Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tumour Necrosis Factor α Augments the Release of an Endothelium-Dependent Vasoconstrictor from Human Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes

Summary: We have studied the effect of cytokine priming by recombinant human tumour necrosis factor α (rhTNFα) on the release of vasoactive mediators from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). Supernatants of human PMNs( 100 µl,5 x 107 ml, from 12 donors) relaxed precontracted rabbit aortic rings. The relaxations were preceded by a transient contraction in four experiments. In contrast, supematants of PMNs incubated with rhTNFα (0.3 n M, 30 min, 37°C) elicited variable vascular responses that consisted of either a sustained contraction (n = 4), a transient contraction followed by a sustained relaxation (n = 2), or a sustained relaxation only (n = 6). The vascular tone produced by the rhTNFα-treated PMN supernatant was significantly greater over 30 min than that produced by the control supernatant (p < 0.01). Endothelium removal prevented the PMN-induced contractions and significantly decreased the vascular tone produced by all rhTNFα-treated PMN supematants (p < 0.05). The PMN supematants had no vasoactive effect on aortic rings at resting tension. Molecular size analysis indicated that the PMN-derived contractile mediator is > 30,000 Da. These results suggest that human PMNs, primed by rhTNFα, release a stable endotheliumdependent vasoconstrictor that opposes the action of a stable, spontaneously released direct vasodilator
Fatty Acid Composition of Bovine Embryos Cultured in Serum-Free and Serum-Containing Medium during Early Embryonic Development

A serum-free culture system was used to allow determination of the fatty acid composition of bovine embryos during in vitro development. The proportion of embryos developing to the blastocyst stage in serum-free medium (TCM199 supplemented with bovine serum albumin, insulin, apotransferrin and transforming growth factor-α; BITTα) was as high as in serum-supplemented medium (TCM199+5% calf serum). Bovine blastocysts grown in serum-supplemented medium contained abundant lipid droplets in the cytoplasm. The fatty acid composition of bovine immature oocytes, embryos at 2-cell and blastocyst stages cultured in serum-free or serum-supplemented medium was determined by capillary column gas chromatography. Additionally, the fatty acid composition of calf serum alone was determined. Myristic acid (59.6%) was the most abundant fatty acid in immature oocytes followed by docosahexaenoic acid (12.3%). The fatty acid profiles of two-cell embryos derived in the serum-free medium were similar to those of immature oocytes. In contrast, two-cell embryos derived in the serum-supplemented medium showed high levels of palmitic (27.6%) and stearic (27.2%) acids and a low level of myristic acid (21.9%). For blastocysts grown in the serum-free medium, myristic acid (35.7%) was high and palmitic (17.0%) and stearic (12.5%) acids were moderately high. On the other hand, blastocysts developed in the serum-supplemented medium retained high levels of palmitic (30.5%) and stearic (24.2%) acid compositions and had considerably increased levels of palmitoleic (16.3%) and oleic (12.1%) acids. High levels of oleic (17.3%), palmitic (16.5%) and stearic (12.3%) acids were detected in calf serum, which were similar to the profile of the 2-cell and blastocyst stage embryos cultured with serum. This study shows that bovine embryos grown in serum-supplemented medium showed different morphology and fatty acid composition when compared to those cultured in serum-free medium.
Grasshopper Herbivory Affects Native Plant Diversity and Abundance in a Grassland Dominated by the Exotic Grass Agropyron cristatum

The indirect effects of native generalist insect herbivores on interactions between exotic and native grassland plants have received limited attention. Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) is the most common exotic rangeland grass in western North America. Crested wheatgrass communities are resistant to colonization by native plant species and have strong competitive effects on native species, imposing problems for the restoration of native grasslands. Grasshoppers are generalist herbivores that are often abundant in Crested wheatgrass–dominated sites in the northern Great Plains. We conducted two experiments in a Crested wheatgrass–dominated grassland in western North Dakota to test the hypothesis that grasshopper herbivory influences local Crested wheatgrass community composition by impeding native seedlings. Grasshopper herbivory negatively affected the species richness, abundance, and Shannon diversity of native plants in 3 of 4 years. Although additional research is needed to determine if grasshoppers actively select native plants, the effects of grasshopper herbivory may be an important consideration in the restoration of Crested wheatgrass areas. Our findings illustrate the importance of understanding the impact of native generalist invertebrate herbivores on the relationships between exotic and native plants.
Long-term effects of culture establishment from shoot-tip explants in micropropagating oak (Quercus robur L)

L'article decrit chez le chene les conditions d'obtention d'un clonage in vitro a partir de meristemes preleves sur du materiel juvenile et sur du materiel mature. Il compare ensuite, sur le plan de la decontamination, de la reactivite initiale et de la multiplication a long terme, le comportement de cultures issues de meristemes a celui de cultures issues de boutures de noeuds. Le resultats montrent que, sur le plan de la decontamination, l'utilisation de meristemes n'est utile que lorsque le materiel vegetal doit etre preleve directement in situ
Influence of 6-aminopenicillanic acid on amoxicillin synthesis and p-hydroxyphenylglycine methyl ester hydrolysis

A significant problem in the enzymatic production of the beta-lactam antibiotic amoxicillin from 6-Aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) and p-hydroxyphenylglycine methyl ester (HPGM) is the enzymatic hydrolysis of both HPGM and amoxicillin. Here we show that APA is able to competitively inhibit the hydrolysis of HPGM, with a Michaelis–Menten inhibition constant Ki of 7.23mM. While this phenomenon also results in a slowdown of the amoxicillin rate of formation, the S/H (synthesis to hydrolysis ratio) rate is improved. We found that this S/H rate depends directly on the ratio of the two substrates rather than their absolute concentrations. A doubling in S/H rate was obtained by decreasing the HPGM to APA ratio from 3 to 0.5.
Seasonal occurrence and vertical distribution of appendicularians in Toyama Bay, southern Japan Sea

To investigate seasonal variation in the community structure of appendicularians, vertical hauls (0- 500 m) with a Norpac net were made at an offshore station in Toyama Bay at intervals of 2-4 weeks from February 1990 to January 1991. Additional samples were collected with MTD nets at 12-17 different depth layers between the surface and a depth of 600-700 m at the same position in June, September and December 1986, and March 1992, to examine the vertical distribution of appendicularians. Twenty-one species (including two unidentified species) belonging to five genera were found, and the dominant species were divided into three groups by their occurrence period. Oikopleura longicauda, Fritillaria borealis f. typica and F. borealis f. sargassi occurred throughout most of the year. Fritillaria pellucida. O. fusiformis and O. rufescens were found in summer and autumn. Oikopleura dioica was found in spring and winter. Oikopleura longicauda was overwhelmingly the most abundant species throughout the year. This species was always distributed in the upper 100 in depth, with a peak at a depth of 0-50 m that corresponded to the peak. of chlorophyll a concentration during the day and night in all seasons. The day-night vertical distribution patterns of F. borealis f. typica, F pellucida, O. fusiformis and 0. rufescens were similar to that of 0. longicauda. Seasonal viriations in abundance of appendicularians are considered to be the result of biological factors rather than physical factors such as temperature and salinity. In particular, O. dioica seems to be affected by food availability.
Herbivory induces a ROS burst and the release of volatile organic compounds in the fern Pteris vittata L.

Abstract The arsenic hyper-accumulating fern, Pteris vittata L. , was studied to investigate the behavior of lower plants in response to both mechanical (MW) and herbivore wounding (HW). To this end, the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis was fed on P. vittata and the volatile organic compound (VOC) emission was detected from the fern's head space by using solid phase micro extraction (SPME) and analyzed by GC-MS. Controls were represented by unwounded and MW ferns. The fluorescent probe Amplex red was used to investigate the oxidative burst due to MW and HW by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Ferns responded to herbivore wounding events by emitting the sesquiterpenes (Z)-β-farnesene, (E)-β-farnesene, (Z,E)-α-farnesene, (E,E)-α-farnesene and (E)-nerolidol. An oxidative burst was found close to wounded areas in both MW and HW ferns, and young ferns reacted with a higher H2O2 production after HW. The reported data suggest that lower plants, such as ancient ferns, show two events commonly occurring and reported in many higher and more evolved plants after herbivore attack: an oxidative burst and the emission of volatile terpenoids.
DOMINANCE AND EPISTASIS IN HETEROSIS OF WHITE LEGHORN STRAIN CROSSES

Four unrelated pure strains of White Leghorns including a grandparent strain from industry and 12 two-strain, 24 three-strain, 24 four-strain and 12 F2 strain crosses produced contemporaneously were used to examine the role of dominance and epistasis in heterosis. A control strain and a commercial strain were also included. For egg weight, the heterosis observed closely approximated that expected due to dominance alone. For sexual maturity and body weight, dominance was the major component of heterosis, but epistasis made a significant contribution — additive by additive (A × A) genetic effects for sexual maturity and 140-d body weight, and parental epistasis for mature body weight. Both dominance and epistasis played a significant role in heterosis for egg production traits. A × A, dominance by dominance (D × D) and additive by dominance (A × D) epistasis were all important for hen-housed egg production and hen-housed egg yield. For hen-day rate of egg production, A × A epistasis was significant only ear.
Selenium sediment toxicity thresholds and derivation of water quality criteria for freshwater biota of western streams

Waterborne and sediment selenium (Se) data, in conjunction with selected physicochemical parameters, were collected from streams of the middle Arkansas River basin, Colorado, USA, to examine the factors affecting sediment Se accumulation in a lotic environment. An empirical model of dissolved‐to‐sediment Se transfer in western streams, as an interactive function of sediment organic carbon content (R2 = 0.78, p < 0.001, n = 34), was developed and validated. Sediment Se and associated biological effects data were compiled from the literature, to provide an estimate of sediment Se concentration thresholds that have biological effects. Based on this preliminary analysis, sediment Se concentrations of 2.5 μg/g would be a threshold based on predicted effects and concentrations of 4.0 μg/g would be the observed threshold for fish and wildlife toxicity. The dissolved‐to‐sediment Se transfer model can be used to translate this type of sediment Se toxicity threshold to a site‐specific chronic water‐quality standard for western streams based on empirically derived sediment total organic carbon values.
Evolution of Embyonic Growth in Thamnophiine Snakes

We quantified embryonic growth in 10 species of the viviparous thamnophiine snakes and three oviparous colubrid snakes. We fit data on mass, total length, and snout-vent length to linear and exponential growth models; all three size measures (particularly the lengths) fit the linear model better. For all three measures, there were significant differences among species in the absolute growth rates obtained from the linear model; these correlated with differences in neonate size. For the relative growth rates obtained from the exponential model, significant differences among species were seen only for mass; these were only moderately correlated with neonate size. Gestation periods, estimated from absolute growth rates and neonate size, generally increased with size. Comparisons with outgroup species suggest that having large neonates is the ancestral condition for the thamnophiines and that small neonate size evolved at least twice within the clade. Size reduction was achieved
Shoot apex removal does not alter autoregulation of Modulation in soybean

The suppression of new nodule development in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. ) has been previously demonstrated to involve the shoot through reciprocal grafts between the wild-type cultivar Bragg and its supernodulating mutant nts382. Using the same grafting technique, but modified through the excision of the shoot apex region and emerging lateral shoots, we show here that autoregulation of nodule number still existed despite apex removal. This radical treatment lowered total nodule number per plant as well as root, shoot and nodule dry weight. Bragg shoots grafted onto nts382 roots gave wild-type nodulation (26 nodules, 15mg total nodule mass) as compared to nts382 shoots grafted onto Bragg roots (340 nodules, 277 mg total nodule mass). Specific nodule mass differed between supernodulating (about 0·5-1·0mg per nodule) and wild-type nodulating (2·3 mg per nodule) plants. In contrast to other growth characteristics, apex removal did not affect specific nodule size, except in plants with wild-type shoots and nts382 (supernodulation) roots. Apex removal only slightly affected the percentage of nodule weight per total root weight in nts382, but had a severe effect in wild type. Growth reductions varied between the normal and supernodulating plants. The fact that autoregulation of nodulation still functions in plants devoid of functional shoot apices suggests that the autoregulation signal may not be derived from the apex regions and that the leaf may be a likely source.
Research on Glucose Oxidase Biosensor Based on Reverse Iontophoresis

Objective: Making a glucose sensor to detect the glucose which is extracted from the tissue fluid on reverse iontophoresis. Method: In the role of the catalysis of glucose oxidase which was fixed in polyethylene oxide gel, the glucose and potassium ferricyanide were change into gluconic acid and potassium ferrocyanide. Then we could get the concentration of glucose by detecting the current which was created by the redox reaction. Results: The glucose sensors could detect the concentration of glucose in the range of 2.2~22mmol/l and have a good linear too. The conformance test results show that the deviation of multiple measurements of the same sensor is less than 2% and the reaction time is less than 1s. Conclusion: The sensors could detect the blood glucose.
MINERAL NUTRITION OF THREE AQUATIC EMERGENT MACROPHYTES IN A MANAGED WETLAND IN VENEZUELA

The purpose of this study was to characterize the nutritional content of the aboveground vegetation of Eleocharis mutata (Cyperaceae), because it is the main source of nutrition for water-buffaloes raised on an organic farm without the use of fertilizers, pesticides, etc., that has been managed to be maintain in a permanently flooded condition. Meanwhile in other wetlands of the country, where E. mutata is native, it has been replaced by imported pastures, which behave as invaders. Cyperus articulatus (Cyperaceae) and Typha dominguensis (Typhaceae) grow in patches on the farm. The total concentrations of nutrients were compared in the three species. Crude protein in E. mutata represented 7–15% dry weight in adult plants and 18–21% in young plants, which are high values in comparison with tropical pasture species. Phosphorus (P) concentration in the three species was <1.60 ± 0.04 mg g−1 dw.C. articulatus had lower concentrations of nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S) than the other two species. T. dominguensis had the highest concentrations of Ca. Sodium (Na) concentration in plants was high in the three species (6.11 ± 0.35 mg g−1 dw). The highest concentration of phenols in adult leaves was in T. dominguensis (63 ± 1 g kg−1 dw), contrasting with E. mutata (25 ± 2 g kg−1 dw) and C. articulatus (17 ± 2 g kg−1 dw). Soluble carbohydrates represented a high fraction of the total non-structural carbohydrates −1 38 ± 1%), which had the highest concentration in C. articulatus (170 ± 4 g glucose kg−1 dw). Sap osmolality in the three species was <548 ± 8 mmol kg−1 . The contribution of sugars to osmolality was less than 28%, except in C. articulatus (41% in September). Potassium (K), Na, chloride (Cl), and sulfate were the most abundant inorganic components of the osmolality. T. dominguensis showed the highest ratio Cl− SO4 2− and the lowest K+ Na+ in the sap. The conclusion of this study is that E. mutata is a suitable forage for water-buffaloes because of its high crude protein content and carbohydrates, as by its low phenols concentration. However it has a lower tolerance to salinity than Typha dominguensis, which is expanding in the studied area.
Effects of Variety and Fungicidal Rate on Cercospora Leaf Spots Disease of Groundnut in the Sudan Savanna

A field study was carried out at the University of Maiduguri Teaching and Research Farm during the 2006, 2007 and 2008 cropping seasons to evaluate the effects of variety and fungicidal rate on Cercospora leaf spot disease of groundnut. The experimental design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with twelve treatment combinations of three varieties of groundnut (Ex-Dakar, RRB and ICGV-86024) and four levels of fungicidal rate (0, 1, 2 and 4 kghai¥1 of fungicide mancozeb) replicated three times. Disease incidence and disease severity were significantly higher in Ex-Dakar and 0 kghai¥1, thus had lower yields. Higher seed and haulm yield were recorded by RRB, ICGV-86024, as well as 2 and 4 kghai¥1 as a result of lower disease incidence and severity.
INCORPORATING THE SOIL COMMUNITY INTO PLANT POPULATION DYNAMICS : THE UTILITY OF THE FEEDBACK APPROACH

1 Although its importance for plant mineral nutrition and nutrient cycling has long been recognized, the soil community has rarely been integrated into dynamical frameworks of plant populations, in spite of abundant evidence for its involvement. The concept of feedback may provide theoretical and experimental tools for investigating the importance of the soil community in the population ecology and evolution of plants. 2 A mathematical model demonstrates the potential for two divergent dynamics, with positive feedback leading to the loss of diversity at a local scale and negative feedback leading to its maintenance. A linear contrast of the growth of plants in association with their own soil communities compared to the growth of plants in association with each others' soil communities can be used to differentiate between these possibilities in empirical studies. 3 Spatially explicit computer simulations demonstrate that the dynamics of a spatially structured community, as the soil community is likely to be, can differ from those predicted for a well-mixed population. Specifically, diversity can be maintained between locally homogeneous patches when positive feedback and dispersal occur at local scales. 4 Using a simple experimental protocol, we have found substantial negative feedback on plant growth through the soil community, suggesting that it may be involved in the maintenance of plant species diversity. 5 We discuss the importance of the soil community in other areas of plant ecology and evolution, including the suggestion that interactions with the soil community may be involved in the maintenance of sexual or asexual reproductive systems.
In Vivo Characterization of Low Molecular Weight Components of Some Plant Parasitic Nematodes By 13c nUclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Investigations on the feasibility of using 13C NMR spectroscopy to identify in vivo the major low molecular weight chemical species in plant parasitic nematodes are described. Longidorus elongatus, Anguina tritici and Globodera pallida were used, the last two in both desiccated and hydrated forms. In all specimens the dominant contributions to the spectra arose from lipid components. The major species in L. elongatus was identified as an 18±1 carbon monounsaturated (18: 1) fatty acid or ester, although the position of the double bond could not be ascertained. Other unsaturated fatty acid components were present in minor amounts, but for these it was not possible to determine either the chain lengths or double bond positions. The spectra of L. elongatus contained additional peaks which could be assigned to glyceride, trehalose and glucose. Considerable variations in the sugar contents were observed between samples, and there was a possible relationship between the glyceride and fatty acid components, suggesting that the latter might occur, at least in part, as triglycerides. Desiccated specimens of A. tritici produced relatively broad peaks, all of which could be assigned to fatty acid species. On hydration there was a considerable decrease in peak widths and the fatty acid component resembled that of L. elongatus. Additional peaks from trehalose were also produced. No spectrum was obtained from desiccated specimens of G. pallida, but on hydration peaks from lipid and trehalose were revealed. Resolution of peaks was poorer than with the L. elongatus and hydrated A. tritici specimens and the lipid resonance indicated a greater degree of unsaturation than in the other nematodes.
SENESCENCE AND REPRODUCTIVE VALUE IN SPARROWHAWKS

A long-term study of marked individuals in a numerically stable Sparrowhawk breeding population enabled the reproductive and survival rates of females of different ages to be calculated. These estimates were then used to calculate reproductive value, the mean number of young produced by females of different ages during the rest of their lives. The data provided evidence, not only for improvement in survival and breeding success in the early years of life, but also for senescence, i.e., a deterioration in survival and breeding success later in life. Average annual survival increased from 0.49 in 1st-yr females to 0.66 in 4 yr olds, and declined to 0.28 in 9 yr olds (maximum life-span 10 yr). Average annual production of young increased from 0.3 in 1st-yr females (including nonbreeders) to 3.3 in 5 yr olds, and declined to 1.8 in 9 yr olds. Mean reproductive value increased from 3.1 in 1st-yr females (including nonbreeders) to 8.1 in 4 yr olds, and declined to 2.1 in 9 yr olds.