Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of Heterorhabditis indica LPP35 against Aedes aegypti larvae in human-generated containers and bromeliads

Aedes aegypti is arguably the most important mosquito for public health worldwide, as it is the main vector of dengue fever and other diseases. A virulence assessment of different entomopathogenic nematodes towards A. aegypti larvae (L3 and L4) revealed the potential of H. indica LPP35 for mosquito biocontrol. In this follow-up study, the application of 100 infective juveniles (IJs)/larvae caused mortality rates of 85-100% in human-generated glass and plastic containers of different sizes and shapes, located indoors and outdoors. In these experiments, the volume of the water retained in the containers did not affect the efficacy of H. indica LPP35, but the container`s base area (in cm) played a significant role in the IJ-larvae encounter and the mortality rate that followed. In bromeliads, the efficacy of H. indica LPP35 was relatively low, probably because the IJs swam down the plant leaf axils, thus avoiding the encounter with the grazing larvae.
The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives: An Illustrated Guide to Their Evolution and Natural History

In this beautifully illustrated natural history that links extinct larger feline species with those still in existence, collaborators Alan Turner and Mauricio Anton weave together the evidence of modern feline behavior with that of the fossil record. Turner's clear, insightful prose and Anton's masterly illustrations combine to offer specialists and newcomers alike an accurate and accessible guide to the evolution of cats.
Studies on Pre Acclimatization Treatments to Improve Post Acclimatization Survival in Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bert.)

The special conditions during in vitro culture result in the formation of plantlets of abnormal morphology, anatomy and physiology. After ex vitro transfer, these plantlets might easily be impaired by sudden changes in environmental conditions, and so need a period of acclimatization to correct the abnormalities. The large number of plants lost or damaged during acclimatization often restricts application of micropropagation for rapid multiplication of plants. Acclimatization continues to be a major bottleneck in the micropropagation of stevia too with lower success reported. In the present investigation, pre acclimatization treatments such as dipping the explants in high concentration cytokinin (benzyl adenine, BA) before culture and use of growth retardants that inhibit gibberellin biosynthesis (ancymidol) in culture were used to study their effect on post acclimatization survival of micropropagated plantlets. Dipping of explants in high concentration BA resulted in an increase of number of multiple shoots and number of leaves per shoot and survival percentage after acclimatization. But a significant reduction was noted in internode length and shoot height. Dipping the explants with 100 mg/L BA before culture resulted in highest survival after acclimatization. Ancymidol reduced the length of the shoot, number of leaves, and internodal length considerably. Survival percentage increased with concentration until 3 mg/L ancymidol and reduced with further increases in ancymidol concentration. This reduction might be because the excessive reduction in growth characteristics, which made the plants too fragile to withstand the pressure of acclimatization. The use of 3 mg/L resulted in a higher number of multiple shoots and average growth parameters and a better survival percentage (75.80% - increase of 25.29% over the control - 60.50%).
Egg masses of the squid Gonatus fabricii (Cephalopoda, Gonatidae) caught with pelagic trawl off Northern Norway

Abstract A description of egg masses from Gonatus fabricii (LICHTENSTEIN) caught with pelagic trawl in the Norwegian Sea is given. The eggs were kept together in a single layer between two mucous membranes, and the pieces collected appeared to be fragments of more extensive structures tom apart by wear from the sampling gear. No embryos were observed in the eggs, and none ofthe eggs showed any staining for five enzyme systems analyzed by isoelectric focusing. Either the eggs were caught shortly after spawning and fertilization, or the lack of embryonic tissue reflects the fact that most of the eggs were caught in water colder than 0 °C. The developmental rate at this temperature is expected to be very slow.
Reply

than patients with either critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) or CIM/CIP. The authors diagnosed CIM if the amplitude of compound muscle action potentials after direct muscle stimulation (dmCMAPs) or the duration of motor unit action potentials on electromyographic (EMG) examination were reduced. The sole indicator for CIP was reduced sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitudes. dmCMAP amplitudes are reduced in both myopathy and motor neuropathy. On the other hand, quantitative needle EMG can only be done in conscious patients who are able to cooperate. Therefore, CIM will be overdiagnosed in all sedated patients, in whom quantitative EMG is unavailable. Similarly, motor neuropathy will be underdiagnosed if reduced SNAP amplitudes are the sole criterion for CIP. As a result, it seems likely that several patients were misclassified as CIM-only in the study by Koch et al. Based on these considerations and our own observations we disagree with their conclusion that CIM patients enjoy complete recovery, and we offer an alternative explanation for the findings. We previously studied the pattern of electrophysiological abnormalities prospectively in 30 patients with sepsis/systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Motor (median and ulnar unilaterally, and common fibular and tibial bilaterally) and sensory (median and ulnar unilaterally, and sural bilaterally) nerve conduction studies were performed weekly from admission until discharge, and after 6 months. Differences from reference values of compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs), SNAPs, and motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities (NCVs) were subject to cluster analysis. We were able to delineate 4 different topographical patterns of neuromuscular injury (Table 1), which reflect different levels of severity and were associated with clinical outcome. Although cluster 1 contained patients and controls with normal electrophysiological values, cluster 2 included only patients with abnormal CMAPs in the lower extremities. Cluster 3 contained patients with moderately abnormal CMAPs, SNAPs, and sensory NCVs in the extremities and motor NCVs in the lower extremities. Finally, cluster 4 was comprised of patients with severely abnormal CMAPs, SNAPs, and NCVs in all extremities. Thus, decreased CMAP amplitude was the most benign abnormality, whereas SNAP and sensory NCV were affected only in more severe patterns. Importantly, because the abnormalities in cluster 2 were restricted to the lower extremities, a lengthdependent pathophysiology was suggested, implicating the (co-)presence of CIP. Therefore, although the electrophysiological signature of cluster 2 was broadly similar to that of patients classified as CIM by Koch et al., a more parsimonious explanation is less severe neuromuscular injury, rather than an exclusive myopathic pathology. From these observations we conclude that, if electrophysiological investigation is employed for prognostication in critically ill patients, it may be more favorable to assess the load of neuromuscular injury rather than attempt to differentiate CIM from CIP.
The effect of temperature and water potential on seed germination of poly-cross side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.) population of Canadian prairie

There is increasing interest in using native prairie plants for revegetation and pasture in the drier regions of the Canadian prairies. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of simulated dry conditions and temperature on seed germination of side-oats grama grass (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr. ). Over a 21d period, germination was studied in five growth chambers with constant temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35°C and water potentials of –1.2, –0.9, –0.6, –0.3 and 0.0 MPa at each temperature. Seeds used in the study were bulk harvested seeds from a nursery established from 12 collections across Canadian prairie. More than 85% of the seeds germinated within 5 days at water potentials of 0.0 or –0.3 MPa when temperature was 25-35°C, but the percentage was reduced in solutions of lower than –0.6 MPa. Even though seed germination was reduced at lower water potential, 35% of seed germinated in a solution of –1.2 MPa, at 25-35°C. The final germination was highest at 25-35°C, intermediate at 20°C, and lowest at 15°C. Side-oats grama grass can germinate at low water availability, and if the growth condition is favourable, the majority of the seeds finish germination within a week. However, a temperature at or higher than 25°C is critical to improve total seed germination.
By which mechanism does prey capture enhance plant growth in aquatic carnivorous plants: Stimulation of shoot apex?

Prey capture in rootless aquatic carnivorous plants usually leads to more rapid plant growth, especially to increasing apical shoot growth rate and branching. Yet, the mechanism of this growth effect is still unknown. In this paper, dark respiration (R D ) and tissue N and P content were estimated in young parts of shoot apices in three aquatic carnivorous plants, Aldrovanda vesiculosa, Utricularia australis, and U. bremii, grown with or without prey in a 12-d greenhouse growth experiment. Fed plants of all three species were significantly longer and had more mature leaf nodes on the main shoot than unfed plants. Similarly, the apical shoot growth rate of fed plants in all three species was significantly higher by 49-85 % than that of the unfed variants (day 6-12) and so also was shoot branching. In A. vesiculosa only, tissue N content both in apices and shoot segments of fed plants was significantly greater that in unfed plants. Both apical and shoot P content was significantly greater in fed plants of A. vesiculosa and U. australis, while the P contents were the same in U. bremii. Feeding on prey significantly increased R D of shoot apices in A. vesiculosa, while the values for fed and unfed plants were exactly the same in the other two species. In conclusion, the more rapid growth due to feeding could hypothetically be caused by stimulating the cell division in the youngest parts of shoot apex due to a faster allocation of prey-derived N and P. The methods used in this study were not sensitive enough to prove this hypothesis although the results partly support it.
Effect of Chloroaniline isomerism on inhibition of methane biosynthesis by the methanogenic bacteria.

Aims: The present work aims to determine the toxicity of Chloroanilines isomers and evaluate the effect of Chloroanilines isomerism and intramolecular hydrogen bonds on inhibition of methane biosynthesis by the acetoclastic methanogenic bacteria. Study Design: Anaerobic digestion of pig manure, anaerobic toxicity essay, Effect of the isomerism (functional groups position) on inhibition of methane biosynthesis by the methanogenic bacteria), Correlation of the methanogenic toxicity (IC 50 ) with Chloroanilines boiling point. Place and of Study: Department of Chemistry, University of Kinshasa, DR Congo, between April 2011 and March 2012. Methodology: The toxicity to acetoclastic methanogenic bacteria was performed with the standard method of serum bottles; digested pig manure was utilized as inoculums acetate as substrate. The methane gas volume produced by serum bottles liquid displacement systems (Mariotte flask system). Results: The obtained results indicate there are relationships between the isomerism of Chloroanilines and their inhibitory effects on methanogenic bacteria. The various isomers of Chloroaniline have toxicities which are different from 51.00; 539.78 and 787.47 mg / l respectively for the ortho, meta and para-Chloroaniline. One can notice that the o-Chloroaniline IC 50 value is 10.43 and 15.44 times more toxic than meta and para Chloroaniline respectively. Contrary to all predictions, it is more toxic than benzene. This behavior can be explained by the formation of a strong hydrogen bond between the electronegative chlorine atom (-Cl) and amino group (-NH 2 ) in o-Chloroaniline in ortho position of aromatic ring. The formation of this intramolecular bond decreases the steric hindrance of this isomer and increases its mobility (diffusion coefficient) to the cell membrane). A significant linear correlation was found between the IC 50 values of Chloroanilines isomers and their boiling temperatures. Conclusion: The results obtained in this paper indicate that some relationships exist between the isomerism (functional groups position) of Chloroanilines and their inhibitory effects on methane biosynthesis by the methanogenic bacteria. The formation of a very strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds between chlorine atom and amine group renders ortho Chloroaniline very toxic than the others tested Chloroaniline isomers.
A family of Candida cell surface haem‐binding proteins involved in haemin and haemoglobin‐iron utilization

In Weissman and Kornitzer (2004) we reported that the migration of Rbt51 is accelerated in S. cerevisiae mutants of the protein mannosyltransferase genes PMT3 and PMT6 . Re-examination of our PMT strain series using the barcode sequence tag revealed a mix-up of the four PMT mutants. Rbt51 migration is in fact accelerated in the pmt1 D and pmt2 D strains, and is similar to wild type in the pmt3 D and pmt6 D strains. This was confirmed by an independent experiment (data not shown). Figure 4B of Weissman and Kornitzer (2004) with the corrected lane assignment is presented below. None of the conclusions of our article are affected by this correction.
Progresso genético da produtividade de café beneficiado com a seleção de clones de cafeeiro ‘Conilon’

A especie Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner possui ampla distribuicao geografica, com ocorrencia em regioes tropicais de diversos continentes. Aproximadamente 30% da producao brasileira de cafe e proveniente do cultivo dessa especie, sendo que o Estado de Rondonia se destaca como seu segundo maior produtor. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estimar os parâmetros geneticos com a selecao de clones de C. canephora, da variedade botânica ´Conilon’, visando caracterizar a variabilidade genetica e estimar o progresso genetico da produtividade de cafe beneficiado. A analise de variância da producao de cafe beneficiado evidenciou que a fonte de variacao “clones” foi significativa nas safras avaliadas, de acordo com o teste F a 1% de significância. A predominância do componente genetico na expressao dessa caracteristica, associado a uma boa precisao experimental, indica a possibilidade de obtencao de ganhos com a selecao de plantas. O progresso genetico da producao de cafe beneficiado com o plantio dos clones selecionados foi de 57,85%, que equivale a um aumento na media em quatro anos de 44,75 sacas ha-1, para 70,64 sacas ha-1. Alem do incremento na produtividade de graos, os clones de ciclo intermediario selecionados favorecem a concentracao da colheita e a reducao dos custos operacionais.
FARMERS AWARENESS AND PERCEPTIONS OF ALTERNARIA LEAF PETIOLE AND STEM BLIGHT AND THEIR PREFERRED SWEETPOTATO TRAITS IN UGANDA

A participatory rural appraisal was conducted in Kabale district in south-western Uganda and Luwero district in central Uganda to establish farmers’ awareness and perceptions of Alternaria leaf petiole and stem blight (commonly referred to as Alternaria blight) and their varietal preferences. The study revealed that the two regions had similar production constraints but the degree of importance of the constraints varies between each region. Diseases, pests and drought are the most important production constraints in both regions. Among the diseases, Alternaria blight is the most important disease constraint in Kabale whereas sweetpotato virus disease is the most important in Luwero. Among the pests, caterpillars ( Acraea acerata) are a bigger problem in Luwero than in Kabale, while vermin, especially mole rats ( Tachyoryctes splendens ), are a bigger problem in Kabale than in Luwero. Healthy planting material availability and distribution are important constraints. Among the most desired sweetpotato attributes in both districts are high yield, early maturity, high dry mass, and storability in the soil after maturity to enable sequential harvesting. Most of the farmers consider Alternaria blight to be a serious production constraint and estimate the yield loss in severely infected fields to be above 50%. However, Alternaria blight incidence has seasonal variations with higher incidences in the wet and very wet seasons in Kabale. On the other hand, Alternaria blight is most severe during the dry season in Luwero. Most of the farmers are not aware of any control measures for these diseases. However, some of them use rogueing as a control measure and others cultivate resistant genotypes like Rwabafuruki and Nyinakamanzi in Kabale, and Kakamega in Luwero. Since most of the existing genotypes are susceptible, breeding for Alternaria blight is a priority in both districts combined with an effective seed distribution system to increase utilization of the improved cultivars by the resource poor farmers.
Facultative grazing and bioturbation by macrodetritivores alter saltmarsh plant–plant interactions under stress

The importance of positive plant–plant interactions is generally suggested to increase towards more stressful conditions, due to mutual stress amelioration between plants. Bioturbating macrodetritivores can also ameliorate stress through bioturbation, but can also become selective herbivores under food‐limited conditions, making the outcome of plant–plant interactions under stress in the presence of macrodetritivores unclear. We studied how combining environmental stress (waterlogging) with the presence of the soil macrodetritivore Orchestia gammarellus affected the outcome of the interaction between two salt marsh plants: the tall, late successional Elytrigia atherica and the shorter, early successional Festuca rubra. In a replacement design competition experiment under controlled conditions, we found that soil redox potential was negatively affected by waterlogging and positively affected by the presence of O. gammarellus. The survival and shoot biomass of E. atherica was not significantly affected by waterlogging or by the presence of bioturbators. The survival and shoot biomass of F. rubra was especially decreased when waterlogging was combined with the presence of O. gammarellus, as this macrodetritivore turned into a selective grazer on F. rubra under these conditions. We found that E. atherica produced double shoot biomass and F. rubra produced much less shoot biomass in their mixed cultures than was expected from the monocultures of same waterlogging/Orchestia treatments. Hence, the presence of the bioturbator strongly promoted the competitive advantage of E. atherica over F. rubra due to the combination of stress amelioration for the first species and selective herbivory on the second species. Synthesis. This study shows that the inclusion of bioturbating macrodetritivores complicates the standard prediction that plant–plant interactions become more positive towards more stressful conditions. A novel insight is that macrodetritivores can affect the structure and diversity of plant communities through multiple mechanisms. Under benign conditions bioturbating macrodetritivores ameliorated soil conditions, permitting co‐occurrence of competing plant species. At high environmental stress (waterlogging) macrodetritivores selectively graze higher quality plant species and emerging seedlings, thus promoting dominance of the lower quality species. Hence, the facultative feeding behaviour of macrodetritivores deserves further attention.
Granulovacuolar degeneration bodies of Alzheimer's disease resemble late‐stage autophagic organelles

Granulovacuolar degeneration involves the accumulation of large, double membrane‐bound bodies within certain neurons during the course of Alzheimer's disease. Because of the two‐layer membrane morphology, it has been proposed that the bodies are related to autophagic organelles. To test this hypothesis, spatial colocalization of autophagic and endocytic markers with casein kinase 1 delta, a marker for granulovacuolar degeneration bodies (GVBs), was investigated in hippocampal sections prepared from post mortem Alzheimer's disease cases using double‐label confocal fluorescence microscopy. Results revealed that GVBs colocalized most strongly with LAMP1 (lysosome‐associated membrane protein 1) and CHMP2B (charged multivesicular body protein 2B), but weakly with lysosomal marker cathepsin D or early‐stage autophagy markers LC3 and p62. The resultant immunohistochemical signature suggests that GVBs do contain late‐stage autophagic markers, and accumulate at the nexus of autophagic and endocytic pathways. The data further suggest that failure to complete autolysosome formation may be an important correlate of GVB accumulation. This work was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (AG14452, JK).
Identification of LLRC4, a Novel Member of Leucine-rich Repeat (LRR) Superfamily, and Its Expression Analysis in Brain Tumor

In order to clone novel gene associated with tumor in human chromosome 7q31 32 harboring one or more tumor suppressor gene, expressed sequence tag(EST) mediated positional cloning strategy was used and a novel human brain cDNA was identified. The isolated cDNA encodes a polypeptide of 653 amino acids with a theoretical molecular mass of 72 7 ku and a calculated isoelectric point of 6 58. The deduced amino acids contains seven typical leucine rich repeats(LRRs) flanked by N and C terminal cysteine rich LRR region, one immunoglobulin C2 like domain, one signal peptide at N terminal and one transmembrane region at C terminal. Amino acid sequence of this novel gene exhibits high similarity and similar domain organization as many other LRR proteins. Analysis of this novel gene shows no significant homology to any reported genes in database of GenBank. So it is a novel member of leucine rich repeat superfamily and designated as LRRC4 according to the guide of HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee(GenBank Accession No.AF196976). Northern Blot and RT PCR analysis revealed that normal expression of LRRC4 was highly specific for brain,whereas absent or significantly down regulated in primary brain tumors including glioma, meningioma and pituitary adenoma. In addition, mouse homology of LRRC4 has been mapped to mouse chromosome 6 by similarity analysis(GenBank Accession No.AF290542). Taking the structural properties and expression patterns into consideration, LRRC4 may play an important role in nervous system.
IQ-MPM

We propose a novel scheme for simulating two-way coupled interactions between nonlinear elastic solids and incompressible fluids. The key ingredient of this approach is a ghost matrix operator-splitting scheme for strongly coupled nonlinear elastica and incompressible fluids through the weak form of their governing equations. This leads to a stable and efficient method handling large time steps under the CFL limit while using a single monolithic solve for the coupled pressure fields, even in the case with highly nonlinear elastic solids. The use of the Material Point Method (MPM) is essential in the designing of the scheme, it not only preserves discretization consistency with the hybrid Lagrangian-Eulerian fluid solver, but also works naturally with our novel interface quadrature (IQ) discretization for free-slip boundary conditions. While traditional MPM suffers from sticky numerical artifacts, our framework naturally supports discontinuous tangential velocities at the solid-fluid interface. Our IQ discretization results in an easy-to-implement, fully particle-based treatment of the interfacial boundary, avoiding the additional complexities associated with intermediate level set or explicit mesh representations. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is verified by various challenging simulations with fluid-elastica interactions.