Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
British‐based search for natural enemies of the clover root weevil, Sitona lepidus in Europe

Abstract Since the discovery of the clover pest Sitona lepidus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in New Zealand in 1996, substantial effort has been made to find suitable biological control agents. In the summer of 2000 about 8600 Sitona lepidus were collected from 15 locations in 11 European countries. The most common parasitoid recovered was Microctonus aethiopoides (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). These parasitoids were used to infect S. lepidus populations that were then forwarded to a quarantine facility in New Zealand. All European‐derived populations of this parasitoid were found to develop readily in both British and New Zealand populations of S. lepidus. This contrasted with the New Zealand ecotype of M. aethiopoides which was unable to develop in S. lepidus. The S. lepidus population obtained from Caen, France was also parasitised by a Perilitus sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) along with Microsoma exiguum (Diptera: Tachinidae). Microsoma exiguum was also reared from weevils collected in Devon along with a single female specimen of Allurus litu‐ratus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Of all the species reared out however, only M. aethiopoides could be induced to parasitise S. lepidus in the laboratory. Thirty‐four different isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Deuteromycotina: Hyphomy‐cetes) strains were collected, some of which were more virulent than New Zealand isolates already tested against adult S. lepidus. Fifteen isolates of the facultative pathogen Serratia Bizio spp. (Enterobac‐teriaceae) were also collected.
Goal-directed rumination and its antagonistic effects on problem solving: a two-week diary study

ABSTRACT Background: The tendency to repetitively and intrusively think about a particular negative event, goal failure, or problem (i.e., goal-directed rumination) is generally associated with impairments in well-being, thus decreasing performance in solving this failure. However, rumination is also associated with higher levels of resources invested in problem solving, likely leading to an improvement in performance. Objectives: The current study thus examines the indirect effect of rumination via various mediators on subjective problem-solving performance in the everyday context. Design: Over a period of two weeks, 147 students completed a brief survey each evening (i.e., diary study). Methods: Data were analyzed by means of a multiple mediation model in the multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) framework. Results: The analyses revealed that perceived stress and negative mood negatively mediated the relationship between rumination and problem solving, while attention and effort positively mediated this relationship. Finally, both a negative direct and total effect of rumination on problem solving was observed. Conclusions: Conclusively, goal-directed rumination exerted a negative indirect effect on subjective problem solving via perceived stress and negative mood, whereas it positively affected problem solving via attention and effort. Possible limitations and implications are discussed.
A Cultural Comparison of Personality Profiles of U.S. and Japanese Centenarians

The purpose of this study was a cross-cultural examination of centenarians’ personality through a person-centered approach to examine if there is a “resilient” personality profile consistent across cultures. Proxy reports information was obtained from family and close friends of 239 U.S. centenarians from the Georgia Centenarians Study and 272 Japanese centenarians from the Tokyo Centenarian Study. Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify personality profiles in centenarians from the United States and Japan. Two personality profiles were identified in both samples: a “resilient” personality profile and “nonresilient” personality profile. The “resilient” group had higher levels of positive personality traits with higher scores on agreeableness and extraversion and lower scores on neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness. The “nonresilient” group had higher scores on neuroticism and lower scores on extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Fifty percent of U.S. centenarians and 65% of Japanese centenarians were in the “resilient” group.
Teaching basic concepts of scientific research to high school students

A number of conceptual difficulties were identified in a comprehensive diagnostic study of learning and teaching in high school biology laboratories in Israel. Most prominent among these were those related to understanding and applying basic inquiry skills such as problem identification, hypothesis formulation, and designing experiments. In order to improve the command of these skills by high school students an original module entitled 'Basic concepts of scientific research' has been developed. The module includes invitations to inquiry and a variety of exercises which lead the students gradually from simple to more complex, and some highly sophisticated, problem-solving experiences. The concepts of scientific research are developed in their historical context so that the student acquires a realistic image of scientific research as well as working ability in applying inquiry skills to the solving of novel problems. Students who used the module demonstrated substantial gains in understanding concepts and a.
Quality of Care: Ecological Study for the Evaluation of Completeness and Accuracy in Nursing Assessment

Nursing documentation is an important proxy of the quality of care, and quality indicators in nursing assessment can be used to assess and improve the quality of care in health care institutions. The study aims to evaluate the completeness and the accuracy of nursing assessment, analyzing the compilation of pain assessment and nutritional status (body mass index (BMI)) in computerized nursing records, and how it is influenced by four variables: nurse to patient ratio, diagnosis related group weight (DRG), seniority of charge nurse, and type of ward (medical, surgical or other). The observational ecological pilot study was conducted between September and October 2018 in an Italian Tertiary-Level Teaching Hospital. The nursing documentation analyzed for the ‘Assessment’ phase included 12,513 records, 50.4% concerning pain assessment, and 45% BMI. The nurse–patient ratio showed a significant direct association with the assessment of nutritional status (p = 0.032). The average weight DRG has a negative influence on pain and BMI assessment; the surgical units positively correlate with the compilation of nursing assessment (BMI and pain). The nursing process is an essential component for the continuous improvement in the quality of care. Nurses need to be accountable to improve their knowledge and skills in nursing documentation.
The effects of age and length on homing performance in the intertidal cottid, Oligocottus maculosus Girard

The intertidal cottid Oligocottus maculosus Girard has been previously reported to demonstrate homing behaviour, that is, to return to its home range (group of tidepools covered in normal travel) and (or) its home pool (pool of first capture) when transplanted to a pool some distance away. Investigation of significant differences in homing behaviour between the three major age groups of O. maculosus showed an improvement in the percentage successfully homing with length, peaking between 5 and 7 cm (total length) (age 2), with considerable variability in smaller size classes and decreasing homing success in larger fish.Juvenile fish (about 2.3 to 2.7 cm) move extensively between tidepools and begin demonstrating home range fidelity and homing behaviour at about 3 cm. It is suggested that during this period of extensive movement, the area is in some way "learned" and "memorized. "
Flowering plant composition shapes pathogen infection intensity and reproduction in bumble bee colonies

Significance Pollinator decline affects food security, and pollinators are threatened by stressors including pathogens and insufficient food resources. Flowering strips are increasingly planted to increase pollinator abundance and diversity in agricultural settings, but flowers can also be disease transmission sites between pollinators. However, the effect of plant species composition on bee disease is unknown. We compared the effect of flowering strips with high- or low-infection plant species, or no flowering strips, on bee infection and reproduction in tents. Using high-infection flowering strips doubled bee infection intensity compared to low-infection flowering strips. However, bee reproduction was higher with any flowering strips. Thus, floral resources in flowering strips benefited bees, but certain plants also come with a risk of increased pathogen infection intensity. Pathogens pose significant threats to pollinator health and food security. Pollinators can transmit diseases during foraging, but the consequences of plant species composition for infection is unknown. In agroecosystems, flowering strips or hedgerows are often used to augment pollinator habitat. We used canola as a focal crop in tents and manipulated flowering strip composition using plant species we had previously shown to result in higher or lower bee infection in short-term trials. We also manipulated initial colony infection to assess impacts on foraging behavior. Flowering strips using high-infection plant species nearly doubled bumble bee colony infection intensity compared to low-infection plant species, with intermediate infection in canola-only tents. Both infection treatment and flowering strips reduced visits to canola, but we saw no evidence that infection treatment shifted foraging preferences. Although high-infection flowering strips increased colony infection intensity, colony reproduction was improved with any flowering strips compared to canola alone. Effects of flowering strips on colony reproduction were explained by nectar availability, but effects of flowering strips on infection intensity were not. Thus, flowering strips benefited colony reproduction by adding floral resources, but certain plant species also come with a risk of increased pathogen infection intensity.
The Landscape of Risk Communication Research: A Scientometric Analysis

Risk communication is a significant research domain with practical importance in supporting societal risk governance and informed private decision making. In this article, a high-level analysis of the risk communication research domain is performed using scientometrics methods and visualization tools. Output trends and geographical patterns are identified, and patterns in scientific categories determined. A journal distribution analysis provides insights into dominant journals and the domain’s intellectual base. Thematic clusters and temporal evolution of focus topics are obtained using a terms analysis, and a co-citation analysis provides insights into the evolution of research fronts and key documents. The results indicate that the research volume grows exponentially, with by far most contributions originating from Western countries. The domain is highly interdisciplinary, rooted in psychology and social sciences, and branching mainly into medicine and environmental sciences. Narrative themes focus on risk communication in medical and societal risk governance contexts. The domain originated from public health and environmental concerns, with subsequent research fronts addressing risk communication concepts and models. Applied research fronts are associated with environmental hazards, public health, medical risks, nuclear power, and emergency response to various natural hazards. Based on the results, various avenues for future research are described.
Substandard and Falsified Antibiotics and Medicines against Noncommunicable Diseases in Western Cameroon and Northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract. Falsified and substandard medicines may undermine the progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. The present study investigated the quality of 13 essential medicines in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). Five hundred six medicine samples were collected from the government and faith-based health facilities, private pharmacies, and informal vendors (total 60 facilities). Collected samples were analyzed according to the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) for identity, content, and dissolution of their active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and for uniformity of dosage units. Three samples (0.6%) were identified as falsified. Overall, 8.5% of the samples failed USP specifications for the content of the API and 11.7% failed dissolution testing. Medicines from informal vendors showed a higher out-of-specification rate (28.2%) than other types of drug outlets (12.3%; P < 0.0001). All three falsified medicines had been sold by informal vendors. The failure rate of medicines stated to be produced in Europe (5.1%) was lower than that for medicines from Asia (17.7%; P = 0.0049) and Africa (22.2%; P = 0.0042). Medicines against noncommunicable diseases showed a higher failure rate than antibiotics (25.3% versus 12.1%; P = 0.0004). Four hundred fifty-one of the samples were analyzed in Cameroon and the DR Congo with the Global Pharma Health Fund Minilab (thin-layer chromatography and disintegration testing). The three falsified medicines were readily detected in Minilab analysis. However, substandard samples were detected with low sensitivity. A well-enforced ban of medicine sales by informal vendors and increased attention to supplier qualification in the procurement process may reduce the prevalence of substandard and falsified medicines.
The history of the Afromontane archipelago and the scientific need for its conservation

ummary The Afromontane floristic region is briefly described and examples of its complex biogeographical and evolutionary relationships are given. The origin of disjunctions of the Afromontane flora remains a matter of controversy but current hypotheses based on biogeographic and stratigraphic evidence are examined; the former are found to require some modification while the latter tend to be discordant with the facts. Evidence is presented which indicates a relatively recent southern migratory track between the mountains of East and West Africa, at least for forest trees. The implications for conservation and research arising from the complexity of the Afromontane flora and its outstanding scientific interest are discussed. Resume La region floristique d'Afromontagne est brievement decrite et des exemples de ses relations biogeographiques et evolutives sont donnees. L'origine de disjonction dans la flore d'Afromontagne reste une matiere controversee mais des hypotheeses basees sur des donnees biogeographiques et stratigraphiques sont examinees; les premieres requierent quelques modifications alors que les secondes semblent discordantes avec les faits. Certaines evidences indiquent une voie de migration vers le Sud relativement recente entre les montagnes d'Afrique de 1'Est et de I'Ouest, tout au moins pour les arbres forestiers. Les implications pour la conservation et la recherche dues e la complexite de la flore d'Afromontagne et l'interet scientifique qui en decoule sont discutes.
Study of the thermal stability of D-amino acid oxidase from Trigonopsis variabilis reveals enzyme inactivation via multiple steps

The thermal stability of a highly purified preparation of D-amino acid oxidase from Trigonopsis variabilis (TvDAO), which does not show microheterogeneity due to the partial oxidation of Cys-108, was studied based on dependence of temperature (20–60°C) and protein concentration (5–100 µmol L−1). The time courses of loss of enzyme activity in 100 mmol L−1 potassium phosphate buffer, pH 8.0, are well described by a formal kinetic mechanism in which two parallel denaturation processes, partial thermal unfolding and dissociation of the FAD cofactor, combine to yield the overall inactivation rate. Estimates from global fitting of the data revealed that the first-order rate constant of the unfolding reaction (ka) increased 104-fold in response to an increase in temperature from 20 to 60°C. The rate constants of FAD release (kb) and binding (k−b) as well as the irreversible aggregation of the apo-enzyme (kagg) were less sensitive to changes in temperature, their activation energy (Ea) being about 52 kJ mol−1 in comparison with an Ea value of 185 kJ mol−1 for ka. The rate-determining step of TvDAO inactivation switched from FAD dissociation to unfolding at high temperatures. The model adequately described the effect of protein concentration on inactivation kinetics. Its predictions regarding the extent of FAD release and aggregation during thermal denaturation were confirmed by experiments. TvDAO is shown to contain two highly reactive cysteines per protein subunit whose modification with 5,5′-dithio-bis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) was accompanied by inactivation. Dithiothreitol (1 mmol L−1) enhanced up to 10-fold the recovery of enzyme activity during ion exchange chromatography of technical-grade TvDAO. However, it did not stabilize TvDAO at all temperatures and protein concentrations, suggesting that deactivation of cysteines was not responsible for thermal denaturation.
Genetic regulatory subnetworks and key regulating genes in rat hippocampus perturbed by prenatal malnutrition: implications for major brain disorders

Objective: Many population studies have shown that maternal prenatal nutrition deficiency may increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in their offspring, but its potential transcriptomic effects on brain development are not clear. We aimed to investigate the transcriptional regulatory interactions between genes in particular pathways responding to the prenatal nutritional deficiency and to explore their effects on neurodevelopment and related disorders. Results: We identified three modules in rat hippocampus responding to maternal prenatal nutritional deficiency and found 15 key genes (Hmgn1, Ssbp1, LOC684988, Rpl23, Gga1, Rhobtb2, Dhcr24, Atg9a, Dlgap3, Grm5, Scn2b, Furin, Sh3kbp1, Ubqln1, and Unc13a) related to the rat hippocampus developmental dysregulation, of which Hmgn1, Rhobtb2 and Unc13a related to autism, and Dlgap3, Grm5, Furin and Ubqln1 are related to Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia. Transcriptional alterations of the hub genes were confirmed except for Atg9a. Additionally, through modeling miRNA–mRNA-transcription factor interactions for the hub genes, we confirmed a transcription factor, Cebpa, is essential to regulate the expression of Rhobtb2. We did not find singificent singals in the prefrontal cortex responding to maternal prenatal nutritional deficiency. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that these genes with the three modules in rat hippocampus involved in synaptic development, neuronal projection, cognitive function, and learning function are significantly enriched hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and suggest that three genetic regulatory subnetworks and thirteen key regulating genes in rat hippocampus perturbed by a prenatal nutrition deficiency. These genes and related subnetworks may be prenatally involved in the etiologies of major brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and schizophrenia. Methods: We compared the transcriptomic differences in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex between 10 rats with prenatal nutritional deficiency and 10 rats with prenatal normal chow feeding by differential analysis and co-expression network analysis. A network-driven integrative analysis with microRNAs and transcription factors was performed to define significant modules and hub genes responding to prenatal nutritional deficiency. Meanwhile, the module preservation test was conducted between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Expression levels of the hub genes were further validated with a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction based on additional 40 pairs of rats.
Induced resistance to the common cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in three soybean cultivars

We investigated induced resistance to the common cutworm, Spodoptera litura, in three soybean cultivars, ‘Bay’, ‘Fukuyutaka’, and ‘Himeshirazu’. Levels of induced resistance caused by S. litura herbivory varied among the cultivars. High induced resistance was found in ‘Bay’, with less food consumption by larvae (78.2%), less larval weight gain (67.3%), longer larval duration (114.2%), and lighter pupal weight (79.7%) than on uninjured plants (100%). The same trends were observed in larvae feeding on leaves of previously damaged plants of ‘Fukuyutaka’, which is susceptible to S. litura, but only larval duration was significantly prolonged (107.3%). No apparent effect of previous herbivory on plants was found in ‘Himeshirazu’, which is constitutively resistant to S. litura. Prior mechanical injury to leaves of ‘Bay’ also decreased subsequent food consumption by larvae (82.9%), but had little effect on larval growth.
Percutaneous vs. surgical revascularization for patients with unprotected left main stenosis: a meta-analysis of 5 years follow-up RCTs.

INTRODUCTION 5-year survival of patients with Unprotected left main (ULM) stenosis according to the choice of revascularization (percutaneous vs. surgical) remains to be defined. METHODS AND RESULTS Randomized Controlled Trials (RTCs) comparing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) vs. Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) with a follow-up of at least 5 years were included. All-cause death was the primary endpoint. MACCE (a composite endpoint of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction [MI], stroke and repeat revascularization) along with its single components and cardiovascular (CV) death were the secondary ones. Analyses were stratified according to use of first vs. last generation coronary stents. Subgroup comparisons were performed according to Syntax Score (below or above 33) and to age (using cutoffs of each trial's subgroup analysis). 4 RCTs with 4394 patients were identified: 2197 were treated with CABG, 657 with first generation and 1540 with last generation stents. At 5 years rates of all-cause death did not differ (OR 0.93:0.71-1.21), as those of CV death and stroke. CABG reduced rates of MACCE (OR 0.69:0.60-0.79), mainly driven by MI (OR 0.48:0.36-0.65) and revascularization (OR 0.53:0.45-0.64). Benefit of CABG for MACCE was consistent, although with different extent, across values of Syntax Score (OR 0.76:0.59-0.97 for values<32 and OR 0.63:0.47-0.84 for values≥33) while was not evident for "younger" patients (OR 0.83:0.65-1.07 vs. OR 0.65:0.51-0.84 for "older" patients, all CI 95%). CONCLUSION For patients with ULM disease followed up for five years, no significant difference was observed in all-cause and cardiovascular death between PCI and CABG. CABG reduced risk of MI, revascularization and MACCE especially in older patients and in those with complex coronary disease and a high syntax score.
Effect of calcium silicate on blast and brown spot intensities and yields of rice.

Rice production in the subtropical climate of Florida is on Histosols, which are high in organic matter content and low in plant-available silicon (SI). broadcast rates of calcium silicate slag were 0, 5, 10, and 15 Mg/ha in 1987 and 1988. In 1987, applications of calcium silicate slag reduced blast by 30.5% and brown spot by 15.0% over the control. In 1988, blast and brown spot were reduced by 17.4 and 32.4%, respectively, over the control (.)