Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for strong genetic structure in European populations of the little owl Athene noctua

The little owl Athene noctua is a widespread species in Europe. This mainly sedentary owl experienced reduction in population sizes in some areas due to habitat loss and modification of the landscape. To assess the genetic structure of the populations of western and central Europe, we analysed 333 specimens from 15 geographical areas at 13 microsatellite loci. Statistical analyses and Bayesian clustering procedures detected two major genetically distinct clusters, the first distributed from Portugal to the Czech Republic and the second from the Balkans to Italy. The second cluster was further split into three groups, located in Italy, Sardinia and the Balkans. These groups match four previously-described mtDNA haplogroups, and probably originated from the isolation of little owl populations in Sardinia and in three glacial refugia (Iberia, south Italy and Balkans) during the ice ages. High genetic admixture was recorded in central and northern Europe, probably as a consequence of the expansion from the refugia during interglacial. The main colonization route originated from the Iberian Peninsula towards central and northern Europe. Contact zones with colonization events from Italy and the Balkans were detected respectively in northern Italy and central Europe. Genetic indices show the existence of moderate levels of genetic variability throughout Europe, although evidence of recent evolutionary bottlenecks was found in some populations. Estimation of migration rates and approximate Bayesian computations highlighted the most likely phylogeographical scenario for the current distribution of little owl populations.
Oral health conditions in Wilson's disease patients: A clinical diagnostic study.

AIM The aims of this study were: To evaluate oral health conditions, oral health behaviours and eating habits in Wilson's disease (WD) patients; to assess the possible relationship between oral health status and long-term pharmacological therapies undertaken. METHODS Sixty WD patients were selected and their data were compared to those of an age-matched control group of 62 subjects. Clinical examinations were carried out and a questionnaire on oral health behaviours and eating habits was submitted to both groups. WD patients were interviewed on long-term pharmacological therapies undertaken. Statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS The mean DMFT value was 3.75±4.65 in the WD group and 2.81±4.65 in the control group. The difference in the mean DMFT value between the two groups was not statistically significant. Modified Dental Enamel Defects (DDE) Index showed significantly higher values in WD group than in control group. No statistical differences in Visible Plaque Index (VPI), Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI) and malocclusions were observed between groups. In relation to the questionnaire, the differences between groups were statistically significant for: dental visits in a year; brushing teeth after a snack; drinking soft beverages; using mouthwash. For WD patients no statistical correlation between oral health status and long-term pharmacological therapies undertaken was observed. CONCLUSION WD patients did not show worse oral health conditions than the control group, despite worse oral health behaviours and eating habits. Nerveless, WD patients showed higher presence of dental enamel defects. Finally, for WD group oral health status was not correlated to the long-term pharmacological therapies.
Recent Trends in Drug Design and Discovery.

Structure-based drug design is a wide area of identification of selective inhibitors of a target of interest. From the time of the availability of three dimensional structure of the drug targets, mostly, the proteins, many computational methods had emerged to address the challenges associated with drug design process. Particularly, drug-likeness, druggability of the target protein, specificity, off-target binding, etc., are the important factors to determine the efficacy of new chemical inhibitors. As the size of the biological data shows a continuous growth, new computational algorithms and analytical methods are being developed with different objectives. It covers a wide area, from protein structure prediction to drug toxicity prediction. Moreover, the computational methods are available to analyze the structural data of varying types and sizes of which, most of the semi-empirical force field and quantum mechanics based molecular modeling methods showed a proven accuracy towards analyzing small structural data sets while statistics based methods such as machine learning and other specific data analytics methods are robust for large scale data analysis. In many cases, a coupled approach of both the extreme methods were also used to demonstrate with the plausible outcome. In this chapter, we focus on the recent developments in the structure-based drug design using advanced molecular modeling techniques in conjunction with machine learning and other data analytics methods. Natural products based drug discovery is also discussed.
Historical and bibliometric notes on the use of fluoride in caries prevention.

AIM The aim of the present report was to highlight historical and bibliometric aspects of fluoride in dentistry. METHODS Study design: In the first part of the manuscript, history of fluoride has been reported. In the second part, some bibliometric considerations have been explained. The historical research evaluated the first documents about fluoride in dentistry. The bibliometric research considered Scopus-indexed documents from 1945 to 2019. RESULTS Historical search showed the consistent presence of documents since 1803, even if modern research started in the 1930s. STATISTICS Descriptive statistics of documents about fluoride showed a constantly increasing interest on the topic, starting from 1965 to nowadays. CONCLUSIONS The topic of fluoride has a long history in dental practice, and future interesting research is needed in order to combine this well-known inorganic, monatomic anion with new emerging technologies.
Seasonal occurrence and hatching success of benthic eggs of calanoid copepods in the Bahía Blanca Estuary, Argentina

Abstract The seasonal abundance and hatching success of calanoid benthic eggs were examined during the coexistence of Acartia tonsa and Eurytemora americana in the Bahía Blanca Estuary (BBE). The dormancy behaviour of eggs extracted from surface sediment layers was tested by simulating seasonal conditions during incubation. There was a greater abundance of benthic eggs of E. americana (≤8.68×106 eggs m−2) than of A. tonsa, the latter consistently showing low egg abundance (≤0.8×106 eggs m−2). The emergence of most E. americana nauplii occurred at 17°C after the experimental warming phase (refractory phase of 280 days), confirming the diapause character of these eggs. The emergence of the first A. tonsa nauplii from initial cold season samples occurred at 9–12°C after 60–70 days of incubation. However, a 180-day delay in hatching at temperatures ≥15°C was also observed in A. tonsa eggs from the last sampling days of the cold season, thus suggesting an intermediate behaviour between diapause and quiescence. The benthic egg bank in the inner zone of the BBE provides a temporary reservoir for both key copepods, thus contributing in their survival.
Regular Supplementation With Resveratrol Improves Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized, Placebo‐Controlled Trial

Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol in red grapes and berries, can act as a phytoestrogen. It has been shown to improve both systemic and cerebral circulatory functions, possibly through activation of endothelial estrogen receptors. in vitro and in vivo studies in rodent models also indicate a bone‐protective role for resveratrol, particularly in ovariectomized rat models that mimic postmenopausal osteoporosis caused by estrogen deficiency. Hypothesizing a circulatory benefit of resveratrol in bone tissue, we investigated whether resveratrol supplementation could improve bone health in postmenopausal women. The Resveratrol for Healthy Aging in Women (RESHAW) trial was a 24‐month randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, two‐period crossover intervention conducted to evaluate the effects of resveratrol (75 mg twice daily) on cognition, cerebrovascular function, bone health, cardiometabolic markers, and well‐being in postmenopausal women. After 12 months of supplementation with resveratrol versus placebo, there were positive effects on bone density in the lumbar spine (+0.016 ± 0.003 g/cm2) and neck of femur (+0.005 ± 0.002 g/cm2), which were accompanied by a 7.24% reduction in C‐terminal telopeptide type‐1 collagen levels, a bone resorption marker, compared with placebo. The increase in bone mineral density in the femoral neck resulted in an improvement in T‐score (+0.070 ± 0.018) and a reduction in the 10‐year probability of major and hip fracture risk. The magnitude of improvement was higher in women with poor bone health biomarker status. Importantly, the improvement in femoral neck T‐score with resveratrol correlated with improvement in perfusion. Our subanalysis also revealed that the bone‐protective benefit of resveratrol was greater in participants who supplemented with vitamin D plus calcium. Regular supplementation with 75 mg of resveratrol twice daily has the potential to slow bone loss in the lumbar spine and femoral neck, common fracture sites in postmenopausal women without overt osteoporosis. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Malaysian oil palm industry: Prospect and problem

The oil palm in Malaysia has seen significant progress. Started as an ornamental plant in Malaysia, it has turned into a huge industry. It is the fastest growing global demand as an input for food products, cosmetics, animal feed, bio-energy etc. Nonetheless, currently it is encountering a period of slow or less growing in terms of contributing to the gross national productivity due to natural as well as policy level factors. Adverse weather, ageing trees, and plant diseases are most prominent among the natural factors that are hindering the growth of the industry. On the other hand, restrictive labour and immigration policies of the government are not less responsible for the stagnant state of the industry. Oil palm production has brought about unlimited economic profits and currently it is an emerging economic sector in Malaysia. At present, Malaysia accounts for an overwhelming contribution to world’s palm oil production and export which is 39% and 44%, respectively. A massive 17.73 million tons of palm oil and 2.13 tons of palm kernel oil have been produced from about 4.49 million hectares of land. Malaysia has a vital role to play in achieving the rising global need for oils and fats, as Malaysia is one of the major producer and exporter countries of palm oil and palm oil products. This study is an attempt to discuss the current scenario of oil palm cultivation prospects and practices for income generation. Describing several issues and consequences that have impact to the oil palm production is also within the purview of this study.
Phylogenetic Study of the Genus Piptadenia (Mimosoideae: Leguminosae) Using Plastid Trnl-f and Trnk/Matk Sequence Data

Abstract We undertook a phylogenetic study of the genus Piptadenia with a sample of 18 of ca. 27 recognized species using DNA sequences from the plastid Trnl-F and trnK/matK regions. Parsimony jackknife results support the hypothesis that Piptadenia is polyphyletic and that there are three independent lineages. The largest groups of species form a monophyletic lineage that is sister to Mimosa and corresponds closely to Piptadenia section Piptadenia sensu Barneby. Three species (P. obliqua, P. moniliformis, and P. leucoxylon) of section Pityrocarpa are sister to species of Pseudopiptadenia in a lineage with Parapiptadenia, Microlobius and Stryphnodendron. Piptadenia viridiflora is distantly related to sects. Piptadenia and Pityrocarpa. Section Piptadenia is characterized by the presence of prickles (aculei), a potential synapomorphy linking it to Mimosa, and exserted, racemose or paniculiform inflorescences of aggregated spikes. Piptadenia viridiflora has stipular spines and 1–2 axillary, spicate primary inflorescences. Species of sect. Pityrocarpa are unarmed trees (sometimes with hardened, persistent stipules) whose flowers have recurved petals and an ovary on a long gynophore. We recommend that Piptadenia viridiflora be removed to a new genus, and that Piptadenia be restricted to the other species of sect. Piptadenia. We resurrect the generic name Pityrocarpa to encompass the Pityrocarpa clade and make the following new combinations: Pityrocarpa moniliformis, Pityrocarpa obliqua ssp. brasiliensis, and Pityrocarpa leucoxylon.
The Efficacy of Sertraline, Escitalopram, and Nicergoline in the Treatment of Depression and Apathy in Alzheimer's Disease: The Okayama Depression and Apathy Project (ODAP).

BACKGROUND Neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia such as depression and apathy in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with a lower quality of life. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the efficacy of two antidepressants and one antipathy drug in the treatment of depression and apathy in AD patients. METHODS In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of sertraline (n = 11; average dose = 31.8 mg), escitalopram (n = 13; average dose = 7.3 mg), and nicergoline (n = 9; average dose = 14.5 mg) in treating depression and apathy over a period of 3 months (M). The 33 patients with AD demonstrated high Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) (>5) or a high Apathy Scale (AS) (>16) scores. RESULTS The patients receiving escitalopram treatment showed a significant improvement in GDS score from baseline (8.2±3.5) to 3 M (5.7±2.6, p = 0.04), and the patients receiving sertraline treatment showed a significant improvement in AS score from baseline (20.8±5.2) to 3 M (16.8±6.1, p = 0.05); however, no significant changes were noted in patients receiving nicergoline. CONCLUSION These results provide novel information on the efficacy of sertraline and escitalopram in the treatment of apathy and depression, respectively, in patients with AD.
Reinventing capitalism to address automation: Sharing work to secure employment and income

Accumulating evidence suggests that automation is on an exponential growth path and it is projected to lead to massive technological unemployment. This paper proposes a conceptual framework within which to view automation and technological unemployment. The overarching conceptual framework pertains to the concepts of optimal and just factor shares. Within this framework, the issues associated with technological unemployment including the non-neutrality of technology, the subsequent inevitability of automation, the mechanisms via which this impacts work and the case for a re-invention of capitalism are explored. Sharing work is proposed as a modest institutional reform. The specific policy proposals within the broad area of sharing work are work-sharing and shortened work-week. The theoretical literature on the sharing work concept and the empirical literature on the two specific reforms are then reviewed. While these reforms are incremental and hence perhaps the most politically acceptable, they nonetheless represent a reinvention of capitalism if broadly implemented. It is argued that such re-inventions are well rooted in history during crises periods such as the one technological unemployment is likely to lead to based on the evidence provided. It is further argued that taxing capital to pay for these reforms, to the extent that they are not self-financing, is socially just.
Origin Matters: Lessons from the Search for the Wild Ancestor of Maize

The wild ancestry of maize has long been a puzzle. Maize shows extraordinary phenotypic and genetic diversity with no obvious morphological similarity to any of its wild relatives. Beadle's teosinte hypothesis, which regards teosinte as the sole wild ancestor of maize, has become widely accepted as the most probable model of maize evolution based on taxonomic, genetic, and other types of evidence. Molecular studies have refined the teosinte hypothesis by identifying a particular form of teosinte, Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, as the direct ancestor of maize. Maize and teosinte therefore provide a typical case in which modem molecular genetic analyses, in the absence of obvious morphological similarity, have been critical for distinguishing the exact ancestor of a crop from other close wild relatives. Furthermore, a recent microsatellite-based study shows that all extant pre-Columbian maize landraces arose from Z. mays ssp. parviglumis roughly 9,000 years ago through a single domestication event in the central Balsas River drainage (southern Mexico). That model, showing that maize is a domesticated form of Z. mays ssp. parviglumis, provides a logical, practical framework for investigations of the genetic mechanisms that drove maize domestication and diversification. This points up the importance of knowing exact origins in studies that use crops and their wild relatives as models. An overview of the progress in genetic and evolutionary studies is presented herein to clarify the identity of the wild progenitor of maize. Implications of recent findings on the origin of maize diversity are discussed.
A biologically constrained spiking neural network model of the primate basal ganglia with overlapping pathways exhibits action selection

Action selection has been hypothesized to be a key function of the basal ganglia, yet the nuclei involved, their interactions and the importance of the direct/indirect pathway segregation in such process remain debated. Here, we design a spiking computational model of the monkey basal ganglia derived from a previously published population model, initially parameterized to reproduce electrophysiological activity at rest and to embody as much quantitative anatomical data as possible. As a particular feature, both models exhibit the strong overlap between the direct and indirect pathways that has been documented in non‐human primates. Here, we first show how the translation from a population to an individual neuron model was achieved, with the addition of a minimal number of parameters. We then show that our model performs action selection, even though it was built without any assumption on the activity carried out during behaviour. We investigate the mechanisms of this selection through circuit disruptions and found an instrumental role of the off‐centre/on‐surround structure of the MSN‐STN‐GPi circuit, as well as of the MSN‐MSN and FSI‐MSN projections. This validates their potency in enabling selection. We finally study the pervasive centromedian and parafascicular thalamic inputs that reach all basal ganglia nuclei and whose influence is therefore difficult to anticipate. Our model predicts that these inputs modulate the responsiveness of action selection, making them a candidate for the regulation of the speed–accuracy trade‐off during decision‐making.
Bats of the Reserva Nacional Allpahuayo-Mishana, Northeastern Peru, with Notes on Community Structure

An inventory of the bat fauna at the Reserva Nacional Allpahuayo-Mishana documented 63 species. Coupled with previous records, this becomes the second most species-rich site for bats in Peru, with 65 species. Reproductively, there was a peak in activity in the early rainy season (October—December) that steadily declined to a low in the late rainy or early dry season (May—June). The community was dominated by Carollia perspicillata in terms of relative abundance and biomass. Most species were frugivores (28) or insectivores (26), but frugivores were predominant in the community based on cumulative abundance and biomass. The bat fauna was sampled to 85–91% completion based on extrapolations of local species richness. Nonetheless, only 56% of the regional species pool was captured locally. The fauna was compositionally similar to that of other western Amazonian sites. Although the Reserva Nacional Allpahuayo-Mishana enjoys a relatively high protected status, this has yet to be translated into sustained conservation. As a hotspot of biodiversity in Peru, it deserves protection at the highest possible level.
Fungal Bioagents for Management of Root-Knot Nematode in Tomato

The fungal agents Acremonium striatum, Aspergillus niger, Paecilomyces lilacinus and Trichoderma viride, alone or in combination and their culture filtrates were tested for larvicidal and ovicidal action against M. incognita. The in-vitro tests showed that A. niger was toxic against M. incognita while P lilacinus and T. viride were found to he egg parasitic or opportunistic. A. strictum possessed both toxic and egg parasitic properties. A glass house trial with these fungal bioagents both alone and together showed significant promising features. Performance of dual treatment of A. strictum and A niger in improving the health of tomato plant with remarkable reduction in M. incognita population was observed
Ground Nesting in Recultivated Forest Habitats — A Study with Artificial Nests

Abstract. The study was carried out in the outskirts of the town of Pecs (southern Hungary) in a recultivated former coal mine. Bordered by Turkey Oak forests, this open area forms a wedge-shaped clearing in that woodland. Since trees and taller shrubs are rare in the area, it is mainly ground nesting bird species that occur in the clearing. In order to discover whether it is more advantageous to nest in the recultivated area (clearing) than in the nearby forest or at its edges, 150 artificial ground nests were constructed. On 7 May 2002, one quail egg and a plasticine egg of similar size were placed in each of the artificial nests. After a week it was found that 24% of nests in the clearing, 30% of those in the forest edge, and 44% of the ones inside the forest had suffered depredation. The proportions of damaged plasticine and quail eggs inside the forest and at the forest edge were similar, whereas the quail eggs in the clearings were significantly less damaged than plasticine eggs. Of all the experimental eggs, significantly more plasticine eggs (29%) were damaged than quail eggs (17%), which suggests that small-bodied predators are unable to break the quail eggs. 18% of the plasticine eggs attacked, and 72% of the quail eggs attacked were removed from the nest by the predator. Among the predators, small mammals were dominant in the clearing and inside the forest, and birds at the forest edge. Based on the prédation of quail eggs, the survival chances of ground nests in the clearing are greater than at the forest edge or inside the forest.