Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bioactive compounds, antioxidant, tyrosinase inhibition, xanthine oxidase inhibition, anticholinesterase and anti inflammatory activities of Prunus mahaleb L. seed

Prunus mahaleb L. plant is cultivated for its seeds which are known as a spice. There is lack of information about its biological activities although it has long history of ethnopharmacological application. Therefore, this research was conducted to evaluate the bioactive compounds, antioxidant, tyrosinase inhibition, xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibition, anticholinesterase and anti inflammatory activities of the P. mahaleb L. seeds. Results showed that the total phenolic and flavonoid compounds concentration in the methanolic extract were 75.7±0.18 and 28.5±0.37 mg/g dry weight (DW) whereas in the hexane extract were 34.6±0.24 and 16.2±0.31 mg/g dry weight, respectively. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) activity and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity of the methanolic extract at the concentration of 100 µg/ml of crude extract were 44.3, 51.9 and 36.9% respectively, while for the hexane extract were 26.8, 32.8 and 21.8%, respectively. Both extracts showed antioxidant activity although they were lower than reference antioxidants (vitamin C, E and butylated hydroxyltoluene (BHT)). Ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) tests results showed the antioxidant activity of extracts. Methanolic extract in XO, tyrosinase, acetylthiocholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibition assays showed the significant (p<0.05) lower IC50 with values of 59.8, 21.0, 52.1 and 86.2 µg/ml as compared to the hexane extract with the values of 94.1, 54.2, 85.2 and 110.7 µg/ml. Anti-inflammatory assay using LPS/IFN-γ stimulated RAW 264.7 cells indicated that methanolic extract is a potent source of anti-inflammatory agent. Consequently, the methanolic extracts of P. mahaleb seeds possess strong tyrosinase inhibitory activity and moderate antioxidant potential, XO inhibitory, anticholinesterase and anti inflammatory activities. Key words: Prunus mahaleb, phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant, xanthine oxidase, tyrosinase, anticholinesterase, anti inflammatory.
Characterization of Trinucleotide Microsatellites in Eggplant

A small insert genomic library of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) was screened with eight trinucleotide probes. Based on the screening of approximately 108,000 plaques, the occurrence of (AAC/TTG) n, (AAG/TTC)n, (ACC/TGG)n, (ACG/TGC)n, (ACT/TGA)n, (AGC/TCG) n, (AGG/TCC)n and (ATC/TAG) n repeats was estimated to be, respectively, 1.2 × 10 3, 1.3 × 102, 4.0 × 102, 7.6 × 10, 1.1 × 102, 5.7 × 10, 1.3 × 102 and 3.8 × 10, i. e. once every 951 kbp, 8.3 Mbp, 2.8 Mbp, 14.5 Mbp, 9.7 Mbp, 19.3 Mbp, 8.3 Mbp and 29 Mbp in the eggplant genome, respectively. Two trinucleotide repeats, (AAC/TTG)n and (ACC/TGG) n, predominated, accounting for 84.5 % of the isolated trinucleotide microsatellites. A total of 83.5 % of the identified trinucleotide repeats contained seven repeat units or less. Inserts of the positive clones were sequenced and 85 PCR primer sequences bordering the microsatellite repeats were designed. In order to assess the polymorphism, 11 S. melongena lines and 11 Solanum relatives were used. The mean number of alleles per polymorphic locus was 2.1 for S. melongena lines and 2.9 for Solanum relatives. Low levels of polymorphism were observed in eggplant, with the average heterozygosity being 0.31 between S. melongena lines and 0.32 between Solanum relatives. Most of the markers that detected polymorphism between S. melongena lines contained eight or more repeat units. The motif most frequently found in Solanum was (AAC/TTG)n in this study. All the primer sets which detected PCR products in S. melongena yielded PCR products in S. incanum, which is in agreement with its very close relationship with S. melongena. Further transferability, however, was rather low, since only half of the primer sets gave products in Solanum relatives except for S. incanum. Analysis of the polymorphic loci in an eggplant F2 population revealed a codominant mendelian segregation.
Short communication. Phenological growth stages of saffron plant (Crocus sativus L.) according to the BBCH Scale

Phenological studies are important for understanding the influence of climate dynamics on vegetative growth, flowering and fruiting on plants and can be used in many scientific subjects, such as Agronomy, Botany and Plant Biology, but also Climatology as a result of the current global interest in climate change monitoring. The purpose of the detailed specific culture descriptions of the principal growth stages in plants is to provide an instrument for standardization of data recording. To date, there was no coding method to describe developmental stages on saffron plant ( Crocus sativus L.). Because of the increasing world-wide interest on this crop, a novel growth development code based on the BBCH extended scale is proposed in this paper. Six principal growth stages were set up, starting from sprouting, cataphylls and flowers appearance, plant appearance and development, replacement corms development, plant senescence and corm dormancy. Each principal growth stage is subdivided into secondary growth stages. Descriptive keys with illustrations are included to make effective use of the system.
Effects of some Rhizobium strains on chickpea growth and biological control of Rhizoctonia solani

Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most important soil-borne fungal pathogens that attack the roots of plant and causes significant damage to different plants particularly to chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.). The aim of this work is to study the antagonistic activity of different Rhizobium strains against R. solani in dual culture in vitro and under greenhouse conditions. The benefits of rhizobial inoculant in nitrogen fixation, phosphorous uptake and on plant growth promoting were demonstrated with 42 Rhizobium strains. Among the 42 strains tested, 24 isolates had effective control on R. solani in vitro. In order to study the biological control mechanisms, the Rhizobium strains ability to produce volatile compounds and to solubilise phosphate were investigated. The results showed that 10 strains were able to solubilise phosphorus and 13 strains produced volatile compounds. In pot trials, the percentage of chickpea plants inoculated with different rhizobia showed significant reduce of root rot symptoms compared to the control growing in uninoculated soil. Among these rhizobiums, the strain S27 proved efficient against the soil borne pathogen in vitro and in pot experiments. Our study suggested that inoculation with specific Rhizobium exerts significant disease suppress against R. solani in controlled conditions. Key words: Rhizobium, Rhizoctonia solani, chickpea, plant growth promotion, biological control.
Nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 participate in lipopolysaccharide/interferon‐γ‐induced heme oxygenase 1 and prevent RAW264.7 macrophages from UV‐irradiation‐induced cell death

Induction of heme oxygenase (HO)‐1 during inflammation has been demonstrated in many cell types, but the contribution of inflammatory molecules nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has remained unresolved. Here we show that NO donors including sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and spermine nonoate (SP‐NO), and PGE2 significantly stimulate HO‐1 expression in RAW264.7 macrophages, associated with alternative induction on NO and PGE2 in medium, respectively. NO donors also show the inductive effect on cyclo‐oxygenase 2 protein and PGE2 production. In the presence of lipopolysaccharide and interferon‐γ (LPS/IFN‐γ), HO‐1 protein was induced slightly but significantly, and SNP, SP‐NO, and PGE2 enhanced HO‐1 protein induced by LPS/IFN‐γ. L‐Arginine analogs N‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME) and N‐nitro‐L‐arginine (NLA) significantly block HO‐1 protein induced by LPS/IFN‐γ associated with a decrease in NO (not PGE2) production. And, NSAIDs aspirin and diclofenase dose dependently inhibited LPS/IFN‐γ‐induced HO‐1 protein accompanied by suppression of PGE2 (not NO) production. PD98059 (a specific inhibitor of MEKK), but not SB203580 (a specific inhibitor of p38 kinase), attenuated PGE2 (not SP‐NO) induced HO‐1 protein. Under UVC (100 J/m2) and UVB (50 J/m2) irradiation, PGE2 or SP‐NO treatment prevents cells from UVC or UVB‐induced cell death, and HO‐1 inhibitor tin protoporphyrin (SnPP) reverses the preventive effects of PGE2 and SP‐NO. The protective activity induced by PGE2 on UVC or UVB irradiation‐induced cell death was blocked by MAPK inhibitor PD98059 (not SB203580). These results demonstrated that inflammatory molecules NO and PGE2 were potent inducers of HO‐1 gene, and protected cells from UV‐irradiation‐induced cell death through HO‐1 induction. J. Cell. Biochem. 86: 331–339, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
VALIDATION OF LEARNING EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE IN FACULTY OF MEDICINE PATTIMURA UNIVERSITY

Introduction. Efforts to guarantee the quality of medical doctor graduates are major concern in the implementation of problem-based learning in medical education today. Therefore, continuous evaluation in the medical education system is necessary. However, to obtain constructive evaluation results, the instrument that is used must be valid and reliable. Aim This study aimed to validate the learning evaluation questionnaire used at the Faculty of Medicine Pattimura University, so the valid and reliable instrument can be produced for further evaluation. Methods This study used correlative analytic method; with study subject are 102 students that were selected randomly through stratified random sampling technique and had been adjusted to restriction criteria. Pearson bivariate correlation test was performed to obtain the validity coefficient and the reliability coefficient by Alpha method. Result The results of the initial analysis and the second analysis after modification show that some items have low validity (0.311 and 0.256) and even invalid (0.03; < r table 0.1946). However, after item reconstruction, the average validity coefficient raise to >0.5 (moderate category) and >0.9 (very high category) with the overall questionnaire reliability coefficient is >0.9 in two tests (test-retest). Conclution.Thus, it can be concluded that the learning evaluation questionnaire used at the Faculty of Medicine Pattimura University is valid and reliable.
Characteristics of Milk, Cheddar-Like and White Cheese Obtained from Three Goat Phenotypes during Three Lactation Periods

Goat's milk from three phenotypes: Shami, Local, and Mixed was collected during three lactation periods in 2002. The milk was analyzed for moisture, protein, fat, ash, and lactose content. Also milk was examined for yeast, mold and bacterial content. Cheddar and white cheese were manufactured from goat's bulk milk and examined for chemical composition and evaluated for color, taste and flavor, appearance, and texture and aroma. Results showed that the chemical composition of goat's milk varied significantly during the whole year and also among the three goat phenotypes. Local goats produced milk at the first lactation period with highest (44.6%) fat content: the lowest fat content was 29.8% for the Mixed color phenotype at the end of the year. Protein showed the same trend. Shami goat produced milk lower in lactose and ash content than the mixed color breed, whereas the Local (black) produced milk having intermediate content of lactose and ash. Cheddar and white cheese were highly acceptable. Their composition varied—cheddar cheese was higher in protein and NSF but slightly lower in fat content. White cheese retained more lactose. Goat's milk of Shami, Local (black) and Mixed color phenotypes were found to be highly contaminated with bacteria and mold due to lack of hygiene. Milk contained low number of pathogenic bacteria. Using a pasteurization temperature at 73°C for 16 seconds was found to eliminate them.
X-ray Image Segmentation using Multi-task Learning

The chest X-rays are a common way to diagnose lung cancer or pneumonia. In particular, the finding of a lung nodule is the most important problem in the early detection of lung cancer. Recently, a lot of automatic diagnosis algorithms have been studied to find the lung nodules missed by doctors. The algorithms are typically based on segmentation network like U-Net. However, the occurrence of false positives that similar to lung nodules present outside the lungs can severely degrade performance. In this study, we propose a multi-task learning method that simultaneously learns the lung region and nodule-labeled data based on the prior knowledge that lung nodules exist only in the lung. The proposed method significantly reduces false positives outside the lung and improves the recognition rate of lung nodules to 83.8 F1 score compared to 66.6 F1 score of single task learning with U-net model. The experimental results on the JSRT public dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with other baseline methods.
Spatio-temporal relationship between calf body mass and population productivity in Fennoscandian moose Alces alces

Body mass is an important life history trait related to survival, mating success and fecundity in ungulates. Accordingly, we may expect that both body mass and reproductive measurements at the population level can be used as valid indices of population condition. However, several factors may modify the relationship between body mass and fecundity because of trade-offs between maturity and early body growth, and varying mortality patterns and sex/age structure among populations. To evaluate the use of such indices for population monitoring and examine the current variation in moose Alces alces population condition in Fennoscandia, we studied the spatio-temporal relationship between calving rate, twinning rate and average autumn calf body mass of moose in Norway and Finland. Calving rate and twinning rate were based on moose observations by hunters while body mass was the average carcass mass of harvested calves. We found a positive relationship between indices both within and among populations. Calves were on average heavier and the observed recruitment rates higher in Finland than in Norway, which is consistent with the higher moose density and presumably lower primary productivity (higher altitude) of moose ranges in Norway. We also found higher observed recruitment rates in populations and years with more even adult sex ratios (females per male) and low relative harvest rates of calves. This suggests that variation in recruitment rate is not only a matter of nutritional condition, but is also affected by varying hunting regulations and harvest structure. For monitoring purposes, we believe that twinning rate is best suited for ranking populations according to nutritional status as this index is closely related to fitness and is relatively insensitive to variation in perinatal and harvest mortality. However, variation in calf body mass may better reflect temporal variation in living conditions. This is because early body growth is sensitive to variation in food availability (and quality) and because body mass may respond more instantaneously than recruitment indices to adverse conditions. Accordingly, we found both calving rate and twinning rate to be best related to variation in mean calf body mass in the previous year.
Structural Modeling, Evolution and Ligand Interaction of KMP11 Protein of Different Leishmania Strains

The kinetoplastid-specific KMP11 protein was first described for Leishmania donovani associated with the lypophosphoglycan molecule and is localized mainly around the flagellum and flagellar pocket. This protein is well conserved among kinetoplastids and plays an analogous role in all the flagellates, irrespective of their pathogenicity in humans. The structural elucidation of this important protein may bring about information required to target KMP11 to find valid drug candidates. The atomic-resolution model of KMP11 protein of six different Leishmania strains has been determined from its amino acid sequence by using homology modeling. The stereochemical validation of modeled protein has been done by PROCHECK and Profiles-3D scores. The ligand protein interaction of the KMP11 protein models were carried out with several anti-leishmanial drugs i.e. miltefosine, sitamaquine, pentamidine, amphotericin B, SAG (sodium antimony gluconate), leishmanial peptide, paromomycin and vinblastine and an anticancer compound, sulforaphane. Glutamic acid (E) and lysine (K) of KMP11 are the key amino acids during ligand-receptor interaction. From structural and docking analyses, it is hypothesized that KMP11 of a specific Leishmania strain interacts with a specific anti-leishmanial drug candidate i.e. miltefosine interacts only with KMP11 of L. braziliensis but not with KMP11 of any other Leishmania strain. Highest docking score was found in case of pentamidine. Anticarcinogenic compound, sulphoraphane has shown comparable docking scores and H-bonds with KMP11 protein of six Leishmania strains.
Food availability and offspring demand influence sex-specific patterns and repeatability of parental provisioning

Few studies have examined interactions between resource availability, life-history traits and sexual conflict on species-specific provisioning rates, and within-individual variation of parental care. To this end, we used 1129 nest observation periods from 118 nests across 4 populations to examine how parental nest visitation varied according to sex, food availability, and offspring need (brood size and age) in the stitchbird (hihi: Notiomystis cincta). Males increased their provisioning proportional to brood size regardless of food availability, whereas females did not increase provisioning to larger broods unless food supplemented. Male provisioning consistently followed the age-dependent energy requirements of the nestlings, whereas females showed little or no brood age–provisioning relationships. Thus, males were more sensitive than females to changes in the energy demands of their offspring; however, this was probably because females were already providing food at a high rate and could not respond to increased demand unless given additional food. Sex and habitat-specific repeatability estimates of parental effort suggest that variation in female provisioning behavior tends to be driven by differences in the local environment, whereas variation in male provisioning is more related to differences in individual quality. These sex-specific responses of parental care can be largely explained by the relative benefits of provisioning; females provisioned at a high rate to offspring they knew to be their own, based on available resources. In contrast, when food was abundant, males did not increase their provisioning to offspring probably because of the opportunity for additional matings via forced extrapair copulations.
Use of Lipid-Extracted Distillers Dried Grain with Solubles (DDGS) in Diets for Pacific White Shrimp

AbstractA series of trials (one growth trial and two digestibility trials) were conducted to evaluate the response of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei to the inclusion of lipid-extracted distillers dried grain with solubles (LE-DDGS). In the growth trial, a practical basal diet was developed for shrimp using soybean meal (56.76% diet) and fish meal (6% diet) as the primary protein sources. The LE-DDGS was substituted for soybean meal on an isonitrogenous basis at five levels of inclusion (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40%) with lysine supplemented to diets containing 30% and 40% LE-DDGS. A sixth diet containing 40% LE-DDGS but without a lysine supplement was also evaluated. The diets were offered to four replicate (15 shrimp/tank) groups of shrimp per treatment over an 8-week growth trial. At the end of the growth trial shrimp offered diets containing from 0% to 20% LE-DDGS performed similarly. Performance of shrimp fed higher levels of LE-DDGS was reduced but similar to each other. Removing the lysine supp.
Predicting the distribution of a novel bark beetle and its pine hosts under future climate conditions

Understanding the distribution of key biotic elements of forest ecosystems is essential in contemporary forest management and in planning to meet future management needs. Habitat distribution (niche) models based on known occurrences provide geographical structure for such management as the environmental factors change. Bark beetles play critical roles in coniferous forest dynamics in western North America. Among these insects, Dendroctonus rhizophagus Thomas and Bright, which occurs in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, is unique in that it attacks only immature trees (Pinus spp.) and therefore represents a threat to forest regeneration. We developed current habitat distribution models for D. rhizophagus and its Pinus hosts and projected these to future climate scenarios. Predicted suitable habitat of D. rhizophagus currently covers approximately 119 000 km2 of which approximately 11% is occupied, and overlap with suitable habitat for all Pinus hosts exceeds 99.5%. Some suitable habitat occurs isolated from known D. rhizophagus occurrences in Mexico and the south‐western U.S.A. Habitat distribution models were projected to four potential climate scenarios for the period 2040–2060 and this predicted the gains and losses of suitable D. rhizophagus habitat throughout the region. Areas of north‐western Mexico maintain large areas of suitable D. rhizophagus and Pinus host habitat in all scenarios. Dispersal to isolated areas of D. rhizophagus habitat appears unlikely. The results of the present study can be used to target D. rhizophagus monitoring and management activities and may serve as a model for the management of other invasive species.
The páramo vegetation of Ramal de Guaramacal, Trujillo State, Venezuela. 2. Azonal vegetation

The azonal paramo vegetation present at the top of Ramal de Guaramacal in the Venezuelan Andes was studied by means of observations, plant collections and surveys consisting of a total of 71 small plots of between 0.25 to 6 m2. Azonal vegetation is represented in the study area by habitats experiencing water stress (peat bogs and aquatic vegetation). The azonal vegetation present in two peat bogs areas of Paramo El Pumar (Laguna El Pumar y Laguna Seca), and in a small valley where water collects in Paramo de Guaramacal, near the 'Las Antenas' area between ∼2900 and ∼3000 m were analyzed. A total of 53 morphospecies, belonging to 30 species of vascular plants, 20 species of cryptogams and 3 undetermined species of algae have been documented for the azonal vegetation. The interpretation of a TWINSPAN clustering, based on affinities of floristic composition and species cover, allowed the recognition of six azonal vegetation communities grouped into three alliances and one order. The new alliance Sphagno recurvi-Paepalanthion pilosi groups the new bunchgrass paramo association Paepalantho pilosi-Agrostietum basalis and the both new Sphagnum bog associations: Sphagno recurvi-Caricetum bonplandii and Sphagno sparsi-Caricetum bonplandii. The new alliance Carici bonplandii-Chusqueion angustifolia contains a bamboo paramo ('chuscal') association Carici bonplandii-Chusqueetum angustifoliae growing close to the lake shores, in periodically flooded areas, and characterized almost exclusively by Chusquea angustifolia. The alliance Districho submersi-Isoetion Cleef 1981 is represented by the submerged aquatic community of Sphagnum cuspidatum and the Isoetetum karstenii Cleef 1981.
Processing of McCoy cell cultures infected with Chlamydia trachomatis: sequential isolation of chlamydial elementary bodies and lipopolysaccharide

Triton X-100 (TX100) enhances the liberation of chlamydial elementary bodies (EB) from host cells and dissolves the host cell membrane. In the presence of TX100 only differential centrifugation is needed to isolate reasonably pure EBs. The remaining high-speed supernatant still contains a large part of the chlamydial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which can be isolated with the standard phenol-chloroform-petroleum ether extraction.