Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Studies on bioactive potentialities of some phytochemicals isolated from Curcuma longa L and Curcuma caesia Roxb with special reference to their genetically true to type propagation through in vitro culture technique

An efficient plant propagation system through rhizomal explants was established in Curcuma caesia Roxb. , a medicinally important herbaceous annual herb belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. Here we report a rapid and reliable method for high fidelity micro-propagation. Rhizomal explants from two months old seedlings were cultured on Murashige and Skoogs (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of N6benzyladenine (BA) (0.5 5.0 mg/l), Napthalenic acetic acid (NAA) (0.5 5.0 mg/l) and Indole 3 butyric acid (IBA) (0.5 5.0 mg/l). During the first culture on 1.5 mg/l of 6-benzylamino purine (BAP) and 1 mg/l of Napthalenic acetic acid (NAA) maximum 15.40±0.40 shoots with an average shoot-length of 8.46±0.06 were produced. The elongated shoots produced a maximum of 12.00±0.00 roots on half-strength MS liquid medium supplemented with 1 mg/l of Indole 3 butyric acid (IBA). The plantlets were acclimatized by transferring them first to peat moss: compost (1:1) mixture followed by sand: soil (2:1) mixture, recording 95% survival. Genetic fidelity was assessed by DNA fingerprinting using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) of in vitro and in vivo plants. Five arbitrary decamers displayed same banding profile showed no genomic alterations, indicating homogeneity among the tissue culture regenerates and genetic uniformity with that of donor plants. The present study provides high genetic fidelity micropropagated system for efficient and rapid micropropagation protocol of this important medicinal plant and great use in conserving without risk of genetic instability.  2013 Trade Science Inc. INDIA
Identification and characterization of transcriptional enhancers integrating Notch and other developmental signals : regulation of the Drosophila nab locus

For ~30 million years, the eggs of Hawaiian Drosophila were laid in ever-changing environments caused by high rates of island formation. The associated diversification of the size and developmental rate of the syncytial fly embryo would have altered morphogenic gradients, thus necessitating frequent evolutionary compensation of transcriptional responses. We investigate the consequences these radiations had on transcriptional enhancers patterning the embryo to see whether their pattern of molecular evolution is different from non-Hawaiian species. We identify and functionally assay in transgenic D. melanogaster the Neurogenic Ectoderm Enhancers from two different Hawaiian Drosophila groups: (i) the picture wing group, and (ii) the modified mouthparts group. We find that the binding sites in this set of well-characterized enhancers are footprinted by diverse microsatellite repeat (MSR) sequences. We further show that Hawaiian embryonic enhancers in general are enriched in MSR relative to both Hawaiian non-embryonic enhancers and non-Hawaiian embryonic enhancers. We propose embryonic enhancers are sensitive to Activator spacing because they often serve as assembly scaffolds for the aggregation of transcription factor activator complexes. Furthermore, as most indels are produced by microsatellite repeat slippage, enhancers from Hawaiian Drosophila lineages, which experience dynamic evolutionary pressures, would become grossly enriched in MSR content.
Isolation of Metarhizium anisopliae (Deuteromycotina: Hyphomycetes) from Reticulitermes flavipes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) with convenient methods for its culture and collection of conidia

A virulent strain (pathotype) of the entomogenous fungus causing green muscardine disease in insects, Metarhizium anisopliae, was isolated from the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, in Toronto, Ontario. The method of culturing the fungus involved the following steps: 1) dusting termites with conidia by swirling them in a glass petri plate for several minutes with conidia 2) allowing 2-4 days for the conidia dusted termites to die in a clean dry petri dish and for conidia to germinate and invade the termite body, 3) transferring the petri dish to a humidity chamber to promote growth of aerial hyphae, 4) transferring hyphae covered corpses to 2% potato dextrose agar or Sabouroud's dextrose agar with 0.05% ampicillin 5) followed by sequential daily transfer to new agar plates if necessary until all contaminant bacteria and fungi are removed. With spacing of corpses 1 cm apart the mycelium will grow over the whole plate producing a solid 0.5 mm spore mass within about 4 weeks. Conidia so grown are dark green rather than grey when grown on media alone. Conidia are harvested by gently loosening them with a sterile probe and then inverting the culture dish over a sterilized glass lid and applying an electric vibrator to the plate to dislodge them onto the lid. The pure conidia can then be weighed and applied to termites by swirling then in a dish with the termites. The dry conidia are adsorbed onto the epicuticle of the termites.
Population Structure and Association Analysis of Traits in Summer Soybeans

ABSTRACT The summer soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr. ) in Hebei Province, China, which have adapted to different environments, show extraordinarily rich genetic diversity and extensive species variation. The objectives of this study were to analyze the population structure of summer soybean using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and to identify the SSR markers associated with specific traits. A set of 135 SSR markers was used to analyze 50 soybean cultivars, of which 47 cultivars were from 10 breeding institutions in Hebei Province and three cultivars were introductions from the United States. Software tools, the TASSEL, DARwin, and STRUCTURE, were used to analyze linkage disequilibrium (LD) and genetic structure. In addition, an association analysis between the molecular markers and the phenotypic values of 15 agronomic and quality traits was performed. The yield-related agronomic traits included plant height, bottom pod height, effective branch number, number of nodes on main stem, pod number per plant, seed number per plant, one-seed pods, two-seed pods, three-seed pods, four-seed pods, seed weight per plant, 100-seed weight, and yield. The quality traits included crude protein content and crude fat content. The following results were obtained from the analysis. First, principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that a significant correlation existed between the cultivar distribution and the breeding institutions or breeding areas. Second, 63.86% of pairs of SSR loci exhibited certain levels of LD. The fragment between loci Satt557 and Satt371 in the C2 LG had a genetic distance of 33.29 cM and featured strong LD (r2 > 0.33). Third, the genetic-structure analysis revealed that the population was composed of two subpopulations, which related to their parental pedigrees. In addition, 70 SSR markers were found to be associated with 13 agronomic traits; 49 SSR markers have not been reported previously. The SSR markers identified in this study could potentially be used in marker-assisted breeding to accelerate genetic improvement of soybean for yield and quality.
Infrastructure monitoring using SAR and multispectral multitemporal images

The main objective of this study is to investigate suitable approaches to monitor the land infrastructure growth over a period of time using multimodality of remote sensing satellite images. Bi-temporal change detection method is unable to indicate the continuous change occurring over a long period of time and thus to achieve this purpose, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multispectral satellite images of same geographical region over a period of 2015 to 2018 are obtained and analyzed. SAR data from Sentinel-1 and multispectral image data from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 are used. Statistical composite hypothesis technique is used for estimating pixel-based change detection. The well-established likelihood ratio test (LRT) statistic is used for determining the pixel-wise change in a series of complex covariance matrices of multilooked polarimetric SAR data. In case of multispectral images, the approach used is to estimate a statistical model from series of multispectral image data over a long period of time, assuming there is no considerable change during that time period and then compare it with the multispectral image data obtained at a later time. The generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) is used to detect the target (changed pixel) from probabilistic estimated model of the corresponding background clutter (non-changed pixels). To minimize error due to co-registration, 8- neighborhood pixels around the pixel under test are also considered. There are different challenges in both the cases. SAR images have the advantage of being insensitive to atmospheric and light conditions, but it suffers the presence of speckle phenomenon. In case of multispectral, challenge is to get quite large number of datasets without cloud coverage in region of interest for multivariate distribution modelling. Due to imperfect modelling there will be high probability of false alarm. Co-registration is also an important criterion in multitemporal image analysis.
The transformation and fate of sub‐Arctic microphytobenthos carbon revealed through 13C‐labeling

Microphytobenthos (MPB) at higher latitudes has been poorly studied. This study used pulse‐chase 13C‐labeling to investigate the production, processing, and fate of MPB‐derived carbon (MPB‐C) in sub‐Arctic intertidal sediments over 31 d. Gross primary production (2.1 mmol C m−2 h−1 ± 0.4 mmol C m−2 h−1) was comparable to that reported for temperate regions. Some of the 13C fixed by sub‐Arctic MPB was rapidly (within 0.5 d) transferred to deeper sediments (below 2 cm), but most was retained within surface sediments (>70.2% of the 13C present at any time during the study). At any time, MPB accounted for ≥ 49.8% of this 13C. The 13C content of sediment organic carbon declined over time, but > 31% of the 13C fixed within the first tidal cycle remained after 31 d, suggesting that sub‐Arctic MPB may contribute to coastal carbon retention during the productive season. Over 21 d, 10.6% of the fixed 13C was removed via DIC fluxes and 0.3% via DOC fluxes from inundated sediment, and 0.6% as CO2 from exposed sediment. The greatest loss of 13C (38.2%) was via unmeasured pathways, including resuspension and/or removal by mobile consumers. The rates of MPB‐C production and the relative importance of the pathways for MPB‐C loss were similar to that observed for comparable lower latitude sediments, demonstrating that MPB at higher latitudes are not necessarily distinct from MPB at lower latitudes and probably play a similarly important role in ecosystem functioning. Apparently, local environmental conditions are more important than climate differences for determining the processing and fate of MPB‐C.
Nestmate Recognition in Cornitermes cumulans Termites (Insecta: Isoptera)

Termite nests are frequently invaded by other termite species, but the mechanisms that allow such an invasion are not completely understood yet. In this paper we propose that, in order to understand whether and how termite builders manage to recognize intruders, a first approach would be to comprehend how they distinguish themselves from other individuals with similar morphology and behavior (that is, conspecifics) but potentially presenting differing colony-specific labels. We tested the hypothesis that Cornitermes cumulans individuals are more aggressive against non-nestmates than to nestmates, such an aggressiveness increasing with inter-colony distance. To do so we observed, in lab assays, the aggressive behavior and survival of workers confined in groups composed only by nestmates or by an equal mix of nestmates and non-nestmates. We found that C. cumulans workers were able to recognize and attack non-nestmates, such a pattern being not affected by the distance between their original nests in the field. We conclude that C. cumulans are able to distinguish 'self' from 'non-self' and, therefore, should not promptly and pacifically accept inquilines into their nests. It seems, therefore, that invaders of such termites' nests must employ strategies that involve either disguising or contest.
Bone marrow cells contribute to tissue regeneration in the intestine and skin.

Adult bone marrow contains progenitor cells that can extricate themselves from their bone marrow cavity niche, and engraft within foreign tissues, whereupon they produce specific differentiated adult lineages. Bone marrow engraftment is upregulated with increasing regenerative pressure, which has triggered speculation as to the therapeutic potential of bone marrow cells. In this thesis, I describe for the first time, that transplanted adult bone marrow cells engraft within the intestines of mice and humans and give rise to a substantial proportion of the mesenchymal cells in the lamina propria, namely, the intestinal subepithelial myofibroblasts. I show that bone marrow contribution to intestinal myofibroblasts is significantly enhanced in a mouse model of colitis. Furthermore, I show that bone marrow cells form multiple vascular lineages in the mouse colon, with an enhanced propensity in colitis. These results have implications for the use of bone marrow in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, either by directly producing mesenchymal and vascular lineages, and/or possibly via the indirect regulation of intestinal epithelial cells. I also report that transplanted bone marrow cells engraft into the skin and contribute to multiple epidermal lineages. These bone marrow-derived cells are commonly located within postulated epidermal stem cell niches, and can express putative epidermal stem cell markers. Bone marrow cell engraftment was significantly enhanced in the wounded epidermis, and bone marrow-derived epidermal cells can proliferate in vivo, and form colonies in vitro. I found no evidence that bone marrow cells fuse with indigenous epidermal cells to form heterokaryons. These results highlight the potential of bone marrow cells in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and skin.
Mapping the substrate sequence and length of the Plasmodium M1 and M17 aminopeptidases

During malarial infection, Plasmodium parasites digest human hemoglobin to obtain free amino acids for protein production and maintenance of osmotic pressure. The Plasmodium M1 and M17 aminopeptidases are both postulated to have an essential role in the terminal stages of the hemoglobin digestion process and are validated drug targets for the design of new dualtarget anti-malarial compounds. In this study, we profiled the substrate specificity fingerprints and kinetic behaviors of M1 and M17 aminopeptidases from Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, and the mouse model species, Plasmodium berghei. We found that although the Plasmodium M1 aminopeptidases share a largely similar, broad specificity at the P1 position, the P. falciparum M1 displays the greatest diversity in specificity and P. berghei M1 showing a preference for charged P1 residues. In contrast, the Plasmodium M17 aminopeptidases share a highly conserved preference for hydrophobic residues at the P1 position. The aminopeptidases also demonstrated intra-peptide sequence specificity, particularly the M1 aminopeptidases, which showed a definitive preference for peptides with fewer negatively charged intrapeptide residues. When tested with a panel of peptides of increasing length, each aminopeptidase exhibited unique catalytic behavioral responses to the increase in peptide length, although all six aminopeptidases exhibited an increase in cooperativity as peptide length increased. Overall the P. vivax and P. berghei enzymes were generally faster than the P. falciparum enzymes, which we postulate is due to subtle differences in structural dynamicity. Together, these results build a kinetic profile that allows us to better understand the catalytic nuances of the M1 and M17 aminopeptidases from different Plasmodium species.
Design of boronic acid-attributed carbon dots on inhibits HIV-1 entry

The development of gp120 targeted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug has improved antiretroviral therapies owing to its effects on attachment to target cells. Some currently available antiretroviral therapies that act by inhibiting viral infection still are limited on the toxicity issues; therefore, novel approaches to treat and prevent HIV infections are still needed. Herein, we introduce carbon dot nanoparticles as a new strategy for preventing HIV-1 infection via interaction with gp120 and subsequent elimination of target cell interaction. Carbon dots (diameter: ∼2 nm) exhibiting a graphene-like structure were prepared by pyrolysis of citric acid and further associated with boronic acid-containing molecules. Specific peaks from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated successful modification of the carbon dots by boronic acid. The lower cytotoxic effects of this carbon-based material were evaluated using WST-1 assays. The existence of boronic acid moieties on the edge of carbon dots enhanced the inhibitory activity by suppressing syncytium formation. These findings provide a basis for further studies of carbon dot-based applications in HIV prevention and therapy.
Physical and mechanical properties of polyurethane thermoset matrices reinforced with green coconut fibres

Currently, the use of composites to replace parts made only with plastics has been gradually employed. The advantages of these composites are low cost, high availability of raw materials and good physical and mechanical properties. Thus, this work aimed at producing and characterizing composites produced with coconut fibre reinforced polyurethane matrices. The coconut fibres were studied as to their chemical constituents, aspect ratio, bulk density, pH, tensile properties, and surface SEM images. The composites were prepared using the hand lay-up process and four different concentrations of coconut fibre were evaluated: 30, 40, 50, and 60%. The composites were assessed as for water absorption after 20 days of immersion, bulk density, impact IZOD, tensile tests, and visualize the matrix-reinforcement interface using SEM. The electron micrographs showed a great deal of impurities on the surface of coconut fibres, such as greases, waxes, and gums, due to the high amount of extraction material (19.78%), which damages the adherence of the polymer onto the coconut fibre and, as observed, cause detachment between the reinforcement and the matrix. The tensile strength of the composites tended to increase as greater amounts of coconut fibres were added to the matrix. The averages were around 6.51 to 6.72 MPa for composites with 30 and 60% fibres, respectively. Therefore, coconut fibres can be considered as an alternative to synthetic fibres commonly used in composites, and they can be used at a ratio of 60% without prejudicing the properties of the composites, making them lighter and cheaper.
Occupancy and abundance of stream salamanders along a specific conductance gradient

In the Central Appalachians (USA), mountaintop-removal mining accompanied by valley fills often leads to streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Thus, the ionic composition of freshwaters in this region is hypothesized to be a driver of the distribution and abundance of freshwater taxa, including stream salamanders. We examined the association between SC and stream salamander populations by conducting salamander counts in 30 southeastern Kentucky streams across a continuous gradient of SC that ranged from 30 to 1966 μS/cm. We counted 2319 salamanders across 5 species and, using a hierarchical Bayesian version of the N-mixture model, found a negative association between SC and salamander occupancy rates. This finding was consistent across adults and larvae of the 5 species we examined. Furthermore, we found that most salamander species and life stages showed reduced abundances given occupancy at greater SC levels. For example, estimated mean abundance given occupancy of larval Southern Two-lined Salamanders (Eurycea cirrigera) was 67.69 (95% credible interval 48.31–98.25) ind/10 m at 250 μS/cm and 2.30 (95% credible interval 1.46–3.93) ind/10 m at 2000 μS/cm. The consistent negative association across all species and life stages supports the hypothesis that salamander distributions and abundances are negatively associated with elevated SC of streams in southeastern Kentucky, even though physical and chemical environmental attributes, such as forest cover within stream catchments, were correlated with SC. Restoration of streams affected by mountaintop-removal mining should focus on restoring the ionic compositions that naturally occur in this region.
Charakterization of the neural-specific N-Oct 3/brain-2 transcription factor

The neural POU-domain proteins N-Oct 3 and N-Oct 5 were first identified in electrophoretic mobility retardation assays through their ability to bind to the octamer sequence ATGCAAAT. These two N-Oct factors are detected in extracts from tumor-derived and normal neural cells. They are present differentially, however, in extracts from melanocytes and melanoma cells: N-Oct 3 is present in extracts from both melanocytes and melanoma cells, whereas N-Oct 5 is more evident in extracts from metastatic melanoma cells. We show here that a cDNA encoding N-Oct 3 directs synthesis of both the N-Oct 3 and N-Oct 5 proteins and that the N-Oct 5 protein in neural and melanoma-cell extracts is also related to N-Oct 3. N-Oct 5, however, is apparently not expressed in vivo: It is not detected if cells are rapidly lysed in SDS or if extracts are prepared with appropriate protease inhibitors that includes the serine-protease inhibitor 4-(2-Aminoethyl)benzenesulfonyl fluoride hydrochloride (AEBSF). These data suggest that N-Oct 5 is a specific in vitro proteolytic cleavage product of N-Oct 3 and is not directly related to melanocyte malignancy.
The western corn rootworm

www.ext. colostate.edu The western corn rootworm (WCR) and the north ern corn rootworm (NCR) attack corn in Colorado. Although both species can be found in corn-growing areas across the state, only WCR is consid ered an economic problem. The adult NCR has uniform light green wing covers, while WCR has black or black and yellow wing covers (Figure 1). The following information pertains to management of WCR. Most of it also is appropriate for NCR.
Daphnia magna fitness during low food supply under different water temperature and brownification scenarios

Much of our current knowledge about non-limiting dietary carbon supply for herbivorous zooplankton is based on experimental evidence and typically conducted at ~1 mg C L -1 and ~20°C. Here we ask how low supply of dietary carbon affects somatic growth, reproduction, and survival of Daphnia magna and test effects of higher water temperature (+3 °C relative to ambient) and brownification (3X higher than natural water color; both predicted effects of climate change) during fall cooling. We predicted that even at very low carbon supply (~5µg C L -1 ), higher water temperature and brownification will allow D. magna to increase its fitness. Neonates (<24 h old) were incubated with lake seston for 4 weeks (October-November 2013) in experimental bottles submerged in outdoor mesocosms to explore effects of warmer and darker water. Higher temperature and brownification did not significantly affect food quality, as assessed by its fatty acid composition. Daphnia exposed to both increased temperature and brownification had highest somatic growth and were the only that reproduced, and higher temperature caused the highest Daphnia survival success. These results suggest that even under low temperature and thus lower physiological activity, low food quantity is more important than its quality for D. magna fitness.