Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of the Measurement of Carotid Intima-Media Thickness for Prediction of the Essential Hypertension in Children

Hypertension is a major risk factor for progression of the atherosclerotic process and for developing of degenerative cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. The aim of this study is to evaluate how the measurement of carotid intima - media thickness for prediction of essential hypertension in children can be used.The study group included 81 children and the control group 61 children, all aged between 5 - 17 years and 11 months old, and admitted in Children Hospital Brasov in the period of 2009 � 2014. The study protocol included: BMI, blood pressure and Doppler echography of the common carotid artery for each group. Mean age of the patients from the study group was 13.67 years, 43.20 % girls and 56.80 % boys, while in the control group, the mean age was 14.07 years, 54.10% girls and 45.90 % boys. 70.37% of the children from the study group presented obesity, while in the control group 40.98% were obese. The IMTC study group ranged from 0.52 - 0.69 mm and the limits of the normotensive subjects were 0.32 -0.54 mm. In both groups the obese patients were found to have increased carotid artery intima-media, which means that IMTC was positively correlated with BMI (p=0.000001). It is necessary to identify diagnostic methods easily applicable for children, allowing involvement of the characteristics of the arterial wall in the degenerative pathological processes. Increased intima-media ratio is positively correlated with high values of blood pressure.
a-GLUCOSIDASE INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF THAI MIMOSACEOUS PLANT EXTRACTS

Twenty species of Thai plants in Mimosaceae family were exhausively extracted with petroleum ether, dichloromethane and ethanol respectively. The plant extracts were studied for their α-glucosidase inhibition activity by spectrophotometry using 1-deoxynojirimycin as a positive control. The result showed that most percentage yields of the plants were in ethanol extract. Entada rheedii seed coat, Archidendron jiringa seed coat, Albizia lebbeck branch bark, Parkia speciosa pericarp and Albizia lebbeckoides bark exhibited very high inhibition with IC50 of 0.0043, 0.0054, 0.0397, 0.0581 and 0.0702 mg/ml respectively. Moreover, the stem, leaves, branch and bark of Xylia xylocarpa also displayed high α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The most fractions that showed the promising activity are 95 % ethanolic extracts. It is of interest that these species should be further studied for the treatment diabetes mellitus (type II) as the glucosidase inhibitor and the lowering of blood glucose level.
A detailed analysis of primary feather moult in the Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris– new feather mass increases at a constant rate

During moult, the rate that protein can be synthesized and used to grow new feathers must be a critical factor influencing the quality of new plumage. However, the rate that new feather mass accrues during moult has not been assessed in detail. To estimate this, the increase in length of each of the nine primary feathers (P1–P9) in 16 captive Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris was measured at weekly intervals throughout moult. The rate of increase in length was similar for all primary feathers except P9, which increased more slowly. After completion of moult, these feathers were plucked, accurately measured and weighed. The distribution of mass along the length of each primary was assessed. Using these data, I estimated the rate that mass had increased for each feather during moult. For each individual primary, mass increased at a steady rate until almost fully grown. The rate of increase in mass was least for P1 and greatest for P9. The number of feathers growing concurrently decreased as moult progressed. The net result was that total new primary feather mass increased at a steady rate throughout most of moult (linear regression between start of growth of P2 and end of growth of P8; r2 = 0.991). Retrospective conversion of feather lengths into moult score showed that the increase in score was not linear. It was greatest early in moult and decreased as moult progressed. A scoring system that factors in distribution of mass within and between feathers may provide a more physiologically relevant measure of the progress of moult.
New and recently described freshwater crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamidae, Gecarcinucidae and Parathelphusidae) from Thailand

The identity and taxonomy of 21 species of Thai freshwater crabs described between 1869 and 1992 of the families Potamidae (Potamon kanchanaburiense Naiyanetr, 1992; P. maesotense Naiyanetr, 1992; P. boonyaratae (Naiyanetr, 1987); Potamon phuphanense Naiyanetr, 1992; P. erawanense Naiyanetr, 1992; P. maehongsonense Naiyanetr, 1992; P. yotdomense (Naiyanetr, 1984); Dromothelphusa phrae (Naiyanetr, 1984); Larnaudia chaiyaphumi Naiyanetr, 1982; Thaipotamon siamense (A. Milne Edwards, 1869); T. smitinandi (Naiyanetr & Turkay, 1984); Thaiphusa sirikit (Naiyanetr, 1992); Demanietta tritrungense (Naiyanetr, 1986)), Gecarcinucidae (Phricotelphusa ranongi Naiyanetr, 1982; Thaksinthelphusa yongchindaratae (Naiyanetr, 1988)) and Parathelphusidae (Somanniathelphusa bangkokensis Naiyanetr, 1982; S. maehongsonensis Naiyanetr, 1987; S. fangensis Naiyanetr, 1987; S. denchaii Naiyanetr, 1984; S. nani Naiyanetr, 1984; Heterothelphusa beauvoisi (Rathbun, 1902)) are clarified. Four new genera are established (three belonging to the Potamidae: Thaipotamon, Kanpotamon and Thaiphusa; and one to the Gecarcinucidae: Thaksinthelphusa), and 13 new species (11 Potamidae: Potamon lipkei, P. nan, P. namlang, P. jarujini, P. maesariang, Ρ. ubon, P. somchaii, Thaipotamon lomkao, Τ. dansai, Τ. varoonphornae, Kanpotamon duangkhaei; and two Parathelphusidae: Somanniathelphusa phetchaburi, S. chiangmai) described. Detailed descriptions and figures are provided of all the taxa.
Evolução das estratégias de investigação do arroz no INIA - Portugal

Um dos principais desafios das organizacoesde investigacao agricola e a necessidadede incorporar nas suas estrategias, praticasinovadoras com vista a sustentabilidade. Nafileira do arroz portugues observam-se mudancaseconomicas associadas com as preocupacoesambientais e sociais. Este estudotem por objectivo descrever a dinâmica dasmudancas no Instituto Nacional de InvestigacaoAgraria - INIA, uma das principais organizacoesde investigacao aplicada a fileirado arroz portugues. Os resultados indicarama presenca de tres fases no desenvolvimentoda investigacao em arroz no INIA, nomeadamente"o INIA provedor de investigacaoaplicada ao sistema de producao agricolado arroz", "o INIA minimo na investigacaoaplicada ao sistema de producao agricola doarroz", "o INIA incentivador da coordenacaoda fileira e agregacao de valor ao arroz". Foipossivel identificar disturbios, regras genericasorientadoras da investigacao, estrategiasde investigacao e factores externos a cadauma destas fases.
CONTROL OF ROOT-KNOT NEMATODES IN SRI LANKA

Soil applications of granular nematicides, carbofuran, fenamiphos and oxamyl, or fumigant nematicides, 1,3 dichloropropene 1,2 dichloropropane, controlled Meloidogyne javanica on tomato, beans and soybeans and M. arenaria on tobacco and increased yields. Incorporation of coconut oil cakes into the soil also produced positive effects on control of M. javanica on tomato. Imported cultivars of tomato resistant to root-knot nematodes were only partially resistant to M. javanica. U.F. V[sub1] was the only one of five soybean cvs. which showed some resistance or tolerance to M. javanica. Diflubenzuron applied as a soil drench completely suppressed attacks of root-knot nematodes but was highly phytotoxic to soybeans. However, incorporation of the chemical into the soil just before sowing, or soaking seeds with a solution of the chemical in methyl sulphoxide gave excellent control of the nematode without suppressing plant growth.
Topology predictions of membrane spanning region in Plasmodium yoelii ABC proteins

Introduccion. El problema de resistencia a drogas en malaria continua en aumento y representa un gran problema de salud. La resistencia a drogas en los Plasmodia es un fenomeno complejo frecuentemente mediado por proteinas de membrana de la familia ABC (ATP-Binding Cassette), las cuales se caracterizan por la presencia de lugares de enlaces a nucleotidos (NBS) y una region con dominios transmembranales (MSD). Objetivo. El objetivo principal del trabajo es analizar el desempeno de diferentes herramientas ciberneticas para predecir la topologia de las proteinas ABC en P. yoelii. Material y Metodos. Se identificaron las proteinas ABC en PlasmoDB 5.4 utilizando la herramienta de busqueda de terminos, con ABC como la palabra clave. Las proteinas identificadas fueron analizadas utilizando siete herramientas ciberneticas que predicen NBS y MSD. Los programas fueron clasificados con base en el numero de predicciones correctas e incorrectas. Resultados. Siete de las 23 proteinas que fueron identificadas poseian la estructura de arquitectura tipica de las proteinas ABC con regiones transmembranales. El numero de dominios transmembranales en las proteinas vario entre 4-11. TMHMM 1.0 genero la mejor comparacion en relacion a la anotacion de referencia en PlasmoDB (TMHMM 2.0) con 51 predicciones correctas, seguido por Phobius, TMPRED y HMMTOP. MEMSAT y SPLIT tuvieron el menor numero de predicciones correctas. Conclusiones. Se realizaron predicciones de topologia de las regiones transmembranales de las proteinas ABC de P. yoelii. Estos analisis deben proveer informacion adicional sobre la estructura de las proteinas ABC y deben servir de guia a los investigadores para entender mejor el papel que estas proteinas podrian desempenar en los procesos biologicos del parasito.
Immunoreactivity of Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD) Isoforms in the Central Nervous System of the Barn Spider, Araneus cavaticus

The γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) has long been considered as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) of both vertebrates and arthropods. Since the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) has a restricted tissue distribution and catalyzes the conversion of L‐glutamate to GABA, immunoreactivity of GAD isoforms can reveal distribution of GABAergic neurons in the CNS. In the CNS of the spider Araneus cavaticus, immunoreactivity of GAD isoforms can be detected in the optic lobes including neurons and neuropiles of the supraesophageal ganglia. Strong GAD‐like immunoreactive cell bodies are concentrated in two bilaterally symmetric cell clusters of the protocerebrum. Some intrinsic cell bodies near the central body also show strong immunoreactivity. However, the intrinsic nerve masses and some of the longitudinal and transverse tracts within the supraesophageal ganglion are only lightly labelled, and the fibers transverse the hemisphere and the central fibrous masses are not labelled. Among the three basic types of cell bodies surrounding the central body, several clusters of the Type‐C cells show strong GAD‐like immunoreactivity, however both of the Type‐A and Type‐B cells are not labelled at all.
Studies on the role of synaptic activity in synapse development and gene expression

Outgrowing axons in the developing nervous system secrete neurotransmitters and neuromodulatory substances, which is considered to stimulate synaptogenesis. However, some synapses develop independent of presynaptic secretion. To investigate the role of secretion in synapse formation and –maintenance in vivo, we quantified synapses and their morphology in the neocortical marginal zone of munc18-1 deficient mice which lack both evoked and spontaneous secretion (Verhage et al., 2000). Histochemical analyses at embryonic day 18 (E18) showed that the overall organization of the neocortex and the number of cells were similar in mutants and controls. Western blot analysis revealed equal concentrations of preand post-synaptic marker proteins in mutants and controls and immunocytochemical analyses indicated that these markers were targeted to the neuropil of the synaptic layer in the mutant neocortex. Electron microscopy revealed that at E16 immature synapses had formed both in mutants and controls. These synapses had a similar synapse diameter, active zone length and contained similar amounts of synaptic vesicles, which were immunopositive for two synaptic vesicle markers. However, these synapses were 3 times less abundant in the mutant. Two days later, E18, synapses in the controls had more total and docked vesicles, but not in the mutant. Furthermore, synapses were now 5 times less abundant in the mutant. In both mutant and controls, synapse-like structures were observed with irregular shaped vesicles on both sides of the synaptic cleft. These ’multivesicular structures’, were immuno-positive for synaptic vesicle markers and were 4 times more abundant in the mutant. We conclude that in the absence of presynaptic secretion immature synapses with a normal morphology form, but fewer in number. These secretion-deficient synapses may fail to mature and instead give rise to multivesicular structures. These two observations suggest that secretion of neurotransmitters and neuromodulatory substances is required for synapse maintenance, not for synaptogenesis. Multivesicular structures may develop out of unstable synapses.
El fósforo en los sistemas ganaderos de leche

Phosphorus in dairy farm systems. Due to the intense use of P fertilizers and livestock manure in modern day agriculture, P has become an accelerator of fresh water eutrophication, resulting in reduced oxygen availability because of growth of algae and their decomposition. Recent research indicates that dietary P management is a key strategy to reduce P imports and accumulation on dairy farms. Thus, a more precise formulation of dairy rations can lead to substantial reduction in fecal P excretion without impairing animal productivity. Some mathematical equations are presented in order to estimate P excretion by dairy cows. These equations would be very useful when developing nutrient management programs. The objective of the study was to make a brief commentary of the importance of P in the body, understand that excess P can be an important threat to surface waters, and to find the easiest and most economic ways to reduce P excretion in dairy farm systems.
Forest elephant dung decay in Ndoki Forest, northern Congo

The decay of elephant dung piles has been shown to be a complex process. Rainfall has been attributed as the main factor influencing dung pile survival in various central African forests. This study monitored elephant dung piles from deposition to disappearance to show that dung survival in Ndoki Forest in northern Congo is mainly influenced by the intensity of irradiance and minimum temperature in the days after deposition. This could lead to substantial differences of dung decay in pristine forest compared with logged forest with a disturbed canopy, and care should be taken when applying rainfall models to calculate dung decay rates. On-site surveying of elephant dung piles covering all habitat types should therefore be undertaken before any elephant dung survey is conducted.
The characterization of the lipoprotein VacJ in Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia thailandensis

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, has evolved multiple strategies to facilitate survival in the environment and can cause serious disease in the human host. The lipoprotein BPSL3147 (VacJ) was previously shown to be important in the growth and survival of B. pseudomallei in an in vivo mouse model and a VacJ transposon mutant was highly attenuated. This work has focused on elucidating the role of VacJ as a virulence determinant in B. pseudomallei. The gene was characterized using bioinformatic and genetic techniques, utilizing comparisons with B. thailandensis to study the in vivo and in vitro roles. In this study a rationally defined B. pseudomallei VacJ deletion mutant was constructed, verified and evaluated. The VacJ mutant was able to colonize mice organs during the initial infection phase, but was unable to sustain the infection. In in vitro assays the VacJ mutant did not display any defect in early steps of the intracellular lifecycle. However, VacJ appears to play a contributory role to human serum resistance, as evidenced by the serum susceptibility of an acapsular B. pseudomallei ΔBPSL3147 mutant and B. thailandensis VacJ mutants. Taken together, VacJ contributes to virulence by affecting the outer membrane of B. pseudomallei and B. thailandensis affecting serum resistance sensitivity. The B. pseudomallei VacJ mutant was also investigated for potential as a live attenuated vaccine and displayed partial protection against a lethal challenge in an acute intranasal mice infection model.
Tannins and Related Polyphenols of Melastomataceous Plants. VII. Nobotanins J and K, Trimeric and Tetrameric Hydrolyzable Tanins from Heterocentron roseum

Two new hydrolyzable tannins, nobotanins J and K, were isolated by a combination of column chromatography and centrifugal partition chromatography from the leaf extract of Heterocentron roseum, and shown to have trimeric and tetrameric structures composed of combinations of the common monomeric units, casuarictin and pterocarinin C, on the basis of spectral and chemical evidence.
Biotransformasi Isoflavon oleh Rhizopus oryzae UICC 524

Soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merr. ) is known to contain isoflavones. Four major forms of isoflavones are acetylglycosides, malonylglycosides, glycosides, and aglycones respectively. Rhizopus oryzae UICC 524 and Rhizopus microsporus var. chinensis UICC 521, are respectively produced the isoflavone aglycones isolated from soybean tempe. Soybean tempe is the most popular indigenous fermented food in Indonesia. The tempe samples were extracted with methanol and the extraction defeated with hexane. The isoflavone aglycones were isolated using column chromatography, and then analyzed using a gradient elution reverse phase of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The profile of isolated isoflavone aglycones contains daidzein and genistein, and no factor-2 (6,7,4’-trihidroxyisoflavone) and glycitein were detected. The daidzein resulted from biotransformation of daidzin was dominant in both tempe samples. The isoflavone biotransformation activity was much greater by R. microsporus var. chinensis UICC 521 than R. oryzae UICC 524, except on 24 hours incubation. After 72 hours of incubation, the total isoflavone aglycones in tempe using R. microsporus var. chinensis UICC 521 was 721.6 mg/g and when using R. oryzae UICC 524, was 268.2 mg/g. Key words: daidzein; genistein; isoflavone; Rhizopus ; tempeh.
Flower abscission in potted Plectranthus.

x All eight varieties were exposed to different concentrations of ethylene (0, 0.1, 0.25 0.5, 1 and 2 μll) to determine their level of ethylene sensitivity. All of the Plectranthus varieties were determined to be extremely sensitive to ethylene. With 100% flower abscission occurring within 24 h at 1 and 2 μll in all varieties. In order to determine what internal changes were causing this increase in flower abscission under these conditions, the changes in the expression of key ethylene biosynthetic enzymes, cytokinin content and carbohydrates in the flowers were examined. ACS and ACO are the two key enzymes in the ethylene biosynthetic pathway (JOHNSON & ECKER, 1998). Changes in the levels of mRNAs coding for these two enzymes were examined when plants were packaged and put into the dark. In general there was an upregulation of the ethylene biosynthetic pathway and in turn this may have increased ethylene production by the plants under simulated transport conditions. However, the changes were not large enough to be solely responsible for the increased flower abscission observed under simulated transport conditions. The concentrations of 43 cytokinins were measured in pedicle tissue from plants which had been kept in the dark for 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. Of the 43 cytokinins measured 21 were below the level of detection. Concentrations for the remaining 22 cytokinins at each of the time points were examined and it was found that in general cytokinin concentrations increase when plants are packaged and put into the dark. DHZ-type cytokinins remained stable during the 96 h continuous dark monitoring period, with most of the changes observed in the tZ and iP types. Peaks in cytokinin concentrations are often followed by an increase in flower abscission, indicating that an increase in cytokinin concentrations may be one of the factors causing the increase in transport-induced flower abscission
Impact study of hygiene and health counselling as a controlling measure of iron deficiency Anemia

Background and Aim: Anemia is a moderate to severe public health problem in India. Coverage of anemia programmes are inadequate, safe water and sanitation status is moderate or poor, open defecation rates are significant, incidence of diarrhoeal diseases are high as a results of infection. Though poor bio-availability of iron is the root cause of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) the role parasites infection such as hookworm infection also plays a major role in IDA. There is a link between poor hygiene practices –worm infection– IDA. Hence this study was undertaken to educate women of reproductive age group (WRA) about impact of IDA and how good hygiene practice can eliminate the problem to at least some extent. Methods and Material: Women of reproductive age group (WRA) in rural population were taken randomly for this study. They was first screened for anemia and then IDA. The ID anemic women were then randomly allocated into two groups one as experimental and another as control. Base line hematological parameters and hygiene practices were obtained from them.Only the experimental group was counselled about good hygiene practices. The final hematological parameters and hygiene practices were obtained after eighteen months and were compared for statistical significance. Results: At the end of the study 306 women were found to be non anaemic in experimental group while in control group it was only 78 women. Statistical significant results were obtained in hygiene practices between experimental and control group. Conclusion: Our study hence shows that good hygiene practice does play an important role in controlling anemia.
The Fire Ants

Walter Tschinkel's passion for fire ants has been stoked by over 30 years of exploring the rhythm and drama of Solenopsis invicta's biology. Since South American fire ants arrived in Mobile, Alabama, in the 1940s, they have spread to become one of the most reviled pests in the Sunbelt. In "Fire Ants", Tschinkel provides not just an encyclopaedic overview of S. invicta - how they found colonies, construct and defend their nests, forage and distribute food, struggle among themselves for primacy, and even relocate entire colonies - but a lively account of how research is done, how science establishes facts, and the pleasures and problems of a scientific career. Between chapters detailed enough for experts but readily accessible to any educated reader, 'interludes' provide vivid verbal images of the world of fire ants and the people who study them. Early chapters describe the several failed, and heavily politically influenced, eradication campaigns, and later ones, the remarkable spread of S. invicta's 'polygyne' form, in which nests harbour multiple queens and colonies reproduce by 'budding'. The reader learns much about ants, the practice of science, and humans' role in the fire ant's North American success.