Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The efficacy of video-assisted thoracoscopic and open-heart repair for atrial septal defect: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

Objective To systematically evaluate the safety and effectiveness of video-assisted thoracoscopic repair and open-heart repair for atrial septal defect (ASD). Methods The database of PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, VIP, Wanfang Data and CNKI was searched by computer for relevant research literature. The retrieval time was from Jan.2000 to Aug. 2018. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted the data and evaluated the quality according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using Rev Man 5.3 software. Results A total of 28 studies including 2 386 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that there was no difference in the total complication rate between video-assisted thoracoscopic repair and surgical repair for atrial septal defect. Video-assisted thoracoscopic repair decreased significantly in the comparison of operative time, intraoperative blood transfusion, ICU stay, mechanical ventilation time, total length of surgical incision, postoperative drainage, total hospitalization time and post-operative hospitalization time. External circulation time, aortic occlusion time and operation cost were higher than those of open-heart repair. Conclusions The existing evidence shows that the operation time and cardiopulmonary bypass time of video-assisted thoracoscopic repair for ASD are slightly longer than that of open-heart repair, but the injury caused by open-heart repair is avoided partially. The patients recover quickly and the hospital stay is shortened. It can be used as a minimally invasive treatment for atrial septal defect according to the wishes of patients. Key words: Atrial septal defect; Thoracoscopy; Surgery; Meta-analysis; Systematic review
Factors Affecting Egg Hatch, Development, and Survival of Bemisia argentifolii (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) Reared on an Artificial Feeding System

Abstract Improvements in the way Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring is managed have led to reduced whitefly populations in the southwest United States. However, the potential of the silverleaf whitefly to develop new biotypes, as well as its apparently increasing role in virus transmission, makes it a persistent threat in many parts of the world. Characteristics such as biotype formation and vector competency are at least partially explained by the host range of B. argentifolii. Consequently, a better understanding of the factors that play a role in the host acceptance process and subsequent development of this pest could lead to novel control strategies. Here we used a newly developed artificial feeding system that consists of a polycarbonate chamber, equipped with a Teflon membrane, and filled with a sterilized artificial diet, to determine how biotic and abiotic factors influenced egg hatch, crawler establishment, and development of B. argentifolii. Egg age significantly influenced hatch rates, and to a lesser extent survival and development of nymphs reared on the artificial diet. Five- to six-day-old eggs had higher hatch rates, and nymphs survived longer and developed faster than nymphs from younger or older eggs. There were negative associations between the number of eggs placed on the membranes and both hatch rate and establishment of crawlers. Eggs oviposited on and then subsequently removed from plants held under long-day conditions (14:10 [L:D] h) or high light intensity (≈36,000 lux) had higher hatch rates than eggs oviposited under short-day conditions (10:14 [L:D] h) or low light intensity (≈11,000 lux). Long-day conditions during oviposition also significantly enhanced survival of nymphs through day 20 and developmental rate for day 6 counts. Light intensity, at least for the range tested here, did not significantly affect development or survival of whitefly nymphs.
Antioxidative responses in Galleria mellonella larvae infected with the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis sp. beicherriana

Abstract The effects of a new species Heterorhabditis sp. beicherriana on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content of the host were studied. Last-instar larvae of Galleria mellonella were used as host insects and were experimentally infected with H. beicherriana at 0, 20, 40, 80 infective juveniles (IJs) per insect. At 0, 8, 16, 24, 32 and 40 h after infection, activities of SOD, POD, CAT and MDA content were determined in extracts from infected and control insects. We found that H. beicherriana infection resulted in gradually increased activities of SOD, POD and CAT the first day and decreased activities of these enzymes thereafter. However, MDA content in the insects of both control and IJ-inoculated groups stayed at a similar level at 24 h post-infection, but a significant decrease of MDA content in inoculated groups was recorded after 32 h of the infection, which is 8 hours later than the activities of SOD, POD and CAT were significantly increased. Our results suggest that H. beicherriana infection increases the level of oxidative stress and antioxidative responses in the larval G. mellonella, and it seems that oxidative damage contributes to cell death in this host.
Stalk length as a taxonomic criterion for Phytophthora palmivora isolates from cacao

Eighty cacao isolates of Phytophthora from Africa, the Americas, the Pacific, and Southeast Asia, originally designated as Phytophthora palmivora, were studied. The sporangial stalk or pedicel length of various isolates was significantly different. These isolates were separated into four groups on the basis of the stalk or pedicel length. The differences in characteristics among the four groups and their relationships to the morphological forms (MF) of P. palmivora are described.One group of isolates, designated as MF 1, had short and thick sporangial stalks averaging less than 5 μm in length. Isolates in a second group corresponded to MF 3, with rather thin sporangial stalks, intermediate in length, averaging 5–15 μm. Sporangial stalks of a third group of isolates, designated as MF 4, had unusual and characteristically long stalks with an average length of more than 15 μm. A fourth group of isolates had noncaducous sporangia. Similarities between MF 4 isolates and the type culture of P. capsici are noted.
Inducible nitric oxide synthase as a target of anti-inflammatory treatment modalities

8 TIIVISTELMA 10 INTRODUCTION 12 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 14 1 Nitric oxide 14 1.1 Discovery of NO 14 1.2 Biosynthesis of NO 14 1.3 Inhibitors of nitric oxide production 17 1.3.1 NOS inhibitors 17 1.3.2 Pharmaceuticals inhibiting iNOS expression 20 1.4 Molecular effects of NO 21 1.5 NO in inflammation 24 1.5. 1 Rheumatoid arthritis and NO 25 1.5. 2 Inflammatory bowel disease and NO 25 2 Regulation of iNOS expression 26 2.1 Transcriptional regulation 26 2.1.1 Nuclear factor κB 27 2.1.2 STAT-1 and IRF-1 30 2.2 Post-transcriptional regulation 32 2.2.1 Stability of mRNA 32 2.2.2 Regulation of iNOS mRNA stability 34 2.2. 3 Regulation of iNOS protein stability 35 3 Glucocorticoids 36 3.1 Use of glucocorticoids in inflammatory diseases 36 3.2 Mechanisms of action of glucocorticoids 37 3.2.1 Transcriptional effects of glucocorticoids 37 3.2.1.1 Glucocorticoids and histone acetylation 40 3.2.2 Post-transcriptional effects of glucocorticoids 42 3.2. 3 Nongenomic effects of glucocorticoids 43
Upward movement of underground plant parts into deposits of tephra from Mount St. Helens

The burial of plants is seldom studied but is potentially important in some ecosystems. For each of eight herbaceous species, about 10 individuals that survived burial by 7 – 15 cm of tephra were totally excavated during both 1981 and 1982. The long rhizomes of Achlys triphylla, Clintonia uniflora, and Smilacina stellata grew upward at an angle, so that 7% of rhizome and 3% of root dry weights were in the tephra in 1981; these values increased to 23 and 19%, respectively, in 1982. Burial reduced the number of shoots produced by each plant. Stolons of Rubus lasiococcus grew straight up and then spread across the tephra surface, although few roots were produced in the tephra. Plants of Arnica latifolia quickly moved rhizomes and roots into the tephra; 50% of underground dry weight was in the tephra by 1982. In two species with short rhizomes (Tiarella trifoliata and Valeriana sitchensis) there was an altered growth form; the rhizome elongated rapidly straight up to the tephra surface. The corm of Erythroniu.
Ultrasonic Analysis of Peptide- and Antibody-Targeted Microbubble Contrast Agents for Molecular Imaging of αvβ3-Expressing Cells

The goal of targeted ultrasound contrast agents is to significantly and selectively enhance the detection of a targeted vascular site. In this manuscript, three distinct contrast agents targeted to the αvβ3 integrin are examined. The αvβ3 integrin has been shown to be highly expressed on metastatic tumors and endothelial cells during neovascularization, and its expression has been shown to correlate with tumor grade. Specific adhesion of these contrast agents to αvβ3-expressing cell monolayers is demonstrated in vitro, and compared with that of nontargeted agents. Acoustic studies illustrate a backscatter amplitude increase from monolayers exposed to the targeted contrast agents of up to 13-fold (22 dB) relative to enhancement due to control bubbles. A linear dependence between the echo amplitude and bubble concentration was observed for bound agents. The decorrelation of the echo from adherent targeted agents is observed over successive pulses as a function of acoustic pressure and bubble density. Frequency–domain analysis demonstrates that adherent targeted bubbles exhibit high-amplitude narrowband echo components, in contrast to the primarily wideband response from free microbubbles. Results suggest that adherent targeted contrast agents are differentiable from free-floating microbubbles, that targeted contrast agents provide higher sensitivity in the detection of angiogenesis, and that conventional ultrasound imaging techniques such as signal subtraction or decorrelation detection can be used to detect integrin-expressing vasculature with sufficient signal-to-noise.
Genetic differentiation in sympatric populations of the groundnut seed beetle Caryedon serratus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): new insights from molecular and ecological data

The extent of genetic differentiation between native and groundnut-feeding forms of the groundnut seed beetle Caryedon serratus Olivier was studied. Sixteen samples (560 individuals of both sexes collected in four localities in Senegal) of C. serratus were reared from pods of four distinct host plants (Arachis hypogaea L., Bauhinia rufescens Lam., Piliostigma reticulatum (DC) Hochst and Tamarindus indica L. ), and five microsatellite loci were analysed. Phylogenetic and statistical analyses indicated that host plants strongly influence the degree of genetic differentiation between sampled individuals. Within host plants, genetic differentiation was low. Genetic differentiation between hosts was highly significant (average θ = 0.374) and geographical distances between localities did not influence the genetic structuration of C. serratus populations from a given host plant. The results of this study show that C. serratus could be under a host race formation process.
Nesting Season Diet of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Western Iran

Abstract I studied the diet of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in western Iran by identifying food items in prey remains, pellets, and video recordings at seven nests during the 2011–2013 breeding seasons. Two methods were used to calculate diet composition: minimum number of individuals of each prey species and estimated biomass for prey items. I identified 316 prey items, which included five species of birds, four species of mammals, and two species of reptiles. Mammals made up the greatest proportion of the diet, 44.0% by frequency and 76.8% by biomass, and birds accounted for 43.7% of the diet by frequency and 17.7% by biomass. Cape hare (Lepus capensis), Chukar (Alectoris chukar), Common Magpie (Pica pica), large-toothed souslik (Spermophilus fulvus) and common fox (Vulpes vulpes) were the most important prey species. The percentage of mammals in the Golden Eagle’s diet in western Iran was lower than in North America, Scotland, the mountains of the Mediterranean, and across Europe and Asia.
Feed intake and production in sheep fed diets high in sodium and potassium

Salinity is a problem facing many crop and livestock producers in southern Australia. One management option is to revegetate with salt-tolerant plants suitable for animal production. These plants are often halophytic shrubs containing up to 30% ash, predominantly as sodium, potassium, or chloride. This experiment examines the consequences of a high intake of sodium and potassium separately or together on feed intake, digestibility, liveweight change, and wool growth. Twelve groups of 6 weaner wethers were allocated to treatments according to a balanced 3 × 4 factorial design with 3 levels of added potassium (0, 0.38, and 0.77 mol/kg DM equivalent to 0, 15, and 30 g/kg DM) and 4 levels of added sodium (0, 0.87, 2.18, and 3.48 mol/kg DM, equivalent to 0, 20, 50, and 80 g/kg DM) as the chloride salts. The treatment diets were fed to sheep for 6 weeks. Increasing sodium in the diet significantly decreased feed intake, digestibility, liveweight gain, and wool growth either as a main effect or through an interaction with potassium. Organic matter intake was reduced from 1.35 kg at the lowest levels of sodium and potassium to 0.67 kg at the highest levels. Comparing the same 2 groups, liveweight gain was reduced from 144 to 0 g/day, organic matter digestibility from 59.1% to 57.3%, and wool growth from 1.21 to 1.04 mg/cm 2 . day. The response surfaces indicate that production was depressed even at the lower levels of sodium, whereas high potassium depressed intake, digestibility, and liveweight gain at high levels of sodium only. The interaction between sodium and potassium was always negative at high levels of sodium, indicating that manipulation of the proportions of the 2 elements is unlikely to provide benefits for animal production when total salt levels are high. Although wool growth was depressed at high sodium and potassium, the efficiency of wool growth increased from 10.0 to 15.4 g/kg organic matter intake when the lowest and highest levels of the sodium and potassium were compared. This result may present significant opportunities for the use of saline land to grow fine wool.
GROWTH, COLONIAL SIZE AND SPORULATION OF LYOPHILIZED CULTURES OF THE GENUS TRICHOPHYTON ON AGAR MEDIA

RybnikH A. : Growth, Colonial Size and Sporulation of Lyophilized Cultures of the Genus Trichophyton on Agar Media. Acta vet. , Brno, 55, 1986: 73 -80. Lyophilized cultures of 4 species of the genus Trichophyton Malmsten 1845 were diluted with saline after one year of storage and inoculated onto agar media. Trichophyton equinum grew best on malt media, T. mentagrophyfes on Mycological Agar, T. terrestre on Trichophyton Agars 1, 4 and 5, and T. verrucosum on Sabou­ raud's agar. The rate of colonial size increase of all the four cultures was highest on Sabouraud's agar, malt media and Mycological Agar. The formation of micro­ conidia showed the highest values on malt media with all the cultures except T. terrestre which sporulated best on Sabouraud's agar. It is concluded that malt agar media and Sabouraud's agar are suitable culture media for recultivation of lyophilized dermatophyte cultures. Dermatophyte lyophilizate, recultivation, colonial size, formation of microconidia. Cultures of microscopic fungi deposited in culture collections as well as those used for pro­ duction purposes undergo gradual loss of viability on long-term storage. In recultivating frozen­ lyophilized or otherwise preserved fungal strains it is therefore necessary to choose optimum procedures and conditions that would allow one to obtain viable, well-growing and sporulating cultures. One of the major factors involved is the choice of a suitable culture medium. Its choice may also considerably affect the results of testing fungal cultures for their growth and sporulation capacity and may lead to changes in the characteristics of the strains on passage. These aspects are particularly important in dermatophytic fungi, causative agents of mycoses in numerous animal species and man. The present study is concerned with the choice of agar culture media for recultivation, growth and sporulation of four species of the genus Trichophyton maintained in the lyophilized state for one year. These were three zoophilic dermatophytes, namely T. equinum, T. mentagrophytes and T. verrucosum, and one geophilic species, T. terrestre, which lives as a saprophyte on keratin structures in soil and very rarely attacks man and animals.
Microsatellite variation of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) in central and eastern Mediterranean: genetic panmixia in the Aegean and the Ionian Seas

Genetic variation of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis in central–eastern Mediterranean Sea is investigated in this study. A total of 550 individuals sampled from two cultured and 11 wild populations from Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey were genotyped at 10 microsatellite loci. Significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg expectations were observed in more than 75% of the tests performed. All populations showed extensive heterozygote deficits, which remained at significant levels even after correction for null alleles, providing evidence that null alleles were only partly responsible for deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in these molluscs. Moreover, null alleles seem to have limited influence on the population genetic differentiation. Similar levels of multi-locus heterozygosity and allelic richness were observed in all populations, cultured and wild, implying the sustainability of the exploited populations. Lack of isolation by distance and markedly low genetic differentiation between the nine Greek sampling sites (shoreline >1000 km) was revealed by Mantel tests, FST values, exact tests and analyses of molecular variance, indicating that mussels from these regions are either at or close to panmixia. Similarly, patterns of genetic homogeneity were also found between the two Italian samples, whereas the observed genetic differentiation of the populations from Turkey and Croatia probably reflects the specific topographic and oceanographic conditions of these regions.
Have geographical influences and changing abundance led to sub-population structure in the Ahiak caribou herd, Nunavut, Canada?

We examined the premise that changing abundance and environmental conditions influence the seasonal dispersion and distribution of migratory tundra caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus). The Ahiak herd’s (north-central Nunavut Territory, Canada) calving shifted from dispersed on islands to gregarious calving on the mainland coast. As abundance further increased, the calving ground elongated east and west such that we proposed a longitudinal climate gradient. As well, the calving ground’s east and west ends are different distances from the tree-line, which dips south closer to Hudson Bay. We proposed that whether caribou winter on the tundra or within boreal forest and the different climate across the long calving ground could contribute to differential survival and productivity such that sub-population structure would result. At the scale of the individual cows (identified through satellite-collars), we did not find inter-annual spatial fidelity to either the western or eastern parts of the calving ground. At the population scale (aerial surveys of calving distribution), we also did not find discontinuities in calving distribution. The spatial association of individual cows during calving compared with their association during the rut was inconsistent among years, but overall, cows that calve together, rut together. At this time and with the available evidence, we could not infer sub-population structure from shifts in dispersion and distribution as influenced by geography and changes in abundance for the Ahiak herd.
IMP-4 and OXA β-lactamases in Acinetobacter baumannii from Singapore

OBJECTIVE To compare the incidence of carbapenemase genes in Acinetobacter baumannii between two time periods. METHODS We studied 114 isolates of imipenem-resistant A. baumannii collected over two 5 month periods (in 1996 and 2001). Isolates showing carbapenemase activity by plate bioassay were screened for carbapenemase genes using PCR. Chromosomal DNA from strains carrying carbapenemase genes was subjected to PFGE after digestion with ApaI. RESULTS The incidence of imipenem-resistant A. baumannii in our hospital rose from 1.1 per 1000 admissions in 1996 to 2.3 per 1000 admissions in 2001. However, the number of carbapenemase-producing A. baumannii rose only slightly in 2001 (0.8 per 1000 admissions) compared to 1996 (0.5 per 1000 admissions). Of 44 isolates with carbapenemase activity, 4 isolates carried bla(IMP-4), 5 carried bla(OXA-58), and 40 carried bla(OXA-23). In addition, most isolates carried a bla(OXA-51)-type beta-lactamase gene. All strains with bla(IMP-4), also carried bla(OXA-58) and bla(PSE-1), but not bla(OXA-51)-type beta-lactamase genes. PCR analysis repeated on seven recent isolates of susceptible A. baumannii showed only the presence of bla(OXA-51)-type beta-lactamase genes. A total of five novel bla(OXA-51)-type beta-lactamase genes (bla(OXA-88),-91,-93,-94, and -95) and one new bla(OXA-58)-type beta-lactamase gene (bla(OXA-96)) were found. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of carbapenemase genes did not vary significantly between the two study periods. There is a wide diversity of OXA genes in A. baumannii in Singapore. The most common carbapenemase gene found in our study was bla(OXA-23).
Characterization of secondary metabolites and enzymes produced by Trichoderma species and their efficacy against plant pathogenic fungi

The secondary metabolites from culture filtrate and mycelial mass of potential isolates of Trichoderma viride (IARI P1 and IARI P2), T. virens (IARI P3) and T. harzianum (IARI P4) were extracted by solvent extraction and soxhlet water bath distillation methods and evaluated at different concentrations against Rhizoctonia bataticola (dry root rot of chickpea) and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (wilt of chickpea). All concentrations (500, 250, 125 and 75 ppm) were found to be inhibitory to these pathogens. Higher concentrations were found to be inhibitorier than the lower ones. 47.8% to 78.0% inhibition of mycelial growth was recorded even at 75ppm concentration. Some of the compounds, namely, 6-nonylene alcohol, massoilactone, methyl-cyclopentane, methyl cyclohexane, N-methyl pyrollidine, dermadin, ketotriol, koningin-A, 3-methyl-heptadecanol, 2-methyl heptadecanol, palmitic acid, 3-(2’-hydroxypropyl)-4-(hexa2’-4-dineyl)-2-(5H)-furanone and 3-(propenone)-4-(hexa-2’-4’-dineyl)-2-(5H)-furanone from these metabolites were chemically characterized by GC-MS/MS. Growing culture in shaker incubator at 25°C and 6.5 pH was found to be the optimum conditions for production of maximum proteins. The activities of defense related enzymes, namely, chitinase and s-1, 3-glucanase produced by the above mentioned Trichoderma species were determined. All Trichoderma species showed the activity of these enzymes. Moreover, chitinase activity was maximum in T. virens, whereas, s-1, 3- glucanase activity was maximum in T. viride among the tested cultures.