Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efeitos de surfatantes sobre a tensão superficial e a área de molhamento de soluções de glyphosate sobre folhas de tiririca

This research was undertaken to develop methods to evaluate the surface tension and foliar wetting of surfactant added in herbicide. It used three surfactants (Extravon, Aterbane and Silwet), five concentration of herbicide and eleven surfactant concentrations each. Surface tension and foliar wetting were evaluated by drops weight and sprayed drops with 0,48 . l of solution over Cyperus rotundus leaves. The surface tension was decreased glyphosate added. Silwet was the best of surfactants to reduction on surface tension and increased on foliar wetting.
Cell‐type specific regulation of human interstitial collagenase‐1 gene expression by interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) in human fibroblasts and BC‐8701 breast cancer cells

Interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) is a potent cytokine that stimulates interstitial collagenase‐1 (matrix metalloproteinase‐1; MMP‐1). In this study, we compared the mechanism(s) by which IL‐1β induces collagenase gene expression in two very different cells, normal human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) and an aggressive breast cancer cell line, BC‐8701 cells. Northern analysis showed that the time course of collagenase induction was distinct in the two cells: although both cells expressed low levels of MMP‐1 constitutively, addition of IL‐1β increased MMP‐1 mRNA in HFFs by 1 h and levels remained high over a 24‐h period. In contrast, MMP‐1 levels in IL‐1β‐treated BC‐8701 cells did not increase until 4 h, peaked by 12 h and then declined. To analyze the transcriptional response, we cloned and sequenced more than 4,300 bp of the human MMP‐1 promoter, and from this promoter clone, we prepared a series of 5′‐deletion constructs linked to the luciferase reporter and transiently transfected these constructs into both cell types to measure both basal and IL‐1β induced transcription. When both cell types were uninduced, promoter fragments containing less than 2,900 bp gave only a minimal transcriptional response, while larger fragments showed increased transcriptional activity. With IL‐1β treatment, significant responsiveness (P < 0.001) in HFFs was seen only with the larger fragments, while in the BC‐8701 cells, all fragments were significantly induced with IL‐1β. Finally, we found that IL‐1β stabilized MMP‐1 mRNA in normal fibroblasts, but not in BC‐8701 breast cancer cells. We conclude that both the transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulation of MMP‐1 gene expression by IL‐1β is controlled by cell‐type specific mechanisms, and we suggest that IL‐1 induced MMP‐1 expression in tumor cells and in neighboring stromal cells may amplify the invasive ability of tumor cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 66:322–336, 1977. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Overview of Methods for Developing Bioenergetic and Life History Models for Rare and Endangered Species

Abstract Many fish species are at risk to some degree, and conservation efforts are planned or underway to preserve sensitive populations. For many imperiled species, models could serve as useful tools for researchers and managers as they seek to understand individual growth, quantify predator-prey dynamics, and identify critical sources of mortality. Development and application of models for rare species however, has been constrained by small population sizes, difficulty in obtaining sampling permits, limited opportunities for funding, and regulations on how endangered species can be used in laboratory studies. Bioenergetic and life history models should help with endangered species-recovery planning since these types of models have been used successfully in the last 25 years to address management problems for many commercially and recreationally important fish species. In this paper we discuss five approaches to developing models and parameters for rare species. Borrowing model functions and parameters .
Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose-Degrading and Xylanolytic Bacteria from the Short-Nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx

Cynopterus sphinx is a frugivorous bat also known to feed regularly on leaves. This raises the question whether microorganisms capable of digesting such a diet are present in the gut. In the present study cellulolytic and xylanolytic bacteria were isolated from the intestine of C. sphinx on Berg's agar medium containing carboxymethyl cellulose and xylan. The isolated cultivable cellulose and xylan degrading bacteria were characterized biochemically and identified to be Bacillus sp. , Clostridium sp. , Streptococcus sp. , and Staphylococcus sp. Among the cultivable bacteria from the intestine of the insectivorous Hipposideros fulvus, which was used as a control, no cellulolytic and xylanolytic bacteria could be isolated. We hypothesize that leaves could be a carbohydrate source for bats. By isolating polysaccharide-degrading bacteria from the intestine of C. sphinx, we infer that they help in digestion of xylan and soluble cellulose in their diet.
CASE DETECTION AND DIRECT OBSERVATION THERAPY STRATEGY (DOTS) IN NIGERIA: ITS EFFECT ON TB DYNAMICS

This paper addresses the synergy between case detection and the implementation of DOTS in Nigeria in the control of tuberculosis using a deterministic model which incorporates many of the essential biological and epidemiological features of TB as well as DOTS surveillance and implementation parameters for Nigeria. The model differentiated between individuals who progress to the "primary" latent stage when they got infected for the first time and those who progress to the "secondary" latent class depending on whether they failed treatment or due to self-cure. The model was shown to have a locally asymptotically stable disease free equilibrium where the reproduction number was less than unity. However, it was also shown that the model is capable of exhibiting the backward bifurcation phenomenon, where the stable disease free equilibrium co-exists with a stable endemic equilibrium where the reproduction number is less than unity. We saw that increasing the case detection parameter actually reduces the backward bifurcation range. For smaller exogenous re-infection values, increasing the case detection parameter could totally eliminate the bifurcation range. Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis using the Latin hypercube sampling technique was also carried out on the parameters as well as the reproduction number and the results showed that there were three parameters that were highly influential in determining the magnitude of the reproduction number; of the three, only one, the case detection parameter, was highly influential in reducing the magnitude of the reproduction number. Results from the numerical simulation and qualitative analysis showed that DOTS expansion in Nigeria must include significant increase in case detection rates, otherwise the impressive cure rates under DOTS will pale into insignificance with the rise in the number of undetected infectious persons and the number of "secondary" latent cases. Overall, the study shows that increasing the case detection rate will not only lower the backward bifurcation range, in the presence of exogenous re-infection, but could also lower the reproduction number, reducing the severity of the TB epidemic. This is possible as far as the current impressive treatment success rates under DOTS in Nigeria is sustained.
Trophic ecology and microhabitat utilization by the Bufo gargarizans, Rana guentheri, and Rana limnocharis in southwestern China

We studied the trophic ecology and microhabitat use of the Asiatic toad, Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842; Guentheri frog, Rana guentheri (Boulenger, 1882); and the Ricefield frog, Rana limnocharis (Boie, 1834). These three species are common around Nanchong City, in southwestern China, where they live in the same habitat before hibernation. The main objective of this study was to analyze the diets and patterns of coexistence relative to the microhabitat of each species. In the Asiatic toad, based on index of relative importance, the diet was dominated by adult Coleoptera, Isopoda, and Hymenoptera (29.53%, 22.07%, and 15.20%, respectively), while the Guenther's frog and Ricefield frog ingested predominantly Orthoptera (67.44% and 40.94%, respectively). The standardized feeding niche breadth of the Asiatic toad (0.277) was wider than that of the Guentheri frog (0.177) and Ricefield frog (0.269). The overlap in the trophic niche (prey proportion) between the toad and two species of frog was low (toad vs. Guentheri frog, CH = 0.526; toad vs. Ricefield frog, CH = 0.521), while this was high for the two species of frogs (CH = 0.942). The three species also differed in microhabitat use. Asiatic toads showed strong preference for small roads close to shrubs or pre-harvest corn, while Guenther's frogs preferred bare surfaces on habitat edges, and Ricefield frogs showed a preference for bare surfaces as feeding sites in the middle of habitat. The difference in diet observed during three species seems to be explained by the difference in microhabitat use and body size of three species.
Understanding Mediterranean-Californian disjunctions: molecular evidence from Chenopodiaceae-Betoideae

Chenopodiaceae subfam. Betoideae is distributed in both western Eurasia (four genera) and western North America (one genus). To understand the origin of this disjunction, the phylogeny of the subfamily was reconstructed and dated using ndhF, matK/trnK, tmL-trnF spacer, and ITS sequence variation, penalized likelihood and Langley-Fitch, and calibration with three different fossils. Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood analyses of the molecular data show that Betoideae are monophyletic, but that relationships of the Himalayan Acroglochin, traditionally included in Betoideae because of the shared possession of a circumscissile capsule, are uncertain. Among the betoidean genera, Beta (excl. sect. Procumbentes) is sister to a clade of Hablitzia, Patellifolia (= Beta sect. Procumbentes), Oreobliton, and Aphanisma. Apart from the strongly supported sister group relationship between the North African Oreobliton and the Califomian Aphanisma interrelationships among these four genera are not unambiguously resolved. The crown group age of Betoideae was estimated to 38.4-27.5 my using different DNA sequences, and the age of the Oreobliton/Aphanisma split to 15.4-8.1 my. Considering all evidence available, we conclude that the western Eurasian-western North American disjunction of Oreoblitom/Aphanisma is more likely to have resulted from the fragmentation of a Beringian than a North Atlantic ancestral range. Irrespective of the geographical location of this ancestral range we postulate that the evolution into dry habitats of Oreobliton and Aphanisma took place in parallel in western Eurasia and western North America. Evidence for this may be the very different life form and habitat of the two genera, of which Oreobliton is a subshrub of rocky ground at montane altitude, and Aphanisma an annual from coastal habitats. Hablitzia, a perennial vine of deciduous forests in the Caucasus area, is sister to Patellifolia/ Oreobliton/Aphanisma in the ndhF and ITS data sets. The habitat requirements of Hablitzia may be similar to those of the ancestor of the subfamily. Comparing the age of the Oreobliton/Aphanisma disjunction with ages estimated for East Asian-eastern North American disjunctions, we conclude that in many cases these two types of disjunction represent different ecological trajectories of essentially the same historical phenomenon.
How Experimental Defoliation and Leaf Height Affect Growth and Reproduction in Trillium grandiflorum

ROONEY, THOMAS P. AND DONALD M. WALLER (Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison WI 53706). How experimental defoliation and leaf height affect growth and reproduction in Trillium grandiflorum. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 128: 393-399. 2001. -Both defoliation and higher leaf placement can reduce growth in herbaceous plants. We examined variation in relative growth rate (RGR) and reproduction in response to defoliation and leaf height in Trillium grandiflorum at 4 sites in northern Wisconsin, USA. Plant biomass and the probability of flowering increased with increased leaf height. Analyses of covariance revealed that experimental defoliation and leaf height separately and independently reduced individual RGR, and accounted for about 42% of the total variance in RGR. Defoliation in 1998 had no effect on flowering in 1999, but leaf height in 1998 was positively associated with the likelihood of flowering in 1999. RGR and plant responses to defoliation varied among sites. We conclude that defoliation and leaf height reduce RGR over short time scales.
Spatial patterns of depletion imposed by foraging vertebrates : theory, review and meta-analysis

1. A simulation model is used to examine the spatial pattern of resource depletion imposed by vertebrates foraging in a heterogeneous environment; this may have important consequences for the dynamics of resource populations. It is assumed that consumers distribute themselves to maximize intake rates, that mutual interference occurs between competing consumers, and that the coefficient of interference, m, is less than one. 2. Where individuals are equal in their susceptibility to interference, depletion is density-dependent and variation in resource density is reduced towards zero. However, individuals often differ in their susceptibility to interference and incorporating such individual variation modifies the expected pattern of depletion. Spatial variation in resource density is no longer reduced to zero. After consumption of a given proportion of the total resource, spatial variation in the density of that remaining is greater when there is stronger interference, greater individual variation in susceptibility to interference, or a larger consumer population. With large individual variation and a large consumer population, domed or inversely density-dependent patterns of depletion are predicted, even where the coefficient of interference, m, is less than 1. 3. Field studies that quantify depletion of resource patches within the sampling range of a vertebrate population are reviewed and related to patterns predicted by the simulation model. The correlation between depletion and intial resource density is positive in 22 of 24 cases and significantly density-dependent (P < 0.05) in 11 of these, while only one correlation is significantly inversely density-dependent. The mean correlation in meta-analysis of vertebrate predators of invertebrate prey (22 cases) is significantly positive, showing that these groups tend to impose spatially density-dependent depletion. In contrast, reviews of invertebrate parasitoids find that inverse and positive density dependence are equally common. This difference may result partly from greater mobility of vertebrates, allowing them to sample the environment and distribute themselves closer to a rate-maximizing optimum. It is also possible that studies of vertebrates measure depletion at scales appropriate to the aggregative response of the consumers more frequently than studies of invertebrates.
A meta‐analysis of ant social parasitism: host characteristics of different parasitism types and a test of Emery’s rule

Abstract 1. In ant social parasitism, the process by which parasite–host systems evolved and the types of invasion mechanisms parasites use are being debated. Emery’s rule, for example, states that social parasites are the closest relatives to their hosts. The present study uses previously published data to test whether Emery’s rule applies equally to all parasitism types (i.e. xenobiosis, temporary, dulosis, and inquilinism). In addition, this study also investigates other links between parasite–host relatedness and host biology, which has implications for understanding the invasion mechanisms used by certain parasites.
High glucose–induced PKC activation mediates TGF-β1 and fibronectin synthesis by peritoneal mesothelial cells

High glucose–induced PKC activation mediates TGF-β1 and fibronectin synthesis by peritoneal mesothelial cells. Background Progressive peritoneal fibrosis, membrane hyperpermeability, and ultrafiltration failure have been observed in long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) using glucose as an osmotic agent. High glucose activates protein kinase C (PKC), which is one important signal pathway in the activation of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and fibronectin (FN). To gain a better understanding of mechanisms involved in peritoneal fibrosis, we examined the effects of high glucose on human peritoneal mesothelial cell (HPMC) TGF-β1 and FN mRNA expression and protein synthesis and determined the involvement of PKC in the high glucose–induced HPMC activation. Methods Synchronized confluent HPMC were incubated with different concentrations of glucose with and without inhibition of PKC. PKC activity and diacylglycerol (DAG) levels were measured. The expression of TGF-β1 and FN mRNAs by HPMC was measured by Northern blot analysis. TGF-β1 protein was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and mink lung epithelial cell growth inhibition assay. FN protein was measured by Western blot analysis and ELISA. Results PKC activity and DAG levels in HPMC cultured under 50 mmol/L (high) glucose increased 2.3- and 2.0-fold, respectively, that of 5.6 mmol/L (control) glucose at 24 hours and this was sustained up to 72 hours. The expression of TGF-β1 and FN mRNA by HPMC cultured under high glucose increased 1.6- and 1.7-fold, respectively, that of control values at 24 hours. TGF-β bioactivity as well as protein content in heat-activated conditioned media from high glucose was significantly higher than that of control values at 24 and 48 hours. FN protein also increased in response to high glucose, as measured by Western blot analysis and ELISA. PKC activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) induced 2.2- and 1.4-fold increase in TGF-β1 and FN mRNA expression, respectively. Depletion of PKC and calphostin C, a PKC inhibitor, effectively prevented both PMA and high glucose–induced, but not constitutive, expression of TGF-β1 and FN. Conclusion The present data demonstrate that high glucose up-regulates TGF-β1 and FN synthesis by HPMC, and that this high glucose–induced up-regulation is largely mediated by PKC. These results suggest that activation of PKC by high glucose in conventional PD solutions may constitute an important signal for activation of HPMC, leading to progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix and eventual peritoneal fibrosis.
Tissue‐dependent variation in the expression of elongation factor‐1α isoforms: Isolation and characterisation of a cDNA encoding a novel variant of human elongation‐factor 1α

A novel isoform of human elongation factor-1α (EF-1α2) has been characterised. It shows a high similarity to other EF-1α proteins, especially to a rat EF-1α variant and it has all the characteristics of a functional EF-1α protein. The pattern of expression of both EF-1α2 and EF-1α was analysed in different human tissues. This showed that the two proteins were differentially expressed, EF-1α2 was expressed in brain, heart, skeletal muscle and in the transformed cell lines AMA and K14, but was undetectable in other tissues and in both primary and transformed human fibroblasts. EF-1α was expressed in brain, placenta, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas and in all the cell lines that we have analysed but barely detectable in heart and skeletal muscle.
Changing Australian vegetation from 1788 to 1988: effects of CO2 and land-use change

We present a tractable and transparent approach (the TMSC model) to estimating the total stock of carbon (roots, stems and leaves) in living vegetation (C living), from gross primary productivity (GPP) estimates. The TMSC model utilises the TMS scheme of canopy functional types and a generic allometric scheme to derive these estimates. Model estimates are presented for the Australian continent under the following three vegetation–[CO2] scenarios: the present (1988) vegetation and a hypothetical natural (1988) vegetation cover with atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) of 350 µmol mol–1 (pveg350 and nveg350), and the natural vegetation (1788) having [CO2] of 280 µmol mol–1 (nveg280). The change between the nveg280 and pveg350 scenarios represents the combined effects of changes in land use and CO2. The change resulting from CO2 alone is the difference between the nveg280 and nveg350 scenarios. The estimated C living for the continent is 21 Gt for pveg350, 23 Gt for nveg350 and 10 Gt for nveg280. This translates to an averaged rate of increase in C living (CSI) of about 50 Tg C year–1 over the last 200 years for the continent. Where wooded areas have been extensively cleared for agriculture, the CSI is negative (down to –4 g C m–2 year–1). Elsewhere, the CSI over the last 200 years ranges from ~55 g C m–2 year–1 in the tropical and subtropical forests to ~0 g C m–2 year–1 in the most arid regions.
Microbial mats in the hypersaline ponds of Mediterranean salterns (Salins-de-Giraud, France)

Microbial mats that develop in the gypsum crust of the hypersaline ponds of Salins-de-Giraud (Camargue, France) were carefully investigated between 1989 and 1991. During the warm seasons, when these mats were fully developed, analyses of microbial activities and microprofiles of oxygen and sulfide have shown a great activity of the different kinds of bacteria found in the mat below the gypsum crust. Oxygen production could amount to 2 μmol cm−3 h−1 during the maximum daylight whereas the oxidation of sulfide in the light was calculated to be 12.7 μmol cm−3 h−1, i.e. 300 to 180 mmol m−2 day−1 assuming 8–10 hours of constant daylight and a sulfide oxidation zone of 3 mm in thickness. This sulfide oxidation consumes about 65–95% of the diel sulfide production which has been estimated to be 400 to 450 mmol m−2 day−1 originating from sulfate reduction which takes place in the 6 cm depth horizon of sediment plus mat. According to the amounts of sulfate precipitated at the sediment surface in the form of gypsum, sulfate reduction is never limited and was found to be among the highest values reported in the literature (average value of 8200 nmols cm−3 day−1). Completely covered by the gypsum crust, this ecosystem has been found to react as a closed system. Consequently, the sulfide does not escape and accumulate below the crust. It was detected up to the top of the mat after a few hours of darkness. It is reoxidized during the day by the photosynthetic organisms that from the mats. These latter mats were composed of 2 to 3 laminated layers of phototrophic organisms: an upper brown layer of the cyanobacterium Aphanothece, an intermediate green layer of the cyanobacterium Phormidium and an underlying red layer of purple sulfur-oxidizing bacteria from which two new halophilic species were isolated (Chromatium salexigens and Thiocapsa halophila). It has been found that the accumulated sulfide is oxidized not only by the phototrophic bacteria in the sulfide oxidation zone but also by the oxygen produced by the cyanobacteria which are able to photosynthesize in the presence of sulfide.
The Technique of Whole-Body Autoradiography

AbstractWhole-body autoradiography is a technique for studying the distribution of chemical compounds by radiolabeling. Although the technique of whole-body autoradiography has been widely used by industry and academia to study the distribution of chemicals, it is often not understood by people involved in histology techniques. This paper discusses the methods involved in whole-body autoradiography. (The J Histotechnol 11:261, 1988.)