Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of jackfruit supplement and ageing on the Physico-chemical, texture and sensory characteristics of Chevon patties

The study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of using immature jackfruit and chevon meat in emulsion-based products preparation and to assess their quality during refrigerated storage. Chevon meat patties (treatments T2, T3 and T4) were prepared in which chevon meat was substituted with 10%, 20% and 30% immature jackfruit and compared with patties from chevon meat (control T1). The addition of jackfruit in chevon meat patties overall significantly (P < 0.05) influenced proximate analysis, physico-chemical characteristics, textural profile, microbiological profile and sensory scores of the products. Results also showed significant (P < 0.05) effect of jackfruits on storage qualities of the chevon meat patties under refrigerated storage (4°C ± 1°C) for about nine days. The patties remained stable with minor changes in physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory quality during refrigerated storage for nine days. Hence chevon meat and immature jackfruit effectively be utilized in developing patties.
Influence of extra-field characteristics to abundance of key natural enemies of Spodoptera frugiperda Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in subsistence maize production

Abstract We quantified the influence of extra-field characteristics to abundance of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda Smith, and its key natural enemies in subsistence maize fields in Honduras. In situ sampling in different habitats of the local agro-landscape provided a list of factors of importance to natural enemies in maize: floral cover and richness, grass cover and local abundance of prospective beneficial colonizers. We recorded low fall armyworm infestation levels in maize fields bordered by habitats of high floral richness and cover. In-field abundance of social wasps was related to floral cover, while earwigs were associated with grass cover in habitats situated beyond the field border. Within-field density of the fire ant, Solenopsis geminata Fabricius, was associated with its presence in the surrounding agro-landscape. At a larger spatial scale, we measured relationships between natural enemy abundance and spatial cover of habitats that dominate the extra-field environment. This analysis showed that abundance of spiders and ground beetles was highest in environments dominated by coffee plantations or mid-successional habitats. Our study revealed how composition and spatial structure of local agro-landscapes can have broader implications for biological control in Honduran subsistence maize production.
Development of inland aquaculture in arid climates: water utilization strategies applied in Israel

Israel has a temperate climate with marked differences between the northern and southern regions. Rainfall ranges between 250 and 600 mm year−1 in the former and between only 25 and 200 mm year−1 in the latter. During the last 30 years, water consumption has increased markedly in all sectors. Although a water allocation for inland aquaculture is made, in most cases it is given the lowest priority, and aquaculturists have learned to contend with difficulties, and thrive on brackish water sources not fit for human consumption or agricultural crops. Since most water sources are already fully exploited, further development of all sectors will depend on their respective capacity to use recycled city water, desalinated brackish or sea water, or recycled pond water. In this respect, inland aquaculture is handicapped by public prejudices which will not allow the use of water from the first source and farms are still not able to cope with the cost of the second. Therefore, further development of inland aquaculture will depend on the capacity of farmers to use sea water, and to recycle pond water time and again to produce more fish with less (inland) water. Various strategies have already been developed in Israel and new ones are under study. These include water harvesting in dual-purpose reservoirs, recycling of pond water from one year to another, development of intensive flow-through systems based on recycled pond water and colleagues based on biofiltration.
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIOLOGY AND CYTOLOGY OF HALIPHYSEMA (FORAMINTFERA)

SUMMARY 1 Haliphysema tumanowiczii Bowerbank, is an attached foraminifer and the natural variation described is such that the following forms are probably synonyms of it; H. primordiale Haeckel, H. echinoides Haeckel, H. globigerina Haeckel, and H. advena Cushman. 2 An unattached form of H. tumanowiczii is described which is released from the attached animal. The unattached individual moves over the substratum and eventually settles and forms the basal disc. This newly attached stage becomes a typical attached individual. 3 The test wall is composed of sponge spicules and other foreign matter cemented together with an acid mucopolysaccharide. On the inside of this wall, in the basal disc and first quarter of the pedicle, there is an organic sheath composed of a mucoprotein. This component is flexible and enables a form such as H. tumanowiczii to survive the rough conditions of the littoral zone. 4 Multinucleate and uninucleate individuals are recorded among both the attached and unattached forms.
Extremely frequent bee visits increase pollen deposition but reduce drupelet set in raspberry

Summary 1. Production of many flowering crops often benefits from elevated pollinator diversity and abundance. Nevertheless, the opposite relationship may arise if bees impair fruit or seed production and/or quality by damaging flowers during visitation, despite transferring pollen. 2. We assessed pollination and drupelet set (i.e. the number of drupelets per fruit) in 16 raspberry Rubus idaeus fields along a gradient of bee abundance in north-west Patagonia, Argentina. Using pollen supplementation, we also tested whether drupelet set was pollen limited in a subset of six fields. 3. Managed Apis mellifera and the invasive bumblebee Bombus terrestris accounted for 50% and 45% of all bee visits, respectively, to raspberry flowers. Pollen loads on stigmas increased with visit frequency of all bees combined and particularly with visitation by A. mellifera, but not by B. terrestris. Drupelet set was not pollen limited along the gradient of bee abundance. 4. Instead, drupelet set decreased with the proportion of damaged styles, which varied more strongly with the frequency of visits by B. terrestris than by A. mellifera. In fields with the highest bee frequency of visits ( � 300 visits flower � 1 day � 1 ), � 80% of styles were damaged in flowers and these developed into fruits with � 30% fewer drupelets compared to flowers in fields with the lowest bee visitation rates ( � 4 visits flower � 1 day � 1 ). 5. Synthesis and applications. Extreme bee visitation, particularly by Bombus terrestris, damaged the styles of raspberry flowers, precluding ovule fertilization by deposited pollen and limiting crop production by reducing drupelet set. Only a few bee visits are required to maximize fruit production in raspberry plants, therefore, pollinator management in north-west Patagonia should focus principally on reducing the abundance of the invasive bumblebee B. terrestris and secondarily controlling the number of honeybee hives in nearby cultivated fields. Although mainstream pollinator management relies on the assumption that more visits enhance fruit set, high bee visitation rates can be detrimental for fruit development and, consequently, for crop yield.
Physiological processes limiting plant growth in saline soils: some dogmas and hypotheses

Recent progress in improving the salt tolerance of cultivated plants has been slow. Physiologists have been unable to define single genes or even specific metabolic processes that molecular biologists could target, or pinpoint the part of the plant in which such genes for salt tolerance might be expressed. While the physiological might be expressed. While the physiological processes are undoubtedly complex, faster progress on unraveling mechanisms of salt tolerance might be made if there were more effort to test hypotheses rather than to accumulate data, and to integrate cellular and whole plant responses. This article argues that salts taken up by the plant do not directly control plant growth by affecting turgor, photosynthesis or the activity of any one enzyme. Rather, the build-up of salt in old leaves hasten their death, and the loss of these leaves affects the supply of assimilates or hormones to the growing regions and thereby affects growth.
Study of IGBTs Reliability Under Coupled Electrical–Thermal Environment

Electric field and temperature are two of the most important factors affecting the reliability of IGBT devices. However, the actual effects of coupled electrical–thermal stress on the reliability of these devices have not been studied in detail. In this article, cross-experiments combining different types of reliability experiments, such as high-temperature gate bias, high-temperature storage stressing, and power cycling (PC), are carried out to study the degradation mechanisms in the IGBT devices under coupled electrical–thermal stress. The process of cross-experiments is discussed in detail and a large number of IGBT devices are used for experimental verification. The degradation parameters are monitored and the related mechanisms are discussed for two parts: chip and packaging. Based on the experimental results, a detailed trap formation hypothesis about gate leakage current is proposed. At last, it is qualitatively verified via a finite element model that high-temperature storage helps to release residual stress in bonding wires, and the influence of gate oxide degradation in the PC experiments is explained.
Solubility studies on valdecoxib in the presence of carriers, cosolvents, and surfactants

Enhancement of the solubility of valdecoxib was examined using a series of hydrophilic carriers (mannitol, polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000, PEG 6000, PEG 8000, and urea), surfactants (Tween‐20, Tween‐80, and sodium lauryl sulfate [SLS]) and cosolvents (ethanol, methanol, and glycerol) at 37°C. The solubility of valdecoxib could be enhanced significantly using PEG 4000 as a carrier, ethanol as cosolvent, and SLS as a surfactant. Because the solubility of valdecoxib increased dramatically in the presence of polyethylene glycols, these are suitable dispersing agents for preparing solid dispersions containing valdecoxib. Gibbs free energy (ΔG tr° ) values were all negative for all hydrophilic carriers tested, indicating the spontaneous nature of valdecoxib solubilisation. Among the cosolvents, ethanol exhibited higher solubilization potential than methanol and glycerol. As the dielectric constant of the cosolvent–water mixtures decreased, the solubility of valdecoxib increased. Finally, SLS exerted maximum solubilization of valdecoxib when compared to Tween‐20 or Tween‐80. The crystallinity of valdecoxib was explored by X‐ray diffraction study and showed numerous crystalline peaks. Examination of surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy depicted a near spherical shape of valdecoxib with irregular surface characteristics. Drug Dev. Res. 62:41–48, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The solid phase supported peptide synthesis of analogues of the lantibiotic lactocin S

Four analogues of lactocin S, an antimicrobial lantibiotic peptide produced by Lactobacillus sakei L45, have been generated using solid-phase peptide chemistry. These analogues serve a dual purpose in enhancing the oxidative stability to atmospheric oxygen by removing susceptible sulfur atoms, while examining the structure–activity relationship of this biologically significant peptide.
The Main Clinical Indicators of Sarcopenia in Patients with Chronic Respiratory Disease: Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction Approach

Patients with chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) have a disorder in muscle structure and function, but their function increases with physical progress and decreases the risk of general, and muscular weakness are more likely to develop sarcopenia. We randomly selected patients (N = 38) with mean age of 72 ± 1.0 years old men and women elderly with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis and obesity with dyspnea score ≥ 2 in MRC index. All patients after receiving research information and signing informed consent have gone through performing clinical assessments. They performed femur bone mineral density (FBMD) and ultrasound on the rectus femoris muscle mid-tight cross-sectional area (RFMTCSA) in the quadriceps muscle. The significant changes in BMI were seen in all patients, pre-rehabilitation, BMI = 30 ± 1.06 kg/m2 and post-rehabilitation, BMI = 29 ± 1.00 kg/m2. In Pearson’s correlation of r = 0.607 between T-score and Z-score in FBMD and RFMTCSA in pre-rehabilitation, there is a little bit significant correlation between the variables than in the Pearson’s correlation of r = 0.910 in post-rehabilitation, P < 0.00. Comparing femur bone and rectus femoris muscle parameters as indicators for diagnosis of sarcopenia in chronic respiratory patients, we observed that in rectus femoris muscle, ultrasound is the most effective foot muscle detector.
Occurrence of enterotoxin genes and macrorestriction analysis of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis and bulk-tank milk samples in Italy. An epidemiological study

Abstract The goal of the study was to genotypically compare S. aureus isolates from mastitis milk and raw milk to identify the relation between strains and to assess the enterotoxigenicity of the isolates. Eighty-three Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered from cows and bulk tank milk of five farms in northern Italy were compared genotypically. The genes for the enterotoxins A, D, G and I, but not for B, C, E and H and the toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1), were detected by PCR amplification. Macrorestriction analysis with the restrictions enzyme SmaI revealed 14 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. These were in part different from each other only in a few fragments and thus displayed a close clonal relation. The results of the present investigation showed that identical or closely related clones seemed to be responsible for the cases of bovine mastitis in the farms investigated and partly responsible for contamination of bulk tank milk.
The population response to environmental noise: population size, variance and correlation in an experimental system

Summary 1. Variation in an organism’s environment can influence its life history and therefore its population size. Understanding the interplay between noise and population dynamics is of considerable importance, especially for prescribing management of economically important or threatened species. The impact of noise on population biology has been the subject of frequent theoretical investigations and discussed in posthoc analyses of time-series. However, there is a dearth of experimental investigations. 2. Here we report results from a replicated laboratory study of soil mites, Sancassania berlesei , kept in controlled environments but with food supplied randomly, with different synchrony and variances, while maintaining the same mean rate. 3. Increasing environmental variance increases population variance, but decreases mean population size, therefore changing the observed shape of the distribution of population sizes: the shape becomes more skewed with more environmental variance. 4. The distribution of population sizes are best described by negative binomial or gamma distributions. Log-normal and normal distributions rarely fit and Poisson distributions never fit. 5. The correlation between populations is sensitive to the correlation in environmental noise but insensitive to its variance. 6. Different life stages (eggs, juveniles and adults) respond differently to noise, in that there are significant differences in the way that environmental variation changes the mean, variance, shape of distribution and relationship between environmental and population synchrony.
Alteration of resistance to black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet) in banana by in vitro irradiation using carbon ion-beam

Carbon-ion beam is a new irradiation source for inducing mutations in plant breeding effectively. In order to apply this new technique in banana breeding program, we studied the critical doses for in vitro irradiation and the genetic variability for black Sigatoka in the regenerated plants. Carbon-ion beam was irradiated to in vitro plantlets of banana cultivars ‘Cavendish Enano’ and ‘Williams’ with the dose of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 Gy. Biological effects on survival rate were recorded and 8 Gy was supposed to be the best dose. Survived plantlets were propagated in vitro to evaluate resistance to black Sigatoka. Six plants from ‘Williams’ population and two plants from ‘Cavendish Enano’ population were selected as candidates for resistant plants to black Sigatoka in the field, suggesting that carbon-ion beam could be useful for mutation breeding in banana.
Design and Simulation of ZnO based Acetone Gas Sensor using COMSOL Multiphysics

Acetone gas is a breath marker for diabetes detection. Metal oxide gas sensors have been widely used for gas sensing applications. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising material for Acetone gas detection. Metal oxide semiconductors require a high-temperature environment for detecting the target gas. The temperature generated from the micro-heater has a great influence on the concentration of gas adsorbed on the surface and also the resistance of the sensing layer. The temperature should be uniformly distributed on the surface of the heater for the better performance of the sensor. In this work, a meander shaped micro-heater is used for the ZnO sensor for Acetone gas detection. The Scanning electron microscopic image of the synthesized ZnO was found to have a spherical shape and the same structure was given for the sensing layer in the simulation. Platinum is used as the heating material because of its high thermal conductivity and low power consumption. The variation of the temperature of the heating material with respect to the input voltage was analyzed. The variation of the resistance of the sensing layer with respect to the target gas was also analyzed. The resistance of the sensing layer was found to decrease in the presence of Acetone gas. The simulation was done using COMSOL Multiphysics.
Characterization of the TAC box, a cis ‐element within an elicitor‐inducible sesquiterpene cyclase promoter

Summary The first unique step in the synthesis of the tobacco phytoalexin capsidiol is cyclization of farnesyl pyrophosphate catalyzed by 5-epi-aristolochene synthase (EAS), a sesquiterpene cyclase. Earlier work demonstrated that the elicitor-inducibility of this enzyme activity corresponded to the transcriptional activation of at least one gene, EAS4, of a rather complex gene family consisting of > 10 members. To investigate the mechanism(s) controlling expression of this gene, fragments of the EAS4 promoter were examined for binding by proteins in nuclear and whole-cell extracts. A strong protein binding site (TAC box; ACTCTACAGTACTC) was identified between ‐245 and ‐232 by the electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and DNAase I and methylation interference footprinting. Several distinctly migrating bands representing protein‐ TAC box complexes were also observed in the mobility shift assays, and the relative abundance of these bands varied in extracts from cells at different stages of EAS induction. The TAC box binding factor (TacBBF) was purified > 450-fold from crude whole-cell extracts by a combination of DNA affinity and cation exchange chromatography. The purified fractions were enriched for polypeptides of 17 and 19 kDa and the DNA binding properties of these preparations were characterized. Mutation of 2 bp in the TAC box prevented protein binding in vitro and
Enzymes and Bread Flavor

Enzymes used in breadmaking and their influence on bread flavor are reviewed. Components of bread flavor originate from fermentative and thermal reactions. Enzymes provide precursors for both processes, and their influence should be controlled. Enzymes are now replacing other improving additives in breadmaking, indirectly affecting bread flavor. Amylases produce reducing sugars, which are (1) fermentable substrates for fermentative microflora leading to numerous aromatic compounds, those of lower volatility remaining in bread, and (2) precursors of many components (mainly carbonyls) after reacting with amino acids in nonenzymatic browning reactions. Proteases produce peptides and amino acids, which, like sugars, participate in metabolic and thermal reactions and can occasionally be a source of bitter peptides. Lipoxygenase from soy or faba flour, used in some breadmaking processes, gives unstable products decomposing to carbonyl compounds generating off flavors in bread. In addition, the ingredients, the breadmaking process, and the baking conditions modify enzymatic activity and bread flavor.
Apoptosis During Diploid Parthenogenesis and Early Somatic Embryogenesis of Norway Spruce

In diploid parthenogenesis of Norway spruce, specific nuclei were ontogenetically eliminated in cells programmed for cell death or apoptosis. Nuclear elimination was defined morphologically and biochemically for the degenerating ventral canal nucleus of egg-equivalents, and in differentiating suspensors of the axial tier of early embryos. Nuclei became pycnotic and disintegrated with the release of nucleoli and nuclear fragments into the cytoplasm. Enucleation in tubular cells of the axial tier was preceded by a reduction in the number of interphase nucleoli. Apoptosis was biochemically characterized by the activation of endonuclease activity that contributed to massive morphological changes in nuclei and ultimately to cell death. Endonuclease activity in individual nuclei was determined by a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT). This enzyme labeled the 3'OH ends of DNA, generated by DNA nicking with biotin-conjugated dUTP, for visualization with a secondary detection system using a colorimetric substrate for peroxidase. The TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay stained apoptotic nuclei red for the expression of endogenous endonucleases. The salvage of nuclear degradation products was postulated to enhance embryo survival, growth, and multiplication by cleavage polyembryony. By contrast, the egg-equivalent nucleus, proembryos, and the large and rounded nonapoptotic nuclei of the embryonal group fluoresced strongly with DAPI (4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride). Nuclei also reacted blue with Giemsa in cells probed by the TUNEL assay.
ARE GRAY WHALES HITTING “K” HARD?

the late-summer feeding season and fall migration. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:1168-1181. READ, A. J., AND A. J. WESTGATE. 1998. Monitoring the movements of harbour potpoises (Phoroena phoroena) with satellite telemetry. Marine Biology 1303 15-322. SIGURJ~NSSON, J. 1995. On the life history and autecology of North Atlantic rorquals. Pages 425-441 in A. S. Blix, W. Walloe and @. Ulltang, eds. Whales, seals, fish and man. Elsevier Science. SIGURJ~NSSON, J., AND T. GUNNLAUGSSON. 1990 Recent trends in abundance of blue (Balaenoptwa musrulus) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaemgliae) off West and Southwest Iceland, with a note on occurrence of other cetacean species. Report to the International Whaling Commission 40537-5 5 1.