Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microbial populations and nitrogen in soil growing consecutive cereal crops infected with take-all

Summary Annually, for the past 12 years, a consecutive cereal-cropping sequence was begun. During 1969–72 soil was collected from plots with similar fertilizer treatments, but with different sequences of crops. In 1971 and 1972 wheat seedling bioassays showed that take-all disease became miximal after two or three crops, decreased to the fifth or sixth crop and then remained fairly constant in the‘take-all decline’state. The sequence with maximum disease had most NH4+ -N and least NO3- -N in the rhizosphere soil in spring 1972, but there were no similar relationships in bulk soil in either of 2 years. Soil and rhizoplane populations of ammonifying and denitrifying bacteria were notably smaller in autumn 1970 and 1971 in short cereal sequences (2-5 yr.) than in the longer sequences. After γ-irradiating or autoclaving irradiated soils, all sequences contained much NH4+ -N and although disease developing from added inoculum differed among soils, it did not follow the take-all decline pattern. Diffusate from sterilized soil favoured growth of the pathogen (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) least when it originated from the sequence that supported maximum disease.
A survey on the occurrence of ochratoxin A in feeds and sera collected in conventional and organic poultry farms in Northern Italy

Abstract A survey has been conducted on conventional and organic poultry farms located in northern Italy in order to investigate the occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in feeds and sera in 2006. Ten poultry farms were monitored by taking 20 samples of feed and 94 samples of blood. OTA was assessed through immunoaffinity column purification and HPLC analysis. For in-house validation, recovery experiments, carried out on the spiked samples in the range of 1.0-10.0 μg OTA kg-1 and 0.3-3.0 ng OTA ml-1 for the feed and serum samples, respectively, led to overall recovery averages of 80.6% (RDS=7.3%, n=9) and 83.3% (RDS=3.1%, n=9), respectively. All the feed samples were contaminated by OTA with values ranging from 0.04 to 6.50 μg kg-1. Fiftythree percent of the sera samples were positive, with values ranging from 0.003-0.165 ng ml-1. None of the feed samples was above the limits set by the European Union on OTA contamination in poultry feeds. No statistically significant differences in OTA contamination of feed or sera were observed either between the organic vs conventional group or between the laying hens vs broiler group.
Book Reviews

This is a valuable book giving an up-to-date analysis of local government in a range of European countries as well as New Zealand, Australia and the United States. It fills a gap in studies of comparative local government. The book covers in all 15 counties. Four Nordic countries are discussed in one chapter with the remaining 11 countries having separate chapters. Acknowledged experts in the field of local government write each of the chapters from the countries covered. The advantage of an edited work is that it can mobilise such expertise. The danger is that the work can lack cohesion if the authors adopt very different approaches. This book largely avoids that danger because of the contribution of the editors. It contains an introductory chapter by the editors and two concluding chapters, one by Mike Goldsmith and the other by the editors. The introductory chapter sets the framework for the country-based chapters, while the last two chapters draw conclusions from those chapters. The introductory chapter is entitled ‘Local Governance in the Third Millennium: A Brave New World’. It identifies three important changes in the environment within which local government is set: urbanisation, globalisation and at least for most of the countries, Europeanisation. The chapter also identifies changes in the nature of the demands of local communities from local government: effectiveness and efficiency and greater participation by citizens with responsiveness by local government. One can raise issues about whether urbanisation is a new trend or even whether demands for effectiveness and efficiency are entirely new. One can raise other significant changes: the emergence of new risks in society, the recognition of environmental crises or the decline of political parties, but the changes identified in the book are usefully used to develop the framework for the later chapters. As a result, most of the chapters follow a common pattern, while allowing the authors to deal with particular issues in their countries. Each of the country-based chapters contains a description of the system of local government as it had developed by the 1980s, prior to the main impact of the changes discussed in the book. These descriptions cover the structure of local government, its functions, finance, internal organisation and central–local relations. The chapters then go on to discuss four main issues seen as brought about by the changes impacting on local authorities. The first is the change in relations between local government and central or regional government, including structural change. The second is the impact of new public management. The third is the growth of new relationships between local authorities and their citizens leading to opportunities for greater citizen participation. The fourth is the development of local governance or the involvement of many organisations, networks and partnerships in the Local Government Studies, Vol. 31, No. 4, 511 – 526, August 2005
Community structure of intertidal meiofauna along a gradient of morphodynamic states on an exposed North Sea beach

An exposed sandy beach located at Sylt was studied to analyse the patterns in the number of major taxa, abundance, biomass, and zonation of meiofauna. Three sites with different morphodynamic states were sampled. The results of a canonical correspondence analysis showed that water content, porosity and grain size were the best predictor variables of meiofaunal density. The highest meiofaunal densities and biomass occurred at the mid‐shore levels of each site: up to 9592 individuals 10 cm and 7.5 g m (ash‐free dry weight) at the reflective site, 11,640 individuals 10 cm and 9.4 g m at the low intermediate site, and 2993 individuals 10 cm and 1.5 g m at the mid‐intermediate site. The total abundance and biomass of the meiofauna per running metre of beach were higher at the low intermediate site (141 × 10 individuals m and 98 g m ), compared with the reflective site (74 × 10 individuals m and 55 g m ) and the mid‐intermediate site (69 × 10 individuals m and 33 g m ). The number of major taxa was nine, ten, and eight at the reflective, low intermediate and mid‐intermediate sites, respectively. The across‐shore variability in densities and community assemblage structure of the meiofauna decreased through the dissipative state.
Microsatellite- based phylogeny of Indian sheep breeds

Genetic diversity of south Indian meat type breeds was investigated by means of 15 ovine microsatellite markers. All used microsatellites amplified well and exhibited polymorphisms. A wide range of genetic variability was observed as allele varied from 4 to 10 in Madras Red; 4 to 10 in Mecheri; 4 to 12 in Pattanam; and 3 to 12 in Nellore sheep breeds. The mean number of alleles observed in Madras Red, Mecheri, Pattanam and Nellore breeds were 6.5, 6.7, 7.0 and 7.2 respectively. Average observed and expected heterozygosities over the different breeds were 0.23 to 0.87 and 0.347 to 0.827 respectively. The most diverse sheep breed was Nellore breed and the least diverse breed was Madras Red, which had the lowest total number of alleles (na=98) and lowest average observed (Ho=0.576) and expected (Ho=0.594) heterozygosities. The multi-locus mean between-population variability (FST) values indicated that about 5.60% of the total genetic variation was explained by population differences, whereas, the remaining 94.40% is due to differences among individuals within breeds. The values of FIT in the sub population for the most of markers were positive which showed the deficiency of heterozygotes. The DA genetic distance and FST distances between pairs of breeds revealed that the lowest distance was between Madras Red and Mecheri and the highest between Mecheri and Nellore breeds. Analysis of individual genotypes provided valuable information for understanding intra and inter-population genetic differences and helps in planning genetic improvement and conservation strategies for further improvement and sustainable utilization.
Genetic characterization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in South Africa.

A study was conducted to investigate the genetic diversity of HIV-1 in South Africa. Blood was collected from 172 HIV-1 seropositive individuals, representing different risk groups, and subtyped by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) using an -700-bp env region. HIV-1 subtype C predominated and was present in 97% of heterosexually infected individuals. Ninety three percent of individuals infected homosexually and 89% of recipients of contaminated blood products were infected with subtype B viruses. Four env subtype A viruses were also identified. In order to screen for recombinant viruses, 117 of these samples were also subtyped using a gag HMA based on an -540-bp gag region. There was concordance in 113 samples with both gag and env HMA identifying the same subtype. Four recombinant viruses were found which were mosaics between subtype C and regions belonging to either subtypes A or B. Thus, the prevalence of recombinant viruses in this study is relatively low (3%). A second study examined the phylogenetic relationships between 44 HIV-1 isolates from 43 infected subjects employed by three adjacent South African gold mines. The patients were migrant workers originating from the rural areas of South Africa and neighbouring countries of Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Mozambique. HIV-1 was subtyped by env HMA and sequence analysis was used to determine phylogenetic relationships between isolates. All isolates were identified as env subtype C. These isolates did not show a distinct phylogenetic relatedness based on the geographic origins of the migrant workers or show cki ,-c homology to other subtype C sequences from southern Africa or India. The heterogeneity among these samples suggests multiple introductions of HIV-1 subtype C into this population. However, five clusters of closely related sequences were identified, mainly involving miners of disparate geographic origins, suggesting possible epidemiological linkage in these few cases. In summary, subtype C is the predominant HIV-1 subtype in Gauteng associated with heterosexual transmission. Globally, subtype C has become the most prevalent subtype and it is likely that future vaccine strategies will be directed towards this subtype. Continual genetic characterization of HIV in South Africa is important to monitor the ongoing evolution of this subtype and to document the emergence of new subtypes and inter-subtype recombinants.
Karyotype description of two species of the genus Akodon (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) in the northern Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

Among the sigmodontine rodents, the genus Akodon is the second in numerical terms, with about 45 recognized species. In the Rio Grande do Sul state, there are 5 registered species. This article shows data on the distribution of the species of the genus Akodon in the northern Rio Grande do Sul state, as well as a description of the karyotypes of species from this region are shown. Six localities were sampled from August 2008 to May 2010. A total of 44 specimens underwent cytogenetic analysis and 2 species were identified ( Akodon montensis and Akodon paranaensis ). The karyotype of A. montensis was 2n = 24, FN = 44 and that of A. paranaensis was 2n = 44, NF = 46. Data on abundance and distribution of these species corroborate the pattern described in other studies with the rodent community in the northern portion of the state, where the Akodon species are seen as dominant. The fact that only A. montensis and A. paranaensis were captured is an indication that these two species are the only ones with confirmed occurrence in the northern portion of this state.
Plasticity in gene expression programmes of dendritic cells responding to antigens.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells whose function is to initiate and shape an appropriate adaptive immune response. This requires an ability to distinguish differences between whole pathogens, in order to orchestrate effective downstream immunological outcomes. However, cellular re-programming of DC functions during these events are not well understood. A paradigm of dendritic cell biology is that DCs have two modes of function that relate to their differentiation states. An immature DC functions as an immune sentinel, to monitor and interrogate its surroundings for pathogens. Encounter with such stimuli results in a process termed "maturation", where DCs acquire the properties of effective antigen presenting cells. However, this process of differentiation is complex. In this thesis, gene expression profiling of DCs exposed to pathogen components has revealed three distinct phases of maturation, with statistically significant expression of subsets of genes characterising these phases. Transcriptional regulation of the signalling pathways involving p38 and ERK MAP kinases important to DC function were identified. Specific inhibitors of p38 and ERK confirmed their differential role in DC maturation, with p38 activity being necessary for the initiation of DC maturation, whilst ERK activity persists to maintain DC survival. Concurrent with the core maturation process is the DCs' ability to differentially respond to pathogens. Gene expression analysis of DCs exposed to whole viruses supports the model of DC plasticity to different pathogenic stimuli. Using exploratory cluster analysis and a novel vector algebra method, core and pathogen-specific gene expression programmes were identified. The programmes involving the differential regulation of cytokines were confirmed at the transcript level and at the protein level. Together these data show that DCs mature to effective antigen presenting cells via an orchestrated pattern of at least three gene expression programmes. Superimposed on this core maturation response are pathogen-specific transcriptional programmes. Therefore, we conclude that DCs can translate different pathogenic stimuli into core DC maturation and pathogen-specific responses that together shape an appropriate adaptive immune response.
Cassava Pests and Diseases' Prevalence and Performance as Revealed by Adaptive Trial Sites in North Western Agro-Ecological Zone of Uganda

Cassava adaptive trial was planted in ten sub counties across West Nile Agro-ecological Zone (WNAEZ) with six cassava varieties to test their performance and reactions to major pests and diseases present in the Zone. Th six cassava varieties comprised of improved (TME 14 and 204, NASE 13 and 14 and Akena – TMS I92/00067) and a local (Abiria) were selected based on their availability and preference in the region. The experiment was planted in RCBD design with three replicates. The experiment was planted in ten locations with the plot size was 6x6 metres. Results showed Cassava green mite (CGM), Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava bacterial blight (CBB) as major pest and diseases across all sites. Cassava Anthracnose (CA) and Cassava mealy bug (CM) were not present in the study sites. Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) foliar symptoms was observed in three locations of Dranya s/c, Gimara s/c and Nyaravuru s/c on the three varieties of TME 204, TMS-I92/00067 and TME 14, whereas CBSD root necrosis was seen across all sites on TME 204, TMS-I92/00067, NASE 13, TME 14 and the Local except on NASE 14. In terms of yields, results showed that it was highest in TMS-I92/00067 (53.0 t/ha), TME 204 (46.0 t/ha), NASE 14 (39.4 t/ha), TME 14 (34.6 t/ha), NASE 13 (33.4 t/ha) and the local (22.7 t/ha) in that order. Farmers’ ranking of the studied cassava varieties in order of preference was in the order of NASE 14, TME 204, TMS-I92/00067, TME 14, NASE 13 and the Local. In conclusion, absence of both foliar and root symptoms on NASE 14 across all sites indicated that this variety is still tolerant to CBSD and can still be multiplied for production in West Nile Agro-ecological Zone.
Tillage and Irrigation Effects on Soil Infiltration, Water Expense and Crop Yield under Rice-Wheat System in a Medium Textured Soil of North-West Himalayas

Puddling not only alters the soil physical condition by causing sub-surface compaction and thereby reduction in soil infiltration but also results in loss of productivity of wheat crop in rice-wheat system. These provides the basis for investigating possibilities of avoiding puddling operation by direct seeding of rice. Keeping these in view, a field experiment was conducted for 2 years (2001–02 to 2002–03) to study the tillage (conventional and zero) and irrigation (four levels applied at the critical growth stages of both the crops, viz., I1 pre-sowing, I2 pre-sowing + active tillering/crown root initiation, I3 pre-sowing + active tillering/crown root initiation + panicle initiation/flowering, and I4 pre-sowing + active tillering/crown root initiation + panicle initiation/flowering + grain filling) effects on soil infiltration characteristics and water expense by direct seeded rice and wheat crop. The mean (of 2 years) water expense for rice crop under zero-tilled (ZT) plots (679 mm) was lower than that computed under conventionally-tilled (CT) plots (697 mm). Water expense for wheat under ZT plots (433 mm) was also lower than that under CT plots (446 mm). The water expense for both the crops was the lowest in the plots under I1 (632 and 366 mm for rice and wheat, respectively) and the highest in the plots under I4 (737 and 506 mm for rice and wheat, respectively) treatments. The ZT and frequently irrigated plots showed better infiltration characteristics. The initial (io), steady state infiltration rates (is) and cumulative infiltration (I) were 0.158, 0.433 and 10.83 cm h−1, respectively, in ZT soil condition and were 22, 32, and 32% higher, respectively, than the CT plots. Significantly higher io,is and I were observed under I4 treatment than those under I1 and I2 treatments. The Philip's model was found to be the best (R2 = 0.94), followed by Kostiakov's model for cumulative (R2 = 0.90) infiltration.
On the dynamics, floristic subdivision and geographical distribution of varzea forests in Central Amazonia

Abstract. Within different stands of the white-water inundation forest (varzea forest) in the Central Amazon region, composition, abundance, frequency and basal area of tree species were recorded. Determinations of age and radial growth rates were conducted using dendrochronological methods. Results show significant differences in age, history and species composition between stands as well as different growth strategies among dominant species. Assignment of tree species to growth strategies by means of anatomical and morphological features together with quantitative aspects of vegetational analysis permit the further differentiation of successional stages of varzea forests. General features of successional stages were quantitatively described and compared with forest types from outside the varzea. Many tree species of the varzea forests are widespread in South America, and not limited to floodplains. Their occurrence on sites with distinct dry seasons suggests that they are not specifically adapted to flooding but are tolerant to seasonality in general.
Investigation of antibacterial properties of Cotinus coggygria from Turkey

Today it is quite important to develop new, reliable, cost-efficient, and non-toxic herbal anti-microbial agents in order to minimize environmental and health problems. This study uses the disc diffusion method to examine the antimicrobial activity of the extracts of Cotinus coggygria Scop. prepared in ethanol, methanol, distilled water, chloroform, acetone, and petroleum ether against the bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis. Cotinus coggygria was found to inhibit the reproduction of microorganisms at various rates. The plant extracts in distilled water and methanol were found to be the most effective against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Enterococcus faecalis.
Isolation of superior segregants for yield, nutritional and oil quality traits from RILs population of groundnut*

Abstract: The present investigation was carried out to elucidate the information on genetic variability for yield, yieldcomponents, nutritional and oil quality traits in Recombinant Inbred lines (RILs) population derived from cross TAG 24 ×GPBD 4. Analysis of variance showed significant variation among the genotypes of RILs population for yield, yield components,nutritional and oil quality traits. Transgressive segregants observed in both the directions indicated the contribution offavorable alleles from both the parents. RIL No. 169 was found to be superior in test weight and early in flowering comparedto better parent and for oil quality , while RIL No. 159 was better with comparatively high oleic acid (57.29%), reduced linoleicacid content (25.34%) and better Oleic to linoleic acid ratio (O/L ratio) (2.27), high unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio(4.71), low total saturated fatty acids (17.76%) and also early in flowering compared to better parent, GPBD 4.Key words: Fatty acid composition, Multilocation, RILs population, Transgressive segregants
Novel 12S mtDNA findings in sloths (Pilosa, Folivora) and anteaters (Pilosa, Vermilingua) suggest a true case of long branch attraction

We sequenced 12S RNA mtDNA for the majority of the extant species of sloths and anteaters and compared our results with previous data obtained by our group using 16S RNA mtDNA in the same specimens and to GenBank sequences of the extinct giant sloth Mylodon. Our results suggest that pigmy-anteaters may be a case of the long-branch attraction phenomenon and also show the large genetic difference between the Amazonian and Atlantic forest three-toed sloths, contrasting with the small differences observed between the two non-Atlantic forest forms of sloths. These results have important implications for the taxonomy of sloths and anteaters and strongly suggest the placement of pigmy anteaters in their own family (Cyclopidae) and raising the taxonomic status of Bradypus torquatus to a genus.