Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detecting sperm on the perivitelline membrane of incubated turkey eggs and its implications for research on fertility problems in endangered species

A method whereby sperm nuclei on the perivitelline membrane are stained and counted under a photomicroscope has been used extensively in the poultry industry to show a correlation between egg infertility and low numbers of spermatozoa near the site of fertilisation. It has been suggested that this method could also be potentially useful for assessing infertility problems in endangered species. For poultry, the staining technique is normally applied to fresh (i.e. unincubated) eggs, but conservation managers normally collect eggs for examination only after they have been incubated for several days and then assessed (by candling) to lack a developing embryo. Whether sperm would persist on the perivitelline membrane of infertile eggs incubated over several days is not known. In relation to our research on egg infertility in the endangered takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri), we examined the above problem by comparing sperm counts on the membrane of fresh versus incubated infertile eggs from artificially inseminated domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). We were able to detect sperm in most infertile eggs that had not been incubated, but no sperm at all were detected in infertile eggs that were incubated for seven days, suggesting that warming of the eggs may cause the sperm on the membrane to degrade. The inherent fragility of avian sperm nuclei may limit the usefulness of this technique for assessing infertility in takahe and other species where failed (non-developing) eggs are not removed from the nest until after a short period of incubation.
Identification of Shiga Toxin-producing E. coli Isolated from Diarrhea Patients and Cattle in Gwangju Area, Korea

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are commensal bacteria in cattle and cause food borne disease in human. We analyzed the isolation rate of STEC in stool specimens of patients with diarrhea and in fecal samples of cattle in Gwangju, Korea. STEC strains were detected from 33 (0.19%) out of 17,148 patients with diarrhea while there has been a progressive increase in the incidence rate from 0.07% in 2004 to 0.33% in 2008. We investigated serotypes, shiga toxin genes, and antimicrobial resistance patterns of the 44 STEC isolates from human and cattle sources. The 33 STEC isolates from human belonged to 14 O serotypes including O157, O26 and O111. The 11 isolates from cattle belonged to 11 O serotypes. PCR detection for stx genes showed that 12 (27.3%) isolates carried stx₁ genes, 20 (45.5%) possessed stx₂ genes, and 12 (27.3%) carried both stx₁ and stx₂. Of the 33 STEC isolates from human, 25 strains (76%) were resistant to one or more antibiotics. High level of resistance to tetracycline (73%) was most common, followed by ticarcillin and ampicillin (64%). But none of the 33 isolates from human were resistant to amikacin, cefazolin, cefepime, cefotetan, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, or imipenem. The 5 strains (45%) of the 11 isolates from cattle were resistant to at least one or three antibiotics but most of the isolates were sensitive to the 16 antibiotics employed in this survey. In conclusion, toxin types and serotypes of STEC isolated from human and cattle were diverse, and non-O157 STEC was also observed to be a greater proportion of STEC isolates. According to a specific comparison solely based on the toxin types and serotypes, most of the STEC strains isolated from cattle feces in Gwangju, Korea showed characteristics different from those isolated from patients. Therefore, laboratory surveillance is required to detect and carefully monitor the potentially hypervirulent STEC not only in human and cattle but also in other animals.
ANTHROPOMETRIC PROFILE OF GYMNASTS PARTICIPATING IN THE EUROPEAN GAMES 2015 IN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN

Sports performance is strongly influenced by the athletes’ anthropometric profile. In the specific case of Gymnastics, body weight assumes particular relevance, given the aesthetic character of this sport. Anthropometric data were collected from 309 gymnasts (20.9 ± 4.1 years old) participating in the 2015 European Games: age, body weight and height, from a database of the organization of this competition available online in the 5 disciplines of the Gymnastics included in the competition, namely Men ́s and Women ́s Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Acrobatic Gymnastics and Aerobic. Body mass index was calculated. Female gymnasts were significantly younger and lighter than male gymnasts and had a lower body mass index than males (P = 0.000). Female athletes were in the 25th percentile for weight and BMI and in the 15th percentile for height, according to their age. Male gymnasts were in the 25th percentile for weight, height and BMI. Female acrobatic gymnasts were younger and lighter (25th percentile) than other gymnastics disciplines; rhythmic gymnasts presented the lowest BMI (5th percentile). Male artistic gymnasts were the lightest (15th percentile) and with the lowest BMI (25th percentile) within the male participants. BMI was dependent on weight, height and gender, with exception for exclusive-gender disciplines and, surprisingly, also in Aerobics. Gymnasts presented an anthropometric profile with results for body weight, height and body mass index below the normal for their age.
SEED CACHING BY HETEROMYID RODENTS FROM TWO COMMUNITIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR COEXISTENCE

Abstract Diversity of species in communities of heteromyid rodents presents a classic problem to ecologists, because species are similar ecologically and share a limiting seed resource. Mechanisms of coexistence considered to date have focused on interspecific variation in ability to exploit heterogeneity in resources caused by environmental factors. An unexplored possibility is that coexistence is promoted by heterogeneity among species in seed-caching behavior. To begin evaluating this possibility, we asked whether coexisting species differ in their propensity to cache and in types of caches made. In an indoor arena, we presented millet seeds to 8 species of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys) and pocket mice (Perognathus and Chaetodipus) from 2 communities, 1 in California and 1 in Arizona. Species within communities differed in amounts of seed consumed and cached per night. Both consumption and caching increased with body mass in a manner similar to whole-animal metabolic rate, suggesting that energetics underlie food storage behaviors. Species also differed significantly in propensity to cache in the home burrow (larderhoard) versus in small depots outside the burrow (scatterhoard); scatterhoarding increased with body mass. Kangaroo rats scatterhoarded proportionally more than sympatric pocket mice, and species from California tended to scatterhoard more than those of similar body size from Arizona. These interspecific differences are consistent with the possibility that caching promotes coexistence. Our results appear to contradict those from a similar study of heteromyid caching behavior that used a different protocol for presenting seeds. This discrepancy underscores the importance of understanding the extent to which caching behavior is sensitive to details of experimental protocol or animal state and of moving experimental caching studies into more natural situations.
English language use at the internationalised universities of Northern Europe: Is there a correlation between Englishisation and world rank?

Abstract European universities have, since the late 1990s, undergone dramatic changes centred on internationalisation, harmonisation and competition. This paper is concerned with two specific consequences of these changes and their interrelationship: rankings and Englishisation, the latter defined as an increase in the use of English at universities of nation states where English is not the official language. Despite a recent surge in research into Englishisation, it is not yet clear to what extent current organisational changes inevitably entail an orientation towards both rankings and Englishisation or whether a high rank can be attained without the use of English being increased and vice versa. Using as a case study Denmark’s eight universities, this paper examines the relationship between the combined rank on seven well-known ranking lists of each of Denmark’s eight universities and the extent to which English is used in them, drawing on recently compiled government statistics. The findings suggest that while there is some evidence in support of a correlation, in that lower-ranked universities are, on the whole, less likely to use English than higher-ranked ones, there are some notable exceptions. It is suggested that the findings may shed light on whether Englishisation at the universities of Northern Europe is best explained in terms of unintended consequences or rational choices.
Effect of dietary leucine level on growth performance, and carcass and meat quality in finishing pigs

The effect of feeding corn-soybean meal-based diets with two levels of supplemental leucine (0 vs. 2%) on growth, carcass, and pork quality characteristics was evaluated in 40 individually fed finishing pigs over a 39-d feeding period (78.4 ± 3.46 to 114.8 ± 7.30 kg liveweight). Supplemental dietary leucine reduced weight gain (8.7%; P 0.05) on feed intake or gain:feed ratio. Feeding diets with 2% supplemental leucine increased (P < 0.05) longissimus fat content and marbling scores in both barrows and gilts. Key words: Finishing pigs, dietary leucine, intramuscular fat
Habitat Selection of Aquatic Testate Amoebae Communities on Qeqertarsuaq (Disko Island), West Greenland

The testate amoebae communities living in different substrate types of 31 aquatic sites on Qeqertarsuaq (West-Greenland) were studied. A total of 74 taxa, belonging to 21 genera was observed. While most taxa belonged to the genera Difflugia, Euglypha and Centropyxis, most counted tests were identified as Trinema lineare. The substrate type showed the largest influence on testate amoebae communities, regardless of the habitat type. Centropyxis aerophila, C. aerophila var. sphagnicola, Difflugia pristis and D. tenuis showed a clear preference for sediments (sapropelium and rock scraping), both in standing and running water bodies. The differences in site characteristics induced also differences among the epiphytic communities. Assulina muscorum, A. seminulum, Difflugia glans, D. tenuis, Difflugiella crenulata var. globosa and Euglypha strigosa were typical taxa living on macrophytes in standing water bodies. No typical epiphytic taxa were found in running water bodies. Homothermic systems, which are ice-free year-round, accommodate more developed testate amoebae communities. This reflects in a higher ratio of K-strategic lobose testate amoebae as compared to r-strategic Filosa (LF-index).
Identification of a Second Major Site for CD46 Binding in the Hemagglutinin Protein from a Laboratory Strain of Measles Virus (MV): Potential Consequences for Wild-Type MV Infection

Natural or wild-type (wt) measles virus (MV) infection in vivo which is restricted to humans and certain monkeys represents an enigma in terms of receptor usage. Although wt MV is known to use the protein SLAM (CD150) as a cell receptor, many human tissues, including respiratory epithelium in which the infection initiates, are SLAM negative. These tissues are CD46 positive, but wt MV strains, unlike vaccinal and laboratory MV strains, are not thought to use CD46 as a receptor. We have identiﬁed a novel CD46 binding site at residues S548 and F549, in the hemagglutinin (H) protein from a laboratory MV strain, which is also present in wt H proteins. Our results suggest that although wt MV interacts with SLAM with high afﬁnity, it also possesses the capacity to interact with CD46 with low afﬁnity. Measles virus (MV), a member of the Morbillivirus genus in the Paramyxoviridae family in the Mononegavirales order, is responsible for at least 1 million infant deaths each year world-wide. This high mortality
Sequence and Structural Elements at the 3′ Terminus of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Genomic RNA: Functional Role during RNA Replication

ABSTRACT Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), a member of the genusPestivirus in the family Flaviviridae, has a positive-stranded RNA genome consisting of a single open reading frame and untranslated regions (UTRs) at the 5′ and 3′ ends. Computer modeling suggested the 3′ UTR comprised single-stranded regions as well as stem-loop structures—features that were suspected of being essentially implicated in the viral RNA replication pathway. Employing a subgenomic BVDV RNA (DI9c) that was shown to function as an autonomous RNA replicon (S.-E. Behrens, C. W. Grassmann, H. J. Thiel, G. Meyers, and N. Tautz, J. Virol. 72:2364–2372, 1998) the goal of this study was to determine the RNA secondary structure of the 3′ UTR by experimental means and to investigate the significance of defined RNA motifs for the RNA replication pathway. Enzymatic and chemical structure probing revealed mainly the conserved terminal part (termed 3′C) of the DI9c 3′ UTR containing distinctive RNA motifs, i.e., a stable stem-loop, SL I, near the RNA 3′ terminus and a considerably less stable stem-loop, SL II, that forms the 5′ portion of 3′C. SL I and SL II are separated by a long single-stranded intervening sequence, denoted SS. The 3′-terminal four C residues of the viral RNA were confirmed to be single stranded as well. Other intramolecular interactions, e.g., with upstream DI9c RNA sequences, were not detected under the experimental conditions used. Mutagenesis of the DI9c RNA demonstrated that the SL I and SS motifs do indeed play essential roles during RNA replication. Abolition of RNA stems, which ought to maintain the overall folding of SL I, as well as substitution of certain single-stranded nucleotides located in the SS region or SL I loop region, gave rise to DI9c derivatives unable to replicate. Conversely, SL I stems comprising compensatory base exchanges turned out to support replication, but mostly to a lower degree than the original structure. Surprisingly, replacement of a number of residues, although they were previously defined as constituents of a highly conserved stretch of sequence of the SS motif, had little effect on the replication ability of DI9c. In summary, these results indicate that RNA structure as well as sequence elements harbored within the 3′C region of the BVDV 3′ UTR create a common cis-acting element of the replication process. The data further point at possible interaction sites of host and/or viral proteins and thus provide valuable information for future experiments intended to identify and characterize these factors.
Comparison and Correlation of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup B Immunologic Assay Results and Human Antibody Responses following Three Doses of the Norwegian Meningococcal Outer Membrane Vesicle Vaccine MenBvac

ABSTRACT The prediction of efficacy of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) vaccines is currently hindered due to the lack of an appropriate correlate of protection. For outer membrane vesicle (OMV) vaccines, immunogenicity has primarily been determined by the serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) assay and OMV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, the opsonophagocytic assay (OPA), surface labeling assay, whole blood assay (WBA), and salivary antibody ELISA have been developed although correlation with protection is presently undetermined. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate further the usefulness of, and relationships between, MenB immunologic assays. A phase II trial of the OMV vaccine, MenBvac, with proven efficacy was initiated to compare immunologic assays incorporating the vaccine and six heterologous strains. Correlations were achieved between the SBA assay, OMV ELISA, and OPA using human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and human complement but not between an OPA using HL60 phagocytic cells and baby rabbit complement. Correlations between the surface labeling assay, the SBA assay, and the OMV ELISA were promising, although target strain dependent. Correlations between the salivary antibody ELISA and other assays were poor. Correlations to the WBA were prevented since many samples had results greater than the range of the assay. The study confirmed the immunogenicity and benefit of a third dose of MenBvac against the homologous vaccine strain using a variety of immunologic assays. These results emphasize the need for standardized methodologies that would allow a more robust comparison of assays between laboratories and promote their further evaluation as correlates of protection against MenB disease.
Simultaneous amyloglucosidase and exo-polygalacturonase production by Aspergillus niger using solid-state fermentation

ABSTRACT Amyloglucosidase (AMG) and exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG) were simultaneously produced by two different strains of Aspergillus niger in solid-state fermentation (SSF) using defatted rice-bran as substrate. The effect of Aspergillus niger strain (t0005/007-2 and/or CCT 3312), inoculum type (spore suspension or fermented bran) and addition of inducers (pectin and/or starch) to the culture media was studied using a 3 2 x 2 1 factorial experimental design. The production of AMG and exo-PG was significantly affected by fungal strain and inoculum type but inducers had no effect. The maximum yields obtained were 1310 U/g dm for AMG using a spore suspension of A. niger CCT 3312 and 50.2 U/g dm for exo-PG production, using A. niger t0005/007-2 and fermented bran as inoculum. The yields obtained represented acceptable values in comparison with data available in the literature and indicated that defatted rice-bran was a good nutrient source. Key words: Amyloglucosidase, exo-polygalacturonase, rice-bran, solid-state fermentation
Modulation of Selenite-Induced Cataract by Dietary Supplement of Broccoli in Experimental Animals

Oxidative stress remains the underlying factor in many cases of cataracts. Selenite-induced cataract was worked upon as a model system for oxidative stress in rats. Naturally occurring compounds like flavonoids are known to exhibit antioxidant activity and hence, might be of potential therapeutic value. In the present study, an attempt has been made to determine the efficacy of broccoli in modulating or preventing selenite-induced cataractogenesis. Twenty seven Wister rat pups were divided into four groups. Group one (n=6) received basal diet and served as normal control group. The rats in group two (n=8) were injected subcutaneously with sodium selenite (30µmol/kg body weight) to induce cataract and fed on basal diet. Group three (n=7) normal rat pups supplemented with 10% broccoli added to their basal diet. Group four selenite-induced cataract (n=6) was also fed on 10% broccoli in their basal diet and served as treated group. Cataract was assessed one week later and its density was graded by slit lamp biomicroscopy. The identification of individual phenolic compounds of the broccoli was performed. After the end of the experiment (two months), all rats were fasted overnight. Blood samples were collected from the eye vein and then lenses were excised. All planned samples were prepared as will be described. The levels of serum lipid profiles were determined. The activity and levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity, reduced glutathione, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide were assessed in the blood and lens. Fas ligand (FAS-L) as apoptotic marker was also assessed in the blood and lens. On the other hand; the levels of blood hemoglobin and fasting blood sugar were determined. Ophthalmic examination revealed that, lenses in the control group were clear; but in selenite-induced cataract group, all lenses developed complete dense opacification (grade 4), whereas mild opacification was observed in the group four (after treatment). The development of cataract was reduced into 80% in the group supplemented with 10% broccoli. The consumption of 10% broccoli in cataractous group led to a significant decrease in serum total lipids, total cholesterol, triacylglycerols and low density lipoprotein- cholesterol as well as significant decrease in malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and Fas ligand levels. On the other hand, supplementation of broccoli led to a significant increase in the activities and levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity and reduced glutathione, respectively as compared to selenite-induced cataract group. In conclusions, the present data showed that broccoli reduces selenite-induced cataract formation by inhibiting lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress and acts as anti-apoptotic agent that can reduce or even prevent progress of cataract formation.
The presence of anadromous twaite shad (Alosa fallax) in the Ebro River (western Mediterranean, Spain): an indicator of the population's recovery?

Summary Although the Ebro River is one of the largest Mediterranean rivers, the presence of anadromous fish species was near to complete extirpation since the second half of the 20th century. However, many mature twaite shads (Alosa fallax) were captured at the lower reaches of this river (Xerta's weir site, 63 river km) in spring 2005, suggesting a natural recovery of this population. In this study, the first biological data on twaite shad from the Ebro River are presented, and their significance for the species conservation and recovery are discussed. The historical reasons for the decline of this species are reviewed, and data supports the proposal for urgent construction of a proper fish passage for anadromous species at the Xerta's weir. This action would allow fish access to a further 60 km of river upstream of the weir, representing a 200% increase in the amount of freshwater habitat and potential spawning areas. Improved access together with restrictive fishery regulations will assist with renewed interest in the fishery and conservation of the species.
Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida L.) control in corn

Soltani, N. , Shropshire, C. and Sikkema, P. H. 2011. Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifidaL.) control in corn. Can. J. Plant Sci. 91: 577–581. Twelve field trials (five with PRE and seven with POST herbicides) were conducted over a 4-yr period (2006–2009) on various Ontario farms with heavy giant ragweed infestations (22 plants m–2) to determine the effectiveness of preemergence (PRE) and postemergence (POST) herbicides for the control of giant ragweed in corn. Atrazine, dicamba, dicamba/atrazine, isoxaflutole plus atrazine, mesotrione plus atrazine, saflufenacil, and saflufenacil/dimethenamid applied PRE provided 9–52, 60–80, 64–83, 44–77, 33–80, 36–80, and 43–63% control of giant ragweed, reduced giant ragweed density 55, 45, 59, 64, 68, 73, and 77% and reduced giant ragweed shoot dry weight 60, 89, 90, 87, 83, 81, and 78%, respectively. Atrazine, dicamba, dicamba/diflufenzopyr, dicamba/atrazine, 2,4-D/atrazine, bromoxynil plus atrazine, prosulfuron plus dicamba, primisulfuron/dicamba, mesotrione plus atrazin.