Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polycystic ovary syndrome: treatment strategies and management

Background: The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is possibly the most common endocrine disorder in premenopausal women, with prevalences in the 6 – 7% range reported worldwide. Although PCOS is primarily a disorder of androgen excess, affected women frequently present with abdominal adiposity and insulin resistance, explaining the association of PCOS with metabolic comorbidities and an increased cardiovascular risk. Abdominal adiposity, and very especially the compensatory hyperinsulinism resulting from insulin resistance, further contribute to hyperandrogenism. These pathophysiological mechanisms must be considered when deciding the optimal therapy for PCOS patients. Objective: To review the impact of the current approaches to the treatment of PCOS on the metabolic associations and the cardiovascular risk of these women. Methods: Review of published studies addressing the effects of different treatment strategies of PCOS. Results: The resolution of PCOS after the marked and sustained weight loss attained after bariatric surgery makes this therapeutic option a first-line strategy in women presenting with severe obesity. In patients with lesser grades of obesity who desire fertility, a short trial of metformin, followed by classic ovulation induction and/or assisted reproductive techniques in case pregnancy is not achieved in a few months, is a reasonable approach. If fertility is not an immediate concern, third generation oral contraceptive pills containing a neutral or antiandrogenic progestin remains the drug of choice, considering their efficacy, their excellent tolerability, and their overall metabolic safety. Conclusion: Strategies targeting obesity and abdominal adiposity, insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism, alone or in combination, are effective in ameliorating the signs and symptoms of hyperandrogenism while improving the metabolic comorbidities and the cardiovascular risk of these patients in most cases.
Placental hormones, genomic imprinting, and maternal—fetal communication

Placental hormones are produced by one genetic individual (the fetus) to act on the receptors of another genetic individual (the mother). Mothers are probably able to extract some information from placental hormones, but this information may be limited to a crude measure of fetal vigor. Placental hormones are most easily interpreted as fetal attempts to manipulate maternal metabolism for fetal benefit. An evolutionary model is presented for a hypothetical hormone that increases the nutrient content of maternal blood. The model predicts that, at an evolutionary equilibrium, the hormone will be produced solely by the mother or solely by the placenta, but not by both. If the gene for the hormone is subject to genomic imprinting, the paternally‐derived allele will be active and the maternally‐derived allele will be silent. Hormone production benefits the members of the mother's current litter at some cost to future litters. Therefore, paternity changes between litters increase the level of hormone production. On the other hand, offspring that produce less of the hormone than litter‐mates share the benefits but have lower costs. Therefore, multiple paternity within litters reduces the level of hormone production.
DYNAMICS OF SUBARCTIC WETLAND FORESTS OVER THE PAST 1500 YEARS

Boreal forests at high latitudes are climate-sensitive ecosystems that respond directly to environmental forcing by changing their position according to latitude or by changing their abundance at local and regional scales. South of the arctic treeline, external forcing (warming, cooling, drought, fire) necessarily results in the changing abundance of the impacted forests; in particular, the deforestation of well-drained sites through fire is the most important factor. In this study, we examined the changing abundance of wetland forests located at the arctic treeline (northern Quebec, Canada) during the last 1500 years, a period of known contrasting climatic conditions. Black spruce (Picea mariana) trees submerged in small lakes and peatland ponds and soil-peat stratigraphy were used con- currently to reconstruct the millennial-long developmental sequence of wetland stands as- sociated with moisture changes and fire disturbance. Changing lake levels from AD 300 to the present were identified based on radiocarbon-dated submerged paleosols and tree- ring cross-dating of submerged trees distributed in three wetlands from the same watershed. Dead and living trees in a standing position below and above present water level of a small lake (LE Lake) showed direct evidence of past water levels from the 12th century to the present day. Submerged subfossil trees from another lake (LB Lake) and two peatland ponds (PB Peatland) also responded synchronously to changes in soil moisture during the last 1500 years. Regional-scale catastrophic flooding around AD 1150, inferred from paleosol and subfossil tree data, eliminated riparian peat and wetland trees growing at least since AD 300. Also, the coincidence of events such as the mass mortality of wetland spruce and post-fire deforestation of a small hill surrounding LE Lake during the late 1500s suggests the impact of local-scale flooding, probably attributable to greater snow transportation and accumulation on the lake surface after fire disturbance. Massive tree mortality climaxed at ca. 1750, when all wetland trees at LB Lake and PB Peatland died because of permafrost disturbance and soil upthrusting. Lower water levels from AD 300 to 1750 were associated with drier conditions, possibly caused by greater evaporation and/or reduced snow accu- mulation. Permafrost development in shallow waters occurred during the Little Ice Age, after 1600. It is concluded that the climate at the eastern Canadian treeline was warmer and drier from AD 300 to the onset of the Little Ice Age and promoted tree establishment. The highest water levels were recorded recently (19th and 20th centuries), causing lake and peatland expansion. Any future moisture changes at these subarctic latitudes will result in important spatial rearrangements of wetland ecosystems.
Antennal sensilla in five Psychodini moth flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae) pollinators of Arum spp. (Araceae)

Abstract The pollination of the genus Arum (Araceae) is mainly achieved by deception, the floral odour mimicking the pollinator ovipositing site. In order to discover the sensory organs involved in this attraction, we have studied the antennae of five species of psychodine moth-flies (former Psychoda sensu lato=Psychodini), pollinators of Arum spp. The antennae of the five Psychodini reveal seven types of sensilla: multiporous tribranched sensilla basiconica (sensilla ascoidea), multiporous sensilla basiconica, multiporous sensilla coeloconica, multiporous sensilla auricillica, uniporous sensilla basiconica, aporous sensilla chaetica, aporous Böhm’s sensilla. Each species possesses three, five or six of these sensillum types. All the multiporous sensilla are probably olfactory receptors while the uniporous sensilla basiconica must possess a contact chemoreceptive function. The multiporous tribranched sensilla basiconica (s. ascoidea), present in all the species, are the best candidates for the reception of the odours given off by the ovipositing sites and the inflorescences of Arum. The multiporous sensilla basiconica and the multiporous sensilla coeloconica may be involved respectively as CO2 receptors or thermoreceptors. Psychoda phalaenoides, which is the main pollinator of A. maculatum, is the species which possesses the largest number of antennal sensilla. The sexual dimorphism, studied only in Psycha grisescens, as concerns the number of sensilla and the absence of a sensillum type which differ according to sex, is difficult to interpret.
Adaptações morfofisiológicas da soja em solo inundado

There are restrictions to the growth of plants in flooded soils, and this limits their agricultural exploration to few species. Soybean is becoming an alternative, due to its high adaptation capacity to these conditions. The objective of this work was to identify the forms of adaptation of soybean in flooded soils, and to establish the best strategy for supplying N in flooded conditions. An experiment was carried out in greenhouse in the Faculdade de Agronomia of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Brazil, from September to November 1998. Two cultivars of soybean (FT-Abyara and BR 4) grown under two humidity conditions (flooded soil and field capacity) and two strategies for supplying nitrogen (inoculation and mineral N) were tested. The soybean stayed under flood from stadium V2 to V5 (21 days). Soybean presented mechanisms (stem base hypertrophy and adventitious roots with aerenchyma), that allowed its adaptation to hypoxia conditions under flooded soil. There was reduction in the levels of N, K, Mg and Mn and increase in the level of Fe in the leaves when flooded. Differences existed between cultivars under flooded soil; cultivar FT-Abyara was the best adapted. Stem diameter under flooded conditions was the most important characteristic in the differentiation of cultivars for tolerance to flooding. The best strategy for supplying N in conditions of flooded soil was the application of mineral N in covering. Even under flood, nodulation in soybean happened.
Photoperiodic determination of gynoparae and males of damson‐hop aphid Phorodon humuli

Abstract. Sexual morph production in Phorodon humuli is controlled by daylength. Wingless aphids reared from birth in short‐day conditions (LD 12 : 12 h) and transferred when adult to long‐day conditions (LD 18 : 6 h) produce only gynoparae and males until death some 7 weeks later, whereas those reared in long days and transferred to short days produce 20% wingless parthenogenetic females, 50% gynoparae and 30% of males in an overlapping sequence. No winged morph capable of re‐infesting hop is produced. Less mature embryos are more sensitive to short days than older embryos because 100% of the former became gynoparae after 4 days of exposure of their mothers, and 59% when their mothers were exposed for the 4 days immediately preceding the birth of their offspring. Two days of exposure to short days switches 94% of young embryos from wingless to gynopara production when mature. The response to short days is irreversible. Wingless aphids reared from birth to adult in short days produce 30% fewer offspring than those reared to the same stage in long days and are male‐biased, with 76–78% of their offspring being male.
Responses of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) to Nitrogen and Temperature Manipulations

<p>Invasion of introduced lineage of common reed (<i>Phragmites australis</i>) into water-saturated communities in the Great Plains has modified habitats and ecosystem services. In several areas it grows alongside and out-competes its native counterpart. We investigated ecophysiological responses of the two lineages to nitrogen (N) fertilization and temperature (19°, 25°, and 32°C). Photosynthesis (A<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub>) did not differ between lineages at temperatures of 19° and 25°C but was higher in the native lineage at 32°C. Fertilization improved A<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3. org/1999/xlink">max</sub> at all temperatures, and was more pronounced in the native than in the introduced lineage. Native <i>P. australis</i> had higher δ<sup xmlns:m="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3. org/1999/xlink">13</sup>C and water use efficiency (wue) compared to the introduced lineage. Differences in maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (F<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">v</sub>/F<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">m</sub>), carboxylation efficiency (V<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">cmax</sub>), and electron transport (J<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub>) were observed between lineages, and generally responded positively to treatments. Our results indicated that the native <i>P. australis</i> may better withstand water fluctuations and warmer temperatures than its introduced counterpart, and could contribute to diverse plant communities under warmer climate scenarios. In contrast, under cool temperatures, the introduced lineage has an advantage that could lead to further displacement of native species in water-saturated communities. </p>
SEASONAL BIRD ASSEMBLAGES IN A MEDITERRANEAN PATCHY WETLAND: CORROBORATING THE INTERMEDIATE DISTURBANCE HYPOTHESIS

The structure of bird as- semblages recorded in breeding and wintering period in a Mediterranean wetland of Central Italy was studied in order to evaluate their sea- sonal changes and the influence of land cover on their parameters. We identified three habitat macro-types, according to a man-disturbed gra- dient (from natural to man-made macro-types). Bird assemblages showed differences in relation to season and habitat type, either at quantitative (species richness, diversity index) or qualitative level (species composition and turnover, simi- larity). In winter, we obtained the higher values of mean species richness, Margalef richness, Shannon diversity, and β-diversity. The dendro- gram of similarity showed a major clear-cut divi- sion between seasons, and a secondary division among habitat macro-types. In winter, assem- blages were more rich and diverse, with a high turnover among point counts. The semi-natural habitat macro-types showed always the higher values of these indexes, with the exception of the β-diversity, which showed the highest value in winter but the lowest in the breeding period. The high mean values of richness (α-diversity) of the semi-natural habitat macro-types, especially in the breeding period could be mainly explained by the 'intermediate disturbance hypothesis'; on the contrary, differences in turn-over (β-diversity) between the seasons are mainly due to seasonal changes in habitat heterogeneity of this habitat macro-type (from an arid homogeneous pasture to a patchy flooded one). A pattern of intermedi- ate disturbance was evident at mean species rich- ness level (significant values) but not at diversity index level (not significant values). These results could imply specific strategies for the manage- ment of small wetlands, focused on maintaining a regime of natural (flooding) and man-made (grazing) disturbances.
Pollen source area and pollen productivity: evidence from forest hollows

1 Although fossil pollen from forest hollows (~ 5 m in diameter) is often interpreted as a record of stand-scale forest changes, this assumption has not previously been tested by comparing pollen percentages in modern sediment to vegetation from a range of sampling radii. I compared pollen in surface sediment with distance-weighted basal area of trees in radii from 10 to l00 m, to test a model (Sugita 1994) that predicts the 'relevant pollen source area' for forest hollows is 50-100 m, and that about 40 % of the pollen comes from trees growing within this radius. 2 Maximum likelihood estimates of pollen productivity, based on the relevant source area, are used to test for differences in species pollen productivity between a pinedominated region in north-western Wisconsin, and a hemlock-northern-hardwoodsdominated region of upper peninsula Michigan. 3 Likelihood function scores, which measure the goodness-of-fit of the pollen-vegetation relationship based on the maximum likelihood method, show that estimates of pollen productivity (ac) and relative background pollen loading (co) improve as radius of distance-weighted vegetation sampling increases from 10 to 50 m. There is little further improvement from 50 to lOOm. Linear regression analysis of pollen percentages on distance-weighted basal area also shows little improvement in pollenvegetation correlation when vegetation samples from beyond 50 m are included. Predictions of pollen percentages therefore are not improved by increasing the vegetation sampling radius beyond 50-100 m. These results support Sugita's (1994) model prediction and confirm that fossil pollen in hollows records stand-scale vegetation heterogeneity at a scale of 50-lOOm. 4 Estimates of background pollen (co) indicate that on average, only 40-50% of the pollen in forest hollows comes from trees growing within 50-lOOm of the hollow. However, this is sufficient to record the stand scale vegetation heterogeneity because larger areas of vegetation are recorded as homogeneous regional background, even in patchy vegetation. 5 Relative pollen productivity of three monospecific pollen taxa (red maple, sugar maple, basswood) is similar for two regions, supporting the implicit assumption in palynology that pollen productivity is a species-specific constant. Productivity estimates of birch are similar between regions, although yellow birch dominates in one region and paper birch in the other.
Breeding radiata pine for wood stiffness: review and analysis

Summary Radiata pine is widely planted in the southern hemisphere, and has a versatile timber. The mature wood of this species is strong and stiff enough for a number of industrial uses, but current trends of harvesting at below 30 years result in a high proportion of low-stiffness juvenile wood. Radiata pine breeders have countered this reduction, indirectly, by selecting progenies for dense juvenile wood. However there is evidence now that improving juvenile wood density may not be sufficient to fully address low stiffness. This has led to work on assessing stiffness itself, and to studies on using microfibril angle in the tree improvement program. Progress on breeding radiata pine for stiffness in New Zealand is reviewed in this paper, with a briefer account of work in Australia. Several direct and indirect methods to improve stiffness arc described. These include static bending tests on boards and small clear specimens, acoustic and stress wave methods, and microfibril angle, in addition to density and pilodyn penetration. Two tools using acoustic/stress wave methods have been developed by the New Zealand forestry industry, and are being used operationally to segregate logs. A third tool (FAKOPP), developed in Hungary, shows promise for use on standing trees and hence could be suitable in screening progenies. SilviScan is an important Australian breakthrough and could potentially be used to predict longitudinal stiffness on hundreds of short samples per day. Combining acoustic/stress wave results with density and branch cluster frequency could well be a viable and cost—effective way to select progenies for clearwood stiffness in the juvenile wood zone. Information on stiffness could be combined with breeding values for growth rate, straightness and grain spirality to select parents for deployment and breeding.
Shelf life of several marine fish species of Bangladesh during ice storage

Summary Organoleptic, biochemical and bacteriological aspects of five tropical marine fish such as silver jewfish, Bombay duck, big-eye tuna, Chinese pomfret and ribbon fish stored in ice were studied. Organoleptically all fish were found acceptable for 10–13 days before becoming inedible. Proximate analysis showed that moisture content increased slightly; protein and lipid content decreased gradually and ash had little or no significant change. pH, TVB-N, peroxide and aerobic plate count values increased with increasing storage period but the values were within acceptable range up to 10 days of storage. Changes in myofibrillar ATPase activity and solubility of these fishes showed that Ca2+ ATPase in the presence of both 0.1 m and 0.5 m KCl decreased gradually whereas no marked changes were observed in the Mg+2 ATPase activities in the presence/absence of Ca+2. Myofibrillar protein solubility of all fish samples also decreased considerably during ice storage. The decrement in Ca2+ ATPase activity and solubility indicates denaturation of myofibrillar protein of fish samples during ice storage.
Activity Budgets and Forage Selection of Podolian Cattle, a Semiwild Bovine Breed

This study aimed to describe the behaviour of Podolian breed, a semiwild cattle breed kept in a natural environment (as either a small group of young bulls or cows within a family herd), and the interaction of these animals with the environment in terms of ingestion from natural pastures. Diurnal grazing behavioural pattern was monitored through continuous focal animal recording method. The activity budget of free-ranging animals was characterized by high locomotor and feeding activities. They exhibited a high degree of adaptability to the local phytocoenosis with high levels of ferns' and tree foliage intakes performed by cows and the selection of a diet more nutritious than pasture performed by young bulls. These results along with the low levels of agonistic interactions recorded in the two experiments suggest that extensive systems based on grazing allow social stability and provide a natural environment for the expression of cattle species-specific behaviour.
Temporal Trends of Variation in Italian Rice Germplasm over the Past Two Centuries Revealed by AFLP and SSR Markers

The aim of this study was to characterize the Italian rice (Oryza sativa L.) gene pool, paying particular attention to its variation over time, to determine whether human activity can reduce genetic variability, and whether such a reduction actually occurred in Italian rice varieties. We analyzed 135 Italian rice accessions, representing genotypes either introduced from abroad or developed in Italy from 1880 to 2001, using two groups of molecular markers, amplifi ed fragment length polymorphisms and simple sequence repeats. These accessions were divided into four groups for which different statistical analyses were performed. The levels of gene diversity, from 0.1023 to 0.1921, and genetic richness, from 0.1579 to 0.3064, increased over time. Genetic structure, as estimated by analysis of molecular variance, revealed that the within-component was overwhelmingly dominant (92%) compared with the among-component. These results show that the level of genetic diversity in Italian rice accessions has remained high since 1850 and continues to increase. This is most likely the result of Italian breeding programs that developed new cultivars and introduced others from abroad, without substituting previous accessions. Our results show that the management and improvement of rice germplasm in Italy have been successful in maintaining suffi cient genetic diversity.
Influence of Polyphenol and Ascorbate Oxidases during Cooking Process on the Radical-Scavenging Activity of Vegetables

The influence of polyphenol oxidase and ascorbate oxidase on radical-scavenging activity and contents of total phenol, chlorogenic acid, and ascorbic acid in vegetables during the cooking process were investigated. In the case of burdock and lettuce, which have a high activity of polyphenol oxidase, the radical-scavenging activity and the content of total phenol and chlorogenic acid decreased drastically within 1 min. In the case of broccoli, however, only a small decrease of radical-scavenging activity was observed, and total phenol and chlorogenic acid decreased almost not at all. The decrease of the activity in broccoli depended on the oxidation of ascorbic acid by ascorbate oxidase. None of these compounds decreased after the enzymes had been inactivated by heating.