Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proteomic analysis of κ‐casein micro‐heterogeneity

The proteome of bovine milk is dominated by just six gene products that constitute approximately 95% of milk protein. Nonetheless, over 150 protein spots can be readily detected following two‐dimensional electrophoresis of whole milk. Many of these represent isoforms of the major gene products produced through extensive post‐translational modification. Peptide mass fingerprinting of in‐gel tryptic digests (using matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS) in reflectron mode with α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid as the matrix) identified 10 forms of κ‐casein with isoelectric point (pI) values from 4.47 to 5.81, but could not distinguish between them. MALDI‐TOF MS in linear mode, using sinapinic acid as the matrix, revealed a large tryptic peptide (mass > 5990 Da) derived from the C‐terminus that contained all the known sites of genetic variance, phosphorylation and glycosylation. Two genetic variants present as singly or doubly phosphorylated forms could be distinguished using mass data alone. Glycoforms containing a single acidic tetrasaccharide were also identified. The differences in electrophoretic mobility of these isoforms were consistent with the addition of the acidic groups. While more extensively glycosylated forms were also observed, substantial loss of N‐acetylneuraminic acid from the glycosyl group was evident in the MALDI spectra such that ions corresponding to the intact glycopeptide were not observed and assignment of the glycoforms was not possible. However, by analysing the pI shifts observed on the two‐dimensional gels in conjunction with the MS data, the number of N‐acetylneuraminic acid residues, and hence the glycoforms present, could be determined.
Detection of Meat Species in Food Using a Single Primer Pair by PCR and a Novel DNA Extraction by Short Microwave Irradiation

A unique DNA isolation protocol based on microwave irradiation and density centrifugation for the simultaneous detection of porcine, chicken, and mutton meat species in food by PCR using newly developed primers is described. Emphasis is placed on the detection of pork, as it is considered unlawful in the diet in major religions such as Islam and Judaism. The method has been optimized using the primers designed from porcine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence and tested in 96 samples. The method involves 35 seconds of high microwave irradiation of lysed sample homogenate followed by a 5- min centrifugation in 1.5 mL Eppendorf tubes until a clear supernatant is obtained. The design of this protocol makes it possible to process many samples in a short time. To evaluate the method pork and food spiked with different concentrations of pork together with unknown food samples were analyzed by PCR using the new set of porcine specific primers. The new set of primers and the method involved showed high sensitivity in detecting porcine and chicken content in food in addition as a marker for the detection of mutton. The present sample preparation method has the potential to be applied to other meat detection systems as well.
Production and purification of Escherichia coli fimbrial antigen F165

The production of fimbrial antigen F165 by Escherichia coli strains was found to be dependent on the composition of the culture medium and was repressed in the presence of alanine or high levels of glucose, in anaerobic conditions or at growth temperatures of lower than 37°C. Optimal F165 production was found on a minimal medium containing 1% (w/v) casamino acids (MD-1). F165 antigen was isolated from bacteria by mechanical shearing, precipitated with ammonium sulfate, and purified by deoxycholate treatment and gel filtration on Superose 12. The purified fimbriae retained their native morphology as observed by electron microscopy and consisted of two separate protein subunits with apparent molecular weights of 17 500 and 19 000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels.
Fruit growth and abscission in Macadamia imtegrifolia

Growth in diameter of fruits (follicles) of five cultivate of Macadamia integrifolia Maiden and Betche followed a single sigmoidal pattern. A rapid increase in fruit diameter began 2 to 3 weeks after anithesis and continued until weeks 14 to 16. No further increase in size was observed after 16 weeks. Growth in fresh weight of the two cnltivars observed also followed a single sigmoidal pattern. A rapid increase in fresh weight began 5 to 6 weeks after anthesis and continued until weeks 15 to 18. No further increase in fresh weight was evident after 18 weeks. Abscission of flowers and fruits occurred continuously from anthesis through fruit maturity and could be separated into three periods. The first period of abscission occurred in the first 2 weeks after anthesis and commonly involved over 90% of the flowers. The second period of abscission occurred from 3 to 8 weeks after anthesis and commonly involved over 80% of the initial set of small fruit. This period of abscission occurred prior to and concurrent with the rapid increase in growth. The third period of abscission was gradual and occurred from 9 weeks after anthesis until maturity at 28 to 30 weeks. Measurement of ethylene evolution by fruits showed a peak during weeks 3 and 4. This was prior to the peak in relative abscission rate at week 5. The fruit removal force increased from anthesis through week 12 and decreased from week 24 through maturity.
Similarities Between Quality and Health Promoting Compounds as a Result to Stress

Similarities Between Quality and Health Promoting Compounds as a Result to Stress Antioxidants are produce by plants as a defence mechanism against stress. It is not unlikely that quality related properties are related to that stress induced production system (secondary metabolites). Based on purely theoretical considerations and on scarce information from literature and experts, a highly speculative model was developed to investigate the possible importance of stress levels on the production of health promoting compounds and quality related properties. Simulations with that model, using completely arbitrary parameter values showed that a relation exist between applied stress and production of these beneficiary compounds. Zależności Pomiędzy Jakością a Prozdrowotnymi Składnikami Jako Wynik Stresu Antyutleniacze są produkowane przez rośliny na skutek uruchamiania mechanizmu obronnego przeciwko stresowi. Jest niewykluczone, że cechy odpowiedzialne za jakość są związane z tym mechanizmem, indukowanym przez stres. Opierając się na czysto teoretycznych rozważaniach i na nielicznych doniesieniach z literatury, stworzono wysoce spekulatywny model w celu sprawdzenia możliwość wpływu różnych poziomów stresu na produkcję prozdrowotnych składników przez rośliny. Symulacje modelowe wskazują, że istnieje zależność pomiędzy zadanym stresem a produkcją korzystnych dla zdrowia człowieka składników.
Le gradient social de l'obésité se creuse en France - Sait-on pourquoi ?

The more disadvantaged groups suffer from higher rates of obesity. This is because at every stage of life the risk factors, known or assumed, for obesity and overweight are amplified in poorer populations. Hence, at the beginning of life the risk is higher for a newborn baby from a family of low socio-economic status of having an obese parent, a mother who smoked during pregnancy, a low birth weight, and of not having been breast-fed. Later, during infancy and adulthood, access to a balanced diet and to opportunities for physical activity is limited by economic and geographical barriers and by psychosocial factors. Lifestyle modifications and eating habits involved in the increase in the prevalence of obesity have had a more unfavorable impact on poorer populations than on the rest of the population, leading to an aggravation of the social obesity gradient. In France, in 1997 there were 3 times as many obese adults in the lowest income decile than in the highest. Today there are 4 times as many. A vicious circle has become established, partly because the causal relations between socio- economic status and obesity exist in both directions and also because the risk of obesity increases from generation to generation, and, for a given individual, throughout his or her life.
Home Range and Habitat Use of the Exotic Turtle Chelydra serpentina in the Inbanuma Basin, Chiba Prefecture, Central Japan

ABSTRACT Home-range size and habitat use of the introduced snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) were examined in an agricultural landscape of the Inbanuma Basin, central Japan. Twenty-eight subadult and adult turtles were tracked in 2002 and 2003 using radio telemetry. Home-range size did not significantly differ between sexes and was not affected by tracking period or the body size. Mean home-range sizes estimated using 50% kernel, 95% kernel, and maximum stream length were 0.9 ha, 3.9 ha, and 393 m, respectively. Habitat used by large turtles during the active season was restricted to the stream. Smaller turtles tended to use agricultural areas, such as paddy fields and ditches. The frequency of the stream use was low during the overwintering period. Considering that the adult mortality greatly affects population dynamics, introduced snapping turtles could be eradicated by trapping in streams.
Osteology and systematic position of the Eocene salmonid Eosalmo driftwoodensis Wilson from western North America

The fossil salmonid dagger Eosalmo driftwoodensis was originally described from fragmentary specimens. Study of new material of this fossil species confirms that it is a stem-group salmonine, with a mixture of primitive and derived salmonine features in its skull, but with its postcranial skeleton essentially of modern salmonine construction. Two autapomophies define the genus dagger Eosalmo: a long anterodorsal process of the subopercle meeting the dorsal edge of the bone at an angle of about 60 degrees, and a thin dermal basihyal plate apparently lacking teeth. Its salmonine relationship is supported by eight derived features: (I) posterior part of frontal widely expanded above autosphenotic, (2) hyomandibular fossa on pterotic long, (3) posterior part of endopterygoid extending posteriorly and broadly overlapped by both metapterygoid and quadrate, (4) premaxillary process of maxilla extending dorsally at an angle larger than 10 degrees, (5) infraorbitals 3 to 5 narrow and covering less than anterior half of hyomandibula, (6) presence of suprapreopercle, (7) anterior end of preopercular canal on horizontal arm distinctly turning to anteroventral corner of preopercle, (8) first uroneural amplified into large fan-shaped stegural, and (9) scales small, with more than two lateral line scales per vertebral centrum. Salmonidae are a monophyletic family defined by at least three synapomorphies: posterior surface of epiotic with sulcus, peg-and-socket connection in caudal skeleton, and tetraploid karyotype. Within the Salmonidae, Thymallinae and Salmoninae form a clade based on features from premaxilla, supramaxilla, anguloarticular, and supraorbital. (C) 1999 The Linnean Society of London.
Root and shoot hydraulic conductance of seven Quercus species

Les conductivites hydrauliques de la racine et de la tige de sept especes de Quercus. Les conductivites hydrauliques de la racine (K R ) et de la tige (K S ) et la resistance hydraulique des feuilles (R LL ) des sept especes de Quercus ont ete mesurees avec pour objectif la comprehension de la relation qui existe entre l'ecologie de l'espece et son architecture hydraulique. Les valeurs des K R ont ete divisees par les surfaces des feuilles (K RL ) et des racines (K RR ), celles des K S par les surfaces des feuilles (K SL ). Les K RR , K RL et K SL des especes adaptees aux environnements arides (Q. suber, Q. pubescens, Q. petraea) sont inferieures et leurs R LL superieures par rapport aux valeurs de celles adaptees aux environnements humides (Q. alba, Q. cerris, Q. robur, Q. rubra). Cet article se propose d'illustrer ces differences au plan physiologique et ecologique.
Effects of hydroelectric development and fisheries enhancement on spring and summer Chinook salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin

Abstract Trends in abundance of spring and summer chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and steelhead Salmo gairdneri returning to the Snake River and mid-Columbia River above Priest Rapids Dam were determined by analyzing the percentage of adults returning from the smolt out-migrations of 1962–1984. Runs declined as a result of hydroelectric development of the river; the main cause for the decline was the mortality of juveniles migrating downstream through as many as nine dams and impoundments en route to the ocean. Mid-Columbia River summer chinook salmon runs experienced the greatest decline because of higher mortalities incurred during their migration to sea as subyearlings in July and August. Mortality was lower for remaining races of fish that migrate to sea as yearlings in the spring during higher river flows, more spill at dams, and cooler water temperatures. Enhancement measures to offset dam-related mortality of smolts began in 1970 on the Snake River and in 1975 on the mid-Columbia River. The.
Toxicity of Insecticides To Macrobrachium Lamarrei (H. Milne Edwards) (Decapoda, Palaemonidae)

[LC 50 -Tests sind mit der unter konstanten Laborbedingungen gehaltenen Suswassergarnele Macrobrachium lamarrei zur Feststellung der akuten Toxizitat von drei Organophosphat-Insektiziden, Quinalphos, Dichlorvos und Monocrotophos, und einem Carbamat-Insektizid, Carbaryl, durchgefuhrt worden. Von den vier getesteten Insektiziden war Carbaryl am giftigsten. Von den Organophosphaten hatte Quinalphos eine grosere toxische Wirkung, Monocrotophos hatte die geringste. , LC 50 -Tests sind mit der unter konstanten Laborbedingungen gehaltenen Suswassergarnele Macrobrachium lamarrei zur Feststellung der akuten Toxizitat von drei Organophosphat-Insektiziden, Quinalphos, Dichlorvos und Monocrotophos, und einem Carbamat-Insektizid, Carbaryl, durchgefuhrt worden. Von den vier getesteten Insektiziden war Carbaryl am giftigsten. Von den Organophosphaten hatte Quinalphos eine grosere toxische Wirkung, Monocrotophos hatte die geringste. ]
Formation of Aerenchyma and the Processes of Plant Ventilation in Relation to Soil Flooding and Submergence

: Enhanced development of gas-spaces beyond that due to the partial cell separation normally found in ground parenchymas and their derivatives creates tissue commonly termed “aerenchyma”. Aerenchyma can substantially reduce internal impedance to transport of oxygen, nitrogen and various metabolically generated gases such as carbon dioxide and ethylene, especially between roots and shoots. Such transport lessens the risk of asphyxiation under soil flooding or more complete plant submergence, and promotes radial oxygen loss from roots leading to oxidative detoxification of the rhizo-sphere. Aerenchyma can also increase methane loss from waterlogged sediments via plants to the atmosphere. This review of the formation and functioning of aerenchyma particularly emphasises research findings since 1992 and highlights prospects for the future. Regarding formation, attention is drawn to how little is known of the regulation and processes that create schizogenous aerenchyma with its complex cell arrangements and differential cell to cell adhesion. More progress has been made in understanding lysigenous aerenchyma development. The review highlights recent work on the processes that sense oxygen deficiency and ethylene signals, subsequent transduction processes which initiate cell death, and steps in protoplast and wall degeneration that create the intercellular voids. Similarities between the programmed cell death and its causes in animals and the predictable patterns of cell death that create lysigenous aerenchyma are explored. Recent findings concerning function are addressed in terms of the diffusion aeration of roots, rhizosphere oxygenation and sediment biogeochemistry, photosynthesis and ventilation, pressurised gas-flows and greenhouse gas emissions and aspects of ventilation related to secondary thickening.
A novel procedure for rapid isolation of plant growth promoting pseudomonads

A rapid and novel procedure for the isolation of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is described. This method entails screening soil bacteria for the ability to utilize the compound 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) as a sole N source, a trait that is a consequence of the presence of the activity of the enzyme ACC deaminase. This trait appears to be limited to soil bacteria that are also capable of stimulating plant growth. Seven different soil samples from two geographically disparate locations were found to contain pseudomonads that were able to to utilize ACC as a N source. Each of the seven strains was shown, by the ability of the bacterium to promote canola seedling root elongation under gnotobiotic conditions, to be a PGPR. The method described here may be used to replace the otherwise slow and tedious process of testing individual bacterial strains for their ability to promote plant growth, thereby significantly speeding up the process of finding new PGPR.Key words: plant growth prom.
Bacteriocin-producing lactobacilli in Spanish-style fermented sausages: characterization of bacteriocins

Abstract Three bacteriocins were studied. Sakacin K, a bacteriocin from Lactobacillus sake CTC494 was purified to homogeneity by a four-step system involving ammonium sulphate precipitation, binding to a cation exchanger, hydrophobic interaction and reverse phase chromatography in FPLC (fast performance liquid chromatography) system. The peptide sequence was determined by Edman degradation. The first 30 amino acid residues from the N-terminus of sakacin K were identical to those of curvacin A from Lactobacillus curvatus LTH1174 and sakacin A from Lactobacillus sakei Lb706. The structural gene of sakacin K in Lb. sake CTC494 was located on a 60 Kbp plasmid (as has been previously reported) by curvacin A in Lb. curvatus LTH1174 and sakacin A in Lb. sakei Lb706. Plantaricin D, a bacteriocin-like compound isolated from Lb. plantarum CTC305 was purified and sequenced using the same procedure as described for sakacin K. The first 15 amino acid residues of plantaricin D were identical to those obtained from the bacteriocin inducer peptide (termed plantaricin A) of the bacteriocinogenic system in Lb. plantarum C11. The structural gene of the plantaricin D peptide was located on a similar EcoRl chromosomal fragment when compared to plantaricin A in Lb. plantarum C11. These two isolated bacteriocin-like peptides (sakacin K and plantaricin D) were purified from two new different strains obtained from fermented meat, confirming the ecological importance of these substances. Lactobacillus sakei CTC372, the third bacteriocinogenic strain selected in this study from fermented sausages, produced a bacteriocin named sakacin T. The bacteriocin is not found free in the supernatant of the cells. It is active against Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus . The genetic determinant of this bacteriocin was localized in a 84·4 Kbp plasmid by conjugative transfer and curing assays.
Calcium Currents in Isolated Taste Receptor Cells of the Mudpuppy

Recent studies have shown that taste receptor cells are electrically excitable and possess voltage-dependent K+, Na+, and Ca'+ currents. ' Although taste cells generate action potentials in response to a variety of chemical stimuli, the role of voltage-dependent conductances in taste transduction remains unclear. In this study we have characterized the voltage-dependent Ca2+ current (I,) because it represents an important link between the receptor potentials and transmitter release in taste cells. Taste cells were isolated from the surrounding lingual epithelium as previously described. ' Whole-cell I, was studied by bathing cells in amphibian saline containing 10 mM tetraethylammonium (TEA) and 1 pm TTX, and by using an intracellular pipette solution containing CsCl. Current was activated by step depolarizations to 2 10 mV from a holding potential of 100 mV. I, reached a peak in 5-15 msec and slowly inactivated with a time constant of approximately 60 msec (FIG. 1A). Substitution of Ba2+ for Ca'+ caused the current to increase in magnitude and shifted the activation approximately 20 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction. Macroscopic kinetics were similar in Ca2+ and Ba2+, implying that inactivation is voltage-dependent, rather than Ca'+-dependent. The effect of brief (2-sec) depolarizing prepulses on inactivation is illustrated in FIGURE 1B. I, was approximately half-inactivated by a prepulse to -40 mV and completely inactivated by a prepulse to 0 mV. When the half-inactivated current was scaled to the same magnitude as the control current (trace 3, FIG. lB), it decayed at approximately the same rate as the control current. This observation suggests that in taste cells is mediated by a single type of Ca'+ channel. I, was reversibly blocked by 150 pM verapamil(80% block), 100 p M cadmium, and by substitution of Mg'+ for Ca'+. I, was little affected by bath addition of oconotoxin VIC ( 1 pM), 8-bromo-CAMP (1 mM) or 8-bromo-cGMP ( 1 mM). The effects of dihydropyridine drugs are illustrated in FIGURE 2. When taste cells were held at a potential that approximately half-activated L, both ( + ) PN 200110 and BAY K 8644 (10 p M ) blocked I,-. by approximately 80%. Little effect of these
Possible Exploitation of Non-Neuronal and Non-Chemical Synaptic Signalling Pathways in Epilepsy Therapy

Although approximately 1% of the human population suffers from epilepsy, the cellular basis of this disease remains largely unresolved, and about 30% of all epilepsies are refractory to therapies using currently available drugs. Until recently, synchronous neuronal activity during seizures has been thought to be, entirely of neuronal origin, and the main stream of epilepsy research has focused on changes in membrane properties of neurons and on classical chemical neurotransmission between them. However, recent discoveries about neuron-astrocyte bidirectional communication strongly challenge this concept. These functions of astrocyte are proving significant in the understanding of epilepsy, stroke and many other neurological diseases. In addition, the most important function reported for gap junctional communication in the nervous system is the increased synchronous activity of the coupled cells. Based on the emergent evidence, it is likely that gap junctional communication plays a definite role in the associated neuronal/astrocytic networks being involved in the generation and propagation of seizure discharges in the epileptic brain. Therefore astrocytes and gap junctions as potentially new cellular targets may open new perspectives for targeted molecular therapeutic interventions and allow the development of new antiepileptic as well as anticonvulsant drugs.
The association of genes controlling caryopsis traits with grain mold resistance in sorghum.

Four parental cultivars with distinct characteristics and gene markers for caryopsis traits were used as a base population to generate F 1 , F 2 , and BCr populations at College Station, TX. These populations were evaluated for grain mold resistance at College Station, TX, in 1990, and at Namulonge and Serere Research Stations in Uganda, in 1991. The presence of a pigmented testa (B 1 -B 2 -), a red pericarp (R-Y-), a thin mesocarp (Z-), and an intensifier gene (I-) were all dominantly inherited. A pigmented testa was the single most important trait conferring grain mold resistance. The red pericarp trait also conferred grain mold resistance, though not as greatly. The effect of a red pericarp was enhanced by the presence of the intensifier gene [. ]