Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ameliorative Effect of Withania coagulans on Experimentally-Induced Hyperlipidemia in Rabbits

The present study is associated with the evaluation of phytochemical and antihyperlipidemic effect of Methanolic Fruit Extract (MFEt) of Withania coagulans on experimentally-induced hyperlipidemia in rabbits. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of MFEt was performed by standard methods. The extract didn't induce any behavior change or mortality in rabbits up to 2000 mg/kg. In hyperlipidemic model, rabbits were divided into four control groups including control, hyperlipidemic control (both treated with distilled water 1 ml/kg), negative control (0.05% Di Methyl Sulphoxide 1 ml/kg), positive control (Simvastatin 20 mg/kg) and three test groups (MFEt 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg). On completion of 14 days trial, rabbits were sacrificed to collect serum and liver tissues to estimate lipid profile, Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Creatine Kinase (CK), Catalase (CAT), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Lipid Peroxidation (LPO), HMG-CoA reductase activity and Coronary Risk Index (CRI). Quantitatively MFEt is found rich in total phenols especially flavonoids besides showing variety of constituents qualitatively. All the three doses (200, 400 and 600 mg/kg) of MFEt significantly increased serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and decreased total cholesterol, HMG-CoA reductase activity, triglycerides, very low-density and low-density lipoproteins with improved LPO and CRI (p < 0.05) in test groups as compared to hyperlipidemic groups. In addition, normal ALT and CK levels and decreased percent inhibition of CAT and SOD were observed in test groups. The results concluded that MFEt of W. coagulans maintain lipid homeostasis by elevating the status of antioxidant enzymes and thereby minimizing the coronary risk in hyperlipidemic rabbits.
The structure of flower‐visitor networks in relation to pollination across an agricultural to urban gradient

Summary Pollination is a major ecosystem service in which insects, particularly bees, play an important role for the reproduction of most angiosperms. Currently, this service is considered under threat due to reported bee declines. Moderately urbanised areas could be important for pollinators and pollination; however, compared to agricultural and natural systems, they are poorly studied. Here, we investigated the relative effects of local habitat quality and anthropogenic land use across an agricultural to urban gradient for local plant and flying insect communities. We quantified local flower visitor networks and related network architecture to these local and landscape factors using structural equation modelling. Flower visitor network architecture is often assumed to act as a surrogate for the ecosystem service of pollination. To test this idea, we related network metrics to pollination of four experimental, insect pollinator-dependent plant species. Overall, local land use markedly influenced plant and flying insect communities. Flower richness and bee richness were higher in urban compared to agricultural areas. Flower visitor network metrics (e.g. linkage density) increased with the proportion of urban area surrounding a site. Also, relative to agricultural areas, urban flower visitors were more generalised and foraged from a higher number of plant species, likely a consequence of higher urban flowering plant richness. However, urban bees also visited a lower proportion of the available flowering plants (higher specialisation). Surprisingly, linkage density, network specialisation and flower visitor generality were not related to pollination of our four experimental plants per se. Rather, it was the proportion of urban cover, flying insect abundance and bee richness that were positively related to pollination. Our findings show strong effects of local land use on plant and flying insect communities and flower visitor interaction networks. We observed increased overall visitation rates and pollination services to our experimental plants in urban compared to agricultural areas, despite increased urban flower visitor generality. Indeed, flower visitor network metrics were a poor proxy of provision of the ecosystem service of pollination. Nevertheless, our results point to potential facilitating effects of diverse urban floral and bee communities for pollination. A lay summary is available for this article.
Ultrastructural Studies of `Kensington' Mango (Mangifera indica Linn.) Heat Injuries

Mature green «Kensington» mango fruit were submerged in hot water at 46C until the fruit center reached 45C and then held for 30 minutes. The fruit were allowed to ripen for 7 to 10 days after the hot water treatment, and then damaged areas of skin and mesocarp tissue were prepared for observation by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Heating-related injuries included rupturing the patterned cuticle and exocarp and exposing the underlying cells and bollow cavities (which varied in size and shape) randomly distributed within the mesocarp beneath the skin. Starch deposits still were present in the mesocarp parenchyma cells. The cell walls of damaged mesocarp parenchyma cells were convoluted and thickened in places. The injury suggested disruption of enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism
Ecological Genetics of the Wild Rabbit in Australia. II. Protein Variation in British, French and Australian Rabbits and the Geographical Distribution of the Variation in Australia

A survey for genetic variation was carried out using 21 proteins controlled by 26 loci in rabbits from Britain, Mediterranean France and Australia. Five enzymes, adenosine deaminase, phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, carboxylesterase, carbonate dehydratase and dihydrolipoamide reductase (NAD+) were found to be polymorphic. The average heterozygosity in wild rabbits was 6%. The genetic distances separating the various populations indicated that three different stocks were present in these populations. The rabbits from Britain and mainland Australia belonged to one group, those from France to a second group and the rabbits from southern Tasmania were a distinctive third group. Highly significant differences in gene frequency were found between the various local populations studied from mainland Australia. This variation showed no clear pattern and was attributed to genetic drift due to small effective population sizes. Bottlenecks in population size occur regularly in local rabbit populations in Australia through, for example, drought, myxomatosis outbreaks or rabbit control programs.
Sincronia entre o regime de vazante do rio e o comportamento de nidificação da tartaruga da Amazônia Podocnemis expansa (Testudinata: Pelomedusidae)

Ha uma sincronizacao entre a vazante e o desencadeamento do comportamento de nidificacao da tartaruga da Amazonia Podocnemis expansa. O comportamento de nidificacao so comeca quando o nivel da agua se estabiliza em seu nivel mais baixo. A imprevisibilidade dos niveis de agua no rio Trombetas, um tributario do Amazonas, no Para, e um fator seletivo importante que influencia a data e a escolha do local da postura de P. expansa. A cheia rapida e imprevisivel (conhecida como repiquete) matou em 1980 99% dos embrioes nos ovos em contraste com as estacoes de nidificacao de 1978, 1979 e 1981 quando 95% dos ovos eclodiram com sucesso.
Analysis of validated and population-specific single nucleotide polymorphism parentage panels in pedigreed and commercial beef cattle populations

Abstract A pedigreed population containing 71 calves and 8 sires was used to compare sire qualification using three genotyping platforms [14 microsatellite, real-time quantitative PCR, and 100, 200, 500, and 1000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays]. Parentage was also qualified in an unknown-pedigree population containing 8480 calves with 460 sires using SNP arrays. The three platforms qualified the true sire in the known-pedigree population with zero mismatches. The 100 and 200 SNP arrays yielded specificities of 0.92 and 0.99 with a 1% mismatch rate in the known-pedigree population, respectively. In the larger population, SNP panels of the 500 and 1000 highest minor allele frequency SNPs were also evaluated. The 1000 SNP panel qualified paternity to a single sire for 82.1% of calves with 1% or 2% mismatches. Not all commercial sires were genotyped, which accounts for missing paternity for some calves. In this larger population, the 100 SNP array qualified multiple sires to 0.42% of calves and single sires to 80.84% of calves without mismatches. The 200 SNP array assigned unique paternity, and 79.8% of calves were qualified to a sire without mismatches. With a 2% mismatch rate, sire qualifications agreed with the 1000 SNP array. This study highlights the interplay among population size, genotyping error rates, and the specificity and sensitivity of parentage platforms.
Early life history and description of larval stages of an amphidromous goby, Sicyopterus lagocephalus (Gobioidei: Sicydiinae)

Sicyopterus lagocephalus est un poisson amphidrome: les adultes vivent et se reproduisent en riviere. A l'eclosion les larves sont transportees en mer par le courant (phase dispersive), puis, apres un certain temps, les post-larves retournent aux rivieres et s'y installent. Lorsque les post-larves de Sicyopterus lagocephalus recrutent dans les rivieres de La Reunion (archipel des Mascareignes), elles sont pechees de facon intensive par la population locale et cette peche a une grande importance socio-economique. Une meilleure connaissance des stades de vie precoces devraient permettre d'ameliorer les connaissances biologiques et physiologiques necessaires a la comprehension des processus impliques dans la phase de dispersion de l'espece, et ainsi aider a la mise en place de mesures de gestion. Nous avons caracterise a l'ile de La Reunion le developpement des larves, depuis l'eclosion jusqu'a la migration vers la mer. Les resultats indiquent que celles-ci ne se developpent pas en eau douce et que c'est l'arrivee en mer qui declenche les transformations. Le developpement est plus rapide lorsque la temperature est plus elevee et il varie selon la profondeur de l'eau. En conditions naturelles, le taux maximum de survie en eau douce est de 4 jours. Ceci suggere que si la devalaison est trop longue, en raison de facteurs anthropiques ou hydrauliques, les embryons libres meurent avant d'atteindre la mer.
Antioxidant Properties of Rubus discolor L. Extracts and Protective Effects of Its Flower Extract Against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Stress in Wistar Rats

peroxidation and reducing power) of extracts were determined by spectrophotometric methods and HPLC. The antioxidant potential of RD flower extract supplementations were evaluated by measuring total protein, glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), vitamin A and E, cholesterol, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in various tissues. The flower extracts were the most active extracts for in vitro antioxidant assays. In HP administered groups, MDA level was increased, GSH and total protein levels were decreased. In RD treated group, these substances levels were protected. In RD plus HP treated group, SOD and GSH-Px levels were increased. These results show that RD flower extract have the protective effects against H2O2 via its free radical scavenging activity, and this extract affected the level of antioxidant enzymes, vitamin A and E, cholesterol, GSH, total protein and MDA.
COVID-19 and the Future of US Fertility: What Can We Learn from Google?

We use data from Google Trends to predict the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on future births in the United States. First, we show that periods of above-normal search volume for Google keywords relating to conception and pregnancy in US states are associated with higher numbers of births in the following months. Excess searches for unemployment keywords have the opposite effect. Second, by employing simple statistical learning techniques, we demonstrate that including information on keyword search volumes in prediction models significantly improves forecast accuracy over a number of cross-validation criteria. Third, we use data on Google searches during the COVID-19 pandemic to predict changes in aggregate fertility rates in the United States at the state level through February 2021. Our analysis suggests that between November 2020 and February 2021, monthly US births will drop sharply by approximately 15%. For context, this would be a 50% larger decline than that following the Great Recession of 2008-2009, and similar in magnitude to the declines following the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 and the Great Depression. Finally, we find heterogeneous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across different types of mothers. Women with less than a college education, as well as Black or African American women, are predicted to have larger declines in fertility due to COVID-19. This finding is consistent with elevated caseloads of COVID-19 in low-income and minority neighborhoods, as well as with evidence suggesting larger economic impacts of the crisis among such households.
Emergence of Modularity in

A novel evolutionary method that allows us to study the emergence of modularity for genotype-phenotype mapping in the course of Darwinian evolution is described. The method is based on composite epigenotypes with two parts: a binary genotype; and a mapping of genes onto phenotype characters. For such generalized epigenotypes the modularity is determined in the following intuitive way: The genes are divided into two subgroups; simultaneously with this decomposition there is defined an accompanying decomposition of the set of phenotype characters. We expect that for epigenotypes with modular structures the genes from one group will be mapped onto characters from the same group, that is, that the appearance of crosslink mappings will be maximally suppressed. A fundamental question for all of evolutionary biology (and also for evolutionary algorithms and connectionist cognitive science) is the mechanism of evolutionary emergence of modular structures. The presented explanatory model is an implementation of the assumption that variation in genotype is produced on a faster time scale than variation in the genotype-phenotype mapped part. Moreover, the evaluation of the epigenotype in the evolutionary algorithm is based on directly selectable properties (corresponding to the decomposition of the set of phenotype characters). The modularity of genotype- phenotype mapping emerges in the simulations.
Run to the Hills - Partial Migration in Large Herbivores

Partially migratory populations in which some individuals move to allopatric ranges during one season while others remain on their shared range, offer a unique opportunity to understand which factors shape the realized niche of individuals with plastic movement behaviors. For ungulates, forage and its spatiotemporal variability, risk (predation, humans) and density have been suggested to be the main determinants for the probability, distance and timing of migration. Roe deer (Capreolus caproelus), a small browsing ungulate with a high ecological plasticity and a wide distribution, present an ideal model species to test hypotheses on migration plasticity. The green wave hypothesis predicts that migratory ungulates follow high quality forage, but has not been tested for browsers. I tested for differences in broad-scale vegetation composition and small-scale plant phenology and diet quality (using fecal nitrogen as a proxy) between resident (N=26) and migrant (N=11) roe deer in a diverse alpine study area in Northern Italy. Migrant and resident ranges differed at broader scales, phenology was similar and diet quality was significantly higher for migrants. I conclude that roe deer are selective for forage at different spatiotemporal scales and that the greenwave hypothesis may not be the only explanation for their migratory plasticity. Therefore, I expanded from this single-population feeding niche comparison to testing if roe deer (N=71) switch or follow seasonal niches in five populations spanning wide resource gradients across Europe. I applied a novel integrative approach to classify/describe migration and assessed the determinants for niche differences between seasonal strategies. I found that migrants switched niches between winter and summer and the main niche differences were a function of topography, winter severity, spatiotemporal forage variation and density. Lastly, I scaled up to a between-species comparison of roe and red deer (Cervus elaphus; N >500) to test hypotheses between and within species across a similar latitudinal gradient. Red deer had a much higher probability of migration with pronounced sex differences in contrast to the much less dimorphic roe deer. My results on the determinants driving plasticity in probability, distance and timing of migration, confirm the overall hypothesis that migration behavior is multi-causal and shaped by species’ specific characteristics, including sexual dimorphism, feeding and breeding behavior. Peters, Wibke, PhD, fall 2015 Fish and Wildlife Biology Run to the Hills – Partial Migration in Large Herbivores Chairperson: Dr. Mark Hebblewhite Co-Chairperson: Dr. Francesca Cagnacci
Chiave di riconoscimento visuale dei più comuni peracaridi (Crustacea, Peracarida) lagunari italiani

SUMMARY - Identification key for the most common lagoon peracarids (Crustacea, Peracarida) in Italy - In brackish waters peracarids have many of the features required for environmental indicators: they are frequent and abundant, easy to be catched and sampled, with benthic habits and long biological cycles, represented by a lot of species with different ecological demands; however their use is hampered by the difficult taxonomic identification, that must usually reach the genus or species level. With the aim to incite a large use of this biological community in applied ecology, on the base of macroscopic characters, usually well visible after a short training, a simplified key for the identification of the peracarid crustaceans living in the Italian lagoons has been proposed. This diagnostic instrument identifies 59 species: 39 amphipods, 17 isopods and 3 tanaids. It will be tested by different researchers, to improve its practicability. This first attempt to avoid the extremely precise but harsh traditional keys is a necessary step to allow the use of peracarids as ecological indicators of the quality of Italian brackish waters.
Conventional and real-time PCR assays for specific detection and quantification of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris in plants using intergenic spacer region-based marker

Abstract Fusarium wilt of chickpea, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc) is one of the most important fungal diseases worldwide. The detection of the pathogen at reasonable time period is of great importance, which requires rapid and sensitive detection methods. The intraspecific divergence sequences found in the intergenic spacer region (IGS) were selected and utilized with the aim to develop a molecular marker specifically to identify the Foc. A marker set, ISR52 F1 and R1 developed, was tested for their specificity as well as sensitivity using conventional as well as real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The specificity of the marker was tested against Foc, other Fusarium species which are closely related to Foc as well as with artificially infected host plant samples. The detection limits of conventional PCR assay was up to 100 pg of infected plant DNA. It proved possible to amplify the IGS region in different portion of a Foc infected host plant by this PCR method. Furthermore, the real-time assay showed more sensitivity and was able to detect the pathogen in infected chickpea plant samples at the DNA concentration of 5 pg. A single melting peak obtained at 87.5°C showed the specificity of the marker towards Foc. Thus, real-time PCR assay proved their potentiality for same-day diagnosis of fungal infection and can be used as a rapid and effective procedure for routine detection and identification of Foc in chickpea samples.
The Swing-Arm Trellis for Sultana Grapevine Management

The swing-arm trellis, designed to improve mechanical harvesting of Sultana grapevines used for raisin or wine production and to allow partial mechanization of pruning, is described. The trellis consists of seven wires, i.e. a cordon-wire and three wires each Sf>aced evenly in the horizontal and vertical plane and supported by triangular frames attached to the trellis posts. The vines are pruned to cordons that produce shoots that grow upward and attach to the vertical wires. For use as replacement canes, these shoots are placed horizontally by rotation of the frames. The yield of Sultana vines trained in this way was equal to or better than that of control vines trained in the standard manner with canes twisted around a single wire. Over fo'! r seasons, total yield was 1,31 times more for fresh fruit and 1,25 more for sugar. The yield differences occurred mainly in two seasons and were due to the combined effects of more nodes, better bud burst, more fruitful nodes and, consequently, more bunches. The advantages of managing vines trained on the swing-arm trellis are discussed.
Plant Growth Promoting Activity of Two Plant Extracts Combined with Chitosan on Chilli Seedlings

Plant extracts can enhance and promote plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms. Some of these aqueous plant extracts were screened in vitro for their plant growth promoting trait such as the production of amylase, ammonia, acetoin and indole acetic acid (IAA). All the aqueous tests produced amylase, ammonia and IAA, whereas the production of acetoin was only possible with 10% papaya pericarp plus effective microorganisms (EM), and with 10% papaya pericarp in EM with chitosan: 200, 400 and 600 ppm. Many treatments showed two times efficiency, much better than the control treatment at 192 h for chilli seedlings. Treatments with EM 1% extract and 1% papaya leaf + pineapple leaf in EM with chitosan 600 ppm presented the highest chilli seed germination index vigor for seedlings at 137% and 1056, respectively.
Enhancement of antifungal activity of Burkholderia pyrrocinia JK‐SH007 genetically modified with Bacillus subtilis Chi113 gene

Summary Previous studies showed that Burkholderia pyrrocinia JK-SH007 is a potential biocontrol agent of poplar canker disease. In this report, B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007 was genetically modified by introducing the Bacillus subtilis Chi113 gene to enhance its antifungal activity. The green fluorescence of B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007E1 can be detected because of its transformation with plasmid pHKT2-Chi113 containing a gfp reporter gene. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) showed that the B. subtilis Chi113 gene was highly expressed in B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007E1 at mRNA level. The chitinase activity and the antifungal activity of B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007E1 were significantly increased, and the clear halo was visible on the colloidal chitin agar plate. In addition, the constructed recombinant plasmid pHKT2-Chi113 was stably maintained for at least 100 generations in the absence of antibiotic selection in B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007E1. In western blot analysis, the Chi113-GFP fusion protein was detected in B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007E1 using the GFP polyclonal antibody. In conclusion, the B. subtilis Chi113 gene was successfully transformed into B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007 and was expressed both at mRNA level and protein level. Moreover, the antifungal activity of B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007 was improved through this genetic modification.