Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

In October 2005, a vagrant kingbird (Aves: Tyrannus sp.) appeared in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, nearly 2000 km from the northern limit of its usual range. Using mitochondrial DNA obtained from a fecal sample deposited by the bird and mitochondrial DNA isolated from museum reference specimens, the species iden- tity of this bird was definitively confirmed as a Tropical Kingbird ( T. melancholicus) rather than a Couch's Kingbird (T. couchii). This is the first time DNA evidence has been used to establish a state bird record, and one of the few studies of any type to successfully use avian feces for DNA analysis. Circumstantial evidence indicates that this bird was possibly displaced from its original range by Hurricane Wilma in October, 2005. Identification of vagrant birds is important for studying avian populations, and non-invasive genetic sampling techniques should be considered when traditional means of identification fail to provide definitive evidence of identity.
The Structure and Conduction Velocity of the Medullated Nerve Fibres of Prawns

1. The structure of the myelinated fibres of prawns is described, and the homologies of the nucleated sheath which lies between the axon and the fatty layer discussed. 2. The relative thickness of the myelin sheath increases with decrease in total diameter of the fibre along a curve similar in shape to that found in vertebrates and earthworms. 3. Nodes of Ranvier are found in the sheaths of most fibres of a diameter greater than about 13µ 4. The nodes are similar to those in vertebrate nerves in that the myelin sheath is interrupted at the node. 5. The conduction velocity of fibres in the central nervous system of axon diameter 26µ and total diameter 35µ is between 18 and 23 m. per sec. , a rate faster than is found in the "unmyelinated" fibres of similar size in other crustacea.
APE-LIKE AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFTER SEVENTYYEARS: WAS IT A HOMINID?*

It took thirty years for the African ape-men, Australopithecus africanus, to gain general acceptance as members of the Hominidae. Lately, studies on the now much bigger sample of A. africanus have shown that it possessed many apish features. This article discusses the history of diverse judgements on the evolutionary status and affinities of A. africanus and reviews the many primitive traits which A. africanus carried. A critical review of the evidence upholds the view that, over and above its primitive traits. A. africanus had acquired a series of derived, human-like features, most of which cluster in four major complexes: (1) upright stance and bipedal gait; (2) modest canine teeth with gracility of face and jaws; (3) humanlike hands; and (4) a cluster of hominid-like brain features. It is concluded that, for all its apish resemblances, A. africanus had acquired so impressive a series of unique, derived hominid traits that its hominid status is irresistible. It also retained, however, far more evolutionary stigmata of its apish ancestry than was previously realized.
Wild Gossypium anomalum: a unique source of fibre fineness and strength.

The improvement in textile spinning machinery has an important impact upon the entire cotton fibre business, particularly in the demand for high quality cotton fibre. Genetic improvement of fibre quality traits, viz. length, strength, fineness, maturity and uniformity is vital to meeting the challenge of the textile industry. Amongst wild Gossypium L. species, the African Gossypium anomalum Waw. & Peyr. (2n = 2x = 26; B 1 B 1 ) produces cotton with good fibre strength and fineness coupled with resistance to pest and diseases. The seed hairs of Gossypium anomalum are short and non-convoluted and are fully thickened with secondary cellulose deposition, and possess low fibre weight due to thinness of wall. X-ray crystallography and crystallinity index studies showed that Gossypium anomalum has highest fibre strength with highest crystallinity index due to maximum cellulose deposition. Either inter se mating among selected BC 1 F 1 plants or a second backcross of the elite plants to the cultivated parent was found effective in improving the recovery of desirable segregants. Intercrossing of plants selected in F 2 or BC 2 from large populations result in enhancement of variability and rapid accumulation of favourable genes for the improvement of biochemical traits, disease resistance and for developing germ-plasm pools. Examination of single plant for fibre weight and swollen hair diameter and pursuing selection for fineness with economic attributes is necessary to avoid loss of fibre strength and fineness during subsequent generations. Intermating of several synthetic hexaploids increases the variability, fertility and recombination potential. Utilization of Gossypium anomalum to impart fineness (low fibre weight) with high maturity to Gossypium arboreum L. yielded commendable results. If Bt gene is incorporated into this hybrid, it can be an excellent source of bollworm tolerance coupled with superior fibre properties and yield.
An economic analysis of crop diversification under inorganic and organic farming in West Bengal

The Indian food basket is diversifying in favour of high value food commodities like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, poultry products and fish products from staple food such as rice, wheat and coarse cereals since the nineties of the 20th century. This raises a challenge to Indian agriculture. On the other hand, dominance of chemical based mono-cropping results soil erosion, water contamination, pesticides poisoning, land degradation through water logging and soil salinity, depletion of bio-diversity, etc. This again raises another challenge to Indian agriculture. Organic farming system may generate such situation to address both the challenges mentioned above. So, attempt has been taken to find out the performance of organic farming, addressing the crop diversification at different level of farm sizes along with different crop growing seasons in West Bengal. To measure the extent and nature of crop diversification, Herfindahl Index (H.I.) and Modified Entropy Index (M.E.I.) have been worked out. The result showed that maximum crop diversification occurred in sub-marginal farms and small farms under inorganic and organic farming system, respectively. On the other hand, rabi season exhibited prominent crop diversification in both inorganic and organic farms due to comparative advantages of residual moisture availability in soil. The estimation highlighted that crop diversification facilitated higher cropping intensity followed by higher net farm income of small and marginal households in West Bengal. The analysis concluded that availability of market and price premium influenced more diversion of area towards vegetables, in organic farms.
Benefits of Sexual Reproduction in Evolutionary Computation

Evolutionary algorithms have proven to be highly successful for real world combinatorial optimization problems too complex to be handled by traditional algorithmic approaches. In stark contrast to their practical relevance, we only start to theoretically understand the stochastic processes which govern these optimization algorithms. The development of evolutionary algorithms was inspired by biological observations. In nature there seems to be an inherent advantage of sexual recombination compared to mere asexual reproduction. Thus many successful evolutionary algorithms in practice make use of recombination strategies. However, our theoretical understanding of crossover in evolutionary computation is very limited. This thesis studies the behavior of several evolutionary algorithms with a focus on the benefits of sexual reproduction. Two archetypical combinatorial optimization problems are the NP-hard Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) and the polynomial-time solvable all-pairs shortest path problem (APSP). Both are representatives of the large class of combinatorial optimization problems with a dynamic programming structure. Chapter 2 of this thesis presents a mathematical description of the common properties of this class and derives a generic representation. This enables a prototypical evolutionary algorithm (without crossover) to construct solutions in a dynamic programming fashion without access to the structure of the problem. We prove upper bounds on the running time of this algorithm. This is the second time ever that runtime bounds of evolutionary algorithms for a large class of problems could be proven. Empirical experiments on TSP show that the use of crossover can lead to additional speed-ups. Genetic algorithms are evolutionary algorithms which employ sexual reproduction in form of some crossover operators. In order to get a better understanding of the working principles of crossover, Chapter 3 analyzes the runtime of genetic algorithms on common artificial pseudo-Boolean functions. Theoretical and empirical results show substantial speedups for functions of unitation when combined with a fitness-invariant bit shuffling operator. We also consider a simple genetic algorithm without shuffling and investigate the interplay of mutation and crossover on the test function Jump. We prove for small crossover probabilities that subsequent mutations create sufficient diversity, even for very small populations. Contrarily, with high crossover probabilities crossover tends to lose diversity more quickly than mutation can create it. Both effects have a drastic impact on the performance on Jump. We complement our theoretical findings by Monte Carlo simulations.
Searching for informative biomarkers for Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is still one of the prevalent leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide and high mortality rate is mainly due to late-stage diagnosis. GC is characterized by two distinct histological type of adenocarcinomas each having different epidemiological and pathophysiological features. The intestinal-type generally evolves through a relatively well-defined sequence of histological lesions. The diffuse-type has instead a poorer prognosis and develops through unknown genetic and morphological events from normal gastric epithelium. The pathogenesis of GC remains poorly understood however several environmental factors, such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection can be the cause leading to this disease. This risk is probably the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors in which the infection by H. pylori is of particular relevance. To search for gastric cancer biomarkers, we have analyzed the protein profile of malignant and normal gastric tissues and identified a novel stomach specific protein gastrokine 1 (GKN1) whose expression is reduced in H. pylori infected gastric mucosa and down-regulated or completely absent in GC tissues and precancerous lesions so this protein might play an important role as biomarker in carcinogenic process. On the basis of these evidences, we are investigating on the possible utility of GKN1 as an informative biomarker. To do this, we have analyzed by Western blot the expression profile of GKN1 in several biological fluids of normal individual in order to highlight the presence of GKN1 at the protein level. However, no GKN1 expression was possible to detect even if the search was performed by ELISA assay on serum of healthy individuals. We then have searched for the presence of GKN1 mRNA in the serum of healthy subjects by RT-PCR using several primers spanning over the entire GKN1 cDNA. This result suggests that qRT-PCR might be a possible media by which to follow the GKN1 expression profile in normal patients and in patients with gastric lesions in order to assess its possible use as preventive gastric cancer biomarker. The second part of my work is focused on identification of potential GKN1 interactors with the aim to add knowledge on its functional role within gastric cell lines and tissues. To this purpose we used a proteomic strategy and the GKN1 interactors were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The results show that GKN1 interacts whit SLC26A3, a protein expressed in apical membrane of intestinal epithelial cells. Therefore, we propose in future, the evalutation of SLC26A3 in human sera as a potential innovative biomarker in CG.
Plankton Community in the Pelagic and Littoral Zones of the Overgrown Lake Beloe (Volzhsko-Kamskiy Biosphere Natural State Reserve, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation)

Comparive analysis of different components of the planktonic community (phytoplankton, protozoo- and zooplankton) was performed in the pelagic and littoral zones of overgrown Lake Beloe (Volzhsko-Kamskiy Biosphere Natural State Reserve, Republic of Tatarstan, Russain Federation). We detected a remarkable diverse of both pelagic and sublittoral plankton. The planktonic community in the macrophyte zone differs from the community of pelagic zone in a species composition and in a larger species diversity.
Effect of Avocado （Persea Americana）, Cabbage （Brassica Oleracea） and Ginger （Zingiber Officinale） on Rat Liver and Thyroid Injuries Induced by CCI4 （Carbon Tetrachloride）

Avocado, Cabbage, and Ginger are a part of a regular human diet and have antioxidant, and antitumor effects. The effect of AVOE (avocado), GE (Ginger) and CE (Cabbage) extracts separately on liver NO (nitric oxide), MDA (malondialdehyde), as well as serum AST (aspartate aminotransferase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase), total bilirubin, TC (total cholesterol), T.G (triglyceride), HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein), LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein), TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), T3 (Triiodothyronine), T4 (Thyroxine) in rats treated and untreated with CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride) was studied. The levels of NO, MDA, as well as serum AST, ALT, total bilirubin, TC, T.G, LDL, and TSH, showed an elevation while, HDL, T3 and T4 showed the decline in rats treated with CCl4 as compared to control. Treatment of rats with AVOE and GE pre, during, and post CCl4 administration improve NO, MDA, as well as serum AST, ALT, total bilirubin, TC, T.G, HDL, LDL, TSH, T3, T4 as compared to CCl4. Treatment of rats with CE pre, during, and post CCl4 administration did not improve in the thyroid hormones and lipid profile levels as compared to CCl4. These findings suggest that avocado and ginger treatment exerts a protective effect on metabolic disorders by decreasing oxidative stress.
‘Equivalent numbers’ for species, phylogenetic or functional diversity in a nested hierarchy of multiple scales

Many recent studies have searched to integrate species’ functions and phylogenies in the measurement of biodiversity. To obtain easily interpretable measures, some researchers recommended diversity indices expressed in terms of equivalent numbers of species: the number of equally likely and maximally dissimilar species needed to produce the given value of diversity. Then, biodiversity is often calculated at three scales: within communities (α diversity), among communities (β diversity) and in a region (γ diversity). These three scales are, however, insufficient to tackle the organization of biodiversity in space because, for most organisms, there is a nested hierarchy of multiple scales characterized by different patterns and processes, from the small neighbourhood to the biosphere. We developed methodologies for analysing species, functional, taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity in a hierarchy of multiple scales using equivalent numbers of species. As an example, we analysed the taxonomic and functional diversity of macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Loire River, France, at four levels: within sites (α diversity), among sites within geological regions (β1 diversity), among geological regions (β2 diversity) and at the river scale (γ diversity). The new hierarchical approaches of biodiversity revealed very low differences among sites within regions and among regions in terms of taxonomy and functional traits (size and diet), despite moderate, significant species turnover among geological regions. We compare our framework with those other authors have developed. We argue that different definitions of α, β, γ diversities are used in the literature reflecting different points of view on biodiversity. We make recommendations on how to normalize functional (or phylogenetic) dissimilarities among species to render sites and regions comparable, and discuss the pros and cons of our approach. The hierarchical approaches of biodiversity in terms of ‘equivalent numbers’ respond to current demands to obtain intuitive, easily interpretable components of biodiversity. The approaches we propose go beyond current developments by considering a hierarchy of spatial scales and unbalanced sampling design. They will provide powerful tools to detect the ecological and evolutionary processes that act differently at different scales.
Phenotypic and demographic variability among patches of Maienthenaum canadense (Desf.) in central New Jersey, and the use of self-incompatibility for clone discrimination

Dept. of Biological Sciences and Bureau of Biological Research, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, P.O. Box 1059, Piscataway, NJ 08854 WORTHEN, W. B. AND E. W. STILES. (Dept. Biol. Sciences, Rutgers-The State University of NewJersey, P.O. Box 1059, Piscataway, NJ 08854) Phenotypic and demographic variability among patches of Maianthemum canadense (Desf.) in central NewJersey, and the use of self-incompatibility for clone discrimination. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 113:398-405. 1986. -Phenotypic variability, documented for nine patches of Maianthemum canadense (Desf.) at three sites in central New Jersey, did not correspond to presumed environmental differences between sites or correlate with differences in ramet density. More significant differences were found among patches than among sites for ramets/m2, percentage of ramets flowering/M2, percentage of flowering ramets fruiting/M2, flowers/inflorescence, and the per cent hot-water soluble carbohydrates in the fruit pulp. Fruit nutrient characteristics and flowers/inflorescence measures had very low variances within patches, and seem more likely to have been influenced by genetic differences among clones than environmental differences among habitats. Hand-pollination crosses of Maianthemum canadense were made within a patch and between patches. Incompatibility was complete for within-patch crosses, suggesting genetic identity of patch examined. The phenotypic variability described among patches may have a genetic basis.
Cryopreservation of Callerya speciosa (Champ.) Schot through droplet-vitrification

1Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Gene Resources and Germplasm Creating, Ministry of Agriculture, Danzhou sity, Hainan province 571737, China, *Fax: + 86 898 23300440, *E-mail: xllzy@263.net 2Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan 571700, China 3Bioversity International, Catholic University of Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
The differential diagnosis of Rickettsia prowazeki infection

Introduction: We describe a rare case of Rickettsia prowazeki infection in male prisoners. Objective: Our aim was to demonstrate a case of R. prowazeki infection in male prisoners presenting fever, dermatitis, and significant weight loss. Case: We report the cases of male prisoners, aged 46, who developed progressive dermatitis, fever, and weight loss. Due to dermatitis and 38.4°C fever, we transferred the prisoners to the Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged. The examination of the antigen test was negative for Plasmodium vivax, and biopsy was performed to exclude the vasculitis. For the potentially autoimmune cause of disease choloquine, antihistamine, methyl-prednisolone treatment was ordered. The dermaticological symptoms had progressed; therefore, we sent the patients to the Department of Infectology of Szeged and St Laszlo Hospital for further diagnosis. The serological tests were positive for R. prowazeki. Following 10-day course of doxycycline treatment, the patients displayed a significant clinical improvement. Conclusion: According to our knowledge, this is the first study to report the case of R. prowazeki in Central Europe.
Vulnerabilität und psychische Erkrankung

Based on a sample of 1,701 college and university students from 4 different sites in Switzerland, the U.S. and Argentina, this study investigated the interrelationships between insufficient coping skills under chronic stress and impaired general health. We aimed at developing standardized means for the “early” identification of students at risk for mental health problems, as these students might benefit from “early” interventions before psychiatric symptoms develop and may reach clinically relevant thresholds. All students completed 2 self-report questionnaires: the Coping Strategies Inventory “COPE” and the Zurich Health Questionnaire “ZHQ” which assesses “regular exercises”, “consump¬tion behavior”, “impaired physical health”, “psychosomatic disturbances”, and “impaired mental health”. The data were subjected to structure analyses by means of Neural Network approaches, using the data subsets of the different study sites as independent “learning” and “test” samples. We found 2 highly stable COPE scales that quantified basic coping behavior in terms of “activity-passivity” and “defeatism-resilience”. Excellent reproducibility across study sites suggested that the new scales represent socio-culturally independent personality traits. Correlation analyses carried out for external validation revealed a close relationship between high scores on the defeatism scale and impaired physical and mental health, thus underlining the clinical relevance of these scales. Specifically, our results suggested that (1) the proposed method provides powerful screening tools in the field of early detection and prevention of psychiatric disorders; and (2) physical activity (regular exercises) is likely to play a significant role not only in the prevention of health problems but also in early intervention programs.
Keimzelltransplantation als Methode zur Fertilitätserhaltung bei onkologischen Patienten

Abstract Spermatogonia are the diploid cells in the testis, representing a small self-sustaining pool of male germ line stem cells as well as a larger pool of differentiating germ cells which enter the process of spermatogenesis. After going through prophase of meiosis as spermatocytes these cells finally leave the testis as sperm. Spermatogonia share many characteristics with other stem cells but also carry some specific physiological features. Many details about the kinetics of spermatogonial divisions, about the hormonal regulation of their expansion and differentiation and about their clinically relevant involvement as a cause for male infertility are poorly understood. However, the loss of spermatogonia following chemo- or radiotherapy leading to temporary or permanent infertility of the patient is a well known and unwanted site effect of many oncological therapies. Isolation and extracorporal storage of spermatogonia prior to the treatment and transplantation into the testis after recovery from the disease presents a promising future tool for fertility preservation in male patients undergoing oncological therapy.