Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REDESCRIPTION, POSTEMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOUR OF A HARPACTORINE ASSASSIN BUG Sphedanolestes himalayensis Distant (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

A redescription of adult of Sphedanolestes himalayensis Distant is given. The immatures and adults of S. himalayensis were found to inhabit the shrubs of tropical evergreen forests. It lays single, elongate, pale reddish eggs, which adhered to the top of the rearing containers in the laboratory. The average number of eggs laid by a female was 74.8 ± 5.2. Incubation period was 9.6± 0.86 days. The total nymphal developmental period from I to V nymphal instar was 59.8± 8.6 days. The longevity of the adult female (71.6±3.4 days) was longer than that of the adult male (68.3±6.1 days). The preoviposition and postoviposition periods were 9.8± 0.76 and 4.6±0.03 days. The male and female sex ratio was 0.86: 1. Sequential events of predation and mating conform to those of other harpactorine reduviids. Sphedanolestes himalayensis, assassin bug, redescription, postembryonic development, predation, mating
Single or Multi-Frequency generators in on-going brain activity: a mechanistic whole-brain model of empirical MEG data

During rest, envelopes of band-limited on-going MEG signals co-vary across the brain in consistent patterns, which have been related to resting-state networks measured with fMRI. To investigate the genesis of such envelope correlations, we consider a whole-brain network model assuming two distinct fundamental scenarios: one where each brain area generates oscillations in a single frequency, and a novel one where each brain area can generate oscillations in multiple frequency bands. The models share, as a common generator of damped oscillations, the normal form of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation operating at the critical border between the steady state and the oscillatory regime. The envelopes of the simulated signals are compared with empirical MEG data using new methods to analyse the envelope dynamics in terms of their phase coherence and stability across the spectrum of carrier frequencies. Considering the whole-brain model with a single frequency generator in each brain area, we obtain the best fit with the empirical MEG data when the fundamental frequency is tuned at 12Hz. However, when multiple frequency generators are placed at each local brain area, we obtain an improved fit of the spatio-temporal structure of on-going MEG data across all frequency bands. Our results indicate that the brain is likely to operate on multiple frequency channels during rest, introducing a novel dimension for future models of large-scale brain activity.
Sensitivity analysis of 1996 National Research Council model for supplemented grazing beef cattle

G.C. Ortega1, O. Hernández1∆, L. Vargas1, G.D. Mendoza2, P.A. Martinez3 and L. Avendaño4 1Programa de Ganadería. Campus Montecillo. Colegio de Postgraduados. Carr. México-Texcoco. 56230. Montecillo, Estado de México. México ∆e-mail: ohmendo@colpos.mx, ohmendo@yahoo.co.uk 2Departamento de Producción Agrícola y Animal, UAM-Xochimilco. Calzada del Hueso 1100. Col. Villa Quietud Coyoacán. 04960. Ciudad de México. México 3 Departamento de Zootecnia. Universidad Autónoma Chapingo. 56230. Chapingo, Estado de México. México 4 Instituto de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Mexicali, Baja California. México
The assemblages of soil-dwelling springtails (Collembola) in winter rye under long-term monoculture and crop rotation

Focusing on the response of soil mesofauna to winter rye cultivation in monoculture for 90 years, the study investigated the abundance and diversity of soil-dwelling springtails, in relation to a five-field crop rotation. A long-term monoculture experiment was established in Poland in 1923 and has been continued uninterruptedly to the present time. Soil samples were taken over a period of three years (2011–2013) to determine springtail (Collembola) abundance, species composition and life-forms spectra. We hypothesize that the crop rotation indirectly, due to the residues from the previous crops and modified soil conditions, caused the increase of the abundance and species diversity of springtails in comparison to monoculture. Generally, springtails were more abundant in the soil of rye field cultivated within a 5-field crop rotation. For the majority of sampling dates the abundance of springtails was higher in that habitat in comparison to the monoculture. Also, the calculated ecological indices showed greater diversity in the crop rotation. This treatment was dominated by the three species – Hypogastrura manubrialis, Mesaphorura macrochaeta and Ceratophysella denticulata, but in the monoculture only M. macrochaeta was distinctly numerous. Hemiedaphic springtails dominated in the crop rotation, whereas in the monoculture the most abundant were euedaphic representatives. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the studied organisms were influenced by two factors – treatment and the sampling date. We suspect that the unbeneficial soil conditions in certain sampling dates had greater impact on Collembola community than the crop rotation system.
THE EFFICACY OF BANGBANGSIT (LANTANA CAMARA LINN) AS ORGANIC KATOL

This study explores the efficacy of the developed Bangbangsit katol (Lantana camara Linn.) using dried young and matured leaves, and flowers of the plants in treating mosquitoes. L. camara is known to contain repellent properties to insect pests. Philippines, particularly in its countryside like Quirino province, hosts L. camara pandemically in its topographies. On the other hand, mosquitoes had been one of the vectors of the world’s pandemic health problem of serious human diseases that threaten human existence, i.e. zika virus, malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, among others. Young and matured leaves and flowers of L. camara were freshly picked, air dried, and pulverized. The bangbangsit katol was developed by mixing the pulverized L. camara and corn starch. Corn starch was used as binder in forming the katol. Mosquitoes were cultured and subjected to the fume of the burnt L. camara katol: T1 - young leaves, T2 - matured leaves, and T3 – flowers. Time of death and the number of dead mosquitoes were determined and compared. Findings revealed that there is no significant difference on the number of killed mosquitoes across treatments in the study; however, mortalities in T2 and T3 were found significantly higher when compared to T1. Therefore, Bangbangsit katol (L. camara) is potential in treating deleterious mosquitoes.
Tracking populations of Phytophthora ramorum within trees and across the South-western Oregon tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus ) forest with DNA fingerprinting and the relative fitness of dominant and rare individuals. †

Since the discovery of Phytophthora ramorum Werres, De Cock & Man In’t Veld in south-western Oregon forests in 2001, newly infected areas are detected each year. Yet, there are still gaps in our knowledge about how the pathogen spreads or where new infections come from. Our study aims to track the spread of P. ramorum in Oregon forests and within individual trees using DNA fingerprinting. We examined the genetic diversity of 1589 samples collected from 2001 to 2008 on several temporal and spatial scales. We identified 60 novel multilocus genotypes (MGs) with 9 to 44 MGs found in each year. While the majority of MGs were present in very low numbers (< 1%) one MG was dominant in all years representing 39 to 73% of isolates. The dominance of one MG was not attributable to higher fitness by any measure examined. Frequency of the dominant MG declined with time. This supports the hypothesis that it represents the founder genotype, and is being progressively diluted by new genotypes that arise through mutation. Our data also demonstrate that P. ramorum populations in Oregon forest are genetically distinct from those in nurseries and in California forests.
Secondary Metabolites from Fungi: Natural Product Diversity, Structure Elucidation and Bioactivity

IV Abstract This dissertation describes secondary metabolites isolated from different fungi, including Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus terreus, Penicillium sp. (strains IO1 and IO2), Alternaria alternata, Penicillium paxilli and Penicillium sclerotiorum. The structures of isolated compounds were elucidated by analysis of MS and NMR data. The absolute configuration of chiral compounds was determined by comparison of the optical rotation with the literatures and by ECD spectroscopy. In order to exploit the maximal chemical diversity of fungi, several cultivation methods were applied. The most common ways included the alteration of the medium type, salinity or pH to elicit the biosynthesis of specific metabolites, so that the corresponding metabolites were produced. Microbial interaction was considered to be the most important factor for triggering the production of bioactive secondary metabolites, and thus co-cultivation approaches were pursued to mimic the natural environment with the aim to activate silent gene clusters of axenic cultures. In addition, epigenetic modifiers were used to attempt the induction of new secondary metabolites by inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and DNA methyltransferases (DMATs). This dissertation consists of the following parts: 1. Trichoderma harzianum The endophytic fungus T. harzianum was isolated from leaves of Cola nitida. One new natural product 4'-hydroxy-deacetyl-18-deoxycytochalasin H (1), together with the known deacetyl-18-deoxycytochalasin H (2), 18-deoxycytochalasin H (3) and alternariol (4) were obtained from the first fermentation on rice medium. The secondary fermentation gave the known compounds waol A (5) and aspyridone A (6). The structure of the new compound was unambiguously determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, and by HRESIMS measurements, as well as by comparison of the data with the literature. Compounds 1-3 showed potent cytotoxicity against the murine lymphoma cell line L5178Y and the human ovarian cancer cell lines A2780 sens and A2780 CisR (IC50 0.19 6.97 M). The A2780 cell lines included cisplatin-sensitive (sens) and -resistant (R) cells.
Climate warming and invasive fish species: Will they replace native fish species in waters of temperate zones?

Abstract It is well accepted that climate change will have a significant effect on aquatic environments and together with temperature as one of the most important variables, it will represent a major driver of shift in the ecosystem. The increasing temperature in waters of temperate zones will have stressful effect on coldwater adapted fish species that may lead to the shrink of their area of occurrence or even to their extinction. The fish species able to replace the disappearing native populations would be the ones characterized with high plasticity of phenotypes, and strong biological flexibility, which manifest in quick change of life-history traits. Such species are likely to track the changes in their environment relatively rapidly, whereas the responses of majority native species are slower. The given overview on this topic will try to predict and describe global effect of climate change on ecosystems, impact of invasive species on native fish communities and their possible replacement in the future.
Pteridophyte fungal associations: Current knowledge and future perspectives

Current understanding of the nature and function of fungal associations in pteridophytes is surprisingly patchy given their key evolutionary position, current research foci on other early‐branching plant clades, and major efforts at unravelling mycorrhizal evolution and the mechanisms underlying this key interaction between plants and fungi. Here we provide a critical review of current knowledge of fungal associations across pteridophytes and consider future directions making recommendations along the way. From a comprehensive survey of the literature, a confused picture emerges: suggestions that members of the Lycopsida harbour Basidiomycota fungi contrast sharply with extensive cytological and recent molecular evidence pointing to exclusively Glomeromycota and/or Mucoromycotina associations in this group. Similarly, reports of dark septate, assumingly ascomycetous, hyphae in a range of pteridophytes, advocating a mutualistic relationship, are not backed by functional evidence and the fact that the fungus invariably occupies dead host tissue points to saprotrophy and not mutualism. The best conclusion that can be reached based on current evidence is that the fungal symbionts of pteridophytes belong to the two fungal lineages Mucoromycotina and Glomeromycota. Do symbiotic fungi and host pteridophytes engage in mutually beneficial partnerships? To date, only two pioneering studies have addressed this key question demonstrating reciprocal exchange of nutrients between the sporophytes of Ophioglossum vulgatum and Osmunda regalis and their fungal symbionts. There is a pressing need for more functional investigations also extending to the gametophyte generation and coupled with in vitro isolation and resynthesis studies to unravel the effect of the fungi on their host.
Genetic diversity in mulberry (Morus spp.) revealed by isozyme markers

Summary Nine isozyme patterns were studied to deduce the level of genetic diversity and inter-relationships among 14 species of mulberry (Morus spp. L) used in breeding programmes. βEsterase (EST), peroxidase (PoX), diaphorase (DIA), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) produced 12 isozyme loci and a total of 22 alleles. The percentage of polymorphic loci and the average number of alleles per locus ranged from 50 – 75% and 1.336 – 1.667 respectively. Among 80 wild accessions of two wild and two domesticated species of Morus, 22 accessions of M. alba exhibited a higher number of polymorphic loci (75%), a higher polymorphic index (0.398), average number of alleles per locus (1.457), and expected heterozygosity (0.339) compared to the three other Morus species under study. Evidence for a higher rate of gene flow was found between populations of M. alba and M. indica compared to that between the other three species sampled. Phylogenetic clustering of the 80 wild mulberry accessions indicated three major groups. Accessions of the domesticated species grouped into one cluster, while accessions of the wild species grouped into one major and one minor cluster. Among all the isozyme loci, EST-2 was present only in polyploid species. The resolving power of isozymes was less than that of molecular markers, hence molecular markers should be used for phylogenetic studies in mulberry.
Bioinformatic processing of RAD‐seq data dramatically impacts downstream population genetic inference

Restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (RAD‐seq) provides high‐resolution population genomic data at low cost, and has become an important component in ecological and evolutionary studies. As with all high‐throughput technologies, analytic strategies require critical validation to ensure precise and unbiased interpretation. To test the impact of bioinformatic data processing on downstream population genetic inferences, we analysed mammalian RAD‐seq data (>100 individuals) with 312 combinations of methodology (de novo vs. mapping to references of increasing divergence) and filtering criteria (missing data, HWE, FIS, coverage, mapping and genotype quality). In an effort to identify commonalities and biases in all pipelines, we computed summary statistics (nr. loci, nr. SNP, π, Hetobs, FIS, FST, Ne and m) and compared the results to independent null expectations (isolation‐by‐distance correlation, expected transition‐to‐transversion ratio Ts/Tv and Mendelian mismatch rates of known parent–offspring trios). We observed large differences between reference‐based and de novo approaches, the former generally calling more SNPs and reducing FIS and Ts/Tv. Data completion levels showed little impact on most summary statistics, and FST estimates were robust across all pipelines. The site frequency spectrum was highly sensitive to the chosen approach as reflected in large variance of parameter estimates across demographic scenarios (single‐population bottlenecks and isolation‐with‐migration model). Null expectations were best met by reference‐based approaches, although contingent on the specific criteria. We recommend that RAD‐seq studies employ reference‐based approaches to a closely related genome, and due to the high stochasticity associated with the pipeline advocate the use of multiple pipelines to ensure robust population genetic and demographic inferences.
Selection and ultrastructural observation of a high-CO2-requiring mutant of cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp PCC7942

A high-CO2-requiring mutant of Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 las been isolated after chemical mutagenesis of ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS). It was able to grow at 4% CO2, but not under ambient CO2. The initial screening of the mutant showed that the genetic reversion rate was about 10(-7) and death occurred 2 -3 days after being transferred from 4% CO2 to the ambient air. Its photosynthetic dependence on external dissolved inorganic carbon was higher than that of the wild type cells, but its carbonic anhydrase activity was comparatively low. In the ultrastructural level, various types of aberrant carboxysomes appeared in the mutant cells: rod-shaped carboxysomes, irregular carboxysomes and the "empty-inclusion carboxysomes" with increasing number of glycogen granules surrounding the thylakoids. All these alterations indicated that the mutant was defective in utilizing the external CO2. The induction of carboxysomes by lower levels of CO2 and the biogenesis of carboxysomes are herein discussed.
Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of Newborn: Analysis of 494 cases in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) or persistent fetal circulation (PFC) is a commonly encountered problem in neonatal and pediatric cardiac intensive care units and cause significant mortality and morbidity. Aim/Objective : To show the outcome of patient of PPHN treated by a cheap, locally available NNF protocol. Methods: It was a retrospective study conducted in pediatric cardiology department of a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 2014 to March 2019. After diagnosis in noninvasive cardiac laboratory (NIC Lab), all cases were admitted in neonatal and pediatric cardiac intensive care units for specific management using NNF protocol. After 72 hours, echocardiography was repeated, and outcome was analyzed. Results: Out of total 494 cases, 80.56% cases were diagnosed at first week and 4.45% cases were diagnosed at 3rd week of life. Male patients (60.32%) outnumbered female. Babies were delivered by caesarean section in 92.31% cases. PPHN was found alone in 24.69% cases and rest along with other less severe congenital heart diseases. Severe pulmonary hypertension was observed in 63.56% cases. Right ventricular volume was increased in 93.52% cases. Hundred percent neonates were treated with high flow oxygen therapy by optiflow/ nasal cannula/ head box. Antifailure treatment was offered in 73.27% cases, pulmonary vasodilators in 59.51% cases, inotropes in 15.18% cases. Outcome of treatment was analyzed after 72 hours by repeat echocardiography. Four hundred and seventy one (95.34%) cases were cured completely and only 1.01% expired. Conclusion: PPHN is a life threatening condition in neonate only. Early diagnosis and proper management is must for survival. Management by low cost NNF protocol was found effective with 95.34% cure rate and only 1.01% mortality. This protocol may be used for treatment of PPHN in low cost set up. J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2020; 38(4): 176-184
Do Ownership Structure, Political Connections and Executive Compensation Have Multifaceted Effects on Firm Performance? An Alternative Approach

This study investigates the multifaceted effects of board characteristics and ownership on firm performance. Using panel data for 130 listed firms over the period 2009-2016 and after applying the SORM-DEA to OLS, quantile and 3SLS regressions. We explore the first empirical evidence showing that board characteristics tend to have multifaceted effects in explaining firm performance. Executive compensation has a positive influence in expounding firm performance. In contrast, political connections have a negative impact on firm performance. Further, the findings indicate that foreign ownership and CEO chair duality are positively related to firm performance. These effects are more pronounced in periods of high oil prices, while foreign ownership and CEO chair duality fail to explain firm performance in a period of low oil price. The results also reveal that CEO educational background has a significant effect on performance in service firms compared with industrial firms. The outcomes of this study provide important implications for investors and policymakers.
Modeling of Evaporation-Driven Multiple Salt Precipitation in Porous Media with a Real Field Application

Soil and groundwater salinization are very important environmental issues of global concern. They threaten mainly the arid and semiarid regions characterized by dry climate conditions and an increase of irrigation practices. Among these regions, the south of Tunisia is considered, on the one hand, to be a salt-affected zone facing a twofold problem: The scarcity of water resources and the degradation of their quality due to the overexploitation of the aquifers for irrigation needs. On the other hand, this Tunisian landform is the only adequate area for planting date palm trees which provide the country with the first and most important exportation product. In order to maintain the existence of these oases and develop the date production, a good understanding of the salinization problem threatening this region, and the ability to predict its distribution and evolution, should not be underestimated. The work presented in this paper deals with the Oasis of Segdoud in southern Tunisia, with the objective of modeling the evaporation-driven salt precipitation processes at the soil profile scale and under real climatic conditions. The model used is based on the one developed and presented in a previous work. In order to fulfil the real field conditions, a further extension of the geochemical system of the existing model was required. The precipitated salts considered in this work were halite (NaCl), gypsum (CaSO4) and thenardite (Na2SO4). The extended model reproduces very well the same tendencies of the physico-chemical processes of the natural system in terms of the spatio-temporal distribution and evolution of the evaporation and multiple-salt precipitation. It sheds new lights on the simulation of sequences of salt precipitation in arid regions. The simulation results provide an analysis of the influence of salt precipitation on hydrodynamic properties of the porous medium (porosity and permeability). Moreover, the sensitivity analysis done here reveals the influence of the water table level on the evaporation rate.