Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDY ON CHICKENS VACCINATED WITH A COMBINED INACTIVATED SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS AND NEWCASTLE DISEASE VIRUS (ND) VACCINE

Immunogenicity of a locally prepared combined inactivated oil emulsified Salmonella enteritidis and Newcastle disease virus(SE-ND) vaccine was evaluated in 3-weeks old chickens. The immune response against single Salmonella enteritidis, Newcastle disease and combined (SE-ND) vaccines as measured by ELISA and heamagglutination inhibition (HI) test revealed no substantial differences with respect to the protective values between single and combined vaccine.The results of challenge test showed that vaccinated chickens were effectively protected against virulent strains of Salmonella enteritidis and Newcastle disease virus. The obtained results confirmed that the locally prepared combined inactivated Salmonella enteritidis and Newcastle disease virus was safe, potent and can effectively protect chickens against Salmonella enteritidis and Newcastle disease virus infection.
Original articles-June 2020

Introduction: Chronic lymphoedema (CL) of lymphatic filariasis causes severe psychosocial burdens (PSB) to its victims. Currently-established scales to measure PSB of CL are not culturally adaptable to Sri Lankan patients. In this study, we developed and assessed the psychometric properties of a disease-specific questionnaire (15 item PSB-CL). Methods and Results: A detailed literature search was done to identify scales related to PSB of CL patients. Questions were developed through collected expressions from semi-structured interviews with 46 CL patients. A response scale was developed from the collected pool of possible responses, and they were scored using a visual analogue scale. Face and content validity were carried out using an initial questionnaire (31 questions). They were reduced to 27 by removing unclear, ambiguous, double-stranded ones and those with value-laden words. This new questionnaire was administrated on 92 patients by a group of doctors for item reduction by the analysis of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.7) and factor analysis (Principal Component Analysis; Eigenvalues > 1). After the patient survey and factor analysis, the final questionnaire PSB-CL was formed with 15 questions that had four subscales (factors), physical, social, fear and humiliation. Patients (n=92) reported quite a large percentage (42% 69%) of problems under each dimension. Conclusion: The scale to measure the psychosocial burden of chronic lymphoedema in lymphatic filariasis patients in Sri Lanka. Further validation of the tool is needed.
Comorbid Diseases Is a Predictor Length of Stay in Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries. Patient with SAM mostly hospitalized with comorbidity that reduce the time of recovery and longer the length of stay (LOS). The aim of this study is to determine the association between comorbid with longer LOS among children with SAM. This was a retrospective cohort study from 2017-2018 on children with SAM conducted in the pediatric care ward of Sanglah Denpasar General Hospital. Inclusion criteria was children aged 1 months to 18 years diagnosed with SAM and had complete data at the start of admission. Exclusion criteria was patient discharged against medical advice. 134 children with SAM were included and analyzed with appropriate statistical analysis. The median of LOS was 18 days, comorbid at admission found were infection (31.3%), non-infection (56.0%), both infection and non-infection (12.7%). HIV found as the most comorbid in SAM patient (21.3%) followed by malignancy (17.3%), congenital heart disease (14%), and pneumonia (12.7%). Multivariate analysis found that comorbid was a risk factor for longer LOS in hospitalized SAM patients. Comorbid increases the LOS by 3.23 times (95% CI 1.563-6.709) p value 0.002. Bivariate analysis found that infection as comorbid increase the LOS by 1.72 times (95% CI 1.171-2.524) p value 0.011. Conclusion that comorbid at admission was associated with longer LOS in hospitalized patient with SAM.
The value of boundary spanners for (inter-)organizational performance: a systematic review on activities, antecedents and outcomes

Boundary spanning is considered to be a core activity of today’s public management. According to the literature, boundary spanners are of vital importance for enhancing (inter-)organizational performance and innovation, for establishing inter-organizational collaboration and for dealing with complex cross-boundary issues. The concept of boundary spanning has its roots in organizational literature and is increasingly used in public administration. However, we lack a comprehensive overview, interdisciplinary assessment, and conceptualisation of boundary spanning activities (BSA), their antecedents and impact. We therefore conducted a systematic literature review based on the PRISMA approach (Moher et al., 2009), using the search terms ‘boundary spanning’ and ‘boundary spanners’ in study title and/or abstract. This resulted in an analysis of 249 empirical articles reporting on boundary spanners, their activities, antecedents and/or outcomes. Literature in various fields are included in this analysis. In this way the public administration literature on boundary spanning is enhanced by a.o. incorporating the insights from business administration, marketing and organizational psychology on boundary spanning. The first contribution of this paper is theoretical: conceptualizing different BSA and providing a comprehensive definition. Furthermore, given the fragmented field on antecedents and outcomes of BSA, our second contribution is to provide an overview of different types of antecedents reported in the literature as well as various outcomes of BSA. We conclude our paper with a theoretical framework and research agenda for next steps in investigating which antecedents are impacting on BSA and in turn influence (inter-)organizational outcomes.
Relaxation Oscillations and Dynamical Properties in Two Time-Delay Slow-Fast Modified Leslie-Gower Models

In this paper, we consider two kinds of time-delay slow-fast modified Leslie-Gower models. For the first system, we prove the existence and uniqueness of relaxation oscillation cycle through the geometric singular perturbation theory and entry-exit function. For the second system, we put forward a conjecture that the relaxation oscillation of the system is unique. Numerical simulation also verifies our results for the systems.
INVESTIGATION AND COMPARISON OF ROUTE CHOICE MODELS

In this study, MNL and C-logit are investigated as GEV type model, and MNP as non-GEV type model. Three models are tested in a very simple network to compare their performance and usefulness in practice. The layout of the paper is as follows. Section 2 provides a theoretical aspect of MNL, C-logit and MNP. Section 3 shows implementation of the models in a simple network and comparison of the results. Section 4 provides conclusion.
Phenological description of natural vegetation in southern Africa using remotely-sensed vegetation data

Abstract Various attempts have been made to describe and map the vegetation of southern Africa with recent efforts having an increasingly ecologi cal context. Vegetation classification is usually based on vegetation physiognomy and floristic composition, but phenology is useful source of information which is rarely used, although it can contribute functional information on ecosystems. The objectives of this study were to identify a suite of variables derived from time-series NDVI data that best describe the phenological phenomena of vegetation in southern Africa and, secondly, to assess a classification of pixels of the study area based on NDVI variables using a pre-existing map of the biomes that was delimited on the basis of life forms and climate. A number of variables were derived from the satellite data for describing phenological phenomena, which were analysed by multivariate techniques to determine which variables best explained the variation in the satellite data. This set of variables was used to produce a phenological classification of the vegetation of southern Africa, the results of which are discussed in relation to their concordance with the existing biome boundaries. Abbreviations: AVHRR = Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer; NDVI = Normalized Difference Vegetation Index; NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Molecular characterization and expression patterns of PsSVP genes reveal distinct roles in flower bud abortion and flowering in tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa)

Wang, S. , Xue, J., Ahmadi, N. , Holloway, P., Zhu, F. , Ren, X. and Zhang, X. 2014. Molecular characterization and expression patterns of PsSVP genes reveal distinct roles in flower bud abortion and flowering in tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa). Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 1181-1193. Container culture and flower forcing are used for off-season production of tree peony for the Chinese Spring Festival. Storage of potted tree peony for 10 d at 12°C in a refrigerator before 4°C chilling treatment can help new root growth and promote leaf development. Development from bud swelling to anthesis was divided into nine stages. Some aborted flower buds usually emerge in Stage III. Removal of two to four leaflets in an alternating pattern and applying gibberellic acid 3 (GA3) around the flower bud at Stage III can decrease the flower bud abortion rate and promote flower formation rate. Two MADS-box genes with homology to Arabidopsis SVP, designated PsSVP1 and PsSVP2, which probably caused flower-bud abortion, were isolated by reverse transcription-PCR. Sequence comparison analysis showed that PsSVP was most similar to SVP-like gene in apple. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that PsSVP was evolutionarily close to SVP-like genes from Malus domestica, SVP genes from Cruciferae and SVP-like genes from Vitis vinifera. The qRT-PCR results suggested that expression of PsSVP was high in vegetative growth phase, especially in the leaves of tree peony, and its expression was regulated by GA3. Further analysis showed that more PsSVP transcripted in the aborted flower bud, especially in the buds where leaflets grew well. It was deduced that PsSVP can promote vegetative growth and suppress flowering in tree peony. Thus, it is very important to further investigate PsSVP and decipher the mechanisms of flower-bud abortion to improve forcing culture of tree peony.
Cloning and Expression Analysis of APETALA2 Homologous Genes in Strawberry

SAP2,an APETALA2 homologous gene,was first isolated from the flower buds of strawberry by homologous cloning.Its full length was 1 820 bp and encoded 435 amino acids.Its sequencing indicated that it had the typical domains of AP2 family.The RT-PCR analysis of its expression in different tissues revealed that it expressed itself in the vegetative tissues,flower buds and other different organs and its expression model was consistent with the AP2 expression model of Arabidopsis and the PhAP2A expression models of Petunia.These showed that it is the homologous gene of SAP2 in strawberry.
MEASURING THE IMPACT OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ARE PROJECTS ALWAYS GOOD?

The aim of this paper is to conceptualise an approach to analysing and valuating complex project effects through defining the project area and the stakeholder groups both within and outside the area and organising and mapping every effect of the project. Analysing ten investment projects revealed patterns in types, location, behaviour, interrelations of stakeholder groups and various effects caused by the project, which can be used to develop a versatile methodology. The methodology allows us to calculate the impact of a project on various ranges and sections of its stakeholders and environment. We distinguished not only the most commonly analysed effects associated with the project objectives but also displacement effects, which relate to the movement of the stakeholders in and out of the project area. We also took into account the substitution effect, in which one group of stakeholders replaces another, and multiplier effects, which involve changes in income, supply volume, land value and synergy. Notably, some effects, like pull or leakage, are detrimental to the stakeholders, but the impact depends on the study's area and scope.
NOCTURNAL BEHAVIOR OF SAND-EELS, AMMODYTES PERSONATUS GIRARD

Though many works have been made on the habit of sand-eels, there are few studies on the nocturnal behavior of the fish. The present author found following facts in regard to the subject through the survey with the fish larval net (71.5cm. in diameter) in the Seto Inland Sea. During the period from January to May, sand-eels rise to the sea surface by night, and especially abundantly in January and February (Table 1). Those fishes caught in the period up to early in April were all 1-age fish, and those caught thereafter were all 0-age fish (Fig. 2). These fishes, especially in January, were thin after spawning, and the indicator of body length-body weight relation continued to increase in its value during the period (Table 2). From the stomach condition, it was affirmed that they keep on feeding even by night. Adult sand-eels seemed to feed seldom on larvae of the same family, at least by night, on account of the fact that they are swimming in the separate layers of the sea (Table 3).
Immunogold labeling electron microscopy showing vimentin filament anchored on nuclear pore complex

The relationship between intermidia-te filament and nucleus is an important question to be solved. By combining sequential cell fractionation with immuno-blotting, we showed that the intermediate filament protein in turkey erythrocyte is vimentin. Using pre-embedment immuno-gold labeling techniques together with sequential cell fractionation, we showed that cytoplasmic intermediate filaments in turkey erythrocyte are labeled specifically by rabbit anti-vimentin antibody- protein A-gold. Moreover, we showed that the cytoplasmic filaments anchored on nuclear pore complex were also labeled by rabbit anti-vimentin antibody-protein A-gold specifically. Our results demonstrated that cytoplasmic filaments anchored on nuclear pore complex was vimentin filament. The experiments indicated that vimentin filament may be anchored on nuclear pore complex by binding with Nup 180 and intermediate filament may be involved in nuclear transportation.
Comparative demography of Littorina rudis, L. nigrolineata and L. neritoides on three contrasted shores in North Wales

(1) A possible relationship between reproductive mode and demography was sought between species of Littorina that brood young, lay benthic egg masses and broadcast planktonic larvae. Population size-frequency and density and cohort survivorship were monitored for Littorina rudis on a sheltered saltmarsh, L. rudis and L. nigrolineata on a boulder shore and for L. rudis and L. neritoides on an exposed cliff face. (2) Adult size classes formed a single broad peak and, except in L. neritoides, young recruits formed a second peak each summer. (3) In the saltmarsh, L. rudis population density fell from a maximum after summer recruitment to a minimum in spring; this was less evident in L. rudis and L. nigrolineata on the boulder shore and undetectable in the cliff populations of L. rudis and L. neritoides. (4) Spring densities fluctuated between years by maximum factors of 7, 6, 9, 9 and 2 in saltmarsh L. rudis, boulder shore L. rudis, cliff L. rudis, L. neritoides and L. nigrolineata respectively. (5) There was no evidence of density dependence in any of the population trajectories. (6) Artificial crevices increased the local density of L. rudis and L. neritoides on the cliff by attracting snails seeking shelter, but did not affect the total population size. (7) Mortality rate diminished progressively through the juvenile phase to a constant rate in adults. (8) Generation times were 24, 18, 18, 25 and 41 months for the saltmarsh L. rudis, boulder shore L. rudis, L. nigrolineata, cliff L. rudis and L. neritoides respectively. (9) Age-specific reproductive value increased beyond the age of first sexual maturity and declined only when growth had almost ceased. (10) All populations except that of L. nigrolineata had values of R0 < 1. Isoclines of juvenile versus adult survivorship for R0 = 1 were used to assess the reliability of the observed survivorship values. (11) Apart from a possible advantage of oviparity versus ovoviviparity during phases of population expansion, no relationship between demography and reproductive method could be found. Oviparity may be advantageous where egg survivorship is high and ovoviviparity in the converse situation. Broadcasting of planktonic larvae by L. neritoides may be correlated with the temporal and spatial unpredictability of microhabitat quality between shores.
Effect of Azadirachta Indica in Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

Nanotechnology has come to mean a range of highly promising disciplines in science and technology. Metal oxide Nanoparticles had been used in recent studies due to its large bandwidth and high binding energy and it has potential applications like antibacterial, antifungal, anti-diabetic, antiinflammatory, wound healing, anti-oxidant and optic properties. The usages of nanomaterials are enormous as energy storage devices such as fuel cells, detection of threads in defence, navy, drug delivery and water purification. Green synthesis of Nanoparticles has received a lot of attention and close scrutiny of scientists and researchers. Leaf extract of Azadirachta Indica contains phytochemicals and enzymes which take part in the conversion of metal compounds into Nanoparticles. Pure zinc oxide and Manganese oxide is prepared and doped with Azadirachta Indica to analyse its general and optical properties. We have attempted to prepare pure ZnO and MnO Nanoparticles also both were doped with neem at 5:1 ratio by using solvothermal method.
THE PLANT COMMUNITY AS A NICHE BIOASSAY: ENVIRONMENTAL CORRELATES OF LOCAL VARIATION IN GYPSOPHILA FASTIGIATA

SUMMARY composition. (4) The bioassay approach to niche description integrates the interacting abiotic and biotic components of niche and provides a practical means of quantifying the realized niche of individuals in natural plant populations. This approach to niche description should have wide potential applications in studies which attempt to explain the extent to which genetic variation in natural populations can be related to niche variation.
Expression and distribution of zona pellucida proteins 3 and 4 in morphologically abnormal canine oocytes: a confocal microscopic observation-based study1)

Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 52 Wojska Polskiego St., 60-628 Poznań, Poland *Department of Histology and Embryology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 6 Święcickiego St., 60-781 Poznań, Poland **Department of Anatomy, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 6 Święcickiego St., 60-781 Poznań, Poland ***Department of Toxicology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 30 Dojazd St., 60-631 Poznań, Poland ****Institute of Zoology, Department of Animal Anatomy, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 71C Wojska Polskiego St., 60-625 Poznań, Poland *****Department of Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany ******Department of Histology and Embryology, Wroclaw Medical University, 6a Chałubińskiego St., 50-368 Wrocław, Poland
Exploiting Illumina sequencing for the development of InDel markers in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

ABSTRACT Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. lanatus] is a cross-pollinating diploid species and is one of the most important dicotyledonous plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae due to its high nutritional value, rapid growth, sweet and juicy taste, and refreshing nature as a summer fruit. However, the insertion–deletion (InDel) markers available for watermelon cannot satisfy the demand to identify and map resistance genes in this major crop. In this study, we have characterised and developed numerous polymorphic InDel markers using Illumina re-sequencing of a male parental line that is resistant to Fusarium wilt. In total, 25,701 potential InDel markers were identified, with a mean size of 18 bp. From these, 7,387 potential InDel markers > 10 bp were selected and tested as candidate InDel markers to locate resistance genes for map-based cloning and polymorphism analysis. We designed and synthesised 69 primer pairs using Primer 3 software. Overall, 54 primer pairs detected polymorphism between the Fusarium-susceptible female parent ‘JSw01-1’ and the Fusarium-resistant male parent ‘JRw08-3’. Among the 69 InDel markers, 54 (78.3%) exhibited polymorphism at 179 PCR loci. Polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.04 to 0.91, and the number of alleles per primer ranged from 1 to 11. The 54 InDel markers that were mined and exploited via Illumina re-sequencing of watermelon could accelerate the development of marker-assisted breeding and the progression of genetic research to understand resistance to Fusarium wilt in watermelon.
Synergistic effects of grassland plant species on soil microbial biomass and activity : implications for ecosystem-level effects of enriched plant diversity

1. The effects of the grass species Lolium perenne L. and nine dicotyledonous grassland species, grown in monocultures and two-species mixtures, on (i) the soil microbial biomass, (ii) the respiration: biomass ratio and (iii) plant litter decomposition was investigated in a glasshouse experiment. 2. Microbial biomass was sometimes greater and sometimes less in the two-species mixtures than could be explained in terms of the additive effects of the two component species grown singly; this variation was independent of differences in below-ground plant productivity between monoculture and mixture treatments. 3. The microbial respiration: biomass ratios and plant litter decomposition rates in the two-species mixture treatments were either greater or less than expected based on the monoculture treatments; these differences were dependent on the combinations of species present. Because the respiration: biomass ratio is a measure of ecosystem stability, it is here proposed that stability does not respond predictably to shifts in species diversity. 4. These results provide evidence that increasing plant species richness (from one to two species) has the potential to influence soil processes positively or negatively in a non-additive way. The possible ecological implications of this are discussed.