Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell Cycle Analysis in the Vertebrate Brain Using Immunolabeled Fresh Cell Nuclei

[Abstract] Flow cytometry, a standard technique used for quantitative analysis of isolated cells, is routinely employed by immunologists and oncologists to study DNA content, protein expression, and other functional parameters in blood and tumor cells. Unfortunately, the use of this technique by neurobiologists has been hampered by the complexity of the nervous system, whose constituting cells can hardly be dissociated to obtain samples of sufficient quality. We have developed a simplified and quick method to purify and immunolabel cell nuclei with high sensitivity and low background. Our protocol allows the discrimination of single nuclei from doublets and larger aggregates, obtaining low coefficients of variation for cell cycle analysis with propidium iodide. In addition, due to the reduced sample handling this method has high recovery and good reproducibility. As an example, in this protocol we describe the isolation of cell nuclei from adult cerebral cortex, which are subsequently immunostained with antibodies against NeuN (a general neuronal marker) and EGR1 (an early response gene expressed by functionally active neurons), and subjected to flow cytometric gating and analysis. Nevertheless, the protocol can also be applied to other neural tissues from adult and embryonic brain.
Cultural Corridors: An Analysis of Persistence in Impacts on Local Development

Culture matters for economic development. This postulate has been a main conceptual concern for the “old” institutional economics (OIE) and has lately also been tested through neoclassicalinspired econometric techniques. This conceptual foundation has been confirmed in several quantitative studies on developed countries, in particular cases from the USA, Germany, and Italy. In less developed regions with a wealth of cultural heritage, in particular South-East Europe, this postulate is still an underexplored issue from the perspective of advanced econometric approaches. The aim of the present paper is to examine the impact of what are called South-Eastern European cultural corridors on welfare – and especially on total employment – at the local or regional level. Accounting for gross value added and sectoral specialisation, the effect of such corridors is examined by considering the distance to a cultural corridor: namely, the East Trans-Balkan Road (crossing Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece) as an explanatory factor for regional development – in particular, employment. Using the European University Institute (EUI) European Regional Dataset (ERD), as well as the geo-data from the Cultural Corridors of the South-East Europe website, we estimate a regression model using a 2SLS instrumental variable (IV) approach, with a pooled data set at the NUTS 3 level (Eurostat) during the period 1980 to 2011. Next, we triangulate our results by using the distance to the cultural corridor concerned as a treatment effect in a propensity-score-matching and difference-in-differences exploratory analysis. Our findings confirm the importance of distance to the cultural corridor under investigation as a strong predictor for local socio-economic development. Moreover, our results suggest that the slow evolution of culture over time is likely to lead to the gradual emergence of new geographical cultural centres and a new cultural path dependence built-up of persistence chains.
Protected corridors preserve tiger genetic diversity and minimize extinction into the next century

Habitat loss is the greatest threat to large carnivores around the world. Maintenance of functional connectivity in fragmented landscapes will be important for long-term species persistence. Here, we merge landscape genetics analyses and spatially-explicit simulations to understand future persistence and extinction of tigers (Panthera tigris) in Central India. Tigers in this landscape are restricted to Protected Areas (PAs) and forest fragments embedded within a mosaic of agricultural fields and human settlements. We examined current population connectivity of tigers across nine reserves (using 116 non-invasively sampled individuals and 12 microsatellites). Genetic data was used to infer resistance-to-movement. Our results suggest that dense human settlements and roads with high traffic are detrimental to tiger movement. We used landscape genetic simulations to model 86 different scenarios that incorporated impacts of future land-use change on inferred population connectivity and extinction. Our results confirm that genetic variability (heterozygosity) will decrease in the future and small and/or isolated PAs will have a high risk of local extinction. The average extinction risk of small PAs reduced by 23-70% on adding a 5 km buffer around exiting boundaries. Unplanned development results in 35% lower heterozygosity and 56% higher average extinction probability for tigers even within protected areas. Increasing tiger numbers in such a scenario decreases extinction probability just by 12% (from 56% to 44%). Scenarios where habitat connectivity was enhanced and maintained, stepping-stone populations were introduced/maintained, and tiger numbers were increased, led to low overall extinction probability (between 3-21%). Our simulations provide a means to quantitatively evaluate the effects of different land-use change scenarios on connectivity and extinction, linking basic science to land-use change policy and planned infrastructure development.
Studies on antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of some common mushrooms

Abstract This work scientifically examined the antioxidant and antimicrobial i.e antibacterial and antifungal properties of organic extracts of certain mushrooms like Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajor caju, Ganoderma lucidum, and Agaricus bisporus. Phytochemical analyses of the methanolic extracts revealed the amount of Phenols, Vitamin-C and flavonoids as antioxidants. These mushrooms were much effective against the bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae and Bacillus sp. by agar-well diffusion method. Antifungal activity showed by cup-plate assay. The results indicate that all above mushroom possesses antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Key Words: Mushrooms, Antioxidant, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Phytochemical, Natural Antibiotics Introduction Mushroom is defined as “a macro fungus with a distinctive fruiting body which can be either hypogeous or epigeous, large enough to be seen with the naked eye and to be picked by hand (Chang and Miles, 2004). The first growing mushrooms have received worldwide popularity in recent decades with realization to the fact that they are good source of delicious food with high nutritional values. Besides nutritional value mushroom acts as antioxidant. Oxygen is converted to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) such as superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide by univalent reduction of oxygen. These free radicals are independent chemicals with one
Phytotoxic metabolites of Pseudomonas fuscovaginae

Fuscopeptins are phytotoxic amphiphilic lipodepsipeptides containing 19 amino acid residues. They are produced by the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas fuscovaginae in two forms, A and B, which differ only in the number of methylene groups in the fatty acid chain. Their covalent structure and biological properties have been reported previously. CD and NMR spectroscopy investigations in solution revealed the absence of identifiable elements of secondary and tertiary structure for these molecules. Fuscopeptin B appears to be completely unstructured in aqueous solution, and has a large molecular flexibility. A dramatic conformational change was observed upon addition of trifluoroethanol. This study reports the complete interpretation of the two-dimensional NMR spectra and the NOE results obtained for fuscopeptin B in water/trifluoroethanol solutions; the signals relative to the peptidic moiety are identical to those observed for fuscopeptin A. The results of this investigation were used to determine the solution structure of fuscopeptin B by computer simulations applying distance geometry and simulated annealing procedures. In water/trifluoroethanol solutions the peptidic region appears to have a partly helical structure. The lactonic ring assumes defined conformations very similar to those already reported for other lipodepsipeptides. The structure for fuscopeptin B in solution is also valid for fuscopeptin A because of the negligible structural difference between the two metabolites.
Assessment of Molybdenum Induced Alteration in Oxidative Indices, Biochemical Parameters and Sperm Quality in Testis of Wistar Male Rats

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of ammonium molybdate on lipid peroxidation, antioxidant, biochemical and semen parameters in male Wistar rats. Group I served as control while group II, III and IV received 50, 100 and 150 mg kgG b.wt. dayG ammonium molybdate orally respectively for 60 days. Group V rats received 150 mg kgG b.wt. dayG for 60 days and thereafter left for recovery study for 60 days. The present study examined the effects of ammonium molybdate on serum testosterone, Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) along with sperm parameters. Estimations were also made for marker biochemical and antioxidant parameters in testis. Ammonium molybdate treatment resulted in a dose dependent reduction in serum testosterone, FSH, LH, sperm count, motility and viability. The concentration of total protein and sialic acid as well as activities of acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were decreased in a dose dependent manner while there was a significant increase in the glycogen and cholesterol level in testis. The level of Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive substance (TBARs) was increased while the activities of superoxide dismutase and concentration of glutathione and ascorboic acid was decreased significantly in testis of rats treated with ammonium molybdate. All the parameters showed significant improvement after 60 days of treatment withdrawal in highest dose group. The findings suggested that ammonium molybdate exerts a deleterious effect on testicular function by altering biochemical and antioxidant status of the testes.
The recovery of natural and dosed n-alkanes from the horse

The cuticular wax of different plant species contain varying amounts and proportions of predominantly odd carbon chain length n-alkanes. If the n-alkane concentrations of plants on offer to and faeces produced by grazing herbivores are known then the botanical composition of the herbivores diets can be determined, providing the extent of faecal recovery of the alkanes is known (see Dove and Mayes 1991). In addition, if the animals have been dosed with a synthetic even chain length n-alkane and its recovery is known, then dry matter intake and digestibility can also be calculated. This experiment was conducted to determine the faecal recovery of plant and dosed n-alkanes from the horse. Seven diets each containing different proportions of oaten chaff, lucerne chaff, proprietary horse pellets and cottonseed meal were fed to three (period 1) and then four (period 2) adult horses. The horses were fed their diets in equal amounts at 0700, 1200 and 1600 hours and were given approximately 200 mg dotriacontane (C32, periods 1 and 2) and hexatriacontane (C36, period 2) that had been adsorbed onto powdered cellulose and mixed into 100 g cottonseed meal at 0600 and 1800 hours. The horses were adapted to their diets for two weeks before a six day faeces collection period. During one of these collection days, faeces produced by each horse was collected and sampled every two hours. N-alkane contents of feeds and faeces were determined and these data were used to calculate diet compositions (Dove and Moore 1995). The faecal recoveries of the plant and dosed n-alkanes are shown in Table 1.
Estimation of diet in extinct raccoon dog species by the molar ratio method

Estimation of the dietary habits of extinct species using morphological traits has been attempted in numerous studies; however, previous methods have encountered several difficulties, such as requiring specialized equipment. In this study, we describe an easy quantitative method for estimating the dietary habits, and apply it to extinct raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes) species (Carnivora, Mammalia). The method is based on the lower molar ratios (M2/M1 size) that reflect the species diet (carnivorous and omnivorous tendencies) in Canidae. Among the species statistically compared, Nyctereutes sinensis showed a lower M2/M1 score similar to that of Nyctereutes procyonoides albus (Hokkaido, Japan), whereas Nyctereutes tingi had a higher M2/M1 score similar to that of Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus (Honshu and Kyushu, Japan). These scores suggest that the diets of N. sinensis and N. tingi were similar to those of N. p. albus (relatively carnivorous) and N. p. viverrinus (relatively omnivorous), respectively. Other extinct raccoon dogs also showed varied M2/M1 score, suggesting dietary difference. These results suggest that raccoon dogs underwent dietary transitions or exhibited dietary plasticity during evolution, while their range of diets might have remained the same as those of different populations of extant species Nyctereutes procyonoides.
Os argulídeos (Crustacea: Branchiura) da Amazônia Brasileira. Aspectos da ecologia de Dolops discoidalis Bouvier, 1399 e Dolops bidentata Bouvier, 1899.

A especificidade parasitaria, areas de fixacao, hospedeiros naturais, indices de infestacao e variacao sazonal de Dolops discoidalis e d. bidentata foram estudados durante o periodo de marco de 1979 a marco de 1980, na area do Janauaca, um lago de varzea da Amazonia Central. A sazonalidade revelou um estreito relacionamento com a variacao do nivel da agua, sendo que os picos maximos de infestacao de D. discoidalis e D. bidentata ocorreram na estacao do rio cheio (junho, julho) e os picos minimos na estacao de seca (outubro, novembro). Ambas as especies apresentaram baixa especificidade parasitaria; o D. discoidalis foi encontrado parasitando oito especies de peixes e o D. bidentata seis. A primeira especie apresentou uma nitida preferencia por peixes de couro (Siluriformes) e a segunda por peixes de escamas. Ambas as especies foram encontradas parasitando a superficie externa do corpo de seus hospedeiros.
Can Community-Protected Areas Conserve Biodiversity in Human-Modified Tropical Landscapes? The Case of Terrestrial Mammals in Southern Mexico

Scientists debate two alternative paradigms for tropical biodiversity conservation in human-modified landscapes (HML). Strict government-managed reserves (GMR) have many limitations, including little social support as they transfer conservation costs to local communities. Community-protected areas (CPA) retain control and benefits of biodiversity for local residents, but evidence of their ability to conserve biodiversity is scarce. To test the hypothesis that CPAs are effective in conserving biodiversity, we used camera-trap data to assess differences in abundance, taxonomic and functional (body size and trophic guild) diversity and composition of terrestrial mammal assemblages among CPAs, GMR, and open-access forests (OAF). CPA and OAF sites were located in a HML adjacent to Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, which is representative of GMR. CPAs and OAFs did not differ in landscape context (forest cover, distance to towns and roads, patch size). Our results show that the HML retains all of the species in the regional pool. We found no difference in species diversity among protection conditions, but species composition was different among them. Abundance of medium-sized generalist species was higher in the HML than in GMR, while large species and small herbivores were scarcer. Abundance of omnivorous and insectivorous generalists was highest in OAF, where large predators were not detected. OAFs exhibited fewer functional groups. No evidence was found that landscape context affected these results. We conclude that CPAs can play an important role in biodiversity conservation. Spatial integration of conservation initiatives and training communities in wildlife management would increase the effectiveness of CPAs.
Changes in the Diversity of Evergreen and Deciduous Species During Natural Recovery Following Clear-Cutting in a Subtropical Evergreen-Deciduous Broadleaved Mixed Forest of Central China

Clear-cutting has been a widespread commercial logging practice, causing substantial changes of biodiversity in many forests throughout the world. Forest recovery is a complex ecological process, and examining the recovery process after clear-cutting is important for forest conservation and management. In the present study, we established fourteen 20 m × 20 m plots in three recovery stages (20-year-old second growth, 35-year-old second growth and old growth) and explored the changes in evergreen and deciduous species diversity after clear-cutting in a subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in central China. The results showed that total species richness was highest at the intermediate recovery stage. The species richness and stem abundance of evergreen species increased, while total and deciduous species stem abundance decreased with forest recovery. The basal area of both total and evergreen species increased, while that of the deciduous species showed a unimodal pattern. The abiotic conditions varied with the recovery process. Changes in species compositions were generally correlated with soil pH, total phosphorus, and CO. Our results suggest that deciduous species richness and stem abundance can recover after 20–35 years, but evergreen species need more time to recover following clear-cutting.
The activation of aggresomal pathway in Coxsackievirus B3 infection

Aggresome formation is a cellular defence mechanism that is triggered in order to prevent the accumulation of aggregated proteins in the cytoplasm. It has been previously shown that human enterovirus infection causes changes in vimentin, type III intermediate filament protein (Turkki et al., unpublished data), and these structural changes in vimentin resemble the ones induced during aggresome formation. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible activation of aggresomal pathway during Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection. The hypothesis was that in addition to a vimentin cage, also other factors of the aggresomal pathway might be involved in viral infection, either for the benefit of the virus or host cell. We investigated these cellular changes by using immunofluorescent techniques and confocal microscope imaging. Our results illustrated that CVB3 infection causes a cage-like vimentin, and this rearrangement is dependent on microtubules. In addition, CVB3 infection was shown to induce major structural changes in the ER and Golgi apparatus, accompanied by the translocation of ubiquitin and Heat shock protein (Hsp) 70 to the perinuclear region. These observations indicated that aggresomal pathway could be involved in CVB3 infection. To our best knowledge, the utilization of aggresomal machinery by enteroviruses has not been shown earlier. Despite the fact that enteroviruses have been under research for a long time, there are still areas of the viral lifecycle that are poorly known. Our findings provide more information about enterovirus-host cell –interactions.
Dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L.) honey characterization

The physicochemical (colour, electrical conductivity, specific rotation, pH, free acidity, lactones, total acidity, water content, diastase, invertase, proline, HMF content, fructose, glucose, sucrose, fructose+glucose, fructose/glucose, glucose/water), melissopalynological (specific pollen share, frequency classes) and sensory properties (colour, odour, taste, crystallisation rate) of Dalmatian sage honey samples produced during the period of 1999-2005 have been determined. Altogether 112 honey samples were analysed, and 1655 raw data on their properties obtained. All analyses were performed using methods in accordance with national and international legislative, in an accredited laboratory. The obtained results purport the fact that Dalmatian sage honey has specific characteristics in spite of variability of chemical composition.
Differential Effectiveness of Bibliocounselling and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in fostering Emotional Adjustment among In-school Adolescents in Edo State, Nigeria

The differential effectiveness of Bibliocounselling [BC] and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy [REBT] in fostering emotional adjustment among inschool adolescents in Edo State, Nigeria was the focus of this paper. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested in the study. The study adopted the quasiexperimental research design. The purposive random sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 45 participants consisting of 15 participants for the first treatment [BC], 15 for the second treatment [REBT] and 15 for the control group –Personal Hygiene/Teaching from a population of 1,783 of in-school adolescents. The Kulyam’s kulvan’s (2017) Emotional Adjustment Scale was adapted for the study. A total of five sessions (45minutes per session) was covered in both the treatment and control groups. The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question, while the Analysis of Covariance and the t-test for two independent sample means were used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Although both treatment methods were effective in fostering emotional adjustment among in-school adolescents, the participants exposed to REBT showed more improvement over those exposed to BC. It was therefore recommended among others that counselors should use more of REBT to help foster students’ emotions.
Long-term storage of onion and the factors that affect its quality: A critical review

ABSTRACT Storage of onions is a multifaceted issue, which involves many preharvest and postharvest factors. One of the major factors that affect onion storage is the selection of the proper cultivar, since there are significant differences in storability between the cultivars and not all of them are suitable for storage. Proper preharvest and postharvest conditions are essential for storability of onion bulbs, whereas they also affect marketability (weight losses, texture and color depth of bulbs) and quality (chemical composition, nutritional value, antioxidant activity). Irrigation and fertilization are essential preharvest factors that substantially affect storability, whereas curing methods and storage conditions (temperature, relative humidity, controlled atmospheres) and processing treatments are postharvest factors. This review article examines the effect of long-term storage on the main quality features of onions, such as the incidence of sprouting and root growth, water losses, and changes in chemical composition (mineral composition, sugar content, nutritional value) and antioxidant activity (phenolic and flavonoid contents, DPPH [2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl] scavenging activity).
Influence of root and shoot pruning on field establishment and growth of overgrown cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) seedlings

Delayed planting of cashew seedlings coupled with the erratic weather conditions in Ghana has often led to high transplant mortality of over grown cashew seedlings. This experiment was carried out in the Guinea savanna zone of Northern Ghana to study the effect of root and shoot pruning on the survival and field performance of overgrown (4 to 7 months old) cashew seedlings. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Data were collected on percentage survival, plant growth and plant canopy characteristics after planting in the field. Plant survival was significantly (P 0.05) affected by the treatments after 24 months in the field. We conclude that, establishment of overgrown cashew seedlings can be improved by pruning some of the seedling roots or by halving the leaves before transplanting. Key words: Cashew, root and shoot pruning, field establishment, seedling age.