Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-starch polysaccharides and broiler performance on diets containing soyabean meal as the sole protein concentrate

The total water-soluble and water-insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) were determined in seven soyabean meals processed in Australia, three soyabean meals processed in the U.S.A. , and one sunflower meal processed in Australia. Sunflower meal had a higher content of total NSP than any of the soyabean meals, due mainly to increased concentrations of cellulose and xylose in the insoluble NSP and uronic acids in the soluble NSP. Galactose and fucose concentrations were much greater in the insoluble NSP of soyabean meals. Soyabean meals processed in the U.S.A. had lower concentrations of total NSP, cellulose and xylose than equivalent meals processed in Australia. Broiler chickens fed diets containing soyabean meal as the sole dietary protein concentrate grew significantly more poorly than broilers fed isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets in which approximately 25% of the soyabean meal was replaced with sunflower meal. There was a significant (P < 0.05) negative correlation (r2 = 0.57) between the water-soluble xylose content of the soyabean meals and the improvement in growth observed with sunflower meal supplementation. Multi-enzyme preparations designed to act on soyabean meal NSP substrates failed to induce any improvement in the growth of broilers fed soyabean meal diets. The poor performance of broilers fed the soyabean meal diets did not appear to be related to inadequate processing or to the NSP content or composition of the soyabean meals. Measurement of free sugars in the supernatant of the digesta in the ileum indicated that the stachyose derived from the oligosaccharides of soyabean meals appeared to exert an antinutritive effect when soyabean meal was present at high concentrations as the sole protein concentrate in broiler diets.
Potential of Yeasts Isolated in Botrytized Grape Juice to be New Wine Yeasts

Strains of wine yeast are differentiated based on their ability to ferment grape juice. To advance enology and food technology, many efforts have been invested in the detection and breeding of yeast with high fermentation ability. In this study, we investigated the enological character of 96 yeast strains isolated from spontaneously fermented botrytized grape juice with a high sugar level(35%). The 96 isolates produced wines with ethanol concentrations of 6.7-14.9% (average, 10.9%) from grape juice containing 35% sugar. Among these isolates, KN-35 strains produced 15.8% and KN-94 strains produced 16.2% ethanol in botrytized Kerner grape juice after 50 days of fermentation. Furthermore, we observed that several aroma compounds and higher alcohols present in KN-35- and KN-94-fermented wines were similar to those found in popular wines. The results of this study demonstrated that the KN-35 and KN-94 yeast strains were useful as a starter culture in wine-making, particularly for the fermentation of botrytized grape juice.
β-Ureidopropionase with N-carbamoyl-α-l-amino acid amidohydrolase activity from an aerobic bacterium, Pseudomonas putida IFO 12996

β-Ureidopropionase of aerobic bacterial origin was purified to homogeneity from Pseudomonas putida IFO 12996. The enzyme shows a broad substrate specificity. In addition to β-ureidopropionate (Km 3.74 mM, Vmax 4.12 U/mg), γ-ureido-n-butyrate (Km 11.6 mM, Vmax 19.4 U/mg), and several N-carbamoyl-α-amino acids, such as N-carbamoylglycine (Km 0.68 mM, Vmax 9.14 × 10−2U/mg), N-carbamoyl-l-alanine (Km 1.56 mM, Vmax 1.00 U/mg), N-carbamoyl-l-serine (Km 75.1 mM, Vmax 3.78 U/mg), and N-carbamoyl-dl-α-amino-n-butyrate (Km 2.81 mM, Vmax 1.08 U/mg), are also hydrolyzed. The hydrolysis of N-carbamoyl-α-amino acids is strictly l enantiomer specific. N-Formyl-l-alanine and N-acetyl-l-alanine are also hydrolyzed by the enzyme, but the rate of hydrolysis is lower than the rate for N-carbamoyl-l-alanine. The enzyme requires a divalent metal ion, such as Co2+, Ni2+ or Mn2+, for activity, and is significantly affected by sulfhydryl reagents. The enzyme consists of two polypeptide chains with identical relative molecular mass Mr 45000. The broad substrate specificity and metal ion dependence of the enzyme show that the β-ureidopropionase of this aerobic bacterium is quite different from the β-ureidopropionases of mammals and anaerobic bacteria.
Environmental Economics: Can Economics Help Mother Earth?

Ecologists and environmentalists have long been at odds with economists over whether economic theory and practice helps or hinders environmental protection and improvement. This paper suggests that the specific field of environmental economics has contributed a great deal to the potential for environmental improvement, particularly with recent improvements in techniques which attempt to value environmental goods. The basic tenets of environmental economics are reviewed, including the tradable emissions-permits approach, and then specific recent applications of the permit system in the United States of America are presented. The two basic valuation techniques, travel cost and the contingent valuation method (CVM), are briefly discussed, along with the shortcoming of the travel cost approach in obtaining ‘intrinsic’ values for environmental goods. This paper describes results from experimental economics which support the use of the CVM in estimating intrinsic values for environmental resources. In a new study, subjects in a laboratory experiment pay to prevent the destruction of a plant. This finding should appeal to the environmentalist and ecologist. Lastly, recent developments in macroeconomics and general equilibrium models which incorporate pollution and resource degradation variables, are shown to contribute positively to the goal of global environmental improvement.
Enhanced Fear Expression in a Psychopathological Mouse Model of Trait Anxiety: Pharmacological Interventions

The propensity to develop an anxiety disorder is thought to be determined by genetic and environmental factors. Here we investigated the relationship between a genetic predisposition to trait anxiety and experience-based learned fear in a psychopathological mouse model. Male CD-1 mice selectively bred for either high (HAB), or normal (NAB) anxiety-related behaviour on the elevated plus maze were subjected to classical fear conditioning. During conditioning both mouse lines showed increased fear responses as assessed by freezing behaviour. However, 24 h later, HAB mice displayed more pronounced conditioned responses to both a contextual or cued stimulus when compared with NAB mice. Interestingly, 6 h and already 1 h after fear conditioning, freezing levels were high in HAB mice but not in NAB mice. These results suggest that trait anxiety determines stronger fear memory and/or a weaker ability to inhibit fear responses in the HAB line. The enhanced fear response of HAB mice was attenuated by treatment with either the α2,3,5-subunit selective benzodiazepine partial agonist L-838,417, corticosterone or the selective neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist L-822,429. Overall, the HAB mouse line may represent an interesting model (i) for identifying biological factors underlying misguided conditioned fear responses and (ii) for studying novel anxiolytic pharmacotherapies for patients with fear-associated disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias.
Molecular characterization of the cDNAs of two zona pellucida genes in the Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis Gray, 1835

The Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, is a large-sized panadromous cartilagous fish and requires more than ten years to reach sexual maturity. An understanding of the reproductive organs and fertilization process is a precondition for controlled reproduction of this endangered species. The developing oocyte is surrounded by an extracellular matrix composed of the zona pellucide (ZP) protein in several isoforms, all of which play important roles in fertilization and embryo protection. The present study reports the identification of two ZP genes, AsZPAX and AsZPB, in this fish. The full-length cDNAs of AsZPAX and AsZPB were 2950 base pairs (bp) and 1832bp, predicting proteins of 946 and 592 amino acid residues, respectively. Both proteins have a conserved ZP domain. In a gene tree, AsZPAX and AsZPB were respectively clustered with their counterparts in other vertebrates. Tissue distribution analysis demonstrated that the AsZPAX RNA was transcribed in both the ovary and the liver, while AsZPB was transcribed exclusively in the ovary. RNA in situ hybridization revealed apparent RNA expression of both AsZPAX and AsZPB in growing oocytes of the 4-year-old ovary.
Clinical and laboratory findings associated with naturally occurring babesiosis in dromedary camels

Abstract Clinical, haematological, and biochemical changes induced by naturally occurring babesiosis in dromedary camels were described. Of 258 dromedary camels studied, 34 camels suffered from fever, appetite loss, weakness, depression, and reluctant movement; abortion and/or infertility were also observed. Parasitological blood examinations were performed using Giemsastained blood smears. The clinically affected animals were diagnosed with babesiosis, with 13.17% overall morbidity. Camels that suffered from babesiosis were subjected to haematological and biochemical analyses and the affected group was compared with a control group containing 34 healthy camels. The affected animals showed a highly significant (P<0.001) reduction of the total red blood cell (RBC) count, haemoglobin (HGB) concentration, and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as well as a highly significant reduction (P<0.01) of haematocrit (HCT) and a significant reduction of (P<0.05) mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH). Additional, highly significant increases (P<0.01) in white blood cell (WBC) count and plateletcrit (PCT) percentage were detected. However, other haematological parameters were not significantly altered. There was a very significant reduction (P<0.001) of the blood iron level and a very significant increase (P<0.001) in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the affected camels. Additionally, significant increases in total protein, albumin, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total bilirubin were observed in the affected camels. It was concluded that babesiosis highly affects the haematobiochemical parameters of dromedary camels, including the liver, kidney, and muscle functions. These results represent novel findings concerning natural babesiosis in camels.
FORAGING CHOICES OF BUMBLEBEES ON EQUALLY REWARDING ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS OF DIFFERENT COLORS

ABSTRACT Laboratory-reared bumblebees were allowed to forage on 30 artificial flowers which were identical in morphology and reward schedule, but were marked by either a human-blue, a human-green, or a human-white landing surface. The probability of nectar rewards in the artificial flowers, and their spatial distribution, were manipulated experimentally. The bees' color choices in the different experimental treatments were compared. The proportions of visits to the three colors deviated significantly from the expected random choice (1/3,1/3,1/3) for more than 50% of the bees. Of these bees, 38%, 32%, and 30% formed a preference for human-blue, human-green, and human-white, respectively. The frequency of nonrandom color choice, and the strength of the deviation from random choice, were highest when the different colors were placed in separate clusters, lower when they were placed in adjacent clusters, and lowest when they were randomly intermingled. Nonrandom color choice was also more pronounced when the .
Online Optimization with Predictions and Non-convex Losses

We study online optimization in a setting where an online learner seeks to optimize a per-round hitting cost, which may be non-convex, while incurring a movement cost when changing actions between rounds. We ask: under what general conditions is it possible for an online learner to leverage predictions of future cost functions in order to achieve near-optimal costs? Prior work has provided near-optimal online algorithms for specific combinations of assumptions about hitting and switching costs, but no general results are known. In this work, we give two general sufficient conditions that specify a relationship between the hitting and movement costs which guarantees that a new algorithm, Synchronized Fixed Horizon Control (SFHC), achieves a 1+O(1/w) competitive ratio, where w is the number of predictions available to the learner. Our conditions do not require the cost functions to be convex, and we also derive competitive ratio results for non-convex hitting and movement costs. Our results provide the first constant, dimension-free competitive ratio for online non-convex optimization with movement costs. We also give an example of a natural problem, Convex Body Chasing (CBC), where the sufficient conditions are not satisfied and prove that no online algorithm can have a competitive ratio that converges to 1.
Sibling Relations in Patchwork Families: Co-residence Is More Influential Than Genetic Relatedness

In “patchwork” families, full siblings, maternal and paternal half-siblings, and non-related children are raised together, and sometimes, genetically related children are separated. As their number is steadily growing, the investigation of the factors that influence within-family relations is becoming more important. Our aim was to explore whether people differentiate between half- and full-siblings in their social relations as implied by the theory of inclusive fitness, and to test whether co-residence or genetic relatedness improves sibling relations to a larger extent. We administered the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire to 196 individuals who were in contact with full-, half-, or step-siblings in their childhood. We built Generalized Linear Mixed Models models to test for the effects of relatedness and co-residence on sibling relations. In general, a higher degree of relatedness was associated with better sibling relations, but only among those who did not live together during childhood. Co-resident siblings’ overall pattern of relation quality was not influenced by the actual level of genetic relatedness. In contrast to this, full siblings reported having experienced more conflicts during childhood than half-siblings, possibly resulting from enhanced competition for the same parental resources. The results suggest that inclusive fitness drives siblings’ relations even in recent industrial societies. However, among individuals who live together, the effect of relatedness might be obscured by fitness interdependence and the subjective feeling of kinship.
Association of Serum Uric Acid Status With Bone Mineral Density in Adolescents Aged 12–19 Years

Aims: Evidence linking serum uric acid (sUA) and bone mineral density (BMD) in adolescents is very limited. To the best of our knowledge, only one report has focused on the relationship between sUA and BMD in adolescents. Thus, this study aimed to determine the association between sUA and total BMD in adolescents aged 12–19 years. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample composed of non-institutionalized US population from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Weighted multivariate linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between sUA and total BMD. Subgroup analyses were further performed. Results: sUA positively correlated with total BMD in the multiple regression model after adjusting for potential confounders. However, in the subgroup analyses stratified by sex, age, or race/ethnicity, the association between sUA and total BMD followed an inverted U-shaped curve in female adolescents, adolescents aged 16–19 years, and other race/ethnicity. Conclusions: Our results suggested that the correlation between sUA level and total BMD differed by sex. The increased sUA level would be beneficial to bone health in adolescents with low sUA levels, but for female adolescents, a higher sUA level (turning point, 3.9 mg/dL) may have an adverse effect on bone health.
Nitrogen Deprivation-Induced Production of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Arachidonic-Acid-Accumulating Microalga Lobosphaera incisa Underpins Their Role as ROS Scavengers and Chemical Messengers

The green microalga Lobosphaera incisa accumulates long-chain polyunsaturated arachidonic acid sequestered in triacylglycerols under nitrogen (N)-starvation conditions. Many of L. incisa’s physiological and metabolic responses to N-starvation have been previously investigated. However, the temporal dynamics of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under different N availability and their role in L. incisa stress responses have yet to be elucidated. Here, we investigated the VOC profiles of L. incisa to reveal their emission patterns, and proposed their physiological roles under N-starvation. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 42 and 19 VOCs were identified in the algal biomass (AVOCs) and in the medium (MVOCs), respectively, belonging to alkanes, alkenes, benzenoids, esters, fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, fatty acids (FAs), FA esters, ketones, and terpenoids; most of these are the oxidative products of FAs or photosynthetic pigment degradation. The discriminant AVOCs and MVOCs produced under N-starvation were identified by principal component analyses and hierarchical clustering. A significant treatment- and time-dependent increase in volatile FAs and their oxidative products was observed in the algal biomass and medium under N-starvation as compared to N-replete controls, following a similar pattern as reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. This suggests that VOCs may be involved in ROS scavenging. Despite the increase in total VOCs, terpenoids and alkenes decreased significantly with N-starvation duration, along with chloroplast degradation. Transcriptomics data supported the VOC patterns and revealed the upregulation of genes involved in fatty aldehyde, fatty alcohol, and ketone synthesis, including lipoxygenase, thioesterase, and fatty acyl CoA reductase, along with a decrease in the expression of genes putatively implicated in alkene biosynthesis. Several VOCs were identified as potential biotechnological targets, and their putative biosynthetic pathways were proposed, which could be genetically manipulated to enhance the yields of high value products. We conclude that VOCs may play an important role in stress metabolism, ROS scavenging, and the amelioration of oxidative stress under N-starvation. Also, VOCs released in the medium may communicate the signal to neighboring cells, thus priming them to adjust their metabolic activities to adapt to N-starvation conditions, indicating that the function of VOCs as chemical signaling messengers is conserved from microalgae to higher plants.
Trade‐offs among agronomic, energetic, and environmental performance characteristics of corn and prairie bioenergy cropping systems

Cellulosic bioenergy production provides opportunities to utilize a range of cropping systems that can enhance the multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes. In a 9‐ha field experiment located on fertile land in Boone County, IA, USA, we directly compared a corn‐soybean rotation harvested for grain, continuous corn harvested for grain and stover, continuous corn harvested for grain and stover with a rye cover crop, newly reconstructed prairie harvested for biomass and fertilized with nitrogen, and unfertilized newly reconstructed prairie harvested for biomass. Comparisons were made using four performance indicators: harvestable yield, net energy balance (NEB), root production, and nutrient balances. We found trade‐offs among systems in terms of the measured performance indicators. Continuous corn systems were the highest yielding, averaging 13 Mg ha−1 of harvested biomass (grain plus stover), whereas fertilized and unfertilized prairies produced the least harvested biomass at 8.8 and 6.5 Mg ha−1, respectively. Mean NEBs were highest in continuous corn systems at 45.1 GJ ha−1, intermediate in the corn‐soybean rotation at 28.6 GJ ha−1, and lowest in fertilized and unfertilized prairies at 11.4 and 10.5 GJ ha−1, respectively. Concomitant with the high yields of the continuous corn systems were the large nutrient requirements of these systems compared to the prairie systems. Continuous corn with rye required three times more nitrogen inputs than fertilized prairie. Root production, on the other hand, was on average seven times greater in the prairie systems than the annual crop systems. On highly fertile soils, corn‐based cropping systems are likely to play an important role in maintaining the high productivity of agricultural landscapes, but alternative cropping systems, such as prairies used for bioenergy production, can produce substantial yield, require minimal externally derived inputs, and can be incorporated into the landscape at strategic locations to maximize the production of other ecosystem services.
Spatiotemporal Pattern of Ectopic Cell Divisions Contribute to Mis-Shaped Phenotype of Primary and Lateral Roots of katanin1 Mutant

Pattern formation, cell proliferation, and directional cell growth, are driving factors of plant organ shape, size, and overall vegetative development. The establishment of vegetative morphogenesis strongly depends on spatiotemporal control and synchronization of formative and proliferative cell division patterns. In this context, the progression of cell division and the regulation of cell division plane orientation are defined by molecular mechanisms converging to the proper positioning and temporal reorganization of microtubule arrays such as the preprophase microtubule band, the mitotic spindle and the cytokinetic phragmoplast. By focusing on the tractable example of primary root development and lateral root emergence in Arabidopsis thaliana, genetic studies have highlighted the importance of mechanisms underlying microtubule reorganization in the establishment of the root system. In this regard, severe alterations of root growth, and development found in extensively studied katanin1 mutants of A. thaliana (fra2, lue1, and ktn1-2), were previously attributed to defective rearrangements of cortical microtubules and aberrant cell division plane reorientation. How KATANIN1-mediated microtubule severing contributes to tissue patterning and organ morphogenesis, ultimately leading to anisotropy in microtubule organization is a trending topic under vigorous investigation. Here we addressed this issue during root development, using advanced light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) and long-term imaging of ktn1-2 mutant expressing the GFP-TUA6 microtubule marker. This method allowed spatial and temporal monitoring of cell division patterns in growing roots. Analysis of acquired multidimensional data sets revealed the occurrence of ectopic cell divisions in various tissues including the calyptrogen and the protoxylem of the main root, as well as in lateral root primordia. Notably the ktn1-2 mutant exhibited excessive longitudinal cell divisions (parallel to the root axis) at ectopic positions. This suggested that changes in the cell division pattern and the occurrence of ectopic cell divisions contributed significantly to pleiotropic root phenotypes of ktn1-2 mutant. LSFM provided evidence that KATANIN1 is required for the spatiotemporal control of cell divisions and establishment of tissue patterns in living A. thaliana roots.