Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Roles of Phytohormones in Development as Studied in Transgenic Plants

Abstract The study of transgenic plants has greatly advanced our understanding of the control of development and metabolism. The ability to isolate and modify genes greatly extends the range of what is technically feasible. In the area of hormone biology, transgenic plants have helped to elucidate the pathways of synthesis, the metabolic control points, and the biological functions of the various phytohormones. This review covers the available genes that modulate the metabolism and perception of the phytohormones. One of the most significant conclusions coming out of transgenic plant work is the complex interaction among the different classes of phytohormones. For example, increasing the level of the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in a plant has the secondary effect of inducing ethylene biosynthesis. This complication can be circumvented by combining transgenic plants modulating multiple hormones or through the use of available mutants. In this manner, transgenic plants have been utilized to unambiguous.
Fonctions nouvelles de Gas-6 et de la protéine S - Facteurs vitamine K-dépendants et ligands des récepteurs tyrosine kinase de la famille TAM

The gamma-carboxyglutamate-containing proteins are a family of secreted vitamin K-dependent proteins in which some glutamyl residues are post-translationally modified to gamma-carboxyglutamic acid residues. A vitamin K-dependent gamma-glutamyl carboxylase enzyme catalyses this post-translational modification. The gamma-carboxylase reaction requires vitamin K in its reduced form, vitamin K hydroquinone, and generates gamma-carboxyglutamate and vitamin K 2,3,-epoxide which is then recycled back to the hydroquinone form by a vitamin K reductase system. Warfarin blocks the vitamin K cycle and hence inhibits the gamma-carboxylase reaction, and this property of Warfarin has led to its wide use in anticoagulant therapy. Until recently, interest in vitamin K-dependent proteins was mostly restricted to the field of hematology. However, the discovery that the anti-coagulant factor protein S and its structural homologue Gas6 (growth arrest-specific gene 6), two vitamin K-dependent proteins, are ligands for the Tyro3/Axl/Mer family of related tyrosine kinase receptors has opened up a new area of research. Moreover, the phenotypes associated with the invalidation of genes encoding vitamin K-dependent proteins or their receptors revealed their implication in regulating phagocytosis during many cell differentiation phenomena such as retinogenesis, neurogenesis, osteogenesis, and spermatogenesis. Additionally, protein S was identified as the major factor responsible for serum-stimulated phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. Therefore, the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of vitamin K-dependent proteins in regulating apoptotic cell phagocytosis may lead to a better understanding of the physiopathology of cell differentiation and could form the framework of new therapeutic strategies aiming at a selective targeting of cell phagocytosis associated pathologies.
The impact of glyphosate‐tolerant crops on the use of other herbicides and on resistance management

Glyphosate can now be used for selective, post-emergence weed control in glyphosate-tolerant varieties of soybeans, cotton, canola and maize. It is estimated that glyphosate-tolerant soybeans in the US will account for 60-80% of the area planted by 2001. The rapid acceptance of this new technology is due to multiple factors including broad-spectrum weed control, low cost and simplicity. The use of glyphosate has resulted in a major reduction in the use of other herbicides including the ACCase inhibitors, ALS inhibitors, and Protox inhibitors. In the short term (three to five years) this change in herbicide use patterns will continue. In the long term (five to eight years), the primary reliance on glyphosate for weed control particularly in continuous cropping or in rotations of glyphosate-tolerant crops will result in a shift in the weed spectrum toward more tolerant weed species. As a result of this shift, other herbicides will be needed to fill these weed gaps. Continuous use of glyphosate may also lead to the selection of glyphosate-resistant weed populations, as has already occurred in Australia. However, shifts in the weed species' composition from highly susceptible toward more tolerant species will happen more rapidly than selection of resistance. New herbicides developed in the future will have to be extremely cost-effective to compete against glyphosate and may be geared towards controlling weeds tolerant to glyphosate. There will also be further development of new tolerant crops to other broad-spectrum, non-selective herbicides that will be able to compete directly with glyphosate.
From carrion to Christmas beetles: the broad dietary niche of the red fox in a hybrid coastal ecosystem in south-eastern Queensland

Abstract. The diet of the European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) was investigated through analysis of 1185 scats collected between 2010 and 2014 from coastal south-east Queensland, Australia. By both frequency of occurrence and volume, its diet was dominated by terrestrial arthropods, marine arthropods, vegetation and birds, although the remains of the short-tailed shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris) consumed as carrion dominated the latter. Terrestrial arthropods, primarily insects of the order Coleoptera, were eaten all year (61% frequency of occurrence, FO) but varied seasonally (35–67%FO), mostly due to the consumption of large numbers of Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus spp.) in the summer months. Marine arthropods consisted almost entirely of ghost crabs (Ocypode spp.) and seasonal variation in consumption was evident (33–72%FO) and likely correlated with ghost crab abundance. Fruit and berries were an important food item for foxes all year but also varied seasonally (30–65%FO). The opportunistic diet of this fox population is discussed in the context of dietary differences, but common opportunism, reported in other Australian and overseas studies.
Complement-Dependent Phagocytosis of Liposomes: Suppression by “Stealth” Lipids

AbstractLiposomes containing either ganglioside GM1, phosphatidylinositol, sulfogalactosyl ceramide, certain other anionic phospholipids, prostaglandin E2, or thromboxane B2 have a reduced ability to undergo complement-dependent phagocytosis by cultured macrophages. We propose that this phenomenon is partially responsible for the prolonged circulation time that is observed after intravenous injection of certain liposomes that are said to have “stealth” properties.
Direct writing of stretchable metal flake conductors: improved stretchability and conductivity by combining differently sintered materials

Stretchable and flexible electronics with elastic interconnects is critical for electronics to be compatible with wearable applications. Especially fabricating such interconnects with printing technology promises rapid, low-cost, and mass manufacturing. Here, a novel direct-write manufacturing process is presented for a stretchable conductor using an extrusion printer and a micron size silver flake ink as the conductive material without expensive nanomaterials. Conductivity increases as the sintering temperature is increased but at the cost of limited stretchability. To overcome this trade-off, we place one mildly sintered line on top of a fully sintered line to create a hybrid serpentine feature. These two lines of a hybrid feature have two different stretchability-conductivity profiles, synergistically improving both the stretchability and conductivity. With this method, a maximum stretchability of 120% strain is obtained with a minimal change in resistance by a factor of 2.8. This stretchable conductor can endure more than 250 cycles of stretching and releasing under 40% strain. The aggregate electrical conductivity is in the range of 4.74*104 S cm−1, which is far superior to any carbon filler based printable composites.
Protective effects and antioxidant mechanism of bamboo leaf flavonoids on hepatocytes injured by CCl4

The protective effects and antioxidant mechanisms of bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLFs) on hepatocytes injured by CCl4 were studied by establishing models of hepatocyte damage induced by CCl4 and detecting the activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismurase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) content and liver glycogen content. The degree of lesions in liver tissues between model and dosage groups was observed through paraffin sections. Results showed that BLFs significantly inhibit CCl4-induced liver injury. The ALT and AST activities as well as MDA contents of cells decreased significantly after treatment with BLFs. GSH-Px and SOD activities as well as liver glycogen contents remarkably increased in the flavonoids groups, which exhibited dose-dependent relationships (P < 0.05). The degree of lesions in liver tissues in the BLF groups was microscopically better than that in the model group. BLFs also significantly suppressed hepatocellular injury and death of apoptotic cells. Therefore, BLFs have remarkable protective effects on acute liver injury, which is related to its strong antioxidant capacity to reduce damage in the liver caused by oxidative stress and cell (NCTC-1469) apoptosis. The results of this study provide pharmacological evidence to support the clinical application of BLFs.
Biofilme — die bevorzugte Lebensform der Bakterien: Flocken, Filme und Schlämme

A review with 21 refs. \"Biofilm\" describes microbial aggregates such as flocs, films, and sludges as preferred mode of life of many microorganisms. They all have in common that the organisms are embedded in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances in which they can establish synergistic microconsortia. In this matrix they are protected against biocides. Furthermore the matrix acts as sorbent for nutrients, retains exoenzyme, and can be considered as a recycling yard for cellular components as well as for nutrients. Biofilms are ubiquitous and can be found even in extreme environments. In many cases they are dominated by bacteria and/or algae, but they can also harbor trophical levels and represent a nutrient source for protozoa and metazoa. Biofilms are system characterized by a vast spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics. Genes and signals are exchanged intensively. Thus, biofilms bear similarities to multicellular organisms.
Groundwater sustainability: a review of the interactions between science and policy

Concerns over groundwater depletion and ecosystem degradation have led to the incorporation of the concept of groundwater sustainability as a groundwater policy instrument in several water codes and management directives worldwide. Because sustainable groundwater management is embedded within integrated, co-evolving hydrological, ecological, and socioeconomic systems, implementing such policies remains a challenge for water managers and the scientific community. The problem is further exacerbated when participatory processes are lacking, resulting in a communication gap among water authorities, scientists, and the broader community. This paper provides a systematic review of the concept of groundwater sustainability, and situates this concept within the calls from the hydrologic literature for more participatory and integrated approaches to water security. We discuss the definition of groundwater sustainability from both a policy and scientific perspective, tracing the evolution of this concept from safe yield, to sustainable groundwater management. We focus on the diversity of societal values related to groundwater sustainability, and the typology of the aquifer performance and governance factors. In addition, we systematically review the main components of an effective scientific evaluation of groundwater sustainability policy, which are multi-process modeling, uncertainty analysis, and participation. We conclude that effective groundwater sustainability policy implementation requires an iterative scientific evaluation that (i) engages stakeholders in a participatory process through collaborative modeling and social learning; (ii) provides improved understanding of the coevolving scenarios between surface water-groundwater systems, ecosystems, and human activities; and (iii) acknowledges and addresses uncertainty in our scientific knowledge and the diversity of societal preferences using multi-model uncertainty analysis and adaptive management. Although the development of such a transdisciplinary research approach, which connects policy, science, and practice for groundwater sustainability evaluation, is still in its infancy worldwide, we find that research towards groundwater sustainability is growing at a much faster rate than groundwater research as a whole.
Cloud-Assisted Dynamic and Cooperative Content Caching in Mobile Edge Computing

We are heading toward a data-centric world and a huge volume of data is getting generated due to the growing number of mobile smart devices. As a result, it is affecting the network latency by putting pressure on the back-haul network. A number of new latency sensitive applications are also emerging that can not tolerate significant network latency added by the remote cloud. Therefore, a new network paradigm MEC (Mobile edge computing, also termed as Multi-access edge computing) is getting popular where computing and storage resources can be placed at the edge of the network to solve the problem of the latency sensitive applications. The MEC can also be used to filter the data to reduce the pressure on the backhaul network. While content caching can provide improvement in terms of latency, frequent updates to the nodes’ storage can lead to significant overhead in terms of pricing, performance and even energy consumption as has been investigated in earlier studies. Such overheads become more significant due to the fact that unlike cloud computing, edge computing nodes are constrained by limited resources. Thus, there is a need for caching approaches that can provide maximum hit percent with minimum overhead. In this article, we propose an algorithm in an attempt to find such a balance between the hit percent and cost. Then we evaluate our algorithm on a real-world request trace of a music streaming service. Experimental results show that our algorithm gives better cache hit percentage and significantly lowers cost as compared to baseline algorithms.
Home Range, Population Density, and Food Resources of Agouti paca (Rodentia: Agoutidae) in Costa Rica: A Study Using Alternative Methods 1

Field studies of elusive mammals such as Agouti paca are difficult, and results are often biased and incomplete because the animals are nocturnal and avoid traps. By studying an A. paca population in a Pacific lowland forest of Costa Rica, we developed indirect observational methods to estimate population density and food resource utilization. To estimate population density, we divided the number of A. paca burrows found in a 12‐ha census area by the average number of burrows utilized per individual from radiotelemetry data. We compared this estimate to independent population estimates obtained using two transect methods. Agouti paca density was estimated at 93 individuals/km2 based on burrow number, and between 67 to 70 individuals/km2 using transect methods. This discrepancy corroborates previous studies suggesting that transect methods underestimate population density. To identify food resources consumed by the species, we collected fruits and seeds with unambiguous A. paca teeth marks. The only animal in Central America with an incisor width similar to A. paca. is Dasyprocta variegata; in a comparison of both species, however, we found that A. paca had a significantly larger incisor width and that teeth marks of 4 mm or wider unambiguously indicated handling by this species. By applying this technique, food resources utilized by A. paca can be identified more easily than by direct observation. At our study site, we identified 33 plant species consumed by A. paca; 61 percent are new records for this animal. Our results suggest that A. paca plays a major, although not fully understood, ecological role in seed predation and dispersal.
Docking study of triphenylphosphonium cations as estrogen receptor alpha modulators.

Virtual high throughput screening (VHTS) was performed to assess possible interactions which might occur between commercially available triphenylphosphonium (TPP) cations and estrogen receptor α (ERα) that could be exploited to design novel ERα modulators. One application of TPP cations is for delivering bioactive molecules to targets in mitochondria as the large membrane potential of mitochondria leads cations to accumulate inside them. The estrogen receptors (ERs) α and β, normally activated by the endogenous hormone 17β‐estradiol, are responsible for controlling transcription of nuclear DNA necessary for human development and reproduction. ERs are also associated with the plasma membrane and have been found in the mitochondria of a variety of cell types. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) are synthetic compounds which are used to modulate ER activity. Different SERMs display varying combinations of agonistic, antagonistic and neutral effects upon estrogen receptors depending upon the tissue type and cellular location of the receptor. Thus, they are being employed to treat a range of ER‐related disorders. A common feature shared by many SERMs is the close arrangement of three aromatic rings similar to TPP cations. Given this structural similarity, the estrogenic activity of triphenyl phosphonium salts was investigated using the automated docking program eHiTS. Compounds were docked into ten different crystal structures of ERα. Structures were chosen based upon eHiTS ability to accurately identify the majority of estrogenically active compounds given a set of active and decoy molecules. The results of the VHTS suggest hybrids of TPP cations and known SERMs could serve as potent mitochondrial SERMs.
Age in Relation to Copulation, Egg Development, and Multiple Mating Behavior in the Coconut Palm Pest Brontispa longissima (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

ABSTRACT To clarify the reproductive properties of the coconut palm pest, Brontispa longissima (Gestro) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), we investigated in the laboratory the diel periodicity in copulation, effect of adult age after emergence on copulation and ovarian development, reproductive development in relation to female age, and the possibility of multiple mating. The beetles used in this study were reared in the laboratory and were fed an alternative food plant, narrowleaf cattail, Typha domingensis Pers. (Typhaceae). Copulation occurred throughout the 24-h cycle but mostly occurred in the photophase with two peaks, one at the onset of lights-on and the other 8–12 h after lights-on, indicating that most copulation activity in B. longissima in the field occurs in the early morning and the afternoon. Females could copulate immediately after emergence, whereas males began copulating 3 wk after emergence. Ovaries of females started to develop in the absence of mating and were correlated with adult age. Mature males could copulate with females regardless of ovarian developmental stage, and females with undeveloped ovaries accepted copulation attempts. Our study showed that the timing of copulation during the preoviposition period would not affect numbers of eggs laid, length of preoviposition period, or viability of eggs. B. longissima adults engaged in multiple mating.
Genetics of Broodiness in Poultry - A Review

In poultry, the selection against broodiness took up presumably naturally occurred mutations in the White Leghorn breed and led to an almost complete loss of the avian form of parental behaviour (incubation of eggs). Early studies on the genetics of broodiness demonstrated that the trait is polygenic with a major sex-linked effect. The reassessment of the studies on putative genes located on the Z chromosome, which are implicated in the control of broodiness, has resulted in the denial of this hypothesis. The recent experiments bear witness that incubation behaviour in chickens is not controlled by a major gene (or genes) on Z chromosome and there must, therefore, be major autosomal genes contributing to the expression of the behaviour. If a broody gene does exist on the Z chromosome it is one of at least three genes including two dominant autosomal genes, one causing and other one inhibiting incubation behaviour, with probably equal influence.
Microbial metabolism of xenobiotics: Fundamental and applied research

The ability of microorganisms to metabolise xenobiotic compounds has received much attention due to the environmental persistence and toxicity of these chemicals. The microbial degradation of xenobiotics is seen as a cost effective method of removing these pollutants from the environment by a process now known as bioremediation. Microbial treatment of industrial effluents is also possible. Fundamental work has revealed that a wide variety of microorganisms are capable of degrading an equally wide range of organic pollutants. Pure and mixed cultures of microorganisms have been studied and degradation is observed under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Breakdown products have been found during work on the degradative pathways involved and toxicological assessments using bacteria and higher organisms (fish, plants) have been used to determine the toxicity of these intermediates. Many of the degradative genes responsible for xenobiotic metabolism are present on plasmids, transposons or are grouped in clusters on chromosomes. This provides clues to the evolution of degradative pathways and makes the task of genetic manipulation easier such that new microbial strains capable of efficiently degrading pollutants can be developed. Several enzymes involved in xenobiotic metabolism have been isolated and factors affecting their activity investigated. Genetically manipulated strains or naturally isolated organisms may be used in the treatment of industrial wastes or as inocula to enhance degradation in the environment. Environmental factors, including pH, temperature, bioavailability, nutrient supply and oxygen availability have been shown to affect xenobiotic biodegradation. These factors must be optimised to obtain a satisfactory microbial treatment process. Using information gained from fundamental research, bioremediation technology has been used to detoxify different contaminated environments and the results of field studies are very encouraging.
Detection of cymbidium mosaic virus, odontoglossum ringspot virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, and potyviruses infecting orchids in Hawaii.

Approximately 3,600 orchid plants representing 44 genera from three orchid collections, 22 commercial farms, and six nurseries on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii were tested for Cymbidium mosaic virus (CyMV), Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV), tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), and potyviruses with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). CyMV was detected in 59 samples and ORSV was detected in 23 samples, which represented 61 and 25% of the 44 genera surveyed, respectively. Double infection with both viruses occurred in 20 samples, representing 20% of the genera. CyMV and ORSV were detected in 29 and seven of the 31 sites surveyed, respectively