Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental factors affecting Phragmites australis litter decomposition in Mediterranean and Black Sea transitional waters

1. Leaf litter decomposition rates in aquatic ecosystems are known to be related to many abiotic and biotic factors. 2. Field experiments were carried out during spring 2005 in 16 ecosystems, each with four sampling sites, using the litter bag technique to investigate the influence of abiotic factors on patterns of reed litter breakdown in different physiographic, hydrological and physico-chemical gradients occurring in transitional water ecosystems in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. 3. Significant differences in leaf litter decomposition were observed among the studied ecosystems along univariate gradients of tidal range, water temperature, salinity and sinuosity index. 4. Overall, 71% of variance in the litter breakdown rate was explained by the hydrological, physico-chemical and physiographic components. Specifically, tidal range, salinity and sinuosity index are among the key factors in the most commonly used typological schemes for classifying transitional water ecosystems (i.e. Confinement Concept and Venice System), due to their influence on abundance and distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates and other guilds. 5. The patterns observed at the regional scale of the study suggest that certain key abiotic factors are likely to play a major role as drivers of plant detritus decomposition processes, through their influence on the overall metabolism of microorganisms and benthic macroinvertebrates. 6. These observations have implications for the identification of reference conditions for transitional water ecosystems in the studied area, on which all processes of classification and conservation of their ecological status are based.
Population dynamics of Pseudomonas cepacia in the pea spermosphere in relation to biocontrol of Pythium.

Pseudomonas cepacia strain AMMD applied to pead seeds reduced preemergence damping-off caused by Pythium ultimum and P. sylvaticum by 47% in growth chamber experiments. Protection by the biocontrol agent was as effective as seed treatment with metalaxyl at all temperatures tested (16, 20, 24, and 28 C) Under controlled soil matric potential conditions (−6 kPA) at 24 C, Pythium began to infect nontreated seeds within 12 hr, and 100% of the seeds were infected 30 hr after planting. Incidence of seed infection during the first 48 hr was reduced 44-60% by seed treatment with metalaxyl or P. Cepacia strain AMMDR1, resistant to rifampicin (.)
Signal-to-noise improvement in LED-based photoacoustic imaging systems using double-stage delay-multiply-and-sum image reconstruction method

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is an emerging medical imaging modality which provides the resolution of ultra- sound imaging and contrast of optical imaging. Usually, in conventional PAI systems, high energy Nd:YAG lasers are used for illumination, but they are bulky and expensive. To address these problems, pulse laser diodes and light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been used in PAI imaging systems. LEDs have a lower energy, compared to Nd:YAG lasers. As a result, a lower signal-to-noise (SNR) is achieved. To address this problem, photoacoustic signal averaging is used necessitating a high number of LEDs illuminations. This method is not suitable for applications which the imaging sample is not motionless. In this paper, we propose to use an advanced image reconstruction method, known as double-stage delay multiply and sum (DS-DMAS), to address the low SNR of the data collected from an LED-based scanner. DS-DMAS addresses the low SNR inherent to the LED-based excitation. The results show that this algorithm compensates the low SNR of LED-based systems and provides a lateral resolution of about 60 %, 25 %, higher contrast ratio of about 97 %, 34 %, and better full-width-half- maximum of about 60 %, 25 %, in comparison with the delay-and-sum and delay-multiply-and-sum, respectively. Additionally, only 2 % of all the frames are used in DS-DMAS, which indicates that DS-DMAS uses a smaller number of frames to provide a high image quality.
The effects of food and density on growth and metamorphosis in larval wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) from central Labrador

Two experiments were performed on Rana sylvatica tadpoles from central Labrador to test for effects of food and density on growth and metamorphosis. In an experiment examining for the presence of diffusible growth inhibitors, one group of tadpoles was given water treated by adding a high density of sibling tadpoles, and another group was given filtered lake water. No diffusible growth inhibitors existed in this population, as body weight measured weekly, weight at metamorphosis, and duration of larval stage did not differ between control and treated groups. In a food-density experiment, effects of food and larval density were examined by subjecting tadpoles at four different densities to four food levels, creating a 4 × 4 food–density matrix. Food and density both affected growth rate, weight at metamorphosis, and duration of larval stage. Socially governed negative density-dependent interactions are either nonexistent in northern populations, or were completely masked by slight positive effects of groupi.
Factors associated with weight gain during six-month olanzapine therapy

Objective To identify factors associated with weight gain during olanzapine therapy in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Methods A post hoc analysis was conducted on data from the Chinese subgroup (n = 330) of a multinational/multiregional observational study. Results After 6 months of olanzapine therapy, the mean ± standard deviation (SD) weight change was (4. 5 ±4.0) kg and 145 (47. 2%) patients had clinically significant weight gain (CSWG, ≥7% increase from baseline). In these patients,94 (29.6%) had early CSWG after 2 months of therapy. Patients with early CSWG had a significantly greater overall weight gain at 6 months compared to patients without early CSWG (LS mean weight gain:7. 5 kg and 2. 7 kg, respectively, P<0. 001) . Ten factors were associated with treatment-emergent weight gain in a multivariate analysis: preoccupied thoughts with food (5. 1 kg) , evening snack consumption (5.4 kg) , taking an excessive amount of food to feel full (4.9 kg) , red meat consumption (5. 0 kg) , comfortably full sense when meal was finished (5. 0 kg) , amount of continuous walking per day (4. 9 kg) , the place where the patient took the majority of their meals (4. 9 kg) , social activity level and meal regularity (5. 6 kg) , gender and the regularity of eating (male 5. 1 kg, female 4. 5 kg,irregular eating 5. 0 kg). Conclusion The identified factors may assist with the early identification of candidates for weight control intervention during olanzapine therapy. Key words: Body mass index; Schizophrenia; Antipsychotic agents; Olanzapine
Diabetes Complications and their Relation to Glycemic Control among Patients Attending Diabetic Clinic at King Khalid National Guard Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This study addresses the prevalence of ischemic heart disease, hypertension and long-term complications of diabetes mellitus among patients attending the diabetic clinic and their relation to glycemic control. Methods: A study was conducted on a cross-section on all consecutive patients attending the diabetic clinic at King Khalid National Guard Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from January 2007 to January 2008. The degree of glycemic control was gauged using blood level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and classified into good (less 7%), fair (7.1-8%), poor (8.1-9%) and very poor (greater than 9%). All patients were screened for hypertension, ischemic heart disease and microvascular complications. Results: Two hundred and ten patients were recruited in the study. Glycemic control was good in 17 (8.1%), fair in 49 (23.2%), poor in 56 (26.6%) and very poor in 88 (41.9%). There was high prevalence of retinopathy (76; 36%), microalbuminuria (80; 37.9%), neuropathy (108; 51.2%) and ischemic heart disease (51; 24.2%), especially among patients with poor and very poor control. Although the presence of hypertension, frank nephropathy and peripheral vascular disease was also disturbingly high among diabetic patients, their frequency was the same among good, fair, poor and very poor glycemic control groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of long-term complications of diabetes mellitus was alarmingly high among Saudi nationals. Microvascular complications and ischemic heart disease were also noticed to be more common in diabetics with poor and very poor glycemic control. This emphasizes the need of national awareness program about the gravity of the problem.
Nutritional assessment of Vernonia amygdalina leaves in growing mice

The elemental analyses of the leaves of Vernonia amygdalina and the laboratory experiments with mice, fed diets containing V. amygdalina leaves, their alcohol extracts, or purified saponins, were performed. Feeding 2-week-old growing mice of both sexes with the standard diets amended with 25% dry V. amygdalina leaves or equivalent amounts of alcohol extracts or crude or purified saponins for 14 days did not alter their feeding performance. However, these treatments caused significant reduction in body weight gain and increased urinary and fecal output, compared with the control group. At necropsy, the liver weights were reduced. The stomachs and small intestines were enlarged, compared to the control groups. It was concluded that care has to be taken when using the leaves for cooking soups and that saponins should be thoroughly washed out during the debittering process. Consumption of tonics containing V. amygdalina saponins may create some health hazard.
Multiplicity of extracellular β-(1,4)-endoglucanases of Bacteroides succinogenes S85

During growth on 0.2% (w/v) microcrystalline cellulose, Bacteroides succinogenes S85 produces endoglucanase activity which can be separated by centrifugation into sedimentable and nonsedimentable fractions. The sedimentable activity, after solubilization with Triton X-100, was resolved into four components by ion-exchange chromatography and these were further fractionated by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The nonsedimentable activity contained three enzymic components as determined by gel filtration. Like the preparations derived from the sedimentable fraction, these components yielded a multiplicity of endoglucanases when electrophoresed under nondenaturing conditions. The fractions obtained by ion-exchange chromatography and by gel filtration were assayed for endoglucanase activity by both viscometric assays and reducing sugar production using carboxymethylcellulose as the substrate. Plots of the fluidity change in the enzyme–substrate preparation in relation to reducing sugar .
Morphology and Halogenated Secondary Metabolites of Three Gran Canarian Species of Laurencia (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta)

Laurenda majuscula (Harvey) Lucas is characterised by the production of four periaxial cells from each vegetative axial segment and of two tetrasporangium-bearing (the third and fourth) periaxial cells per fertile segment in tetrasporangial branches, in addition to other features. Major halogenated secondary metabolites of this species are sesquiterpenoids, isoobtusol and elatol. Laurenda intricata Lamouroux is characterised by the presence of 2-4 corps en cerise per superficial cortical cell, in addition to other features. A major halogenated compound of this alga is a sesquiterpenoid, caespitol. Laurenda perforata (Bory) Montagne is characterised by the production of two periaxial cells from each vegetative axial segment, tetrasporangia formed on two (the second and additional third) periaxial cells from each axial segment in tetrasporangial branches, and the absence of corps en cerise, in addition to other features. Halogenated secondary metabolites were not detected in this alga, although some characteristic sesquiterpenoids have been reported from material collected from Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands. This strongly suggests that the Fuerteventuran alga was not properly identified.
EVALUATION OF FODDER YIELD AND ITS QUALITY OF BARLEY AND RYEGRASS SOWN ALONE OR INTERCROPPED WITH BERSEEM CLOVER

Two field experiments were conducted at Sids Experimental Agricultural Research Station, (ARC), in 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons to (i) evaluate the performance of two varieties of barley as a multicut forage crop either in pure stand or intercropped with berseem and (ii) comparing berseem, barley and ryegrass as sole crops or intercropped to determine the best grass- legume combination for maximum yield and better forage quality. Total fresh forage yield of pure stand ryegrass was superior to those of barley cv . Giza 123 and barley cv . Giza 2000 by 13.61 and 15.03 t fed -1 , respectively. Barley cv . Giza 123 outyielded Giza 2000 by 1.42 t fed -1 . Total fresh forage yield of intercropped berseem with barley cv . Giza 123 surpassed those of berseem + barley cv . Giza 2000 and berseem in pure stand by 10.8 and 11.4 percent, respectively. Total fresh forage yield of berseem + ryegrass was lower by 3.96 t fed -1 than that of berseem + barley cv . Giza 123, but higher by 1.27 and 1.49 t fed -1 than those of berseem + barley cv . Giza 2000 and berseem in pure stand, respectively. Barley cv . Giza 123 was better companion with berseem than cv . Giza 2000. Ryegrass showed better stand persistence and duration than the barley. Total dry forage yield followed the same trend of fresh forage yield, but the magnitude of difference was greater. Intercropping of berseem with forage grasses lead to improve forage quality through balancing crude protein (cp), Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) and Ca/P ratio. It could be concluded that to maximize forage yield and its quality per unit area by intercropping barley cv . Giza 123 and Egyptian clover 50%:50%.
Stability during frozen and subsequent refrigerated storage of Lactobacillus acidophilus grown at different pH

Abstract Two cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus were evaluated for stability during frozen and refrigerated storage following growth in broth maintained at five different pH: 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0. Generally, significantly higher populations were obtained by both cultures during growth at either pH 5 or 5.5 than at higher pH. Freezing and frozen storage for 28 d at –196°C had no significant effect on the viability of either culture grown at any of the five different pH. However, there were significant effects on the viability of the cultures during subsequent storage at 5°C in milk. Cells of both strains grown at pH 5 did not exhibit any significant decrease in viability and population during 21 d storage at 5°C. Cells of both strains grown at all higher pH exhibited significant declines in viability during these same storage periods at 5°C.
Molecular phylogeny of the fungus gnat family Diadocidiidae and its position within the infraorder Bibionomorpha (Diptera)

The molecular phylogeny of the family Diadocidiidae (Diptera: Sciaroidea) is reconstructed based on the combined analysis of four mitochondrial (12S, 16S, COI, cytB) and two nuclear (28S, ITS2) gene markers. All the analyses strongly support Diadocidiidae as a monophyletic group. Genus Diadocidia Ruthe, 1831 includes monophyletic subgenera Diadocidia s. str. and Taidocidia Papp and Ševčík (Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 51, 2005b, 329). The monophyly of Adidocidia Laštovka & Matile, 1972 was not confirmed. The position of Diadocidiidae and relationships of the families within the infraorder Bibionomorpha are demonstrated in the analyses based on three gene markers (28S, 12S and 16S). The Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of 10 families of Bibionomorpha revealed Sciaridae as the closest relative of Diadocidiidae. Most of the currently recognised extant families of Bibionomorpha proved to be monophyletic. The family Keroplatidae revealed as paraphyletic, with the genera of Macrocerinae being more related to Cecidomyiidae, but the support is low.
Analysis of the role of Cdc14/Flp1 in checkpoint response to genotoxic stress in "Schizosaccharomyces pombe"

El estudio presentado en esta Tesis Doctoral se centra en la investigacion de la funcion de la fosfatasa Flp1p de Schizosaccharomyces pombe (tambien conocida como Clp1p), perteneciente a la familia Cdc14, en los mecanismos de vigilancia celular, especialmente en la cascada de senalizacion en respuesta al estres replicativo y al dano en el DNA. Para ello se llevaron a cabo analisis geneticos y bioquimicos comparados de las mencionadas respuestas en cepas silvestres y mutadas para flp1, asi como estudios de la expresion genica en respuesta a estres. En el marco de esta tesis se esta desarrollando asi mismo un modelo matematico del checkpoint de replicacion en colaboracion con el grupo de Biologia Computacional de Sistemas del Instituto Max Planck de Genetica Molecular de Berlin, Alemania. En esta Tesis Doctoral se ha demostrado la estrecha relacion de Flp1p de S. pombe, con la quinasa Cds1p (principal efector del checkpoint de replicacion) en situaciones de estres replicativo y se describe por primera vez la implicacion de Flp1p en el checkpoint de replicacion. La respuesta celular a estres replicativo produce la salida de Flp1p al nucleo, muy probablemente por medio de fosforilacion directa de la fosfatasa por Cds1p. Por otra parte la actividad de Cds1p en respuesta al checkpoint se ve reducida en celulas delecionadas para Flp1p. La alteracion de los niveles proteicos de Flp1p o de su localizacion resulta en la desregulacion de la respuesta a estres, produciendose efectos como perdida de eficiencia en el bloqueo de la progresion celular o la aparicion de focos de recombinacion. Todas estas evidencias apuntan a que Flp1p participa en la (auto-) regulacion del grado de activacion del checkpoint de replicacion necesario para una respuesta celular adecuada en situaciones de estres replicativo.
VARIATION IN SHOOT ELONGATION OF PINUS RESINOSA AIT.

Shoot elongation and associated phenological and morphological variables were measured and analyzed for an 8-year-old provenance experiment planted in central Wisconsin. Geographic origin of seed significantly affected elongation and all associated characteristics except initiation date of elongation. Lammas growth had a significant effect on the initiation date and termination date of shoot elongation. Rate and duration of elongation contributed about equally to the extent of elongation. Bud length influenced elongation through rate. The pattern of weekly shoot elongation corresponded more closely to weekly mean temperature than to weekly mean precipitation.
Prevalence of Blood Parasites in Dogs of Kathmandu Valley

Study in blood parasitic diseases in dog was carried out from August 2014 to November 2014 to find out the prevalence of haemoparasites in clinical cases of hyperthermia in dogs. Blood sample from 50 cases of hyperthermia were collected and examined for any blood parasites by the smear method. The haematological parameter (RBC, WBC, PCV, Hb, & DLC) of each sample was also assessed and analyzed. Data was analyzed to determine prevalence of various species of blood parasites to establish the correlation of the infections with age, sex and breed. Out of 50 samples examined, blood parasites were determined in 12 percent samples of which 2(4%) were positive for Babesia canis and 4 (8%) were positive for Ehrlichia spp. The percentage of infection was greater in female 4(16.67%) than male 2(7.14%). The prevalence of blood parasite was higher in German shepherd. The prevalence of blood parasite was higher in 2-4 years of dogs. To determine significant difference between the hematological parameter of infected and non-infected cases, t-test was need (R, version 3.0.3). The confidence level for the analysis was set at 95percent with significance level assessed at p< 0.05. The study between the infected and non-infected host revealed statistically significant difference in PCV, Neutrophil and Eosinophil. Whereas other parameters did not have any significant difference. The mean PCV was significantly low (P <0.05) in infected dog than in non-infected dog. Mean Neutrophil was significantly decreased whereas Eosinophil was increased in infected dogs than in non-infected dogs.
Tissue culture‐induced genomic alteration in maize (Zea mays) inbred lines and F1 hybrids

Genomic alteration is a common phenomenon associated with plant tissue culture, which often encompasses genetic changes and epigenetic modifications (e.g. cytosine methylation). Here, we studied genomic alteration in maize by assessing calli and regenerated plants derived from three inbred lines (M17, J7 and JC) and two pairs of reciprocal F1 hybrids (pair I: M17/J7 and J7/M17 and pair II: M17/JC and JC/M17). By employing two molecular markers, the amplified fragment length polymorphism and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism, we found that both types of genomic alterations occurred in calli and regenerated plants of all the studied maize inbred lines and F1 hybrids, but the extent and pattern of changes varied substantially across the genotypes. Among the three inbred lines, M17 showed markedly higher frequencies of both genetic (from 2.1% to 3.8%) and methylation alterations (from 6.5% to 9.9%, by adding up the various patterns) than the other two lines which showed similar frequencies for both types of alterations (genetic: 0.5–1.8%, methylation: 2.1–3.7%). Of the two F1 hybrid pairs, while pair I showed genetic variation frequencies similar to that of the inbred parent with lower changing frequency and pair II was intermediate of those of the parents, both pairs showed frequencies of methylation alteration more or less intermediate of those of their inbred parental lines. Parent-of-origin effects in both genetic and methylation changes were detected in only one of the hybrid pairs (primarily pair II) for a given changing pattern. Statistical testing confirmed the genotypic difference in both genetic and methylation (hypomethylation) alterations among the regenerants. Taken together, it could be concluded that the frequency and pattern of both genetic and cytosine methylation alterations in maize tissue culture were largely genetic context-dependent traits, but stochasticity also played an important part. F1 hybrids were not significantly more stable than their inbred parental lines under tissue culture conditions.
Antimicrobial effect of pressurised carbon dioxide on Enterococcus faecalis in physiological saline and foods

Inactivation of Enterococcus faecalis by high-pressure CO2 was investigated in a batch system. Two phases were observed in the survival curves. The earlier stage was characterised by a slow rate of decrease in the number of E faecalis. This rate increased sharply at the later stage. Enterococcus faecalis suspended in physiological saline was completely inactivated under 6.05 and 3.02 MPa CO2 treatment in 18 and 80 min respectively at 35 degrees C. The high pressure of CO2 at 45 degrees C was effective at sterilising orange, peach and carrot juices but ineffective for whole and skimmed milk. A minimum D-value was obtained under 6.05 MPa CO2 pressure at 45 degrees C. Reduction rates of E faecalis were sensitive to pressure, temperature, exposure time, the initial number of cells and the suspending medium.