Search results for " VAR"
showing 10 items of 5758 documents
Variational Approximations for Generalized Linear Latent Variable Models
2017
Generalized linear latent variable models (GLLVMs) are a powerful class of models for understanding the relationships among multiple, correlated responses. Estimation, however, presents a major challenge, as the marginal likelihood does not possess a closed form for nonnormal responses. We propose a variational approximation (VA) method for estimating GLLVMs. For the common cases of binary, ordinal, and overdispersed count data, we derive fully closed-form approximations to the marginal log-likelihood function in each case. Compared to other methods such as the expectation-maximization algorithm, estimation using VA is fast and straightforward to implement. Predictions of the latent variabl…
Use of Gibberellic Acid to Increase the Salt Tolerance of Leaf Lettuce and Rocket Grown in a Floating System
2020
Hydroponics need water of good quality to prepare a balanced nutrient solution that could allow plants to reach their maximum yield potential. The rising difficulties in finding water with good quality have led to the compelling necessity of identifying sustainable ways to use saline water, limiting its negative effect on crop yield and quality. The exogenous supplementation of plant growth regulators, such as gibberellic acid (GA3), can be effective in increasing plant growth and vigor, thus helping plants to better cope with salt stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility to increase the salt tolerance of leaf lettuce and rocket grown in a floating system by adding GA3 …
Importance of meteorological variables for aeroplankton dispersal in an urban environment
2016
Passive wind dispersal is one of the major mechanisms through which organisms disperse and colonize new areas. The detailed comprehension of which factors affect this process may help to preserve its efficiency for years to come. This is especially important in the current context of climate change, which may seriously alter weather regimes that drive dispersal, and is crucial in urban contexts, where biodiversity is dramatically threatened by pollution and fragmentation of natural patches. Despite its interest, the analysis of factors affecting aeroplankton dispersal in urban environments is rare in literature. We sampled aeroplankton community uninterruptedly every 4 hours from 17th May t…
Molecular systematics in the acanthocephalan genus Echinorhynchus (sensu lato) in northern Europe
1994
SUMMARYNew biological species and high levels of inter- and intraspecific genetic divergence were discovered in an allozyme study of some North European members of the acanthocephalan genus Echinorhynchus (sensu lato), parasites of fish and malacostracan crustaceans. (i) A strong differentiation between the marine E. gadi and the fresh- and brackish-water E. salmonis (genetic identity I ≃ 0) supports a generic distinction between these taxa; however, the subdivision would not entirely concur with the concepts of Echinorhynchus (sensu stricto) and Metechinorhynchus suggested earlier. (ii) Samples of E. gadi from the Baltic, Norwegian and North Seas included three distinct, partially sympatri…
EVOLUTION OF HSP90 EXPRESSION IN TETRAHYMENA THERMOPHILA (PROTOZOA, CILIATA) POPULATIONS EXPOSED TO THERMALLY VARIABLE ENVIRONMENTS
2004
Evolutionary consequences of thermally varying environments were studied in the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila. Replicated lines were propagated for 60 days, a maximum of 500 generations, in stable, slowly fluctuating (red spectrum), and rapidly fluctuating (blue spectrum) temperatures. The red and blue fluctuations had a dominant period length of 15 days and two hours, respectively. The mean temperature of all time series was 25 degrees C and the fluctuating temperatures had the same minimum (10 degrees C), maximum (40 degrees C), and variance. During the experiment, population sizes and biomasses were monitored at three-day intervals. After the experiment, carrying capacity an…
Marine reserves: size and age do matter
2008
Marine reserves are widely used throughout the world to prevent overfishing and conserve biodiversity, but uncertainties remain about their optimal design. The effects of marine reserves are heterogeneous. Despite theoretical findings, empirical studies have previously found no effect of size on the effectiveness of marine reserves in protecting commercial fish stocks. Using 58 datasets from 19 European marine reserves, we show that reserve size and age do matter: Increasing the size of the no-take zone increases the density of commercial fishes within the reserve compared with outside; whereas the size of the buffer zone has the opposite effect. Moreover, positive effects of marine reserve…
Species diversity of larval parasitoids of the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): the influence of region and culti…
2010
7 pages; International audience; The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a major pest of grapevines responsible for great economic losses and frequent insecticide applications. Nevertheless, the use of parasitoids as potential biological control agents has received very little attention. In this study, we present results from a survey on parasitoid species collected from French and Swiss vineyards over a period of 2 years. Over 2000 larvae of L. botrana were collected from six grape cultivars out of which a total of 118 parasitoids emerged. Ten species were identified. Exochus notatus (Holmgren, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumoni…
Molecular characterization of <em>Vitis vinifera</em> L. local cultivars from volcanic areas (Canary Islands and Madeira) using SSR marke…
2019
Aim: This study characterises and identifies 79 grapevine accessions from the Canary Islands and 14 from Madeira using simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis.Methods and Results: A kit of 20 microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used to obtain the molecular profiles of the 93 accessions in this study. The results allowed us to identify four new cultivars (Bienmesabe tinto, Burra volcanica, Vallera, Verijadiego negro), two new colour mutations (Listan rosa, Mollar cano rosado) and two unknown molecular profiles from Madeira. Furthermore, we propose that eight names of varieties be included in the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) as prime names, and 38 accession na…
Berry characterisation of cv shiraz according to position on the rachis
2016
In this study, characterisation of the physical and compositional parameters of berries located in different positions on the rachis of Shiraz/R99 bunches was done. Berries were divided according to position on the rachis (apical, median and basal) and berry weight, resulting in four berry weight classes, averaging 0.86 g, 1.29 g, 1.74 g and 2.26 g and 0.74, 1.18, 1.59 and 2.09 cm3, respectively. The berries were analysed individually. The fresh weight of the berries comprised approximately 4% seeds, 20% skin and 76% flesh. Different percentage distributions were found for each class of berry weight and according to position on the rachis. From the top to the bottom rachis position, an incr…
Colonisation and diversification of the Zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita) in the Antilles: phylogeography, contemporary gene flow and morphological diver…
2013
12 pages; International audience; Caribbean avifaunal biogeography has been mainly studied based on mitochondrial DNA. Here, we investigated both past and recent island differentiation and micro-evolutionary changes in the Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita) based on combined information from one mitochondrial (Cytochrome c Oxydase subunit I, COI) and 13 microsatellite markers and four morphological characters. This Caribbean endemic and abundant species has a large distribution, and two subspecies are supposed to occur: Z. a. zenaida in the Greater Antilles (GA) and Z. a. aurita in the Lesser Antilles (LA). Doves were sampled on two GA islands (Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands) and six…