Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Protective Effect of Cynara Cardunculus Extract in Diet-Induced NAFLD: Involvement of OCTN1 and OCTN2 Transporter Subfamily

Hyperlipidemia and insulin-resistance are often associated with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) thereby representing a true issue worldwide due to increased risk of developing cardiovascular and systemic disorders. Although clear evidence suggests that circulating fatty acids contribute to pathophysiological mechanisms underlying NAFLD and hyperlipidemia, further studies are required to better identify potential beneficial approaches for counteracting such a disease. Recently, several artichoke extracts have been used for both reducing hyperlipidemia, insulin-resistance and NAFLD, though the mechanism is unclear. Here we used a wild type of Cynara Cardunculus extract (CyC), rich in sesquiterpens and antioxidant active ingredients, in rats fed a High Fat Diet (HFD) compared to a Normal Fat Diet (NFD). In particular, in rats fed HFD for four consecutive weeks, we found a significant increase of serum cholesterol, triglyceride and serum glucose. This effect was accompanied by increased body weight and by histopathological features of liver steatosis. The alterations of metabolic parameters found in HFDs were antagonised dose-dependently by daily oral supplementation of rats with CyC 10 and 20 mg/kg over four weeks, an effect associated to significant improvement of liver steatosis. The effect of CyC (20 mg/kg) was also associated to enhanced expression of both OCTN1 and OCTN2 carnitine-linked transporters. Thus, present data suggest a contribution of carnitine system in the protective effect of CyC in diet-induced hyperlipidemia, insulin-resistance and NAFLD.
Thermal tolerance of meltwater stonefly Lednia tumana nymphs from an alpine stream in Waterton–Glacier International Peace Park, Montana, USA

Abstract. Global climate change threatens to affect negatively the structure, function, and diversity of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. In alpine systems, the thermal tolerances of stream invertebrates can be assessed to understand better the potential effects of rising ambient temperatures and continued loss of glaciers and snowpack on alpine stream ecosystems. We measured the critical thermal maximum (CTM) and lethal temperature maximum (LTM) of the meltwater stonefly (Lednia tumana), a species limited to glacial and snowmelt-driven alpine streams in the Waterton–Glacier International Peace Park area and a candidate for listing under the US Endangered Species Act. We collected L. tumana nymphs from Lunch Creek in Glacier National Park, Montana (USA) and transported them to a laboratory at the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station, Polson, Montana. We placed nymphs in a controlled water bath at 1 of 2 acclimation temperatures, 8.5 and 15°C. We increased water temperature at a constant rate of 0.3°C/min. We calculated the average CTM and LTM (± SD) for each acclimation temperature and compared them with Student's t-tests. Predicted chronic temperature maxima were determined using the ⅓ rule. Mean LTMs were 32.3 ± 0.28°C and 31.05 ± 0.78°C in the 8.5 and 15°C acclimation treatments, respectively. CTM and LTM metrics were lower in the 15 than in the 8.5°C acclimation treatment, but these differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The predicted chronic temperature maxima were 20.6 and 20.2°C for the 8.5 and 15°C acclimation treatments, respectively. More research is needed on the effects of chronic exposures to rising stream temperatures, but our results can be used to assess the potential effects of warming water temperatures on L. tumana and other aquatic macroinvertebrates in alpine ecosystems.
Maternal Bereavement the Year Before or During Pregnancy and Total and Cause-Specific Infant Mortality: A Cohort Study from Denmark and Sweden.

OBJECTIVE We analyzed associations between maternal bereavement the year before or during pregnancy and total and cause-specific infant mortality (IM). METHODS We studied live singleton births from the Danish (1978-2008) and Swedish Medical Birth Registers (1973-2006) (N=5,114,246). Information on maternal sociodemographic, pregnancy- and health-related factors and death of family members were obtained from nationwide registers. RESULTS Among children of mothers with register links to family members and without the considered IM risk factors, 110,993 (2.76%) were exposed and 15,199 (0.4%) died in infancy. Death of an older child the year before or during pregnancy was associated with an increased IM risk [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 95% confidence intervals (CI): 2.05 (1.44-2.92)]. Losing an older child the year before pregnancy or during pregnancy were associated with risks of prematurity-related IM [aOR (95% CI): 2.61 (1.44-4.72) and 3.08 (1.70-5.57)], and with infant death in term born children due to other causes than sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), congenital malformations or asphyxia [aOR (95% CI): 3.31 (1.58-6.96) and 5.10 (1.27-20.43)]. Losing an older child during pregnancy was also associated with increased risks of SIDS [aOR (95% CI): 5.41 (1.34-21.83)]. Death of a partner during pregnancy was associated with IM [aOR 1.83 (1.01-3.32)]. The number of events were small and CIs wide in some sub-analyses and caution is needed when interpreting our results. CONCLUSIONS Severe prenatal stress may increase the risk of several types of IM. Whether less severe, but more common maternal stressors shortly before or during pregnancy also increase IM risk warrants further investigation.
Morphological changes in a marine population of threespined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, recently isolated in fresh water

A marine population of Gasterosteus aculeatus recently isolated in fresh water was found in Bergen, western Norway. This discovery offered the opportunity to study early changes in a population isolated in an environment quite different from what it previously experienced. The population was sampled in 1982, 1987, and 1991. Variation of plate morph frequencies was studied, and a prediction model for the change in frequencies is proposed. An increasing frequency of specimens with four dorsal spines is observed. This may be related to high summer temperature. Changes in morphology were recorded and compared with those in the marine population from which the isolated population originated. Discriminant analysis was used to reveal differentiation in morphometric characters. The main morphometric change recorded was that the isolated population had developed a more compact body, which is probably an adaptation to a less active, more benthic way of living.
Interspecies Interactions in Dual-Species Biofilms Formed by Psychrotrophic Bacteria and the Tolerance of Sessile Communities to Disinfectants.

ABSTRACT Biofilms on the surface of food processing equipment act as potential reservoirs of microbial contamination. Bacterial interactions are believed to play key roles in both biofilm formation and antimicrobial tolerance. In this study, Aeromonas hydrophila, Chryseobacterium oncorhynchi, and Pseudomonas libanensis, which were previously isolated from Chinese raw milk samples, were selected to establish two dual-species biofilm models (P. libanensis plus A. hydrophila and P. libanensis plus C. oncorhynchi) on stainless steel at 7°C. Subsequently, three disinfectants, hydrogen peroxide (100 ppm), peracetic acid (100 ppm), and sodium hypochlorite (100 ppm), were used to treat the developed sessile communities for 10 min. Structural changes after exposure to disinfectants were analyzed with confocal laser scanning microscopy. The cell numbers of both A. hydrophila and C. oncorhynchi recovered from surfaces increased when grown as dual species biofilms with P. libanensis. Dual-species biofilms were more tolerant of disinfectants than were each single-species biofilm. Peracetic acid was the most effective disinfectant for removing biofilms, followed by hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite. The results expand the knowledge of mixed-species biofilms formed by psychrotrophic bacteria and will be helpful for developing effective strategies to eliminate bacterial mixed-species biofilms. HIGHLIGHTS
Analele ştiinţifice ale Universităţii “Al

The exvitroplantlets life quality and acclimatization success depend on normal vital reactions to start in their organs, especially, in leafs, depend on photoautotrophic processes. In this context, the leaf’s content in assimilator pigments is an edifying parameter in the evaluation of „ex vitro” transferred plants capacity to sustain successfully their metabolism. The acclimatization of Chrysanthemum, Saintpaulia and Cymbidium exvitroplantlets was made in a mixture of perlite with „Top soil” (a type of soil obtained through worm composting of some vegetal wastes), in a proportion of 1:3. After 120 days from the „in vitro” inoculation of Chrysanthemum minicutings and African violet propaguls, and after 365 days from placing the Cymbidium protocorms on solid culture medium – the moment when the regenerated vitroplantlets from fitoinoculs were transferred to a septic medium – we determined the chlorophyll (a and b) and carotenoid pigments, then after 30 days from the beginning of the acclimatization, those tests were repeated. At all three species, assimilator pigments taken from vitroplantlet leaflets were quantitatively, significantly inferior to those distributed to the leaflets of the control lot (plants cultivated in greenhouse conditions). After 30 days from the beginning of the acclimatization procedures, the quantity of assimilator pigments grouse, in comparison with that parameter values determined by the control lot, the differences between them being insignificant statistically.
IGS-SENCE CONFERENCE RESILIENT SOCIETIES-GOVERNING RISK AND VULNERABILITY FOR WATER, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

The Ayamama River basin in Istanbul is a densely populated urban area that is frequently impacted by flash floods causing damage to people and infrastructure. The IPCC expects that under climate change conditions, more intense precipitation will occur, leading to a higher risk of flash floods. Approaches to assess vulnerability focus on particular hazards without relating to climate change; usually emphasizing either physical or social vulnerability. However, enabling governance systems to deal with risks due to climate change requires participation of local inhabitants and inclusion of local knowledge for planning effective climate change adaptation measures. This paper presents a framework for a spatial assessment of urban vulnerability to flash floods under climate change conditions. Qualitative interviews were conducted to capture local knowledge of citizens in the Ayamama area about flood events and climate change. Spatial multi criteria evaluation was applied to calculate vulnerability indices.
Can absolute polycythaemia be identified without measurement of the red cell mass?

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N‐ASSIMILATION IN THE NOXIOUS FLAGELLATE HETEROSIGMA CARTERAE (RAPHIDOPHYCEAE): DEPENDENCE ON LIGHT, N‐SOURCE, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE1

The capabilities of the diel vertically migrating flagellate Heterosigma carterae Hulburt for assimilating ammonium and nitrate into cell‐N in light and in darkness were studied using cells of different N‐status. Ammonium utilization in darkness, except by N‐replete cells, attained>50% of use in the light. However, the capacity to use nitrate was poor in darkness, and less than 20% of nitrate‐N that was taken up in darkness was then actually incorporated into cell‐N. The ability to assimilate N in darkness improved as N‐status (N:C) declined, concurrent with an increasing content of water‐soluble carbohydrate. This carbohydrate was used to support dark N‐assimilation. Cells held in darkness for over a day and that had halted nitrate‐uptake were still capable of taking up ammonium. Furthermore, the act of taking up ammonium appeared to make available a source of C to support nitrate uptake that was previously unavailable. The implications of these results for the ecophysiology of this organism and for the construction of mathematical models of algal growth are considered.
Lung Segmentation for Tuberculosis by Using Active Appearance Model (AAM) In Chest Radiographs

: Tuberculosis is the extreme disease noted in the world. HIV/AIDS patients have an immune system which is impaired and that has made an impact on the problem. In the case of Tuberculosis the probability of mortality rate is not zero. In order to reduce the mortality rate the AAM (Active Appearance Model) in which training and segmentation process is undergone is used in the existing system. It is a method used for processing and analyzing manually traced segmentation examples during an automated training stage. Information about Image appearance and shape of lung structure is contained in a single model. But the major drawback is this method is not robust against occlusion. If the parts are occluded then they obtained result is unreliable. To overcome this problem we propose a Robust PCA (RPCA) method. By using this method computational effort is reduced and accurate reconstruction is also obtained. The results shows greater advantage for showing accuracy and speed for any distributed data.
Relationship between safening activity of dymron and fenclorim to pretilachlor and glutathione S-transferase activity in rice

Dymron [1-(α,α-dimethybenzyl)-3-(p-tolyl)urea] and fenclorim (4,6-dichloro-2-phenylpyrimidine) were found to exhibit a safening activity on the growth of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings against pretilachlor [2-chloro-2′,6′diethyl-N-(2-propoxyethyl)acetanilide] injury. By pretilachlor treatment at 10–6 and 10–5 mol L–1, the elongation of the third leaves of rice seedlings was reduced by approximately 20 and 40%, and that of the fourth leaves was reduced by approximately 40 and 80%, respectively. Upon the treatment of dymron at 3 × 10–6 and 10–5 mol L–1 in combination with pretilachlor, the growth inhibition was half alleviated in the third leaves, and the length of the fourth leaves was almost recovered from 10–6 mol L-1 pretilachlor injury, and was 20–25% recovered from 10–5 mol L–1 pretilachlor injury. Upon the treatment of fenclorim at 3 × 10–6 and 10–5 mol L–1 in combination with pretilachlor, the growth inhibition of rice seedlings was almost alleviated in both the third and the fourth leaves. This result indicated that dymron and fenclorim showed almost the same safening effect on the fourth leaf growth against 10–6 mol L-1 pretilachlor injury, although fenclorim showed higher effects at higher concentrations of pretilachlor. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities in rice seedlings were investigated after being treated with a herbicide and safener. By pretilachlor treatment at 10–6 and 10–5 mol L–1, the GST activity was approximately 32 and 72% increased in roots, respectively, and a little increased (7–13%) in shoots of two-leaf-stage rice seedlings. By dymron treatment at 3 × 10–6−10–5 mol L–1, the GST activity was 2–30% increased in roots, but was not increased in shoots. By their combination treatment, the GST activity was almost the same or less than that by treatment with pretilachlor alone. In contrast, by fenclorim treatment alone, the GST activity was 43–52 and 33–45% increased in roots and shoots of rice seedlings, respectively. By the combination treatment of pretilachlor and fenclorim, the GST activity was increased 73–126% in shoots and 101–139% in roots, and was much more increased in both shoots and roots compared with treatment of pretilachlor or fenclorim alone. It was found that dymron showed less effect in increasing the GST activity than fenclorim. It is also suggested that dymron did not increase the GST activity in shoots but did increase it slightly in roots, and showed almost no effect on GST increase by pretilachlor in shoots, or rather reduced the increase in roots. From the above results, fenclorim and dymron may have different mechanisms of safening effects on the protection of rice seedlings against pretilachlor injury.
Modelling the distribution of an introduced species: The coypu Myocastor coypus (Mammalia, Rodentia) in Piedmont region, NW Italy

Model‐based analyses of species–habitat relationships can help to clarify which factors influence the establishment and spread of species. The coypu (Myocastor coypus) is a semi‐aquatic rodent native to South America, which has been introduced worldwide, including Italy. We used logistic regression to analyse the species distribution according to habitat attributes of agro‐ecosystems in Piedmont Region. The resulting model correctly predicted the presence and absence of the coypu in the initial data and also in the part of the study area used for cross‐validation. Our analysis confirmed that the coypu is a typical lowland species, which particularly uses flat areas below 300 m a.s. l. The presence of coypus was strongly correlated with the presence of rice fields. During the rice‐growing season, a network of canals with running water enables them to colonize this vast area. On the other hand, coypus are less likely to be present where the surface covered by woodlands and urban areas, other crops patches density, and orchards and poplar plantations patch sizes increase. A global coypu control strategy must be based primarily on preventing further introductions, and the results of this study could help to produce future risk assessments.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PURPLE VACUOLAR PIGMENT OF ZYGOGONIUM ERICETORUM AND THE STATUS OF “ALGAL ANTHOCYANINS” AND “PHYCOPORPHYRINS”

RECENTLY, THE AUTHOR was informed that some of the Zygnemataceae are colored purple or blue because of the presence of a water-soluble vacuolar pigment which is thought to be of the anthocyanin type. In fact, Moougeotia and Pleurodiscus are among algae reported to contain anthocyanins according to Smith (1950). Geissman (1955), who has reviewed the literature of the flavonoid pigments, reports the absence of anthocyanins below the mosses, and Strain*, who has investigated algal pigments extensively, states that he knows of no case of anthocyanins among algae. No reports of algal anthocyanins based on a thorough study of the pigments have been found, and it must be considered that the occurrence of anthocyanins among algae is not established. In the case of the "anthocyanin-like" pigment reported from Zygnema purpureum by Mainx (1923), it is obvious from the properties of the pigment that no anthocyanin was involved. Blue-purple and red-purple pigments located in the vacuole are described from several genera of the Zygnemataceae. Transeau (1951) reports that blue or purple pigments occur in the cell sap of vegetative cells of Pleurodiscus purpureus, Temnogainetum uleanum, Temnogametum thaxteri, Mougeotia capucina, and Zygogonium ericetorum, and blue spore walls are found in over forty species of the Zygnemataceae. Purple or red cell sap has been reported from other families of the order Zygnematales, specifically in the following genera: Mesotaenium, Ancylonema, and Penium (Lagerheim, 1895). It is noteworthy that the habitats of most of the species containing the vacuolar pigment are either marshes or acid peat bogs. The most detailed study of the vacuolar pigment was made by Lagerheim (1895), who studied an alga which he elevated to generic rank, namely, Pleurodiscus purpureus. The taxonomic status of this form is still unclear (Transeau, 1951). After eliminating the possibility that the pigment might belong to any' of the classes of natural pigments known at that time, Lagerheim coined the term "phycoporphyrin. " There was no intent by Lagerheim to denote a tetrapyrrol structure now associated with the generic term, porphyrin, which describes in part the chromagenic group of compounds such as chlorophyll or hemoglobin. All references in the literature to phycoporphyrin appear to be derived from the original paper by Lagerheim.
Differences in staining of the unicellular algae Chlorococcales as a function of algaenan content

Algal strains belonging to the Chlorococcales (Chlorophyceae) show significant differences in the extent of staining with the commonly used dye, crystalline violet. This seems to depend on the cell wall composition and on the occurrence of the acetolysis-resistant biopolymer algaenan in the algal cells.Eighteen algal strains were investigated using 24 h staining with 0.2% crystalline violet and it was confirmed that algal strains which did not contain algaenan and had a trilaminar structure in the cell wall showed strong staining ability, while non-algaenan strains were stained very weakly, if at all. The simple method presented here may be helpful to distinguish both kinds of algal strains.
Genome Size Variation and Plant Systematics

Abstract The importance of genome size, as a useful taxonomic marker, has been stressed in many studies based on different groups. A critical appraisal of intraspecific variability reported in various species so far shows that the plant genome is fairly stable (taking a narrow species concept) and is one of the salient features defining a biological species. Large differences in DNA amounts may exist at the infrageneric level which may be correlated with various adaptive traits at nuclear, cellular, tissue and organismic levels. Therefore, being an adaptive character, a comparison of nuclear C-values in conjunction with other characters may provide a natural way to elucidate evolutionary relationships. In a number of cases it is possible to study whether gain or loss of DNA has occurred during speciation which may coincide with the existing taxonomic treatment and presumed evolutionary relationships within a narrow taxonomic group. The present account deals with many recent examples which highlight the importance of genome size in microsystematics.