Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Flight of the Douglas-fir Beetle Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae): III Flight Capacity

The flight capacity (duration and velocity) is an important phase of the flight behaviour of economically significant insects such as the Douglas-fir beetle, because it influences the feasibility of control or preventive measures which might be considered. An understanding of the flight capacity and how it varies in relation to environmental factors is necessary to evaluate the beetles' power of dispersal under different seasonal conditions. This would help to detect new areas of infestation by directing or narrowing the search. It also would help evaluation of the hazard at hand in timber surrounding the infestation and be a further aid in determining the size of areas of sanitation required around the comparatively beetle-free areas needed for special purposes, such as parks.
Antimicrobial Activity of Eupomatia laurina

The fractionated extracts of leaves, stem bark and root bark of Eupomatia laurina were screened against 13 Gram + and 12 Gram - bacteria, a protozoan and four fungi. All extracts were found to be active against most of the bacteria and some fungi. The petrol extract of the leaf, the dichloromethane and ethyl acetate extracts of the stem bark, and the dichloromethane extract of the root bark exhibited superior levels of antibacterial activity. The stem bark (ethyl acetate extract) and the root bark (dichloromethane extract) were active against the molds tested.
Nodule Cultures of Paulownia x Taiwaniana

Nodule cultures with potential applications in regeneration strategies, automated micropropagation, and in vitro phytochemical production in many plants have been reviewed. The lst nodule cultures of Poulownia x taiwaniana were established and maintained for more than 1 y by regular subculturing. Vigorous callus clumps were induced from leaf explants cultured on 1/2MS medium containing 3 mg/L IBA and 3 mg/L BA. Nodule cultures were produced after leaf-derived calli were transferred into MS liquid medium containing 3mg/L each of IBA and BA, and placed on a reciprocal shaker at 130 rpm for 6 wk. Cell growth cycles of the 3 mo-old and 1-y-old subcultures were determined by using settled cell volume and electrical conductivity. Results obtained from these 2 measurements were consistent with each other. Conductivity appeared to be rapid, simple, and reproducible. Histological changes of cell differentiation and vascular organization were also investigated at different growth phases of cultures. Nodules maintained organogenic capability in the lst few subcultures, but lost it in successive cultures.
The postponement of non‐culturability in Aeromonas salmonicida

Aeromonas salmonicida, the causative agent of furunculosis in fish, has been shown to become non-culturable but viable after inoculation in fresh water. The onset of non-culturability is entirely predictable, but can be delayed by inoculation at high concentration or amendment with nutrients. This paper reports that non-culturability can be postponed by the addition of both the amino acids methionine and arginine to microcosms inoculated with A. salmonicida. During these experiments, A. salmonicida decreased in cell size and became rounded. This was regardless of whether it received an amino acid supplement or not. We observed that cells receiving both amino acids remained culturable despite their reduction in cell size to less than 1 μm. Therefore, it would appear that the reduction in size and associated morphological change cannot be taken as an indicator of non-culturability, although it may be a significant step in that direction in some cases.
Serotonin and the Control of Salivation in the Blowfly Calliphora

The possibility that serotonin acts as a neurohormone stimulating salivation in the blowfly Calliphora vicina was studied by investigation of salivation induced by injections of high-potassium saline. Induced salivation is rapid and appears to be mediated by an active factor released into the haemolymph (High Potassium Salivary Gland Factor: HKSGF) since it is antagonized by cadmium (a calcium channel blocker) and by gramine (a serotonin-receptor blocker). The action of HKSGF on salivary glands in vitro is indistinguishable from that of serotonin: (a) it generates serotoninlike transepithelial potential changes, (b) its effect on salivation is antagonized by gramine, (c) it is as heat stable as serotonin, (d) it has the same solubility in a variety of organic solvents, (e) it is unaffected by incubation with leucine aminopeptidase or trypsin and (d) it is inactivated by rat liver monoamine oxidase type A (a serotonin deaminating enzyme). Radioenzyme assay of haemolymph from high-potassium injected flies shows that the amount of serotonin present could account for all of the retrievable bioactivity. Significant amounts of serotonin were found in the cerebral ganglion, the thoracic ganglion and nerves attached to the thoracic ganglion. Nerve sectioning experiments demonstrated that the abdominal nerves and the anterior nerves supplying the neck muscles are not involved in the normal salivatory response. However the cerebral-thoracic connective must be intact and it is suggested that release of serotonin is effected close to the main body of the thoracic ganglion. Some of the implications of the neurohormonal role of serotonin are discussed.
EVALUATION OF IN -VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIAL OF RIPE FRUITS OF AEGLE MARMELOS Research Article

Aegle marmelos belongs to the family Rutaceae, commonly known as bael. Ripe fruits were extracted with 50% methanol using separating funnel. Pellets of dried extract were obtained and different doses (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) were prepared by dissolving pellets into doubled distilled water. Extracts were tested against three gram positive bacteria (S.aureus, B.subtilis, S.epidermidis) and three gram negative bacteria (E.coli, Sh.flexneri, P.aeruginosa) by agar disc diffusion method. Maximum inhibition was found with dose having 100% concentration of dried extract. It has shown significant antibacterial activity against tested gram positive and gram negative bacteria when compared with standard antibiotics. Study suggests that the ripe fruits of Aegle marmelos are promising in the development of phytomedicine for antimicrobial properties.
Genetic Diversity of Anopheles coustani (Diptera: Culicidae) in Malaria Transmission Foci in Southern and Central Africa

Abstract Despite ongoing malaria control efforts implemented throughout sub-Saharan Africa, malaria remains an enormous public health concern. Current interventions such as indoor residual spraying with insecticides and use of insecticide-treated bed nets are aimed at targeting the key malaria vectors that are primarily endophagic and endophilic. Anopheles coustani s.l. , an understudied vector of malaria, is a species previously thought to exhibit mostly zoophilic behavior. Like many of these understudied species, An. coustani has greater anthropophilic tendencies than previously appreciated, is often both endophagic and exophagic, and carries Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites.The aim of this study was to explore genetic variation of An. coustani mosquitoes and the potential of this species to contribute to malaria parasite transmission in high transmission settings in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Morphologically identified An. coustani specimens that were trapped outdoors in these study sites were analyzed by PCR and sequencing for species identification and bloodmeal sources, and malaria parasite infection was determined by ELISA and qPCR. Fifty An. coustani s.s. specimens were confirmed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2). Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of COI and ITS2 sequences revealed two distinct phylogenetic groups within this relatively small regional collection. Our findings indicate that both An. coustani groups have anthropophilic and exophagic habits and come into frequent contact with P. falciparum, suggesting that this potential alternative malaria vector might elude current vector control measures in northern Zambia and southern DRC.
Notes on the Parasitic Fungi of Illinois—II

The material from which this paper is drawn consists of the incidental collections of the Illinois State Natural History Survey's botanists. Submitted as a contribution toward cataloging the fungous flora of the world, as well as of Illinois, it contains an account of five Ascomycetes and twenty-nine imperfect fungi. In the treatment of the Fungi Imperfecti, it is now? as it has been? customary to regard them as separable species when they inhabit distinctive hosts or when they manifest tangible differ? ences in morphology; and the custom is not without its advantages, despite the adverse criticism which has been heaped upon it, for it emphasizes in the matter of "fundamental," or "genetic," species an intimate interdependence of fungus and host that has been demonstrated more often than disproved. Moreover, though we may envision an ultimate phylogenetic taxonomy, we are still too poorly advanced in research to invent a more practical device for perpetuating a knowledge of the im? perfect forms. If the time comes when we are able to list the thallic connections of the Ascomycetes with all their spore forms, there will be needed still, for purposes of description, differentia? tion, and recognition, a classification of the imperfect ones, which, though possibly simpler, must yet take cognizance chiefly of their morphism, their coloration, and their limits of parasitism. The specimens, which are in the Survey's Mycological Collec? tion, are designated especially by accession numbers; and when, upon request, portions of them are sent elsewhere, the labels will bear those numbers.
On optimal coupling of the ‘electronic photoreceptors’ into the degenerate retina

To restore sight in atrophic age-related macular degeneration, the lost photoreceptors can be replaced with electronic implants, which replicate their two major functions: (1) converting light into an electric signal, and (2) transferring visual information to the secondary neurons in the retinal neural network—the bipolar cells (BC). We study the selectivity of BC activation by subretinal implants and dynamics of their response to pulsatile waveforms in order to optimize the electrical stimulation scheme such that retinal signal processing with ‘electronic photoreceptors’ remains as close to natural as possible. A multicompartmental model of a BC was implemented to simulate responses of the voltage-gated calcium channels and subsequent synaptic vesicle release under continuous and pulsatile stimuli. We compared the predicted response under various frequencies, pulse durations, and alternating gratings to the corresponding experimental measurements. In addition, electric field was computed for various electrode configurations in a 3-d finite element model to assess the stimulation selectivity via spatial confinement of the field. The modeled BC-mediated retinal responses were, in general, in good agreement with previously published experimental results. Kinetics of the calcium pumps and of the neurotransmitter release in ribbon synapses, which underpin the BC’s temporal filtering and rectifying functions, allow mimicking the natural BC response with high frequency pulsatile stimulation, thereby preserving features of the retinal signal processing, such as flicker fusion, adaptation to static stimuli and non-linear summation of subunits in receptive field. Selectivity of the BC stimulation while avoiding direct activation of the downstream neurons (amacrine and ganglion cells—RGCs) is improved with local return electrodes. If the retinal neural network is preserved to a large extent in age-related macular degeneration, selective stimulation of BCs with proper spatial and temporal modulation of the extracellular electric field may retain many features of the natural retinal signal processing and hence allow highly functional restoration of sight.
Synthesis and Multipole Plasmon Resonances of Spherical Aluminum Nanoparticles.

In comparison to Au and Ag, the high plasma frequency of Al allows multipole plasmon resonances from ultraviolet to visible (UV-Vis) range to be achieved by its nanoparticles with much smaller sizes and even spherical shape. Herein, we report the high-supersaturation growth of monodisperse spherical Al nanoparticles (Al NPs) from 84 to 200 nm and their distinctive size-dependent multipole plasmon resonance properties in the UV-Vis range. Linear relationships between the particle diameter and resonance peak positions of dipole, quadrupole, and octupole were observed experimentally and confirmed by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations. FDTD calculations further reveal that the high scattering-to-extinction ratio of multipole modes for the particle diameter >100 nm. The extinction coefficients of spherical Al NPs with different diameters were also determined. The excellent matching between the experimental and simulated results in the present work not only offers a standard for the synthesis and characterization of high-quality Al nanoparticles, and also provide new insight into the multipole plasmonic properties of Al nanoparticles for advanced optical and sensing applications.
Structure and composition of pole-stage stands developed in an ancient wood pasture in central Spain

Summary El Chaparral de Montejo is a woodland area situated in central Spain containing a large group of temperate species that since the Middle Ages has been subject to communal use for grazing like many other European forests. We studied the characteristics of former wood-pasture and the polestage stands developed close to ancient trees in three representative stands consisting of Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea and Quercus pyrenaica. The Fagus sylvatica stand proved to be the best regeneration site because of its deep soil and greater number of ancient trees, which provided more seeds and tree cover, both favouring the development of seedlings in this stand. However, the poorer soil conditions and the dense layer of herbaceous vegetation in the Quercus pyrenaica stand have inhibited the establishment of the more water-demanding temperate species. It is suggested that past irregular exploitation conducted to a mosaic distribution of forest communities explain the differences in structure and composition found in the three stands studied. The stand occupied by the more xerophilous species, Quercus pyrenaica, was more affected by the reduction of forest productivity in the past. Nowadays the patterns of pole-stage stand diversity reveal the future expected changes. The higher diversity of saplings in the Quercus petraea and Quercus pyrenaica stands reveal better conditions in the understorey than those existing in their early developmental stages, especially for the two shade-tolerant species, beech and holly. On the contrary the lower diversity of saplings in the Fagus sylvatica stand is due to the low light levels in the understorey which gradually cause the disappearance of shade-intolerant species.
Work-Related Stress Questionnaire (WRSQ): a new tool to assess psychosocial risks at workplaces.

INTRODUCTION Work-related stress (WRS) can harm both physical and mental health but it shouldn't only be considered in its negative sense. The evaluation of WRS cannot be separated from the analysis of the subjective perception of workers, usually made by questionnaires. The aim of this pre-pilot study is to identify a new questionnaire capable of exploring as many psychosocial risk domains as possible and with a high internal consistency. MATERIAL AND METHODS A first version of the questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample selected on a voluntary basis; both socio-demographic and work-related data were collected. A single item test was conducted on a group of 50 workers in order to assess whether the questions were confusing and to understand if they could be improved. The study sample completed the questionnaire at time 1 and time 2 (after 3 days). The 33-item version of the questionnaire was web-based in Google Form. Cronbach's alpha and Pearson's r were calculated. RESULTS The analysis of the 33-item questionnaire at time 1 shows an excellent reliability with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.93. At time 2 Cronbach's alpha coefficients was 0.94. Based on the test-retest score, the items with the highest scores were selected as part of the final version of the questionnaire (10-item). The reliability of this 10-items version is high with a Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.86 both at time 1 and at time 2. Two items have been chosen to explore the "emotional demand" and "dealing with technology". CONCLUSIONS The pre-pilot study provided a questionnaire with high reliability and high repeatability. In its final version, the questionnaire investigates different psychosocial risk domains and represents a possible useful tool for assessing worker's exposure to them. The Authors reserve to administer the questionnaire to a larger population.
COMPARAÇÃO FLORÍSTICA E ESTRUTURAL ENTRE FLORESTAS DE IGAPÓ E CAMPINARANA AO LONGO DE GRADIENTES HIDRO-EDÁFICOS NA RESERVA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL DO UATUMÃ, AMAZÔNIA CENTRAL

Na Amazonia, florestas de igapo e campinarana sao sistemas de baixa produtividade, localizados sobre solos com baixa disponibilidade de nutrientes e sujeitos a saturacao do solo por agua e/ou alagamentos periodicos. A composicao e diversidade de especies, a estrutura florestal e a biomassa destes dois ecossistemas podem ser igualmente limitadas pela disponibilidade de nutrientes dos solos nos quais se desenvolvem e alguns estudos sugerem que suas floras sao altamente relacionadas. O objetivo do presente estudo foi descrever e comparar a composicao e diversidade floristica, estrutura e biomassa de um igapo e uma campinarana na Amazonia Central e determinar sua relacao com os fatores de textura e nutrientes do solo, duracao da inundacao (no igapo) e profundidade do lencol freatico (na campinarana). Foram inventariados todos os individuos com DAP ≥ 10 cm, distribuidos em seis parcelas de 0,5 ha em cada ecossistema. Foram calculadas a altura e area basal para todos os individuos. Foi estimada a biomassa lenhosa acima do solo (AGWB Above Ground Wood Biomass), sendo a biomassa arborea estimada com base em dois modelos alometricos que consideram DAP, densidade especifica da madeira (ρ) e altura dos individuos e a biomassa de palmeiras estimada com base em um modelo que considera apenas a altura dos individuos. Foram encontrados 2163 individuos no igapo e 1849 individuos na campinarana. Os dois ecossistemas apresentaram solos com elevada acidez e pobres em nutrientes, sendo o igapo argiloso e a campinarana arenosa. A inundacao media nas parcelas do igapo variou entre 10 e 202 dias ano-1. A profundidade media do lencol freatico na campinarana variou entre 39,7 e 245,5 cm no periodo chuvoso e entre 92,0 e 315,7 cm no periodo de estiagem. Embora a campinarana tenha apresentado maior numero de especies, a diversidade alfa de Fisher media nao diferiu significativamente entre os dois ecossistemas. A similaridade floristica entre ecossistemas revelou-se extremamente baixa (indice de dissimilaridade de Bray-Curtis 0,97). Nao houve relacao entre os padroes floristicos e os gradientes edaficos e hidricos nos dois ecossistemas. Amanoa cf. guianensis foi a especie mais importante no igapo e Aldina heterophylla foi a especie mais importante na campinarana. Os dois ecossistemas sao semelhantes quanto a estrutura da vegetacao, apresentando porte baixo e elevado numero de individuos com DAP pequeno. Sao semelhantes tambem quanto a biomassa: AGWB variou entre 141 e 152 Mg ha-1 no igapo e entre 152 e 164 Mg ha-1 na campinarana. A biomassa nao foi relacionada ao gradiente edafico nos dois ecossistemas e a profundidade do lencol freatico na campinarana, mas foi negativamente relacionada a duracao da inundacao no igapo. Os baixos valores de biomassa encontrados para o igapo e a campinarana, quando comparados a outros ecossistemas amazonicos, sao provavelmente um reflexo da escassez de nutrientes dos solos nos quais se desenvolvem.
Challenges of oral medicine specialists at the time of COVID‐19 pandemic

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had caused major disruptions in medical and dental care across the world, affecting secondary care services that had to rapidly adapt to new circumstances. Postponed and delayed oral medicine (OM) care, deferring non-urgent follow-ups in case of patients because of COVID-19 crisis, and limited access to health care, may have lead serious consequences fororal and systemic health (Arduino et al, 2020; Jones et al, 2020). Deferred diagnosis of a malignant conditionwhen suspected or even dysplasia in oralleucoplakia cases vastly implies the clinical outcome, influencing treatment and prognosis, subsequently(Meng et al, 2020). Suspended routine care provision for patients with other, less severe conditions (hyposalivation, oral lichen planus,oral candidiasis, and recurrentaphthous stomatitis - RAS)could have a significant impact on the patients' well-being and quality of life, if oral medicine cases are not managed consistently and timely. Chronic autoimmune disorders with oral manifestations, such asmucous membrane pemphigoid orpemphigus vulgaris,can be exacerbated as a result of delayed OM follow-ups, dental care and self-management or even interruptionof long-term(pharmaco)therapy(Martins-Chaves et al, 2020; Kasperkiewicz et al, 2).
NHANES 2011–2014 Reveals Cognition of US Older Adults may Benefit from Better Adaptation to the Mediterranean Diet

Although the Mediterranean diet (MedD) has gained interest for potential Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention, it is unknown how well US older adults follow a MedD. We used two National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2011–2014) to conduct our primary aim of reporting population estimates of MedD adherence among older adults (60+ years) in the US (n = 3068). The mean MedD adherence score for US older adults was 5.3 ± 2.1 (maximum possible = 18), indicating that older adults in the US do not adhere to a MedD. There were various differences in MedD scores across demographic characteristics. We also assessed the cross-sectional relationship between MedD adherence and cognitive performance using survey-weighted ordinary least squares regression and binary logistic regression models adjusted for 11 covariates. Compared to the lowest MedD adherence tertile, the highest tertile had a lower odds ratio of low cognitive performance on three of five cognitive measures (p < 0.05 for each). Sensitivity analyses within participants without subjective memory complaints over the past year revealed similar results on the same three cognitive measures. We conclude that MedD interventions are a departure from usual dietary intake of older adults in the US and are a reasonable approach for AD prevention trials.