Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anti-diabetic and some haematological effects of ethylacetate and n-butanol fractions of Ganoderma lucidum aqueous extract in alloxan - induced diabetic wistar rats

Diabetes mellitus has become a major public health concern, especially in the developing countries. The current orthodox treatment modalities for diabetes mellitus have many drawbacks including undesirable side-effects and the high cost of long-term treatment. The aim of this study is to determine the anti-diabetic and some haematological effects of Ethylacetate and n-Butanol fractions of Ganoderma lucidum (Tuwon biri) aqueous extract in alloxan-induced diabetic. Preliminary phytochemical screening and acute toxicity studies of the two fractions of G. lucidum were carried out. A dose of 50 mg/kg of Ethylacetate and n-Butanol fraction of G. lucidum aqueous extract was given intraperitoneally daily for two weeks to the alloxan-induced wistar rats. Insulin was also used as a standard anti-diabetic drug and was given intraperitoneally to alloxan-induced diabetic wistar rats. The fasting blood glucose levels were determined weekly for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, the animals were sacrificed and blood samples were taken from all the groups for the determination of hematological parameters. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the two fractions of G. lucidum aqueous extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponins. The LD50 was 1265 and 471 mg/kg for Ethylacetate and n-Butanol fractions of the G. lucidum aqueous extract respectively. There was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of 188.8 ± 19.51mg/dl and 162.8 ± 24.67 mg/dl of the fasting blood glucose of the alloxaninduced diabetic groups after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment with Ethylacetate fraction of G. lucidum aqueous extract respectively. Similarly, There was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of 182.2 ± 56.09 mg/dl and 148.8 ± 32.82 mg/dl of the fasting blood glucose of the alloxan-induced diabetic groups after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment with n-Butanol fraction of G. lucidum aqueous extract respectively. There was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) reduction of 3.68 ± 0.28 × 10 /L in the red cell count of the n-Butanol fraction treated group. The total leukocytes showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase of 16.62 ± 0.53 × 10 /L and 16.48 ± 1.35 × 10 /L after the two weeks treatment with Ethylacetate and n-Butanol fractions of G. lucidum aqueous extract respectively. In conclusion, both Ethylacetate and n-Butanol fractions of G. lucidum aqueous extract were found to have potent anti-diabetic effects. The Ethylacetate fraction has no significant erythropoetic effect while the n-Butanol fraction showed a significant decrease in the red cell parameters.
Vital statistics for an experimental flock of Merino sheep. I. Death rates in adult sheep, in relation to method of selection, age and sex

Estimates of death rates are given for four mating groups in a flock of approximately 1000 Merino ewes, for each year of age from 1½ to 10½. Three of the groups are under selection for clean wool weight and other characters, and the fourth is an unselected control. The flock is run under extensive grazing conditions, and death rates are based on ewes dead or missing between one pen-mating and the next. Between 1951 and 1957, the average death rate for ewes 1½ to 7½ years old was 2.2 per cent. per annum, while at the older ages the average was no higher than 7.3 per cent. During the drought year 1957-58 losses averaged 3.8 per cent. for ewes up to 6½ years old, then rose steeply with age to 45.6 per cent. for ewes 9½ years old. In neither period did the selected groups differ from the unselected control. Starting with the 1953 drop, all rams in the unselected control group have been retained for the study of age effects on them. Average losses to date in each age group have been less than 5 per cent.
Development and prevention of chronic physical aggression

Questo lavoro si propone di illustrare come gli studi sulla psicopatologia dello sviluppo, l’epigenetica e gli esperimenti di prevenzione comincino ad essere integrati al fine di comprendere le cause dell’aggressivita fisica cronica e di aiutare a prevenire tale tipo di aggressivita ed i problemi fisici, mentali e sociali ad essa associati. Programmi di prevenzione realizzati durante la gravidanza e la prima infanzia, con uno specifico focus sui meccanismi epigenetici, e rigorosamente controllati mediante randomizzazione, costituiscono lo strumento piu adatto per far avanzare le nostre conoscenze sui meccanismi bio-psicosociali che conducono all’aggressivita cronica e l’unico modello di ricerca che puo identificare gli intervento efficaci per prevenirla.
Wombat coprogenetics: enumerating a common wombat population by microsatellite analysis of faecal DNA

Genetic identification of individual animals from remotely collected DNA samples provides an alternative approach for the collection of data on populations of elusive or rare species. In this study we used DNA isolated from field-collected faecal samples to estimate the size of a population of common wombats (Vombatus ursinus) surviving in suburban Melbourne parkland. A pilot study revealed that microsatellite genotypes obtained from DNA in faeces were often incorrect, but that by carrying out three replicate polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) for each sample, we were able to reliably identify individuals. We conducted a mark-recapture study using the Mh-jackknife model to estimate the size of the wombat population at Mt Lofty Reserve, and identified 17 individuals - 10 males and seven females. The interpolated population size estimate was 19 with a 95% confidence interval of 18-32. The distribution of individual wombats' scats provided information on ranging behaviour. The genotypic database obtained was used to identify five of the individuals as putative immigrants, suggesting that the population is not isolated from others in a series of reserves along the Yarra River. However, the lack of a detectable female bias in immigration differs from our previous findings in continuous populations of this species. The level of genetic variation at the five loci analysed was also inconsistent with long-term isolation of the population.
Morphological Features of the Esophageal Enteric Nervous System and Its Stereological Changes during Aging

Following the enteric nervous system (ENS) of the gastrointestinal tract, the esophageal ENS attracts more and more attention of neuroscience researchers. Despite its continuity with the ENS of the gastrointestinal tract, the esophageal ENS possesses many unique morphological and functional features. This review collates the evidence of recent years, focusing mainly on the morphological features of the esophageal ENS in adult mammals andits stereological and morphological changes during aging.
Methane cycling dynamics in sediments of Alaskan Arctic Foothill lakes

Abstract We measured aspects of sediment methane (CH4) cycling dynamics in 3 shallow (mean depth, z̄= 2.1 m) and 3 deep (z̄ = 6.5 m) Alaskan Arctic Foothill lakes to establish reference data to evaluate future climate-mediated changes in these systems and to identify lake-size-dependent differences in rates and controls on CH4 production and consumption or sensitivity to changing climate. The mean sedimentation rate and sediment oxygen (O2) penetration depth were significantly higher and lower, respectively, in shallow versus deep lakes. The molar carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 12 for sedimenting material across lakes indicated a dominance by phytodetritus. Pore water dissolved organic C and CH4 concentrations were higher in shallow than in deep lakes at comparable depths below the sediment surface. The average area-based rate of methanogenesis was significantly higher in shallow lakes, exceeding the mean of deep lakes by a factor of 4; however, the mean potential area-based rate of CH4 oxidation was comparable between lake classes due to the reduced sediment O2 penetration depth in shallow lakes. All lake sediments responded similarly to chemical amendments. Hydrogen addition significantly stimulated rates of methanogenesis relative to unamended controls, while rates were unchanged by alternate electron acceptors (SO42-, Fe3+, NO3-, Mn4+), suggesting that other microbial groups did not compete with methanogens for common substrates or produce toxic intermediates. Across all lakes, 30% of assimilated CH4 was converted to methanotophic biomass, and methanotrophic C production could be as much as 23% of epipelic primary production, pointing to the potential importance of CH4-derived C in Arctic lacustrine food webs.
Dietary Fat and Sugar in Promoting Cancer Development and Progression

The uncontrolled cellular growth that characterizes tumor formation requires a constant delivery of nutrients. Since the 1970s, researchers have wondered if the supply of nutrients from the diet could impact tumor development. Numerous studies have assessed the impact of dietary components, specifically sugar and fat, to increased cancer risk. For the most part, data from these trials have been inconclusive; however, this does not indicate that dietary factors do not contribute to cancer progression. Rather, the dietary contribution may be dependent on tumor, patient, and context, making it difficult to detect in the setting of large trials. In this review, we combine data from prospective cohort trials with mechanistic studies in mice to argue that fat and sugar can play a role in tumorigenesis and disease progression. We find that certain tumors may respond directly to dietary sugar (colorectal and endometrial cancers) and fat (prostate cancer) or indirectly to the obese state (breast cancer).
Changing Intergenerational Solidarities within Families in a Mediterranean Welfare State

Intergenerational solidarity within families is the traditional source of support for dependent elderly people in southern European countries, where care needs have been mainly fulfilled by the unpaid work of women. Recently, the decline of informal care and the persistent lack of supply of formal services have been accompanied by the growth of commercial services mostly provided by migrant women hired by families in the grey market. The article is based on a qualitative study and explores the social processes underlying these changes. It suggests that although intergenerational solidarity is still crucial, it is expressed less through the direct provision of care and more through the supervision of paid services. This shift, which results mainly from a strategy adopted by middle-class women, challenges traditional gender relations and divisions of work. Moreover, it produces employment relations characterized by low pay and underprotection and reflecting conflicts over time and space typically present in informal care relations.
Petit Narratives

This article is an autoethnography. It is not meant to be a self-involved collection of memories, but it is an exploration of universal experiences and how they are played out in the lives of specific women. It is unique not only because it is individual response to universal events, but also because it demonstrates very clearly how more than just gold is passed down from generation to generation. By looking at the écriture left by each of the generations, the universal themes of life, death, birth, relationships, and progress are brought to life in a new way. We can slowly gain new perspectives on how people survive and continue to thrive and the importance of passing along strength, passion, courage, and love along with material possessions. We have blithely and in many cases rightly abandoned the grand narratives espoused by our historians of the past. One way to replace them is by looking at the petit narratives of ordinary people responding to universal themes. These pieces passed on through generations help to insure our own immortality and give new generations something solid to hang onto.
Relationships between sensory properties and chemical composition of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)

The relative roles of volatile and non-volatile compounds and fruit firmness in the sensory attributes of ripe kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa (A Chev) Liang et Ferguson var deliciosa cv Hayward) were investigated. Kiwifruit harvested at different maturities and ripened either immediately after harvest or after storage were assessed individually using various objective and sensory parameters. As fruit firmness decreased within the eating ripe range, the levels of several volatile esters, pentam-3-one and ethylene production increased. The levels of C6 aldehydes, C6 alcohols and ethanol showed little or no change within this fruit firmness range. Ethyl esters were the major contributors to total volatiles in ripe, freshly harvested fruit, but ethanol was the most abundant volatile in mature fruit that had been stored at 0° prior to ripening. Ethyl butanoate was the most abundant ester in unstored fruit whereas ethyl acetate was generally the most abundant ester in stored fruit. Stored fruit from the later harvests had higher levels of α- and β-pinene than fresh fruit or immature stored fruit. A high tangy/acid score correlated with firm fruit, low levels of major volatile esters, high levels of citrate and high soluble solids concentrations (SSC). A high score for sweetness correlated with soft fruit and high volatile ester levels. Tangy/acid was the sensory attribute best able to be predicted by objective measurements.
Authorship of Pauline epistles revisited

The name Paul appears in 13 epistles, but is he the real author? According to different biblical scholars, the number of letters really attributed to Paul varies from 4 to 13, with a majority agreeing on seven. This article proposes to revisit this authorship attribution problem by considering two effective methods (Burrows' Delta, Labbé's intertextual distance). Based on these results, a hierarchical clustering is then applied showing that four clusters can be derived, namely: {Colossians‐Ephesians}, {1 and 2 Thessalonians}, {Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy}, and {Romans, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians}. Moreover, a verification method based on the impostors' strategy indicates clearly that the group {Colossians‐Ephesians} is written by the same author who seems not to be Paul. The same conclusion can be found for the cluster {Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy}. The Letter to Philemon stays as a singleton, without any close stylistic relationship with the other epistles. Finally, a group of four letters {Romans, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians} is certainly written by the same author (Paul), but the verification protocol also indicates that 2 Corinthians is related to 1 Thessalonians, rendering a clear and simple interpretation difficult.
Nomads from Affluence: Notes on the Phenomenon of Drifter-Tourism

I N THE GROWING literature on international tourism, attention focuses primarily on the ordinary mass-tourist, whose sterotyped image and behavior-patterns tend to dominate the thinking of contemporary entrepreneurs, planners and critics of tourism.2 To redress this imbalance, I have in a previous paper proposed a distinction between various types of tourist roles ranging from the standardized and highly institutionalized role of the &dquo;organized mass-tourist&dquo; through the &dquo;individual mass-tourist&dquo; and &dquo;explorer,&dquo; to the most individualistic and least institutionalized type, the &dquo;drifter&dquo;. 3 When I wrote that paper (1968), I conceived of the drifter as: &dquo;. the type of [international] tourist [who] ventures furthest away from the beaten track . He shuns any kind of connection with the tourist establishment . He tends to
β-Cell Neogenesis During Prolonged Hyperglycemia in Rats

β-cell neogenesis from ductal precursors, and possibly from other pancreatic cell types, contributes to the expansion of β-cell mass during development and after diabetogenic insults in rodents. Using a mathematical model−based analysis of β-cell mass, replication, and size, we recently demonstrated that neogenesis is also quantitatively important to the expansion of β-cell mass during prolonged hyperglycemia. In the present study, we examined the morphological appearance of neogenic focal areas, duct cell replication, and β-cell cluster size distribution in male Sprague Dawley rats infused with either saline or 50% glucose (2 ml/h) for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 days. Pancreatic tissue characterized by a high density of small duct-like structures, previously described as neogenic focal areas, were present in glucose-infused rats after 2, 3, or 4 days of infusion. The cross-sectional area of the pancreas characterized as focal tissue peaked after 3 days of infusion at 2.9 ± 0.8%. In contrast to the partial pancreatectomy model of β-cell regeneration, duct cell replication was not increased before or during focal area formation. However, the replication rate of cells in the duct-like structures of the focal areas was twofold greater than in cells of the common pancreatic duct and 15- to 40-fold greater than in cells of small, medium, and large ducts. Duct-cell replication was significantly reduced in small, medium, and large ducts of glucose as compared to saline-infused rats (0.21 ± 0.02 vs. 0.48 ± 0.04%; P < 0.03). Duct-associated β-cell mass was not different in glucose- and saline-infused rats ( P = 0.78), whereas the number of acinar-associated single β -cells increased by 70% after 3 and 4 days of glucose infusion. In addition to small duct-like structures, focal areas had considerable T-cell infiltration (151 ± 30 T-cells/ mm2). There was also an increase in T-cell infiltration in acinar tissue of glucose as compared to saline-infused rats (0.43 ± 0.11 vs. 0.03 ± 0. 01 T-cells/mm2; P < 0.0001). In conclusion, these data suggest that neogenic focal areas in these glucose-infused rats do not arise from replication and differentiation of ductal progenitor cells. Rather, acinar cell transdifferentiation into β-cells and acinar cell dedifferentiation into neogenic focal areas lead to new β-cell formation during prolonged hyperglycemia.
Acute effects of pre-workout supplement on aerobic and anaerobic performance in basketball players

Background and aim of the study : In recent years, the use of ergogenic aid has become widespread in order to improve performance among the athletes and to achieve success more easily. Pre-workout nutritional supplements that attract the attention of many athletes as a legal ergogenic aid are used by both aerobic and anaerobic branch athletes. The aim of this study is to examine the acute effect of the pre-workout supplement on aerobic and anaerobic performance in basketball players. Material and Method: Twenty male college basketball players who have played regularly at least for 5 years participated in the study voluntarily (mean ± SD 22.00 ± 1.70 years, height 1.83 ± 0.07 cm, weight 85.15 ± 10.78 kg, BMI 25.32 ± 3.10). Double-blind placebo-controlled, cross-over method was used for the collection of data. The players were divided into two groups as placebo (PL, n= 10) and pre-workout (PRW, n= 10). Placebo and pre-workout groups were replaced 48 hours after the initial measurements and the same tests were repeated. The pre-workout group was given 17 gr (Bigjoy Predator) in 200 mg of additive-free juice 1 hour before the test, only 200 mg of additive free juice was given to the placebo group. Countermovement Jump (CMJ) and Running-Based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) were used to measure the anaerobic performance of the athletes, and Yoyo Intermittent Recovery Test 1(Yo-Yo IRL1) was used to measure aerobic capacities. Results: A significant difference was found concerning the Countermovement Jump (CMJ) test results (p= 0, 004), Relative peak power (p= 0.001) and Relative average power (p= 0.012) values obtained from RAST test data. There was no significant difference in fatigue index (p = 0.79) and VO2 max (p= 0.492) values. Conclusion: While pre-workout supplementation has an acute effect on anaerobic power data, it has been observed that there is no acute effect on the data obtained from fatigue index and aerobic endurance test.
Seed deterioration in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under accelerated ageing.

Accelerated ageing test were made in five chickpea varieties viz., three desi (Pusa 256, Pusa 212 and BGD 72) and two kabuli (Pusa 267 and K551) with the objective of studying sequence and relationship of process of deterioration over short periods. All the varieties were investigated to consider whether there are cultivars differences for tolerance to ageing conditions. In the study, effect of accelerated ageing on seed viability, seedling vigour and biochemical process were explored. The overall results showed that seed quality in chickpea deteriorates following accelerated ageing treatment. All the physiological parameter viz., germination percentage, seedling root length, shoot length and consequently the vigour index in all varieties were significantly decreased. An increase in moisture content was observed during ageing. Decrease in seed viability and germination rate, vigour is also correlated with biochemical changes (decreased soluble proteins and sugar content) associated with seed ageing. The study also exhibited differential responses among varieties with respect to ageing. All the test experiments performed concluded that Pusa 256 is the best variety, followed by K 551 among all five varieties and Pusa 212 is highly sensitive variety with respect to accelerated ageing.
Morphometric study of femoral neck-shaft angle and its implications

The femur is the largest and strongest bone in the human body which forms the bone of the thigh region. It consists of two ends: The proximal end and the distal end with the intermediate shaft. Although the femur bone is structurally and functionally important in all of its parts, the proximal end of the femur has much more attention than other parts. A thorough knowledge of its anatomy is very important in treating pathological conditions of the hip and femur bones. In humans, the neck of femur is well developed, with an anatomical orientation of facing upward obliquely and anteriorly. During the one-legged stance of the walking cycle, the femoral neck is subjected to important biomedical Research Article