Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphological Trait Difference, Growth and Ecophysiological Performance of Mikania micrantha Grown Under Contrasting Light and Nutrient Regimes

Mikania micrantha , a world’s worse weed, is rapidly expanding throughout the subtropical and tropical parts of Asian countries. Abundant growth and development of Mikaniavines make them dominant over introduced habitat and causes significant damage to native floras, faunas and entire ecosystems. To investigate the role of environmental resources associated with its rapid growth and development, Mikania seedlings were grown at green house chamber by manipulating two levels of light and nutrient for 110 days. Total thirteen harvests had performedthroughout the study period on the weekly basis. Specific leaf area, leaf area ratio, leaf weight ratio, root weight ratio, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate and total biomass of seedlings grown under light and nutrient treatments were measured in each harvest. Photosynthetic performance of mature and fully grown Mikania seedlings was measured at 9th and 11th harvests. Mikania seedlings grown under full sun light and nutrient rich soil had allocated greater amount of total leaf area and total chlorophyll content capturedthe higher intensities of solar irradiances to attain maximum photosynthetic rate. Due to opportunistic capture and utilization of more resources for their physiological process and morphological allocation patternthe seedlings grown under full sun light with nutrient rich soil achievedcomparatively higher degree of net assimilation rate (NAR)and relative growth (RGR) than the seedlings grown at resource limited treatments. The seedlings grown under full sun light andnutrient rich soil had attained maximum biomass performance indicating the interaction effect between full light and high soil nutrient resources. Mikaniaseedlings grown under resource limited treatments had observed poor growth performance however these seedlings modified their morphological allocations such as higher specific leaf area and leaf area ratio to assimilatemore resources from the existing environment. The abilities of Mikania to tolerate adverse environmental conditions and efficiently utilize higher intensities of sun light and soil nutrient to increase overall performance and greater proportion of biomass allocation on aboveground parts make them to grow dominantly over the introduced habitat.
Challenges to developing nucleic acid sequence based amplification technology for the detection of microbial pathogens in food

L'actualite place regulierement au devant de la scene des problemes lies a la securite alimentaire. Dans le but de minimiser les risques d'infection des consommateurs, de nombreux controles microbiologiques sont imposes tout au long de la chaine de fabrication des denrees alimentaires. Les methodes traditionnelles standardisees de detection presentent les avantages d'avoir des taux de detection tres bas et de pouvoir etre utilisees sur des matrices complexes, cependant leur application est longue et fastidieuse. La technologie NASBA (Nucleic Acid Sequenced Based Amplification), amplifiant les ARN, a donc ete employee comme methode alternative. En effet, cette technologie qui autorise une detection rapide utilise egalement une sonde hautement specifique susceptible d'eliminer des etapes de confirmation complementaires. La technologie NASBA est un outil sensible et specifique pour l'amplification et la detection de sequences d'ARN specifiques de bacteries pathogenes telles que Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria mimocytogenes, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus spp. et Escherichia coli, presents dans les aliments. Les differents protocoles employes dans ces etudes se decomposent en differentes etapes : (i) concentration et separation des bacteries cibles des matrices alimentaires, (ii) preparation de l'ARN, (iii) amplification NASBA, et (iv) detection post NASBA. Dans le futur, cette technologie pourrait etre employee pour identifier voire quantifier les microorganismes (meme ceux qui ne peuvent pas etre cultives) tout en etant tres efficace en tant qu'outil de diagnostic de routine.
PEQUENOS MAMÍFEROS DO CEARÁ (MARSUPIAIS, MORCEGOS E ROEDORES SIGMODONTÍNEOS) COM DISCUSSÃO TAXONÔMICA DE ALGUMAS ESPÉCIES

Foram examinados 1.344 especimes coletados no estado do Ceara representando 63 especies, Marsupiais (9), Quiropteros (41) e Roedores Sigmodontineos (13) incluidas em 50 generos e 10 familias, provenientes de 41 municipios e regioes. Os exemplares pertencem a colecoes mastozoologicas do Brasil. O material identificado ate agora como Calomys expulsus do Nordeste pertence a uma nova especie aqui descrita. De acordo com a descricao original de Linnaeus Didelphis marsupialis e um gamba de orelha branca e o gamba de orelha preta deve chamar-se Didelphis karkinophaga . O genero Bolomys Thomas, 1916 continua a ser usado porque sua especie tipo e muito mais informativa que os fragmentarios restos fosseis que definem Necromys Ameghino, 1889. Extencoes de distribuicao geografica de varias especies foram registradas, particulamente em Brejos de Altitude.
Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes coding insulin-like growth factor 1 system and milk production traits in Montbeliarde cows

The insulin-like growth factor 1 system plays a central role in the growth and development of the mammary gland. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) have been proposed as candidate genes for milk production traits. This study involved a population of 163 Montbeliarde cows. Five polymorphic sites were analysed using the polymerase chain reaction: restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) (TaiI and MspI restriction enzymes) and amplification-created restriction site (ACRS) (SnaBI, TasI and TaqI restriction enzymes). The frequencies of the most common alleles were 0.67 for the T allele (IGF1/SnaBI), 0.85 for the A allele (IGF1/TasI), 0.95 for the C allele (IGF1R/TaiI), 0.84 for the G allele (IGF1R/MspI) and 0.69 for the G allele (IGF1R/TaqI). In the first lactation, IGF1/TasI polymorphisms and all single nucleotide polymorphisms in the IGF1R gene were associated with differences in milk, fat and protein yields, without further confirmation in the second lactation. No differences were found in milk production traits between IGF1/SnaBI genotypes and combined genotypes. To date, this is the first association study based on polymorphisms of the primary genes encoding the IGF-1 system in a small herd of Montbeliarde cows. If specific haplotypes could be determined in large-scale studies, based on Montbeliarde and other dairy breeds, it would provide a valuable genetic tool to identify causative mutations. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords : IGF1, IGF1R, milk production traits, polymorphism
Biological Control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera:

This experiment was conducted in laboratories of College of Agriculture/University of Kufa to evaluate the effect of bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis and fungus Beauveria bassiana in characters of Tuta absoluta . Results showed that using bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis due to significant decrease in egg hatching percentage to 33.36% larval , ratio insect , , 3 4 instars, control of mortality ratio. showed mortality ratio when using B.bassiana on adults of insect and the mortality of adults 90.45% compared with control treatment did not appear any morality ratio of insect adults.
Study of the performance of scintillating tiles with WLS fiber readout

We studied the characteristics of scintillating tiles with wavelength shifting fiber readout. The focus of this work has been directed toward the design and development of the Scintillating Barrel Calorimeter - the copper-scintillator tail catcher device - for the GEM detector at the SSC. However, these studies are applicable as well to the design of the hadron calorimeter for the Compact Muon Solenoid detector proposed for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. We report on the results of light yield, response uniformity and timing measurements for tile-fiber configurations. <<ETX>>
Performance of Annually Harvested Improved Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) Cultivars Grown under Rainfed Conditions

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is one of the most important spice crops and India is the largest producer &exporter in the world. India contributes about 80 % of the world turmeric production and 60% of world export (Anonymous 2018). Indian turmeric is considered to be the best in the world because of its high curcumin content. This crop can be grown in diverse tropical conditions ranging from sea level to 1500 m elevation. The temperature range of 20-30 o c with an annual rainfall of 1500 mm is ideal for its cultivation. Though it can be grown on different types of soil, but it thrives best in well-drained sandy or clay loam soils.
Quantitative genome-wide studies ofRNA metabolism in yeast

Gene expression and its regulation are fundamental processes in every living cell and organism. RNA molecules hereby play a central role by translating the genetic information into proteins, by regulating gene activity and by forming structural components. The kinetics of RNA metabolism differ widely between genes and conditions and play an important role for cellular processes, but how this is achieved remains poorly understood. Here, we used a novel experimental protocol that allows profiling of newly transcribed RNAs in conjunction with an advanced computational modeling pipeline to explore the kinetics of RNA metabolism and the underlying genetic determinants.In the first study, we investigated cell cycle regulated gene expression and the contributions of synthesis and degradation to mRNA levels in S.cerevisiae. During the cell cycle, the levels of hundreds of mRNAs change in a periodic manner, but how this is carried out by alterations in the rates of mRNA synthesis and degradation has not been studied systematically. We were able to derive mRNA synthesis and degradation rates every 5 minutes during the cell cycle, and thus provide for the first time a high-resolution time series of RNA metabolism during the cell cycle. A novel statistical model identified 479 genes that show periodic changes in mRNA synthesis and generally also periodic changes in their mRNA degradation rates. Peaks of mRNA degradation follow peaks of mRNA synthesis, resulting in sharp and high peaks of mRNA levels at defined times during the cell cycle. Whereas the timing of mRNA synthesis is set by upstream DNA motifs and their associated transcription factors (TFs), the synthesis rate of a periodically expressed gene is apparently set by its core promoter. In the second study, we developed metabolic labeling with RNA-Seq (4tU-Seq) and novel computational methods to gain further insights into the kinetics of RNA metabolism and its regulation. To decrypt the regulatory code of the genome, sequence elements must be defined that determine RNA turnover and thus gene expression. Here we attempt such decryption in an eukaryotic model organism, the fission yeast S. pombe. We first derived an improved genome annotation that redefines borders of 36% of expressed mRNAs and adds 487 non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). We then combined RNA labeling in-vivo with mathematical modeling to obtain rates of RNA synthesis and degradation for 5,484 expressed RNAs and splicing rates for 4,958 introns. We identified functional sequence elements in DNA and RNA that control RNA metabolic rates, and quantified the contributions of individual nucleotides to RNA synthesis, splicing, and degradation. Our approach reveals distinct kinetics of mRNA and ncRNA metabolism, separates antisense regulation by transcription interference from RNA interference, and provides a general tool for studying the regulatory code of genomes.
L'infestation de Lymnaea glabra Müller par Fasciola hepatica L.: étude expérimentale sur le terrain

Des miracidiums de Fasciola hepatica ont ete introduits de maniere experimentale sur quatre stations a Lymnaea glabra , situees dans le departement de la Haute-Vienne, France. Tous les mollusques presents dans ces stations ont ete recoltes au cours de la 7 e semaine post-exposition.Cent quatre-vingt-trois mollusques avec des parasites en vie ont ete recenses dans les quatre stations, soit un taux d’infestation de 12,3 %. Ces individus presentaient une hauteur de coquille comprise entre 2,1 et 5 mm. Ils ont ete retrouves pour la plupart sur des zones immergees de leurs habitats, situees a plus de 2 cm de profondeur par rapport au plan d’eau superficiel.Ces individus infestes ont presente au laboratoire une activite diurne plus reduite que celle des temoins de meme âge.
Ameliorative effects of melatonin on the liver of pregnant Albino rats and their offspring induced by monosodium glutamate.

Article history Received: 24 Feb, 2016 Revised: 28 Mar, 2016 Accepted: 31 Mar, 2016 Abstract Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is one of the most widely used food additives as a flavour enhancer but its high dose can induce toxic effects on the liver. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant, could ameliorate acute and chronic hepatic injury. The present work was essentially designed to evaluate the ameliorating role of melatonin on the liver of pregnant female Albino rats and their pups induced by MSG. In the present research, twenty four pregnant Albino rats were divided into four groups (n=6). The control group received saline solution, the melatonin group received 100 mg/kg b.wt, MSG treated group received 400 mg/kg b.wt and ameliorative group received MSG 400 mg/kg b.wt simultaneously with melatonin 100 mg/kg b.wt. All groups were received their corresponding dose from the 4th day of gestation till the end of weaning period. The histological study of the current work revealed that MSG could induce damage of hepatocytes with cytoplasmic vacuolation, dilation of central vein and blood sinusoids, prominent Kupffer cells, infiltration cells around the portal area, variable degree of fibrosis, and scattered fatty cells. Furthermore, MSG consumption is also associated with ultrastructural alterations that varied considerably from mild structural changes to cytoplasmic lysis and degradation of some cellular organelles. Such alterations were represented by undifferentiated cytoplasm with dispersed vacuoles, nuclear pyknosis, swollen and vacuolated mitochondria, manifested dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum, remarkable aggregation of glycogen granules and fat droplets and obvious dispersion of collagenous fibers. Supplementation of melatonin ameliorated MSG-induced histopathological and ultrastrucural changes in liver cells.
Viability Enhancement of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Cells During Desiccation Stress

In winemaking, the sequential inoculation of grape must with different oenological yeasts has been widely used due to the accessibility of different types of active dry yeast (ADY). Schizosaccharomyces pombe is of special interest for winemakers due to its ability to metabolize L-malic acid. Therefore, the availability of Schiz. pombe as an ADY will provide a new biotechnological tool with the same effectiveness as current commercially available oenological yeasts. In the present study, the features of metabolites were analyzed during the dehydration-rehydration process for different Schiz. pombe strains to determine whether these metabolites might play a positive role in ensuring cell viability before inoculation into the must. Our results show that the viability of cells dried in the presence of 10% trehalose and rehydrated in a solution complemented with 5 mM MgSO4 was enhanced by up to 70% for certain strains. No significant change in fermentation behavior and main volatile compounds were detected in the wines obtained with Schiz. pombe ADY in sequential- and co-inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae grape must fermentation at laboratory scale.
Effects of soil heterogeneity and clonal integration on Alternanthera philoxeroides populations with a radial ramet aggregation

Some clonal plants can spread their ramet populations radially, and soil heterogeneity and clonal integration may greatly affect the establishment of these types of populations. We constructed Alternanthera philoxeroides populations with a radial ramet aggregation, allowing old ramets of clonal fragments to concentrate in central pots and younger ramets to root in peripheral pots. The peripheral pots were supplemented either with three different levels (high, medium and low) of soil nutrients to simulate a heterogeneous soil environment, or only one medium level of soil nutrients to simulate a homogeneous environment. Stolon connections between the central older ramets and the peripheral younger ramets were left intact or severed to test the effect of clonal integration. The maintenance of stolon connection could induce the division of labor between different-aged ramets, by increasing the root investment in central ramets and the above-ground growth in peripheral ramets. The maintenance of stolon connection could improve the growth of the central and peripheral ramets, clonal fragments and even the whole population. However, the positive consequence in peripheral ramets and whole fragments was only detected in the high-nutrient patch of heterogeneous treatment. In sum, in the population with the radial ramet aggregation, clonal integration can play a key role in the rapid recruitment of young ramets of A. philoxeroides fragments, as well as the expansion of the whole population. The magnitude of clonal integration also became more obvious in the peripheral young ramets and whole fragments that experienced high-nutrient patches.
The effect of digenean (Platyhelminthes) infections on heavy metal concentrations in Littorina littorea

This study examined the inter-relationships between molluscs, heavy metal concentrations and trematode parasites. Littorina littorea (Mollusca: Gastropoda) were sampled seasonally from two sites in a tidal lagoon. Site A was close to the inflow of a polluted stream whilst site B was at the opposite end of the lagoon. The samples were analysed for lead, iron, copper and nickel. Metal concentrations in L. littorea varied with site, season and parasite infection, and exceeded comparative non-polluted concentrations for all metals in some samples. Parasitized periwinkles consistently had significantly lower levels of iron, copper and nickel than uninfected periwinkles.
Veratrine: Its use in Cytochemistry

SUMMARY1. The present investigation deals with a study of the properties of Veratrine in affecting cell structures necessary both from fundamental and economic standpoint. C-mitotic property of Veratrine has been demonstrated. Its capability of bringing out the details of chromosome structure, through a change in plasma viscosity and differential contraction of chromosome segments has further been brought out.2. The maximum, optimum and minimum concentration of Veratrine for affecting the chromosome structure ranges from 0.9% - 0.0001%, data being derived from some dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants. But dicots in general are more susceptible to this chemical at a lower concentration and thus reveal more fragments than monocots. After suitable treatment recovery experiments were performed in Knop's solution for Ihr. and 2hrs. recovery to study the fate of the cells affected.3. a) Specific concentration zone for polyploidising effect in Allium is l1/2 hr. treatment in 0.6% solution in cold, followe.
Spatial variability in branchial basket meristics and morphology of southern African sardine Sardinops sagax

We examined spatial variability in meristic and morphological characteristics of the branchial basket of sardine Sardinops sagax collected from four geographical regions around the southern African coast, namely Namibia and the South African west, south and east coasts. Our analysis tested the hypothesis of three putative sardine stocks off South Africa, one in each of the three geographical regions. We therefore collected fish data from Namibia to compare with South Africa, because sardine from the two countries are considered to be separate stocks. Morphometric measurements (gill arch length and gill raker spacing) and meristic data (number of gill rakers) were collected from the left side of the first gill arch from a total of 377 sardine, approximately equally divided between the regions. A multivariate general linear model with caudal length as covariate was used to assess differences among fish from the four regions and significant differences were observed, although not always consistently across all fish size classes. Small South Coast sardine had shorter gill arches than small West Coast sardine, but adults had gill arches of similar length, longer than those from Namibia and the East Coast. Small sardine from the South Coast had fewer gill rakers than small sardine from the West Coast, but larger fish had similar numbers of gill rakers, significantly more than sardine from Namibia and the East Coast. Sardine from the West and South coasts had similar gill raker spacings, which were smaller than those of fish from the East Coast and Namibia. Despite spatially and particularly temporally unbalanced sampling, we consider that these differences provide evidence of spatial variation in Benguela sardine phenotype and that it would support the hypothesis of discrete sardine stocks off Namibia and South Africa. The results are consistent with the hypothesis of three sardine stocks within the southern Benguela.
Identificação de antígenos imunodominantes de Leptospira interrogans sorovar Copenhageni através de microarranjo de proteínas

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira sp. The lack of a rapid and reliable point-of-care diagnostic test is a major barrier not only to assess the global burden of the disease but also to provide an ear ly diagnosis. Despite the high specificity of the microaglutination test, which is the gold standard test for di agnosing leptospirosis according to the World Health Organization, it presents low sensitivity and is performed in few reference laboratories worldwide. Therefore, the aim of this work was to identify new protein targets to be used as diagnostic markers for leptospirosis. Accordingly, we developed a protein microarray chip comprising 61% of the Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni coding genome and investigated the IgG response of 274 individuals, including 80 convalescent- and 80 acute-ph ase patients and 114 healthy i ndividuals from areas with endemic and non-endemic transmission of the dis ease. We found 16 antigens that identified acute leptospirosis cases and 18 antigens that identified convalescent cases. Among these antigens are LipL32 and the unique domains of the Lig proteins, which have already been described as seroreactive antigens among leptos pirosis patients, thus acting as a proof-of- concept for the protein microarray platform. Nove l antigens were also identified in this study, such as the hypothetical protein LIC10215, that showed high diagnostic accuracy for both acute and convalescent cases. The imunodominant antigens identified here are potential candidates for the development of new diagnosti c assays as well as for the improvement of currently available tests. Further studies are needed to evaluate their performance in ELISA and rapid test platforms