Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inventory of ascidians (Tunicata, Ascidiacea) from the National Park La Restinga, Isla Margarita, Venezuela

Although ascidians form a conspicuous part of sessile assemblages in the Caribbean, no specialized inventories have been developed in Venezuela, except for a list of 15 species reported from Margarita Island (1984). Here we present the results of a taxonomic workshop held in the Universidad de Oriente, Boca del Rio, Margarita Island during April 20-25 of 2009, sponsored by the NaGISA-Caribbean Sea program. La Restinga National park was surveyed and we found 29 species belonging to 19 genera and 10 families. The most abundant colonial species were Clavelina oblonga, Aplidium accarense, Polyclinum constellatum, Distaplia bermudensis, Symplegma rubra, S. brakenhielmi, Botrylloides nigrum and Ecteinascidia turbinata. Among the solitary ascidians Phallusia nigra, Ascidia curvata, Microcosmus exasperatus, Styela canopus, Styela sp.1 and Styela sp. 2 were the most abundant. The ascidian diversity in this lagoon is one of the highest for similar habitats in the Caribbean and seven species are new registers for Venezuela (Ascidia curvata, Ecteinascidia styeloides, Aplidium accarense, Distaplia stylifera, Trididemnum orbiculatum, Symplegma rubra, and S. brakenhielmi). One point of concern for the conservation of la Restinga National Park is the presence of possible introduced species, and some management procedures are suggested.
An investigation of larval Ascaridoid nematodes in some marine fish from the Gulf of Thailand.

Larval Ascaridoid nematodes were investigated from in 1,880 samples from 78 species of marine fish from the Gulf of Thailand. Four genera of larval Ascaridoid nematodes: Anisakis, Contracaecum, Porrocaecum and Rhaphidascaris were found in the mesenteries, visceral organs and the intestines of 57 samples of 11 marine fish species. Larvae of the genus Anisakis were found in four species of fish (Muraenesox sp., Epinephelus areolatus, Rachycentron canadum, Trichiurus lepterus). Larvae of the genus Contracaecum were found in two species of fish (Priacanthus tayenus, Scolopsis dubiosus). Larvae of the genus Porrocaecum were found in two species of fish (Priacanthus tayenus, Seriolina nigrofasciata). Larvae of the genus Rhaphidascaris were found in four species of fish (Dasyatis sp., Plotosus anguillaris, Johnius dussumieri, Pelates quadrilineatus). Priacanthus tayenus was infected with the highest number of species of Ascaridoid nematodes (2 genera). The highest number of Ascaridoid nematodes per fish was observed in Muraenesox sp. , which was infested with 3.75 Anisakis per fish. In this study, Anisakis followed by Rhaphidascaris, were found in 63 (52.07%) and 32 (26.45%) fish samples, respectively.
Occurrence and identification of species of Trogoderma and Phradonoma (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) in stored grain in the Transvaal and Orange Free State, South Africa

Surveys were conducted in the western Transvaal and the Orange Free State to determine the occurrence of species of Trogoderma and Phradonoma in stored grain. Trogoderma and/or Phradonoma species were collected at 35 localities in addition to the 23 localities already known. P. nobile was collected at 22, T. variabile at 16 and T. inclusum at three localities respectively. T. granarium was not encountered in the present survey but is known from previous records. The characters for distinguishing the adults and larvae of the above four species are given, and includes methods for the dissection and mounting of larvae and genitalia.
EANet: Edge-Aware Network for the Extraction of Buildings from Aerial Images

Deep learning methods have been used to extract buildings from remote sensing images and have achieved state-of-the-art performance. Most previous work has emphasized the multi-scale fusion of features or the enhancement of more receptive fields to achieve global features rather than focusing on low-level details such as the edges. In this work, we propose a novel end-to-end edge-aware network, the EANet, and an edge-aware loss for getting accurate buildings from aerial images. Specifically, the architecture is composed of image segmentation networks and edge perception networks that, respectively, take charge of building prediction and edge investigation. The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Potsdam segmentation benchmark and the Wuhan University (WHU) building benchmark were used to evaluate our approach, which, respectively, was found to achieve 90.19% and 93.33% intersection-over-union and top performance without using additional datasets, data augmentation, and post-processing. The EANet is effective in extracting buildings from aerial images, which shows that the quality of image segmentation can be improved by focusing on edge details.
Virulence of a Salmonella typhimuriumOmpD Mutant

ABSTRACT An ompD mutation caused by a Tn10 insertion was transduced into Salmonella typhimurium SL1344 and UK-1. The adherence and invasion capabilities of the resultantompD mutants were examined by tissue culture analysis. The virulence of the S. typhimurium ompD mutants was ascertained by a 50% lethal dose (LD50) study and by determining colonization ability with BALB/c mice. We found no statistically significant difference in adherence and invasion capacities between the S. typhimurium wild type strains and their corresponding ompD mutants. Furthermore, the LD50 and colonization studies revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in virulence between the S. typhimurium wild type strains and their correspondingompD mutants. These results differ from those reported previously (C. J. Dorman, S. Chatfield, C. F. Higgins, C. Hayward, and G. Dougan, Infect. Immun. 57:2136–2140, 1989).
The utility of the ENTERORapid 24 kit for the identification of P. multocida and M. haemolytica

ENTERORapid 24 kit (PLIVA-Lachema, Czech Republic) was used for the identification of 321 strains isolated from the respiratory tract of different animal species in the Czech Republic and Ethiopia. A total of 207 ( 64.5%) strains were identified at the species level within 4 to 8 hours of incubation. In the same way, 39 (12.1%) strains were suc - cessfully classified at the genus level. The remaining strains (23.4%) were not identified nor classified to the family Pasteurel- laceae. On the other hand, the accuracy of the ENTERORapid 24 kit for the identification of P. multocida and M. haemoyltica was observed using 9 reference strains and the identification results were compaired with the results of the RapiD 20E kit (bioMerieux, France), which required an overall examination time of 4 hours. According to our observation, the ENTERO Rapid 24 kit is the fastest system for the identification of P. multocida and M. haemolytica strains within 4 to 8 hours with a correct identification rate at the species level, with and without additional tests. For these reasons, we propose its modification for rapid identificaton of P. multocida, M. haemolytica and related bacterial species from the family Pasteurel- laceae isolated from different animal species.
Pathogenesis of Group A Streptococcal Infections

SUMMARY Group A streptococci are model extracellular gram-positive pathogens responsible for pharyngitis, impetigo, rheumatic fever, and acute glomerulonephritis. A resurgence of invasive streptococcal diseases and rheumatic fever has appeared in outbreaks over the past 10 years, with a predominant M1 serotype as well as others identified with the outbreaks. emm (M protein) gene sequencing has changed serotyping, and new virulence genes and new virulence regulatory networks have been defined. The emm gene superfamily has expanded to include antiphagocytic molecules and immunoglobulin-binding proteins with common structural features. At least nine superantigens have been characterized, all of which may contribute to toxic streptococcal syndrome. An emerging theme is the dichotomy between skin and throat strains in their epidemiology and genetic makeup. Eleven adhesins have been reported, and surface plasmin-binding proteins have been defined. The strong resistance of the group A streptococcus to phagocytosis is related to factor H and fibrinogen binding by M protein and to disarming complement component C5a by the C5a peptidase. Molecular mimicry appears to play a role in autoimmune mechanisms involved in rheumatic fever, while nephritis strain-associated proteins may lead to immune-mediated acute glomerulonephritis. Vaccine strategies have focused on recombinant M protein and C5a peptidase vaccines, and mucosal vaccine delivery systems are under investigation.
Fragmentation and Characteristics of Recombinant Endochitinase Expressed in Escherichia Coli

A recombinant endochitinase fused with hexahistidine (rEC-H) was expressed and characterized. After Ni affinity chromatography, the recovery, purification-fold and specific activity of rEC-H were 88.8%, 13.4 and 142.1 U/mg, respectively. The purified rEC-H had optimal pH and temperature at pH 7.5 and 60°C, respectively and was stable at pH 4.0-9.0 and ＜50°C. It was activated by Ca(superscript 2+), Sr(superscript 2+), Ba(superscript 2+), Co(superscript 2+) and β-mercaptoethanol, but highly inhibited by Cu(superscript 2+), Hg(superscript 2+) and SDS. The thiol group may play an important role on rEC-H and rEC-H may easily be destructed when hydrophobic interaction is disrupted by sodium dodecyl sulfate. The molecular mass was lower than that of expected due to cleavage at 2 specific sites, 33Ala-34Asp and 472Glu-473Leu within rEC-H, suggesting the fragmentation of rEC-H occurred during expression.
Open string fields and D‐branes

These lecture notes review some modern developments in open string field theory. We begin with a discussion of the physical motivations and general framework of open SFT. We then briefly introduce and contrast the two basic formalisms, Boundary SFT and cubic SFT, and summarize the main results about tachyon condensation obtained with both approaches. Next, we review the Vacuum SFT conjecture, according to which D‐brane solutions correspond to string fields that are projectors of Witten's *‐algebra. We describe the Boundary CFT technique to compute *‐products and construct projector solutions. We argue that VSFT accounts precisely for the expected moduli space of D‐branes.
Identification of aluminum tolerance in the model legume Medicago truncatula

Acid soils worldwide limit agricultural productivity due to the effect of aluminum (Al) toxicity on plant growth. Al toxicity inhibits root growth and development thus reducing biomass yield in important forage legumes including alfalfa. Medicago truncatula is a model legume species with an extensive genomics infrastructure that can facilitate discovery of Al tolerance mechanisms of value for economical important species. The objective of this research was to identify genomic regions relevant to acid and Al tolerance in M. truncatula using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population. The mapping population was obtained from a cross between Mt Core 23 (acid and Al tolerant) and Mt Core 35 (acid and Al sensitive), followed by multiple generations of single seed descent. Genotyping of the F4:5 progenies was performed using the Illumina’s Medicago Golden Gate array with 1,536 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) as well as, complementary genotyping of SNPs targeting genomic regions and Al tolerance candidate genes using high resolution melting (HRM) analyses. A whole plant assay was used to evaluate the phenotypic response of the individuals from the RIL population and the parents for root growth at pH 7, pH 4 and pH4 +Al 20 µM. Genomic regionsassociated with Al tolerance were detected and the corresponding SNP markersidentified. The expression levels of target genes of contrasting genotypes were also evaluated. The practical value of the identified SNPs was evaluated based on their ability to predict the performance of additional RIL individuals when grown under acid and Al toxic conditions. Ultimately, strategies aimed to identify and understand genes and mechanisms of Al tolerance in Medicago are relevant and critically needed to deploy breeding strategies in economical important crops including alfalfa.
SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF 3, 5- DISUBSTITUTED-1,2,4-OXADIAZOLES AS ANTIHISTAMINIC AGENTS

Ten 3,5-Disubstituted-1,2,4-oxadiazoles were prepared in four steps by using 4-hydroxybenzonitrile as starting material. These compounds were tested for their antihistaminic activity. The compound JN 7 exhibited maximum activity while other compounds were found moderately active in ex vivo studies on field stimulated guinea pig ileum segments induced by (R)-α-methylhistamine.
Effect of medium on in vitro growth and ex vitro establishment of Globularia alypum L.

Globularia alypum L. is an evergreen small shrub, native in dry rocky areas of Mediterranean countries, that from November to May bears lilac-blue flowers in globose heads. The in vitro propagation of the species will facilitate its use as ornamental. Well-developed seeds without the hull, disinfested in 10% commercial bleach, achieved 83% germination and germinated faster on full strength (T 50 =7) than half strength (T 50 =9) solid (8 g l -1 agar) MS medium with 20 g l -1 sucrose. Seeds with the hull disinfested in 15% commercial bleach for 20 min had reduced germination (50%) which delayed by five days. After 2 months culture on full MS, 79% of the seedlings were hyperhydrated and failed to acclimatize ex vitro, while non- hyperhydrated 2-month-old seedlings were acclimatized with 100% success on peat - perlite (1:1, v/v); increasing the perlite ratio in the medium decreased the ability of acclimatization. Node explants, excised from 2-month-old seedlings grown in vitro, were cultured on various NAA and BA concentrations to test their ability for shoot regeneration. One hundred percent of the explants gave two shoots per explant when cultured on solid (8 g l -1 agar) MS, with 20 g l -1 sucrose, without plant growth regulators, and half of them rooted on the same medium after two months in culture. However, 67% of the shoots developed were hyperhydrated and so their ability for ex vitro establishment was reduced. Increasing agar ratio up to 20 g l -1 eliminated hyperhydration but decreased to half the number of shoots regenerated and the shoot length. Double sucrose concentration did not affect hyperhydration.
Genomic regions associated with somatic cell score in dairy cattle

The EU project RobustMilk combines unique data from research dairy herds located in four European countries. The dataset contains detailed recordings on somatic cell score (SCS), with up to 50 SCS test-days per cow per lactation. Variation in SCS can be due to genetic and environmental factors. The aim of the present study was to identify regions on the genome that contribute to genetic variation in lactation-average SCS (LASCS) and the standard deviation of SCS (SCS-SD). The standard deviation of SCS aims to capture temporary increases in SCS associated with infection. First lactation SCS records and DNA of 1,484 cows were analysed. Cows were genotyped for 50,000 markers. Each individual marker was tested for its detection of variation in LASCS or SCS-SD. One marker on chromosome (BTA) 18 detected variation in both LASCS and SCS-SD. One marker on BTA4 detected variation in LASCS, and one marker on BTA6 detected variation in SCS-SD. The present study identified genomic regions on BTA4, BTA6 and BTA18 contributing to genetic variation in LASCS and SCS-SD. More knowledge on genetic control of LASCS and SCS-SD may not only enable more accurate breeding value estimations that allow farmers and the dairy industry to reassess their selection decisions, but also helps to find genes for mastitis resistance which is relevant for understanding the genetic mechanisms leading to mastitis.
Comparisons of different RNA extraction methods on woody tissues of the tropical tree, Aquilaria malaccensis

Aquilaria malaccensis (karas) produces oleoresin in its wood (known as agarwood) when responding to wounding and microbial infection. Wood tissues are known to contain high levels of polysaccharides, polyphenolics and secondary metabolites, which make RNA extraction challenging. In this work, six different methods for extracting RNA from wood tissues of A. malac- censis were compared. RNA yield, purity, and integrity number, were used as parameters to evaluate the efficiency of each meth- od. Conventional methods yielded RNA with good purity but the RNA integrity was poor. The commercial RNeasy Plant Mini kit protocol was modified by means of scaling-up the reaction and combining all aliquots in the same RNeasy spin column, and yielded the highest yield while maintaining the integrity of the RNA. We found that this kit with some modifications was most suitable for extracting RNA from healthy wood and agarwood. This study is essential for future molecular studies on agarwood.
Specific genomic fingerprints of Escherichia coli strains with repetitive sequences and PCR as an effective tool for monitoring freshwater environments

The Rep-PCR fingerprinting method has been applied to identify genomic diversity of 252 E. coli strains derived in the area of a flowing-water basin. The received results show that applying UPGMA and Nearest Neighbour-Joining clustering methods to statistical analysis of rep-PCR fingerprints has made it possible to discriminate and group the strains, revealing a characteristic structure of E. coli population for particular stands of sample drawing. The proposed procedure of the analysis may be useful for routinely monitoring water quality.
Contribuição ao estudo fitoquímico de Dorstenia multiformis Miquel (Moraceae) com abordagem em atividade antioxidante

The species Dorstenia multiformis Miquel, Moraceae, known as "carapia", is largely employed in folk medicine against skin diseases. In this paper the antioxidant activity of isolated substances, from the ethanol extract, and hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions has been determined. All of the tested samples showed antioxidant activity, and the chloroform fraction was the one that presented the largest antioxidant activity.
Tularemia

SUMMARY Francisella tularensis is the etiological agent of tularemia, a serious and occasionally fatal disease of humans and animals. In humans, ulceroglandular tularemia is the most common form of the disease and is usually a consequence of a bite from an arthropod vector which has previously fed on an infected animal. The pneumonic form of the disease occurs rarely but is the likely form of the disease should this bacterium be used as a bioterrorism agent. The diagnosis of disease is not straightforward. F. tularensis is difficult to culture, and the handling of this bacterium poses a significant risk of infection to laboratory personnel. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay- and PCR-based methods have been used to detect bacteria in clinical samples, but these methods have not been adequately evaluated for the diagnosis of pneumonic tularemia. Little is known about the virulence mechanisms of F. tularensis, though there is a large body of evidence indicating that it is an intracellular pathogen, surviving mainly in macrophages. An unlicensed live attenuated vaccine is available, which does appear to offer protection against ulceroglandular and pneumonic tularemia. Although an improved vaccine against tularemia is highly desirable, attempts to devise such a vaccine have been limited by the inability to construct defined allelic replacement mutants and by the lack of information on the mechanisms of virulence of F. tularensis. In the absence of a licensed vaccine, aminoglycoside antibiotics play a key role in the prevention and treatment of tularemia.
NOTES ON THE EXTERNAL MORPHOLOGY AND PHALLIC COMPLEX OF TWO SPECIES OF THE GENUS SPHINGONOTUS FIEBER (OEDIPODINAE: ACRIDIDAE: ORTHOPTERA) FROM , SINDH, PAKISTAN.

The genus Sphingonotus and its species were divided and described by Mistchenko in (1936). Two species of genus Sphingonotus were taken namely Sphingonotus akbari Wagan & Baloch (2001); Sphingonotus hussaini Baloch & Wagan,(2000) to study the Phallic complex characters and external features. These species are closely related to S. eurasius eurasius Mishchenko (1936) in having the general body form and the inner side of hind femur is with black pre apical spots but can easily be separated from the same in having pronotum with well developed lateral carinae in metazona and the lateral is 2.5 times longer than prozona and by the other characters as noted in description. The specimens were collected from various agricultural fields with help of insect net than preserved and killed by standard entomological methods. At the present, we have studied especially the internal characters of genitalia Epiphallus bridge shaped, these characters are used as tool in classification system in all insect orders.
THE STUDY OF THE HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CARNOSINE AND ITS ROLE IN LIVER INJURY IN RATS DURING ISCHEMIA AND REPERFUSION.

The evaluation of the potential protective effect of carnosine as a natural antioxidant, against ischemia/reperfusion liver injury in rats is the our objective from this study. Materials and Methods; Ischemia was induced by clamping the pedicle supplying the left hepatic lobe for 60 min followed by reperfusion for 2 h. Results; carnosine untreated rats exposed to ischemia/reperfusion showed significant elevation of serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, and malondialdehyde level and caspase-3 activity in liver homogenates associated with significant reduction in hepatic nitrite level, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities as compared with sham-operated group. Pre-treatment with a single intra- peritoneal dose of carnosine (250 mg/kg), 30 min prior to the ischemic episode significantly attenuated the deterioration in the measured biochemical parameters observed with ischemia/reperfusion-induced liver injury. Conclusion; The results of our study strongly emphasize that carnosine can be useful as a prophylactic agent to protect the liver against hypoxia- reoxygenation damage.
INVITROLECITIllNASEACTIVITYANDANTIBIOGRAMOFCLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS ISOLATED FROM BROILER CmCKENS

Clostridium perfringens is well known as the etiological agent of necrotic enteritis in chickens. C. perfringens were detected in intestinal contents from forty nine cases of enteritis in broiler chicken. In the present study in-vitro lecithinase activity of 49 isolates and sensitivity of 30 isolates to 11 antimicrobial agents were assessed. A total of forty four (89.79%) isolates expressed lecithinase activity. Antibiogram studies showed highest sensitivity to fluroquinolones like ciprofloxacin (93.3%), followed by enrofloxacin (86.6%) and moderate sensitivity to chloramphenicol (76.6%), oxytetracycline (70%) and co-trimoxazol (63.3%). The organisms showed 100% resistance to streptomycin and neomycin.