Inclusion within Diversity: Meaning, Model, and Practice

Kaja Brix, Olivia Lee, Sorina Stalla

Subject: Social Sciences, Sociology Keywords: diversity and inclusion; science; social pain; theory of inclusion; framework model of inclusion; practice of inclusion; meaning of inclusion

Online: 28 June 2020 (08:50:35 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0359.v1

Genomic Diversity and Evolution, Diagnosis, Prevention, and Therapeutics of the Pandemic COVID-19 Disease

M. Nazmul Hoque, Abed Chaudhury, Md. Abdul Mannan Akanda, M. Anwar Hossain, Md Tofazzal Islam

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; genetic diversity; genome evolution; diagnostics; therapeutics; vaccines

Online: 20 April 2020 (02:33:15 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0333.v1

Visiting Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) from a Breeding Perspective: A Review

Hari Kesh, Prashant Kaushik

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: bitter gourd; breeding; genetic diversity; genomics; heterosis; molecular breeding; mutation breeding

Online: 19 April 2020 (06:00:00 CEST)

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Working Paper HYPOTHESIS

Human Genetic Diversity Possibly Determines Human's Compliance to COVID-19

Yiqiang Zhao, Yunchun Gu, Yongji Liu, Sa Li, Yuzhan Wang, Lina Bu, Qi Liu, Hongyi Lv, Fang Wan, Lida Wu, Zemin Ning

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: COVID-19; severe symptoms; inactivation; genetic diversity

Online: 16 April 2020 (09:15:49 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0012.v1

LANaPD: Towards a Unified Latin America Natural Products Database

José L. Medina-Franco

Subject: Chemistry And Materials Science, Theoretical Chemistry Keywords: chemoinformatics; chemical space; database; LANaPD; molecular diversity; drug discovery; natural sources

Online: 2 April 2020 (04:47:13 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202003.0334.v1

Improving Link Reliability of IEEE 802.15.4g SUN Networks with Adaptive Modulation Diversity

Ruan Delgado Gomes, Pere Tuset-Peiró, Xavier Vilajosana

Subject: Engineering, Electrical And Electronic Engineering Keywords: industrial wireless sensor networks; IEEE~802.15.4g; smart utility networks; link reliability; adaptive techniques; modulation diversity

Online: 23 March 2020 (04:34:16 CET)

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Preprint ESSAY | doi:10.20944/preprints202003.0152.v1

Let's Stream! A Beginners' Guide to Live-Streaming Scientific Conferences

C. Eduardo Guerra Amorim, Serena Tucci

Subject: Social Sciences, Media Studies Keywords: live-streaming; video-conference; broadcast; scientific conferences; diversity; inclusion

Online: 10 March 2020 (02:29:22 CET)

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Working Paper ARTICLE

Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Dioscorea praehensilis (Berth.) Collected from Central Region, Ghana Using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers

Adeyinka S. Adewumi, Kingsley J. Taah, Paul A. Asare, Michael O. Adu, Paterne A. Agre

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: genetic diversity; Dioscorea praehensilis; SSR markers; Ghana

Online: 8 March 2020 (14:55:19 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202003.0119.v1

Mining and Characterizing the SSR Markers for Black Rice Using the Illumina Sequencing Platform

Dhananjay Kumar, Prasanta Kumar Das, Chandra Singha, Bidyut Kumar Sarmah

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biology And Biotechnology Keywords: black rice; transcriptome sequencing; genic SSRs; genetic diversity

Online: 7 March 2020 (09:03:34 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202003.0115.v1

Effects of Mancozeb on Citrus Rhizosphere Bacterial Community

Zhendong Huang, Peng Wang, Zhanxu Pu, Lianming Lu, Guoqing Chen, Xiurong Hu, Amna Fayyaz, Yunpeng Gai

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: citrus; root rhizosphere; mancozeb; bacteria community; diversity

Online: 7 March 2020 (03:12:53 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202002.0429.v1

Soil Arthropods Indicate the Range of Plant-facilitation on the Soil of Mediterranean Drylands

Fernando Meloni, Alexandre Souto Martinez

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: ground arthropods; spatial ecology; drylands; logistic function; biological diversity; ecological functioning; threshold values; desertification; conservation.

Online: 28 February 2020 (12:20:37 CET)

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Drylands are arid and semiarid ecosystems, where the lack of rains imposes harsh conditions for the survival of organisms. These ecosystems are also susceptible to degradation and desertification, and their conservation depends on the understanding of the ecological functioning of vegetation and soil. In drylands, the vegetation is spatially structured as a mosaic of patches (vegetation) and interpatches (bare soil), a consequence of plant-plant interactions (facilitation and competition). Empirical data and modeling approaches reinforce the role of ecological facilitation for the maintenance of all organisms in drylands. However, the actual range of facilitation is still poorly known. Here, we explored data of meso- and micro-arthropods found in soil as bioindicators to infer the range of facilitation provided by plants to soil. We regarded data of abundances and species densities (independent samples) collected in random patches and bare soil places as dependent variables. Data of patch size and distances between bare soil and patches were arranged in a single shuffle, producing a 1-d coordinate system centered at the border of the patch. Discrete portions of this system are taken to calculate averages and variances of abundance and species density, and we investigated how soil communities variate across the patch border. We employ techniques of signal analysis to reduce the data noise and obtain a smooth and continuous behavior, which allowed us to fit a logistic function. Our findings indicate that soil communities suddenly change from simple patterns to numerous and diverse communities in bare soil regions, meaning that the influence of vegetation on soil goes beyond the patch border. We interpreted the variations in fauna as a consequence of the positive influence provided by plants (or its lack) on surrounding bare soil. We observe a fast decaying of fauna quantities at 0.35 m outside the patch border, a threshold that reveals the mean range of facilitation provided by plants. However, the changes in soil communities outside the patches seem not necessarily related to the efficiency of soil processes mediated by arthropods, which seem to be more active inside large patches. Concluding, we found a minimum patch-size (radius ~ 0.5 m) able to maintain high diverse communities in soil, and an average distance of vegetation influence along the patch border (halo between 0.35 and 0.50 m). This information can be interpreted in terms of facilitation provided by plants to soil conditions, which seems to differ from the quantitative functionality of soil processes. Our findings contribute to the general understanding of the ecological functioning of drylands, as well as to better plan conservation actions.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202002.0426.v1

Determinism through Modulation Diversity: Can Combining Multiple IEEE 802.15.4-2015 SUN Modulations Improve Communication Reliability?

Pere Tuset-Peiró, Ferran Adelantado, Xavier Vilajosana, Ruan Delgado Gomes

Subject: Engineering, Electrical And Electronic Engineering Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4g, Smart Utility Networks; Low-Power; Wireless; Modulation Diversity; Reliability; Availability

Online: 28 February 2020 (12:08:40 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202002.0249.v1

The Yeast Atlas of Appalachia: Species and Phenotypic Diversity of Herbicide Resistance in Wild Yeast

Jordan B. Barney, Matthew J. Winans, Catherine B. Blackwood, Amaruy Pupo, Jennifer E. G. Gallagher

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Agricultural Science And Agronomy Keywords: Fungal diversity; Saccharomyces; genetic diversity; glyphosate-based herbicides; copper-based fungicides; RoundUp Ready™ corn; phylogenetics

Online: 17 February 2020 (15:37:11 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202002.0109.v1

Effects of Altered Dietary Fiber on the Gut Microbiota, Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Cecum of Chickens during Different Growth Periods

Baosheng Sun, Linyue Hou, Yu Yang

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science And Zoology Keywords: dietary fiber; SCFA; growth period; chickens; gut microbiota; microbiotal diversity; age; cecum

Online: 9 February 2020 (16:24:29 CET)

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Increasing numbers of researchers are interested in the importance of dietary fiber for the gut microbiota, microbiotal metabolite SCFA, energy metabolism and gut health of the host. However, studies have demonstrated that long-term and longitudinal observation may be needed to evaluate the effect of dietary fiber better, and few such works have been made in chickens. Therefore, we successively fed low-fiber, high--fiber and low-fiber diets to two breeds of chickens during different growth periods (1—8, 9—20 and 21—50 weeks), aiming to longitudinally observe the long-term effect of altered dietary fiber on the gut microbiota, SCFA and development of cecum of chickens with age. The results showed that the composition and function of the gut microbiota, SCFA and the development of the cecum were different during different periods, which was largly affected by dietary fiber. However, the causes of some effects were different during the different periods. For example, compared with that in low-fiber chickens at 8 weeks, dominant fiber-degradation bacteria such as Bacteroidetes, Alloprevotella and SCFA-producing bacteria such as Faecalibacterium increased due to a high-fiber diet at 20 weeks, while due to a high feed intake in 50 weeks. Moreover, the concentration of SCFA in 20 weeks was significantly higher than in 8 weeks and 50 weeks, but the causes of this difference were also distinct. It was proposed that a long-term observation was needed to evaluate the effect of dietary fiber better on chickens. The metabolite pathways of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters encoded by Firmicutes were enriched in 8 weeks, while a two-component system and β–glucosidase encoded by Bacteroidetes were enriched in 20 and 50 weeks. The trend was the same in two breeds of chickens except for Alloprevotella. In addition, the total content of SCFA in the contents of cecum was also affected by the size of the cecum. Surprisingly, the length of the cecum shortened from 20—50 weeks, maybe due to reduced dietary fiber.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202002.0062.v1

Structural Comparison of Diverse HIV-1 Subtypes using Molecular Modelling and Docking Analyses of Integrase Inhibitors

Darren Isaacs, Sello Given Mikasi, Adetayo Emmanuel Obasa, George Mondinde Ikomey, Ruben Cloete, Graeme Brandon Jacobs

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Virology Keywords: Integrase; HIV-1; Naturally occurring polymorphism; diversity; Molecular Modelling; Molecular Docking

Online: 5 February 2020 (11:02:15 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202001.0060.v1

Doubling the Accuracy of Indoor Location: Frequency Diversity

Berthold Horn

Subject: Engineering, Electrical And Electronic Engineering Keywords: indoor location; fine time measurement; round trip time; FTM; RTT; IEEE 802.11mc; IEEE 802.11-2016; time diversity; spatial diversity; bandwidth diversity; frequency diversity; Bayesian grid; observation model; transition model

Online: 8 January 2020 (04:18:02 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202001.0038.v1

Responses of Individual Plant Species, Functional Groups, α- and β-Diversity to Short-Term Grazing Exclusion under Severe Drought Episode in Long-Term Grazed Alfa-Steppes

Yacine Kouba, Saifi Merdes, Badreddine Saadali, Haroun Chenchouni

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: Mediterranean steppes; drylands; alpha diversity; beta diversity; rangeland grazing; indicator species

Online: 5 January 2020 (15:22:33 CET)

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Grazing exclusion has been proved to be one of the main measures for rehabilitating degraded arid steppes. However, the effect of this management practice on plant species diversity and composition is ambiguous, specially under prolonged droughts. Concurrently considering the responses of individual plant species, diversity of functional groups, α-diversity, and β-diversity (and its components) may be crucial to the holistic understanding of grazing exclusion effects on plant communities under drought conditions. Here, we investigated the response of these diversity measures to short-term sheep exclusion under severe drought episode in arid steppes of Alfa-grass (Stipa tenacissima) with a long evolutionary history of livestock grazing. Individual species responses were tested based on species occurrence and abundance in either grazed or grazing-excluded steppes, in addition, we used indicator species analysis to assess the strength of the association between plant species and management type. Likewise, α-diversity, abundance- and incidence-based β-diversity, as well as the functional groups’ diversities were quantified using Hill Numbers and compared between the two management types. Sheep grazing exclusion enabled the recovery of various Alfa-steppe indicator species and improved the size of regional species pool, overall α-diversity, and the diversity of therophytes. This management practice decreased the abundance-based β-diversity and the nestedness-resultant fraction of the incidence-based β-diversity at the local scale, while at the landscape scale increased the abundance-based β-diversity and its balanced variation fraction and reduced the incidence-based β-diversity and its turnover component. Furthermore, protection from grazing altered β-diversities scaling patterns by maintaining higher balanced variation in species abundance at large spatial scale and greater abundance-gradient in species composition at the fine-scale. Our results suggest that the implementation of short-term grazing exclusion in degraded arid steppes would be the appropriate management practice for vegetation restoration and plant diversity conservation during prolonged drought periods.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0406.v1

The Influence of Rhizosphere Fungal Diversity and Complex Community Structure to Wheat Root Rot Disease

Xuejiang Zhang, Heyun Wang, Gavin Ash, Dazhao Yu, Hua Wang

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Plant Sciences Keywords: Rhizosphere; Fungal diversity; Community structure; Wheat root rot disease

Online: 31 December 2019 (10:20:33 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0244.v1

Investigating Personality in Polar Bears Using the Concept of Behavioral Instability

Anika Gottschalk, Anne Cathrine Linder, Henriette Lyhne, Marie Gade Langbak, Trine Hammer Jensen, cino pertoldi pertoldi

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science And Zoology Keywords: asymmetry; ethogram; olfactory stimuli; stereotypy; Ursus maritimus; enrichment; captivity; asymmetric diversity

Online: 19 December 2019 (06:54:57 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0239.v1

An Appropriate Amount of OptiCell Benefits the Microbial Diversity and Gut Health of Chickens

Linyue Hou, Baosheng Sun, Yu Yang

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: OptiCell; microbial diversity; gut microbiota; gut health; free-range chickens; caged chickens; SCFA; mucus layer; welfare

Online: 18 December 2019 (05:25:45 CET)

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Preprint COMMUNICATION | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0176.v1

A Framework for Maximising the Capture of Genetic Diversity in Sampling for ex situ Conservation

Linda Neaves

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: conservation; genetic diversity; decision-making; ex situ

Online: 12 December 2019 (12:43:13 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0028.v1

Diversity-Generated Image Inpainting with Style Extraction

Weiwei Cai, Zhanguo Wei

Subject: Computer Science And Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Keywords: deep learning; generative adversarial networks; image inpainting; diversity inpainting

Online: 3 December 2019 (12:04:01 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0010.v1

Biological Hotspot of Ichthyoplankton in the Estuarine Environment Timbulsoko Village, Demak

Hanityo Adi Nugroho, Sutrisno Anggoro, Ita Widowati

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: Diversity; Ecology; Fishes; Geoscience

Online: 2 December 2019 (10:38:09 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201911.0349.v1

Genetic Diversity of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera:Aleyrodidae) Colonizing Sweet Potato and Cassava in South Sudan

Beatrice Clarence Misaka, Everlyne N. Wosula, Philip W. Marchelo-d'Ragga, Trine Hvoslef-Eide, James Peter Legg

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Forestry Keywords: Bemisia tabaci; genetic diversity; distribution; haplotype

Online: 28 November 2019 (03:24:39 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints201911.0286.v1

Indigenous Pig Genetic Resources in Southern Africa: Progress and Prospects

Tinyiko Edward Halimani, Obvious Mapiye, Tawanda Marandure, Diedre Januarie, Venancio Edward Imbayarwo Chikosi, Kennedy Dzama

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: diversity; conservation; animal genetic resources; indigenous pigs; southern Africa

Online: 24 November 2019 (14:47:39 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201911.0277.v1

An Ecological Interpretation of the Return of Mom-and-Pop Stores in South Korea: A Sustainable Commercial Format-Enhancing Urban Diversity or Just a Temporary Trend?

Juil Kim

Subject: Social Sciences, Geography, Planning And Development Keywords: urban diversity; commercial landscape; small retail unit; mon-and-pop store

Online: 24 November 2019 (13:21:12 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201911.0258.v1

Gender as a Dimension of Inequality in Accounting Organizations and Related HR Strategies

Atena Faragalla, Adriana Tiron-Tudor

Subject: Business, Economics And Management, Accounting And Taxation Keywords: accounting profession; women; gender; inequality; glass ceiling; gendered organizations; diversity management strategies

Online: 22 November 2019 (07:54:39 CET)

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Working Paper REVIEW

Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss – An Emergency Recovery Plan

David Tickner, Jeff Opperman, Robin Abell, Mike Acreman, Angela H. Arthington, Stuart E. Bunn, Steven J. Cooke, James Dalton, Will Darwall, Gavin Edwards, Ian Harrison, Kathy Hughes, Tim Jones, David Leclère, Abigail J. Lynch, Philip Leonard, Michael E. McClain, Dean Muruven, Julian D. Olden, Steve Ormerod, Rebecca E. Tharme, Michele Thieme, Klement Tockner, Mark Wright, Lucy Young

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Ecology Keywords: River restoration; wetlands; freshwater conservation; Sustainable Development Goals; Convention on Biological Diversity

Online: 29 October 2019 (11:13:47 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201910.0235.v1

Climate Change and Fading Genetic Resources of Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) in Nigeria Based on SSR Markers

Jacob Popoola, James Agbolade, Abiodun Ajiboye, Omotolani Akinola, Francis Lewu, Joseph Kioko, Conrad Omonhinmin

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: African locust bean; climate change; cluster analysis; genetic intra-specific diversity; polymorphic information content; food and nutrition security

Online: 20 October 2019 (16:01:21 CEST)

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African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) is a multi-purpose economic tree with genetic potentials in sub-Saharan Africa. Its cultivation and production is declining with increased aging and genetically threatened throughout its natural ranges. Research efforts are needed to change the present scenario to sustainable cultivation and utilization, hence this present study. This study was aimed at evaluating genetic diversity and geographical spread relationships of twenty landraces collected from different ecological zones of Nigeria using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Ten SSR markers were screened and five primers (PbL02, PbL03, PbL04, PbL05 and PbL09) were selected based on clear amplification products and reproducible scorable bands. The SSR primers detected a total of 55 alleles ranged from 10 to 14 alleles with a mean of 11. The percentage polymorphisms were high and ranged from 68.75 % in PbL04 to 84.21 % in PbL05 with a mean of 74.16 %. The polymorphic information content (PIC) was in the range of 0.31 in PbL02 to 0.37 in PbL09. The genetic diversity and heterozygosity values ranged from 0.39 to 0.50 and 0.00 to 0.68 while the average genetic distance for all pair wise comparisons was 0.31.The first five Principal Component (PC) accounted for 70.20 % of the total variation out of which PC1 (31.50%) and PC2 (19.20%) extracted 49.70% molecular similarity. The dendrogram resulted in separation of the 19 landraces into three major clusters based on unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average. Cluster I comprised of five landraces: ABNo130 and BENo023; OYNo11, KANo125 and NiNo262 while cluster II had only one (BANo116). Cluster III was diverse comprising 13 landraces: ZANo188, KNNo162, KENo220, GMNo076 and EbNo260, ADNo64, EdNo164, KANo137, KENo217, KwNo270, NiNo241, OsNo206 and PLNo120. The homogeneity of alleles among the studied landraces suggested suspicion of loss of genetic intra-specific variation among the landraces of P. biglobosa which calls for concerted efforts toward better cultivation, conservation, management, utilization and genetic improvement of the species in Nigeria.

Working Paper ARTICLE

Marine Bacteria from Rocas Atoll: A Promising Biotechnological Resource

Karen Y. Velasco-Alzate, Anelize Bauermeister, Marcelo M. P. Tangerina, Tito M. C. Lotufo, Marcelo J. P. Ferreira, Paula C. Jimenez, Gabriel Padilla, Norberto P. Lopes, Leticia V. Costa-Lotufo

Subject: Chemistry And Materials Science, Organic Chemistry Keywords: secondary metabolites; microbial diversity; metabolomics; molecular network; marine bacteria

Online: 19 October 2019 (02:01:18 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201910.0209.v1

Agronomic Practices, Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Moringa oleifera (Lam.) in Nigeria

Jacob Popoola, David Igwe, Opeyemi Jegede, Victoria Iwu, Adegoke Adegbite, Conrad Omonhinmin

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: agronomic practices; agrobiodiversity; aflp; climate change; cluster analysis; genetic diversity; moringa oleifera; food and nutrition security

Online: 18 October 2019 (07:34:50 CEST)

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Evaluation of agronomic practices, genetic diversity and population structure of Moringa oleifera (Lam.) is crucial to its sustainable utilization to ensure food and nutritional security. Four agronomic practices of field preparation and soil analysis, regeneration, weeding and pruning, as well as harvesting, were adopted. Genetic diversity and population structure of 20 populations were evaluated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer pairs (E-ACC/M-CAC and E-ACA/M-CAG). The effects of agronomic practices on leaf quantity production were evaluated using standard procedures. The physico-chemical and morphological data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while genetic diversity, population structure, dendrogram reconstruction, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were analyzed from the AFLP genetic data. Significant effects (P ≤ 0.05) of agronomic practices on the quantity of leaf production were recorded across the accessions. The two primer pairs generated a total of 80 alleles with a mean major allele frequency of 0.0250. Gene diversity and polymorphic information content (PIC) values were high with a mean of 0.98 and 0.974, respectively. The Gst value of 0.0490 indicated that 5 % of the total genetic divergence was among the population while 95 % within the population. Dendrogram reconstruction with genetic distance ranging from 0.87 to 0.96 segregated the accessions into eleven clusters while PCA generated six cluster groups. Field preparation and physico-chemical soil properties, regeneration, weeding and pruning, and stand development, as well as harvesting, influenced the leaf yield and genetic diversity observed in this study. The genetic data revealed that some accessions were clustered along eco-geographical lines while others grouped disparately. Identified potential parent genotypes with valuable and desirable genetic traits can be exploited for commercial, breeding and conservation purposes to ensure sustainable utilization of the species in Nigeria.

Working Paper ARTICLE

The Influence of Transplanted Trees on Soil Microbial Diversity in Areas Affected by Coal Mining Subsidence of the Loess Plateau in China

Yangnan Guo, Xianghong Liu, Borjigin Tsolmon, Jin Chen, Wei Wei, Shaogang Lei, Junzhe Yang, Yuying Bao

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: transplanted trees; soil microbe diversity; coal mining subsidence areas; the loess plateau

Online: 23 September 2019 (00:44:51 CEST)

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Soil microbial diversity in areas affected by coal mining subsidence is closely associated with vegetation restoration. In this study, we compared the diversity of soil bacteria and fungi under different vegetation restoration modes in the subsidized Daliuta coal mining region in western China. The dominant bacteria, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria, were found at abundances of 29.43–34.68%, 15.87–24.75%, 13.09–19%, and 12.06–15.36%, respectively. The dominant fungi, Ascomycetes and Zygomycetes, had abundances of 23.96–71.08% and 10.42–56.26%, respectively. The diversity indices (Sobs, Shannon, and Chao1) of the rhizosphere soil bacteria and fungi were significantly lower in the primary Stipa breviflora phytocommunity than in the phytocommunities of transplanted trees. Among physicochemical soil parameters, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), water content (WC), and pH affected soil bacterial diversity, and available phosphorus (AP) and TN affected bacterial community structure the most. Furthermore, WC affected soil fungal diversity, whereas TP and TN mostly affected the fungal community structure. However, edaphic factors did not uniformly affect all microbial groups. Although TN, WC, and AP significantly influenced the species richness of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria (p<0.05), TP was significantly negatively correlated with species richness in Acomycota, Basidiomycota, and Zygomycota (p<0.05). However, TN influenced the species richness of Zygomycota (p<0.05) . Furthermore, we found that the rhizosphere microbial diversity of the CK phytocommunity differed from that of the transplanted tree communities in the study area; i.e., the transplanted trees promoted soil microbial diversity in phytocommunities, and moreover, different edaphic factors varied in their effect on the community composition of rhizosphere bacteria and fungi. We will continue to monitor the soil microbial diversity in the study area with the goal to provide guidance for environmental remediation of areas affected by coal mining subsidence.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201909.0206.v1

Integrating Environmental Variables by Multivariate Ordination enables the Reliable Estimation of Mineland Rehabilitation Status

Markus Gastauer, Silvio Ramos, Cecílio Caldeira, Leonardo Trevelin, Rodolfo Jaffé, Guilherme Oliveira, Mabel Vera, Eder Pires, Flavia Santiago, Marco Carneiro, Felipe Coelho, Rosilene Silva, Pedro Walfir M. Souza-Filho, José Siqueira

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: environmental monitoring; ecological processes; functional diversity; environmental indicators; primers for environmental rehabilitation; Urucum Massif

Online: 18 September 2019 (12:57:40 CEST)

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Despite the wide variety of variables commonly applied to measure different aspects of rehabilitation, the assessment and subsequent definition of indicators of environmental rehabilitation status are not simple tasks. The main challenges are comparing rehabilitated sites with target ecosystems as well as integrating individual environmental and eventually collinear variables into a single tractable measure of the state of a system before effective indicators that track rehabilitation may be modeled. For that, a consensus is lacking regarding which and how many variables need to be surveyed. Our approach considered ecological processes, vegetation structure, and community diversity from nonrehabilitated, rehabilitating and reference sites. We applied this approach to a curated set of 32 environmental variables retrieved from nonrevegetated, rehabilitating and reference sites associated with iron ore mines from the Urucum Massif, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. By integrating variables from a single attribute or the entire set of variables into a single estimation of rehabilitation status, the proposed multivariate approach is straightforward and able to adequately address collinearity among variables. The proposed approach allows for the identification of biases towards single variables, surveys or analyses, which is necessary to rank environmental variables regarding their importance to the assessment. Furthermore, we show that bootstrapping permitted the detection of the minimum number of environmental variables necessary to achieve reliable estimations of the rehabilitation status. Finally, we show that the proposed variable integration enables the definition of environmental indicators for more comprehensive monitoring of mineland rehabilitation. Thus, the proposed multivariate ordination represents a powerful tool to outline the benefits of rehabilitating sites for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services provided that sufficient environmental variables related to ecological processes, diversity and vegetation structure are gathered from nonrehabilitated, rehabilitating and reference study sites. By identifying deviations from predicted rehabilitation trajectories and providing assessments for environmental agencies, this proposed multivariate ordination increases the effectiveness of (mineland) rehabilitation.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201909.0177.v1

Forest Diversity and Structure in the Amazonian Mountains Ranges of Southeastern Ecuador

Wilson Quizhpe, Angel Benítez, Jesus Muñoz, Klever Cuenca, Hernán Uvidia, Isau Huamantupa, Omar Cabrera

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: alpha diversity; canonical correspondence; NMDS; Sandstones Forests; Terra firme Forests

Online: 17 September 2019 (03:48:02 CEST)

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1) Background: We analyzed the size structure, richness and diversity in eight permanent forest plots in the upper limit of the great Amazon basin located in the Ecuadorian parts of Cordilleras del Cóndor and Cutucú. Our hypothesis was that not all the forests of the eastern mountain ranges are homogeneous in characteristics, but rather present differences in their structure, richness and floristic diversity. In order to test this, our main objective was to classify the types of forests based on characteristics in diametric structure and species composition of the Amazonian forests of the eastern cordilleras in southern Ecuador, and also to determine the influence of critical edaphic-environmental and geomorphological factors. 2) Methods: Eight one-hectare permanent plots were installed in homogeneous and well-conserved forest stands. Four plots were located in the province of Zamora Chinchipe and four in the province of Morona Santiago. We identified and measured all trees> 10 cm at diameter breast height. For each plot, soil samples were taken, along with environmental and slope data. The multidimensional non-metric adjusted scaling (NMDS) was used to evaluate changes in climatic and geomorphological gradients. The relationship between the composition of the species at the plot level and the edaphoclimatic variables was tested using a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Finally, we modeled the change in species diversity (Fisher's alpha) in relation to the climatic gradients, altitudinal and geomorphological using a GLMM. 3) Results: Overall, we identified 517 species belonging to 76 families. We determined the existence of two different types of forest, the first one named Terra Firme, characterized by the presence of a larger number of species and individuals per plot, compared to the second type of forest, called Tepuy or Sandstones forest. Species richness was negatively correlated with soil phosphorus content and pH, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation and altitude. The CCA analysis showed differences in the species composition between the Terra Firme and Sandstone forests. The climatic seasonality and the concentration of cations in the soil influence the diversity of the Amazon forest communities of the southeastern cordilleras. The forests of Terra Firme, which are settled in more stable and nutrient-rich climatic areas, were more diverse. Sandstone forests are poor in nutrients and develop in areas with stronger seasonality

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201908.0025.v1

Resource Base Assessment of Acacia Seyal in Eastern Amhara Region

Andualem Ayalew, Derbie Wudu, Gezahagn Getachew, Tegabu Redae, Hoaddis kasshun

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Forestry Keywords: resource potential; point center quarter methods; Acacia seyal structure; species composition; diversity

Online: 2 August 2019 (09:27:50 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201907.0346.v1

Biological Hotspot larva Ikan Diperairan Estuari Desa Timbulsoko, Demak

Hanityo Nugroho, Sutrisno Anggoro , Ita Widowati

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: diversity; ecology; fishes; geoscience

Online: 31 July 2019 (04:40:34 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201907.0220.v1

How Size Matters: Diversity for Fragment Library Design

Yun Shi, Mark von Itzstein

Subject: Chemistry And Materials Science, Medicinal Chemistry Keywords: diversity; fragment-based drug discovery; library design; library size

Online: 19 July 2019 (07:54:41 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201812.0026.v2

Expanding the Diversity of Myoviridae Phages Infecting Lactobacillus Plantarum - A Novel Lineage of Lactobacillus Phages Comprising Five New Members

Ifigeneia Kyrkou, Alexander Byth Carstens, Lea Ellegaard-Jensen, Witold Kot, Athanasios Zervas

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Virology Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum; phage; new genus; annotation; comparative genomics; phylogenetics; isolation; diversity

Online: 11 June 2019 (09:54:23 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints201906.0022.v1

Pursuing the potential of heirloom cultivars to improve adaptation, nutritional and culinary features in a changing climate

Sangam Dwivedi, Irwin Goldman, Rodomiro Ortiz

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Agricultural Science And Agronomy Keywords: culinary and nutritional traits; farmer-breeder-chef-consumer nexus; folk cultivars; genetic diversity; global warming; heritage seedbank; local food systems; seed savers; stress tolerance

Online: 3 June 2019 (12:34:14 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201904.0321.v1

Whole Genome Diversity, Population Structure and Linkage Disequilibrium Analysis of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genotypes Using Genome-Wide DArTseq-Based SNP Markers

Somayeh Farahani, Mojdeh Maleki, Rahim Mehrabi, Homayoun Kanouni, Reza Talebi

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: chickpea; genetic diversity; linkage disequilibrium; DArTseq-SNP markers

Online: 29 April 2019 (07:56:52 CEST)

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Characterization of genetic diversity, population structure and linkage disequilibrium is prerequisite for proper management of breeding programs and conservation of genetic resources. In this study, 186 chickpea genotypes including advanced “Kabuli” breeding lines and Iranian landrace “Desi” chickpea genotypes were genotyped using DArTseq-Based SNP markers. Out of 3339 SNPs, 1152 markers with known chromosomal position were selected for genome diversity analysis. The number of mapped SNP markers varied from 52 (LG8) to 378 (LG4), with an average of 144 SNPs per linkage group. The chromosome size that covered by SNPs varied from 16236.36 kbp (LG8) to 67923.99 kbp (LG5), while LG4 showed higher number of SNPs, with an average of 6.56 SNPs per Mbp. Polymorphism information content (PIC) value of SNP markers ranged from 0.05 to 0.50, with an average of 0.32, while the markers on LG4, LG6 and LG8 showed higher mean PIC value than average. Un-weighted Neighbor Joining cluster analysis and Bayesian-based model population structure grouped chickpea genotypes into four distinct clusters. Principal component analysis (PCoA) and Discriminant Analysis of Principal Component (DAPC) results were consistent with that of the cluster and population structure analysis. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was extensive and LD decay in chickpea germplasm was relatively low. A few markers showed r²≥0.8, while 2961 pairs of markers showed complete LD (r²=1) and a huge LD block was observed on LG4. High genetic diversity and low kinship value between pairs of genotypes suggesting the presence of a high genetic diversity among studied chickpea genotypes. This study also demonstrated the efficiency of DArTseq-based SNP genotyping for large scale genome analysis in chickpea. The genotypic markers provided in this study are useful for various association mapping studies when combined with phenotypic data of different traits such as seed yield, abiotic and biotic stresses and therefore can be efficiently used in breeding programs to improve chickpea.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201904.0317.v1

The Role of Marketing in Cultural Institutions in the Context of Assumptions of Sustainable Development Concept—The Example of Poland

Magdalena Sobocińska

Subject: Business, Economics And Management, Marketing Keywords: marketing concept; cultural institutions; sustainable development; cultural offer diversity; culture consumer

Online: 28 April 2019 (11:39:21 CEST)

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Working Paper ARTICLE

The Effect of Tree Diversity on the Resistance and Recovery of Forest Stands in the French Alps May Depend on Species Differences in Hydraulic Features

Marion Jourdan, François Lebourgeois, Xavier Morin

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Forestry Keywords: diversity; ecosystem functioning; stand growth; resistance; recovery; climate change; forests; Alps

Online: 15 April 2019 (10:57:38 CEST)

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Working Paper ARTICLE

Optimal Microbiome Networks: Macroecology and Criticality

Jie Li, Matteo Convertino

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biophysics Keywords: microbiome; complex networks; species diversity; criticality; RSA; information flow; transitions

Online: 28 March 2019 (09:10:18 CET)

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The human microbiome is an extremely complex ecosystem considering the amount of bacterial species, their interactions, and its variability over time. Here we untangle the complexity of the human microbiome for the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that is the most prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorder in human populations. Based on a novel information theoretic network inference model we detect species interaction networks that are functionally and structurally different for healthy and unhealthy individuals. Healthy networks are characterized by a neutral symmetrical pattern of species interactions and scale-free topology versus random unhealthy networks. We detect an inverse scaling relationship between species total outgoing information flow, meaningful of node interactivity, and relative species abundance (RSA). The top ten interacting species are also the least relatively abundant for the healthy microbiome and the most detrimental. These findings support the idea about the diminishing role of network hubs and hubs should be defined considering the total outgoing information flow rather than the node degree. Macroecologically, the healthy microbiome is characterized by the highest total species diversity growth rate, the lowest species turnover, and the smallest variability of RSA for all species. This result challenges current views that posit a universal association between healthy states and the highest absolute species diversity in ecosystems. Additionally, we show how the transitory microbiome is unstable and microbiome criticality is not at the phase transition between healthy and unhealthy states. We stress out the importance of considering interacting pairs versus single node dynamics when characterizing the microbiome and of ranking these pairs in terms of their dynamics. Interactions (i.e. species collective behavior) shape transition from healthy to unhealthy states.\\ The macroecological characterization of the microbiome is useful for diagnostic purposes and disease etiognosis, while species-specific analyses can detect species that are more beneficial leading to personalized design of pre- and pro-biotic treatments and microbiome engineering.

Working Paper ARTICLE

Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Adequacy Among an Older Spanish Population with Metabolic Syndrome in the PREDIMED-Plus Study: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Naomi Cano-Ibáñez, Alfredo Gea, Miguel A. Martínez-González, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Dolores Corella, M. Dolors Zomeño, Dora Romaguera, Jesús Vioque, Fernando Aros, Julia Wärnberg, J. Alfredo Martínez, Lluis Serra-Majem, Ramón Estruch, Francisco Tinahones, José Lapetra, Xavier Pintó, Josep A. Tur, Antonio García-Ríos, Blanca Riquelme-Gallego, Miguel Delgado-Rodríguez, Pilar Matía, Lidia Daimiel, Vicente Martín, Josep Vidal, Clotilde Vázquez, Emilio Ros, Pilar Buil-Cosiales, Andrés Díaz-López, Rebeca Fernández-Carrión, Montserrat Fitó, Jadwiga Konieczna, Leyre Notario-Barandiaran, Ángel M. Alonso-Gómez, Eugenio Contreras-Fernández, Itziar Abete, Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, Rosa Casas, Araceli Muñoz-Garach, José Manuel Santos-Lozano, Laura Gallardo-Alfaro, Josep Basora, Olga Portoles, Miguel Ángel Muñoz, Manuel Moñino, Salvador Miralles Gisbert, Anai Moreno Rodríguez, Miguel Ruiz-Canela, Antoni Palau Galindo, Karla Alejandra Pérez-Vega, Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Dietetics And Nutrition Keywords: Dietary diversity; nutrient adequacy; metabolic syndrome; aging; PREDIMED-Plus study

Online: 18 March 2019 (09:25:48 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201903.0057.v1

Ruderal Plants in Urban and Sub-Urban Walls and Roofs

Alperen Meral, Emrah Yalçınalp

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: Urbanization, biological diversity, ruderal vegetation, roof, walls

Online: 5 March 2019 (11:34:03 CET)

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Objective: Main purpose of this study is to identify the ruderal plant species which spontaneously grows on the wall and roof surfaces in urban and sub-urban areas due to their limited ecological needs and to contribute to the creating of the sustainable green areas in urban environments by understanding the parameters that ruderals depend on while they require little maintenance and irrigation support if not no. Material and Methods: The main material of this study is the ruderal plants which were collected from totally 60 walls and 36 roof surfaces within six districts of Trabzon city –Akçaabat, Arsin, Çaykara, Of, Ortahisar and Yomra in Turkey. From these 96 habitats, 1540 plants samples form the walls and 448 plant samples from the roofs were collected. All the plant samples collected from the research area were identified in the herbarium of the faculty of forestry in Karadeniz Technical University. Apart from this, parametres affecting coverage rate of common species on three different habitats were analysed.Results: It was found that 448 samples from the roof surfaces distributed into 61 species while 1540 samples from the walls distributed into 196 species. Plus, according to the analyses, 28 species were found on all three different habitats. As a result of the observations, measurements and analyses, it is clear from the study that coverage rate of the plant species depends on anthropogenic interaction, daylight period and depth of the media but there is no relation with the number of the species on the surfaces.Conclusion: Ruderal plants are definitely important to study on, if the world wants the term sustainability to find its real meaning as they require nearly nothing to grow in hard conditions. In urban life, maintenance is getting more and more expensive for green areas in urban life and this makes it difficult for them to survive especially when cities have limited budget on this, which has often occurred all over the world recently. There is no doubt that ruderal plants offer a great opportunity for modern era urban areas with their limited needs to grow in hard conditions. Furthermore, when thinking about the fact a serious amount of the ruderal plants detected on all three basic habitats has a great landscape plant characteristics, the approaches to their usage in urban areas are really critical.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201902.0018.v2

Comparing Measures of Community Lineage Diversity across North American Forests

Kyle G. Dexter, Ricardo A. Segovia, Andy Griffiths

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: temperate forests; species richness; lineage diversity; phylogenetic diversity; United States; trees; TILD

Online: 13 February 2019 (10:15:50 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201901.0080.v1

Animal Source Food Consumption in Young Children from Four Regions of Ethiopia: Association with Religion, Livelihood, and Participation in the Productive Safety Net Program

Kaitlin S. Potts, Afework Mulugeta, Alessandra N. Bazzano

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Food Science And Technology Keywords: child nutrition disorders; animal source foods; diet; food and nutrition; dietary diversity; food assistance

Online: 9 January 2019 (07:49:09 CET)

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Introduction: Child undernutrition remains a challenge globally and in the geographically diverse country of Ethiopia. Improving dietary diversity and consumption of animal source foods are important for improving child nutrition and corresponding health outcomes. Objective: The objective of the study was to identify household and community factors associated with consumption of animal source foods among 6 to 36-month-old children from four regions of Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using multistage probability sampling in eight geographic zones and four regions of Ethiopia took place in 2015 with parents/caretakers of 6 to 36-month-old children. Data was collected on demographic information, proxy indicators of socioeconomic status, and food consumed by the child the day before the survey. Results: Increased child age, pastoral livelihood, Muslim religion, and participation in the Productive Safety Net Program were associated with increased consumption of animal source foods. Odds of animal source foods consumption increased 8% with each 3-month age increase. Children from pastoralist households were the most likely to have consumed animal source foods in the preceding 24 hours as compared with those in agro-pastoralist households (0.21 times as likely) or those in agriculturalist/farming households (0.15 times as likely). The odds of consumption of animal source foods for families with food aid or safety net support was 1.7 times greater among those receiving traditional support from the Productive Safety Net Program and 4.5 times greater for those in the direct support arm of the program. Conclusions: The findings illustrate the importance of accounting for local context and community characteristics, such as livelihood and religion, when undertaking programming designed to improve diversity of children’s diets through increasing animal source foods. In addition, the Productive Safety Net program may be a critical determinant of dietary diversity for young children in these regions.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201812.0177.v1

The Role of Every-Day Cosmetics in Altering the Skin Microbiome: A Study Using Biodiversity

Christopher Wallen-Russell

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: skin allergy epidemic; skin microbiome; skin microbiome diversity; effect of synthetic cosmetics on skin; biodiversity; synthetic ingredients in modern cosmetics; skin health; healthy skin bacteria; damaged skin bacteria

Online: 17 December 2018 (07:27:34 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints201812.0094.v1

Potentials of the Underutilized Kei-apple (Dovyalis caffra L.): Beyond its Nutritional and Functional Value

Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, Khayelihle Ncama, Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Food Science And Technology Keywords: economic sustainability; environment conservation; food security; income diversity; indigenous fruit.

Online: 7 December 2018 (17:15:43 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201811.0627.v1

BIOFACQUIM: A Mexican Compound Database of Natural Products

B. Angélica Pilón-Jiménez, Fernanda I. Saldívar-González, Bárbara I. Díaz-Eufracio, José L. Medina-Franco

Subject: Chemistry And Materials Science, Theoretical Chemistry Keywords: chemical space; chemical data set; chemoinformatics; consensus diversity plot; drug discovery; molecular diversity; visualization

Online: 30 November 2018 (10:06:15 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints201811.0434.v1

Demographic Diversity of Food Intake and Prevalence of Kidney Stone Diseases in Indian Continent

Manalee Guha, Hritwick Banerjee, Pubali Mitra, Madhusudan Das

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: food intake; food diversity; kidney stone disease; social epidemiology

Online: 19 November 2018 (09:20:49 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0666.v1

Metagenomic Characterization of the Viral Community of the South Scotia Ridge

Qingwei Yang, Chen Gao, Jiang Yong, Ming Wang, Xinhao Zhou, Hongbing Shao, Zheng Gong, Andrew McMinn

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: virus; South Scotia Ridge; viral community; diversity; Pgvv-like

Online: 29 October 2018 (09:43:50 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0615.v1

Hyperspectral Image based Biodiversity of Forest Canopy and Marine Benthic Species

Vidya Manian, Alejandro Sotomayor, Ollantay Medina

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: hyperspectral images; multispectral images; spectral diversity; Shannon entropy; tropical forest; marine coral reefs; biodiversity; correlation.

Online: 25 October 2018 (16:30:53 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0315.v1

Effect of Biochar on Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions at the Laboratory and Field Scales

Rivka B. Fidel, David A. Laird, Timothy B. Parkin

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: biochar; greenhouse gas emissions; incubation; soil; corn; switchgrass; CO2; N2O; cropping system; diversity

Online: 15 October 2018 (13:10:52 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0283.v1

Geomorphology and Altitude Effects on Diversity and Structure of Vanishing Montane Forest of Southern Ecuador

Omar Cabrera, Angel Benítez, Nixon Cumbicus, Carlos Naranjo, Pablo Ramón, Fani Tinitana, Adrián Escudero

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Forestry Keywords: alpha diversity; beta diversity; floristic arrangement; geological landscapes; geomorphology; Ecuador; mountain forests

Online: 15 October 2018 (06:19:16 CEST)

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