Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multidimensional plasticity in the Glanville fritillary butterfly: larval performance is temperature, host and family specific

Variation in environmental conditions during development can lead to changes in life-history traits with long-lasting effects. Here, we study how variation in temperature and host plant (i.e. the consequences of potential maternal oviposition choices) affects a suite of life-history traits in pre-diapause larvae of the Glanville fritillary butterfly. We focus on offspring survival, larval growth rates and relative fat reserves, and pay specific attention to intraspecific variation in the responses (G × E × E). Globally, thermal performance and survival curves varied between diets of two host plants, suggesting that host modifies the temperature impact, or vice versa. Additionally, we show that the relative fat content has a host-dependent, discontinuous response to developmental temperature. This implies that a potential switch in resource allocation, from more investment in growth at lower temperatures to storage at higher temperatures, is dependent on the larval diet. Interestingly, a large proportion of the variance in larval performance is explained by differences among families, or interactions with this variable. Finally, we demonstrate that these family-specific responses to the host plant remain largely consistent across thermal environments. Together, the results of our study underscore the importance of paying attention to intraspecific trait variation in the field of evolutionary ecology.
Developing a Residual Testing Protocol for Soybean Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

ABSTRACT: Soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), continues to be an economically important insect pest of soybean in the northcentral region of the United States since its first report in 2000. Control has traditionally relied on foliar applications of pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides; however, recent confirmed failures of pyrethroids in the region have prompted immediate management concerns. Insecticidal modes of action are limited, and there is a need for assessing residual efficacy of exisiting and new insecticides for soybean aphid. We developed a field-based protocol to evaluate the residual efficacy of treated foliage, and tested our method with two insecticides. Our residual testing protocol can be utilized for residual efficacy evaluations of other pests and in other systems.
Peculiarities of hydrodynamics in the evaporation of hydrocarbon droplets

Combustion of liquid fuel generally is going on in the sprayed form. The combustion effectiveness is influenced by the evaporation rate of droplets, which determine heat and mass transfer intensity between droplets and the gas and peculiarities of combined heat spread in warming semitransparent droplets. Modeling of complex heat transfer raises the assessment problem of the potential liquid instability within droplets. Free liquid circulation in warming liquid droplets can occur under the influence of Archimedes forces and forced circulation inside them can be forced by sliding gas friction forces acting on the droplet surface. Under the influence of these forces, droplets liquid starts to flow on its surface and emerged vortices pass into the interior layers of the droplets. Hydrodynamic regime of the liquid droplets determines the solution methodology of the inner “droplet” problem. A combined analytical and numerical method of investigation is applied. A system of parabolic type second order integral-differential equations describing complex heat transfer in the droplet by conduction and radiation is transformed into an infinite series of integral equations. Securing balance of energy fluxes in the droplet with confidence of one hundredth of percent and using the fastest sinking the droplet surface temperature is selected. The change of thermal state and phase transformation intensity of warming hydrocarbons droplets heated in air is modeled under different boundary conditions of heat and mass transfer. The influence of forced liquid circulation on the droplet thermal state evaluated using effective heat conduction coefficient. Free liquid circulation in the droplets is evaluated by Rayleigh number.
Effects of Probabilistic Risk Situation Awareness Tool (RSAT) on Aeronautical Weather-Hazard Decision Making

We argue that providing cumulative risk as an estimate of the uncertainty in dynamically changing risky environments can help decision-makers meet mission-critical goals. Specifically, we constructed a simplified aviation-like weather decision-making task incorporating Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) images of convective weather. NEXRAD radar images provide information about geographically referenced precipitation. NEXRAD radar images are used by both pilots and laypeople to support decision-making about the level of risk posed by future weather-hazard movements. Using NEXRAD, people and professionals have to infer the uncertainty in the meteorological information to understand current hazards and extrapolate future conditions. Recent advancements in meteorology modeling afford the possibility of providing uncertainty information concerning hazardous weather for the current flight. Although there are systematic biases that plague people’s use of uncertainty information, there is evidence that presenting forecast uncertainty can improve weather-related decision-making. The current study augments NEXRAD by providing flight-path risk, referred to as the Risk Situational Awareness Tool (RSAT). RSAT provides the probability that a route will come within 20 NMI radius (FAA recommended safety distance) of hazardous weather within the next 45 min of flight. The study evaluates four NEXRAD displays integrated with RSAT, providing varying levels of support. The “no” support condition has no RSAT (the NEXRAD only condition). The “baseline” support condition employs an RSAT whose accuracy is consistent with current capability in meteorological modeling. The “moderate” support condition applies an RSAT whose accuracy is likely at the top of what is achievable in meteorology in the near future. The “high” support condition provides a level of support that is likely unachievable in an aviation weather decision-making context without considerable technological innovation. The results indicate that the operators relied on the RSAT and improved their performance as a consequence. We discuss the implications of the findings for the safe introduction of probabilistic tools in future general aviation cockpits and other dynamic decision-making contexts. Moreover, we discuss how the results contribute to research in the fields of dynamic risk and uncertainty, risk situation awareness, cumulative risk, and risk communication.
Bovine Teat Cistern Microbiota Composition and Richness Are Associated With the Immune and Microbial Responses During Transition to Once-Daily Milking

The relationship between microbiota and health has been widely reported in humans and animals. We established a link between teat cistern microbiota composition and bovine mastitis, an inflammatory disease often due to bacterial infections. To further decipher the relationships between teat cistern microbiota and immune and microbial responses, a switch from twice- to once-daily milking (ODM) in 31 initially healthy quarters of dairy cows was used to trigger an udder perturbation. In this study, a temporal relationship was reported between initial teat cistern microbiota composition and richness, the immune response to ODM, and mastitis development. Quarters with a low initial microbiota richness and taxonomic markers such as Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were associated with a higher rate of mastitis during ODM. Quarters with a higher richness and taxonomic markers such as Firmicutes, including the Lachnospiraceae family, and genera such as Bifidobacterium and Corynebacterium displayed early inflammation following transition to ODM but without developing mastitis (no infection). Short-term compositional shifts of microbiota indicates that microbiotas with a higher initial richness were more strongly altered by transition to ODM, with notably the disappearance of rare OTUs. Microbiota modifications were associated with an early innate immune system stimulation, which, in turn, may have contributed to the prevention of mastitis development.
Probing the Response of the Amphibious Plant Butomus umbellatus to Nutrient Enrichment and Shading by Integrating Eco-Physiological With Metabolomic Analyses

Amphibious plants, living in land-water ecotones, have to cope with challenging and continuously changing growth conditions in their habitats with respect to nutrient and light availability. They have thus evolved a variety of mechanisms to tolerate and adapt to these changes. Therefore, the study of these plants is a major area of ecophysiology and environmental ecological research. However, our understanding of their capacity for physiological adaptation and tolerance remains limited and requires systemic approaches for comprehensive analyses. To this end, in this study, we have conducted a mesocosm experiment to analyze the response of Butomus umbellatus, a common amphibious species in Denmark, to nutrient enrichment and shading. Our study follows a systematic integration of morphological (including plant height, leaf number, and biomass accumulation), ecophysiological (photosynthesis-irradiance responses, leaf pigment content, and C and N content in plant organs), and leaf metabolomic measurements using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (39 mainly primary metabolites), based on bioinformatic methods. No studies of this type have been previously reported for this plant species. We observed that B. umbellatus responds to nutrient enrichment and light reduction through different mechanisms and were able to identify its nutrient enrichment acclimation threshold within the applied nutrient gradient. Up to that threshold, the morpho-physiological response to nutrient enrichment was profound, indicating fast-growing trends (higher growth rates and biomass accumulation), but only few parameters changed significantly from light to shade [specific leaf area (SLA); quantum yield (φ)]. Metabolomic analysis supported the morpho-physiological results regarding nutrient overloading, indicating also subtle changes due to shading not directly apparent in the other measurements. The combined profile analysis revealed leaf metabolite and morpho-physiological parameter associations. In this context, leaf lactate, currently of uncertain role in higher plants, emerged as a shading acclimation biomarker, along with SLA and φ. The study enhances both the ecophysiology methodological toolbox and our knowledge of the adaptive capacity of amphibious species. It demonstrates that the educated combination of physiological with metabolomic measurements using bioinformatic approaches is a promising approach for ecophysiology research, enabling the elucidation of discriminatory metabolic shifts to be used for early diagnosis and even prognosis of natural ecosystem responses to climate change.
Selection and Validation of the Optimal Panel of Reference Genes for RT-qPCR Analysis in the Developing Rat Cartilage

Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is widely used to detect gene expression levels, and selection of reference genes is crucial to the accuracy of RT-qPCR results. Minimum Information for Publication of RT-qPCR Experiments (MIQE) proposes that using the panel of reference genes for RT-qPCR is conducive to obtaining accurate experimental results. However, the selection of the panel of reference genes for RT-qPCR in rat developing cartilage has not been well documented. In this study, we selected eight reference genes commonly used in rat cartilage from literature (GAPDH, ACTB, 18S, GUSB, HPRT1, RPL4, RPL5, and SDHA) as candidates. Then, we screened out the optimal panel of reference genes in female and male rat cartilage of fetus (GD20), juvenile (PW6), and puberty (PW12) in physiology with stability analysis software of genes expression. Finally, we verified the reliability of the selected panel of reference genes with the rat model of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) induced by prenatal dexamethasone exposure (PDE). The results showed that the optimal panel of reference genes in cartilage at GD20, PW6, and PW12 in physiology was RPL4 + RPL5, which was consistent with the IUGR model, and there was no significant gender difference. Further, the results of standardizing the target genes showed that RPL4 + RPL5 performed smaller intragroup differences than other panels of reference genes or single reference genes. In conclusion, we found that the optimal panel of reference genes in female and male rat developing cartilage was RPL4 + RPL5, and there was no noticeable difference before and after birth.
High-Zinc Supplementation of Weaned Piglets Affects Frequencies of Virulence and Bacteriocin Associated Genes Among Intestinal Escherichia coli Populations

To prevent economic losses due to post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) in industrial pig production, zinc (Zn) feed additives have been widely used, especially since awareness has risen that the regular application of antibiotics promotes buildup of antimicrobial resistance in both commensal and pathogenic bacteria. In a previous study on 179 Escherichia coli collected from piglets sacrificed at the end of a Zn feeding trial, including isolates obtained from animals of a high-zinc fed group (HZG) and a corresponding control group (CG), we found that the isolate collection exhibited three different levels of tolerance toward zinc, i.e., the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) detected was 128, followed by 256 and 512 μg/ml ZnCl2. We further provided evidence that enhanced zinc tolerance in porcine intestinal E. coli populations is clearly linked to excessive zinc feeding. Here we provide insights about the genomic make-up and phylogenetic background of these 179 E. coli genomes. Bayesian analysis of the population structure (BAPS) revealed a lack of association between the actual zinc tolerance level and a particular phylogenetic E. coli cluster or even branch for both, isolates belonging to the HZG and CG. In addition, detection rates for genes and operons associated with virulence (VAG) and bacteriocins (BAG) were lower in isolates originating from the HZG (41 vs. 65% and 22 vs. 35%, p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, resp.). Strikingly, E. coli harboring genes defining distinct pathotypes associated with intestinal disease, i.e., enterotoxigenic, enteropathogenic, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (ETEC, EPEC, and STEC) constituted 1% of the isolates belonging to the HZG but 14% of those from the CG. Notably, these pathotypes were positively associated with enhanced zinc tolerance (512 μg/ml ZnCl2 MIC, p < 0.001). Taken together, zinc excess seems to influence carriage rates of VAGs and BAGs in porcine intestinal E. coli populations, and high-zinc feeding is negatively correlated with enteral pathotype occurrences, which might explain earlier observations concerning the relative increase of Enterobacterales considering the overall intestinal microbiota of piglets during zinc feeding trials while PWD rates have decreased.
Arabidopsis Seedling Lethal 1 Interacting With Plastid-Encoded RNA Polymerase Complex Proteins Is Essential for Chloroplast Development

Mitochondrial transcription termination factors (mTERFs) are highly conserved proteins in metazoans. Plants have many more mTERF proteins than animals. The functions and the underlying mechanisms of plants’ mTERFs remain largely unknown. In plants, mTERF family proteins are present in both mitochondria and plastids and are involved in gene expression in these organelles through different mechanisms. In this study, we screened Arabidopsis mutants with pigment-defective phenotypes and isolated a T-DNA insertion mutant exhibiting seedling-lethal and albino phenotypes [seedling lethal 1 (sl1)]. The SL1 gene encodes an mTERF protein localized in the chloroplast stroma. The sl1 mutant showed severe defects in chloroplast development, photosystem assembly, and the accumulation of photosynthetic proteins. Furthermore, the transcript levels of some plastid-encoded proteins were significantly reduced in the mutant, suggesting that SL1/mTERF3 may function in the chloroplast gene expression. Indeed, SL1/mTERF3 interacted with PAP12/PTAC7, PAP5/PTAC12, and PAP7/PTAC14 in the subgroup of DNA/RNA metabolism in the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) complex. Taken together, the characterization of the plant chloroplast mTERF protein, SL1/mTERF3, that associated with PEP complex proteins provided new insights into RNA transcription in the chloroplast.
Genetic Engineering of Natural Killer Cells for Enhanced Antitumor Function

Natural Killer (NK) cells are unique immune cells capable of efficient killing of infected and transformed cells. Indeed, NK cell-based therapies induced response against hematological malignancies in the absence of adverse toxicity in clinical trials. Nevertheless, adoptive NK cell therapies are reported to have exhibited poor outcome against many solid tumors. This can be mainly attributed to limited infiltration of NK cells into solid tumors, downregulation of target antigens on the tumor cells, or suppression by the chemokines and secreted factors present within the tumor microenvironment. Several methods for genetic engineering of NK cells were established and consistently improved over the last decade, leading to the generation of novel NK cell products with enhanced anti-tumor activity and improved tumor homing. New generations of engineered NK cells are developed to better target refractory tumors and/or to overcome inhibitory tumor microenvironment. This review summarizes recent improvements in approaches to NK cell genetic engineering and strategies implemented to enhance NK cell effector functions.
Infection Control Practices Among Private Practicing Dentists in Nairobi During the Pre-coronavirus Disease 2019 Period

Background: Cross-infection control is a dynamic field that requires frequent updates due to emerging diseases, advancement in technology, and scientific knowledge. Despite wide publication of guidelines, a laxity in compliance to the standard precautions for infection control by dental health-care personnel (DHCP) has been reported globally. Therefore, there is need to review previous shortcomings in order to adequately secure dental practices during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim of the study was to determine knowledge and infection control practices by dentists in private practices. The study was done a few months before the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Kenya. Materials and Methods: The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional study that was carried out in selected private dental clinics located in Nairobi. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Convenience sampling method was utilized, while data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0.0. 0. Results: A total of 71 private dentists participated in the study. Their mean age was 38 years with an age range of 27–55 years. Almost all (70, 98.6%) the dentists were able to define cross infection correctly. Majority (62, 87.3%) correctly differentiated between sterilization and disinfection, while 9 (12.7%) had difficulties. Most (68, 95.8%) of the respondents were aware of the standard precautions for cross-infection control. All participants used face masks and gloves. About half of them (38, 54%) practiced hand washing after removal of gloves and 31 (43.7%) before and after wearing of gloves, while 2 (2.8%) washed hands only before wearing gloves. Only 31 (42.3%) and 26 (36.6%) participants reported use of rubber dam isolation and impervious barrier, respectively. All the dentists reported disposal of sharps into especially labeled containers, while about half reported use of disposable suction traps and amalgam separators. Conclusion: The dentists had a good knowledge on various aspects of infection control measures that were studied. Use of basic personal protective equipment was widely practiced. There were irregularities in hand hygiene, use of rubber dam, surface barriers, and waste management. The work highlights that many dentists were unprepared to manage infectious risk during the COVID-19 outbreak, which justified the closure of the dental facilities. Development of strategies to promote adequate and safe practice is highly recommended.
Transcriptomic Response of Mussel Gills After a Vibrio splendidus Infection Demonstrates Their Role in the Immune Response

Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) are filter feeder bivalves that are constantly in contact with a wide range of microorganisms, some of which are potentially pathogenic. How mussels recognize and respond to pathogens has not been fully elucidated to date; therefore, we investigated the immune mechanisms that these animals employ in response to a bacterial bath infection from the surrounding water, mimicking the response that mussels mount under natural conditions. After the bath infection, mussels were able to remove the bacteria from their bodies and from the water tank. Accordingly, antibacterial activity was detected in gill extracts, demonstrating that this tissue plays a central role in removing and clearing potential pathogens. A transcriptomic study performed after a bath infection with Vibrio splendidus identified a total of 1,156 differentially expressed genes. The expression levels of genes contributing to a number of biological processes, such as immune response activation pathways and their regulation with cytokines, cell recognition, adhesion and apoptosis, were significantly modulated after infection, suggesting that the gills play important roles in pathogen recognition, as well as being activators and regulators of the mussel innate immune response. In addition to RNA-seq analysis, long non-coding RNAs and their neighboring genes were also analyzed and exhibited modulation after the bacterial challenge. The response of gills against bath infection was compared with the findings of a previous transcriptomic study on hemocytes responding to systemic infection, demonstrating the different and specific functions of gills. The results of this study indicate that recognition processes occur in the gill, thereby activating the effector agents of the immune response to overcome bacterial infection.
Competitive Adsorption of Methylene Blue and Rhodamine B on Natural Zeolite: Thermodynamic and Kinetic Studies

A batch system was applied to study the adsorption behavior of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB) in single and binary component systems on natural zeolite. In the single component systems, the zeolite presents higher adsorption capacity for MB than RB with the maximal adsorption capacity of 7.95×10−5 and 1.26×10−5 mol/g at 55°C for MB and RB, respectively. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption followed pseudo-second- order kinetics and could be described by a two-step diffusion process. For the single component systems, the adsorption isotherm could be fitted by the Langmuir model. In the binary component system, MB and RB exhibit competitive adsorption on the zeolite. The adsorption is approximately reduced to 50% and 60% of single component adsorption systems of MB and RB, respectively at an initial concentration of 6×10−6 mol·L−1 at 25°C. In the binary component system, kinetic and adsorption isotherm studies demonstrate that the experimental data are following pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm and kinetic data are fairly described by a two-step diffusion model. Effect of solution pH on adsorption of MB and RB in both single and binary component systems was studied and the results were described by electrostatic interactions.