Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organic fruit production in humid climates of Europe: Bottlenecks and new approaches in disease and pest control

The organic market has grown exponentially in Europe during the last ten years. However, the organic fruit industry has shown the lowest growth rates (1-5% market share) compared to other commodities. One major reason is the high production risk due to high disease and pest pressure in humid climates. Key pests and diseases in apple and pear include scab, sooty blotch, and fire blight as well as rosy apple aphid, pear sucker, and codling moth. In cherry, damages due to brown rot (Monilinia) and the cherry fruit fly make organic production almost unfeasible. In an ideal organic system, all possible measures that lead to improved stability of the system must be implemented. In fruit production, such measures include (i) use of resistant varieties (scab), (ii) active promotion of predators (rosy apple aphid), (iii) sanitation (cherry monilinia), (iv) microclimate management (planting density, covering trees), and (v) strengthening the plant self-defence system (e.g. building up of soil fertility, bio-dynamic preparations). At present, most organic orchards have been designed for conventional production and, therefore, lack most stabilising components. In consequence, organic fruit production still depends largely on direct pest and disease control methods. These include traditional pesticides such as copper, sulphur, and lime sulphur, pyrethrin, oil and soap preparations. More recently, new pest control compounds and techniques have been developed including neem products, granulosis virus, and mating disruption. New tools for disease control are less spectacular and focus on the replacement of copper (e.g. with clay powders and resistance inducers). The introduction of new equipment, materials, and Decision Support Systems (DSS) will further improve yield stability. However, other limiting factors such as weed competition, crop load regulation, and conventional market demands need innovative solutions.
POST-PEAK EGG PRODUCTION IN LOCAL AND IMPORTED STRAINS OF JAPANESE QUAILS (COTURNIX COTURNIX JAPONICA) AS INFLUENCED BY CONTINUOUS AND INTERMITTENT LIGHT REGIMENS DURING EARLY GROWING PERIOD

A study was conducted at Avian Research and Training Centre, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore to investigate earlier effect of continuous and intermittent lights in 3 local and one imported close -bred flocks of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on their post-peak egg production. Day-old quails were provided continuous 24 hours light up to first 2 weeks and were maintained under 5 different light treatments, A (16L: 8D), B (8L: 6D: 2L: 8D), C (8L: 7D: 1L: 8D), D (8L :7.5D: 0.5L: 8D) and E (8L: 16D) from 3 rd to 14 th weeks and from 15 th weeks onward provided light 16L: 8D. In this trial, 22 weeks-old 240 quails of the same treatments were kept from 23 to 34 weeks under factorial arrangements (5 lights x 4 close bred flocks x 3 replicates of 1 male: 3 females each in a 5 tier battery ) under same management. The results showed significant effect of light treatments on body weight (p<0.01), feed intake (p<0.01), egg production (p<0.05) feed conversion ratio (feed/dozen egg) and FC R (feed/ egg) (p<0.01). The highest body weight was recorded under treatment B, however, A, C, D and E differed non-significantly. Higher feed intake was observed under treatment A, varying non-significantly with treatment D. The birds in group A produced significantly (p<0.05) more eggs than in other experimental treatments. FCR in group E was significantly (p<0.05) better than in all other light treatments. Light and strain interaction was significant (p<0.01). The quail strains differed in the above parameters.
Salivary antigenic proteins from Ixodidae and Anopheles : a novel tool for vector-borne diseases monitoring

Les MVs sont un probleme majeur de sante publique. L'emergence des MVs necessite de nouveaux outils pour la surveillance de ces maladies. Ce projet s’interesse aux deux familles de vecteurs: Ixodidae (R. sanguineus, D. reticulatus et I. ricinus) et Anopheles (An. gambiae s.l. et An. funestus). Une revue synthetise les donnees actuelles des MTTs et leur vectors, avant de presenter des methodes de surveillance de ces maladies. La partie experimentale s'est concentre sur l'elaboration de methodes pour la selection des utiles proteines salivaires pour l'evaluation du contact hote-vecteur. Pour Ixodidae, la strategie antigenique utilisee a permis d’identifier des proteines salivaires antigeniques communes et specifiques d’espece de ces tiques. Ces proteines pourraient servir pour l’evaluation de l’exposition de l’hote aux Ixodidae. Pour Anopheles, la strategie candidate utilisee a revele une proteine salivaire antigenique d’Anopheles (f-5’nuc) pouvant etre marqueur prometteur distinguant l'exposition aux Anopheles au niveau de l'espece. Pour conforter ces resultats, l’etablissement d’une relation entre la cinetique des reponses d'anticorps de l’hote contre ces candidats salivaires, la faune Culicidienne et la variation de densite des populations de moustiques est en cours. Ce projet a souligne que tous les deux vectors peuvent induire une reponse immunitaire chez leur hote contre des proteines salivaires antigeniques injectees. Il a permis egalement d’identifier des proteines salivaires permettant la discrimination de l'exposition d'hote aux vecteurs au niveau du genre ou de l’espece, offrant de nouvelles strategies pour la surveillance des MVs.
CD44 Attenuates Metastasis During Breast Cancer Progression

Progression to metastatic disease is the leading cause of deaths resulting from breast cancer. Understanding the mechanisms underlying a cell's ability to move away from its site of origin and populate a distant site is important for the future development of therapies. The interactions between a tumor cell and the microenvironment can modulate a cell's ability to invade through tissues and access distant organs. In this study we present evidence indicating the differential modulation of invasive and proliferative phenotypes by hyaluronan present in the cellular microenvironment.We establish the role of CD44, the primary receptor for hyaluronan, in breast cancer progression and metastasis through the use of transgenic mouse models of breast cancer. While no differences were seen in the onset of primary breast tumors, mice expressing CD44 had a reduced rate of pulmonary metastasis compared to mice that lacked CD44. This establishes an anti-invasive role for CD44 in breast tumor progression. We also identify a decreased population of alveolar macrophages in CD44 negative mice that could affect metastatic breast cancer cell colonization of the lungs.We then focused our study in vitro, where we assessed the invasive properties of breast cancer cells as they move through three dimensional (3D) matrices containing or lacking hyaluronan. We show that in 3D type I collagen gels, breast cancer cells invade more readily in the absence of hyaluronan compared to when hyaluronan (HA) is embedded within the gel. HA mediated inhibition of invasion is dependent on CD44 binding as demonstrated through the use of a CD44 functional blocking antibody.We also show that HA promotes differential phenotypes of breast cancer cell. HA promotes filopodia formation and invasion when soluble in the cell microenvironment. Alternatively, matrix-embedded HA inhibits invasion and promotes migration through the formation of lamellipodia. The differential HA invasive and proliferative phenotypes are mediated by differential activation of ERK or I³PAK. Activation of I³PAK is mediated by CD44 while ERK activation by HA occurs by CD44 independent mechanisms.We also demonstrate an inhibition of MMP9 mediated invasion by HA when embedded within a type IV collagen matrix, but not a type I collagen matrix. This differential activity indicates that it is not only the immobilization of HA in a matrix that determines its activity, but also the context in which it is present within the matrix.These data underscore the importance of studying matrix components in an environment that closely resembles in vivo conditions. HA is a prime example as it has the capability of both promoting and inhibiting invasion depending on how it is presented to a cell. Differential HA activity also underlies the importance of understanding extracelluar matrix degradation and the release of matrix components as these can adversely affect disease progression.
Determining the Fate of Hybridized Genomes in the Allopolyploid Brassica napus

Determining the Fate of Hybridized Genomes in the Allopolyploid Brassica napus Polyploidy is widely acknowledged as a widespread mechanism in the evolution and speciation of the majority of flowering plants. Allopolyploid forms through interspecific hybridization and whole genome duplication. While allopolyploids may display increased vigor relative to their progenitors, they can also face challenges to fertility following hybridization. Genetic changes in allopolyploids result from recombination between the hybridized subgenomes, which can influence phenotype and ultimately determine fitness of future generations. To study dynamic changes that follow allopolyploid formation, Brassica napus lineages were derived by hybridizing Brassica oleracea and Brassica rapa. Two lineages of B. napus were analyzed for genetic and phenotypic changes in the S 2 , S 7 , and S 12 generations. Although these lineages were genetically identical at the time of hybridization, divergence was apparent by the S 2 generation. There was a significant increase in sequence loss across generations within both lineages. Four of six generations from both lineages displayed no significant differences to each other in sequence loss relative to the parental generation. In both lineages, there was a bias towards losing sequences from the B. olereacea subgenome. Some individual plants showed novel phenotypes; however, there was no correlation between the examined genetic changes and selected phenotypes.
Influence of thermal stress on estrus behaviour and fertility of native Malpura sheep under semi-arid region of India

Heat stress is a major limitation to reproductive function of sheep because it has deleterious effect on estrus incidences, estrus intensity and embryo production, which finally affects their productivity. Adult Malpura ewes (14) with an average body weight of 30.8 kg were randomly allocated into 2 groups of 7 each. Animals of group 1 were maintained under shed throughout the study while animals of group 2 were exposed to thermal stress (45°C/6 h/d) for 8 weeks in the hot chamber from 10: 00 to 16: 00 h and then taken back to the shed. All the animals were subjected to 15-days of pre-experimental period for getting them acclimatized to feed and micro-environment. The ewes were synchronized for estrus by administering 2 injections of PGF2a (7.5 mg) at 10 days interval at their respective places. The onset of estrus, estrus duration and various sexual behaviours i.e. circling, tail fanning, head turning, standing and approaching to ram were recorded during the experiment. The ewes maintained under shed set in estrus earlier and had longer duration of estrus as compared to ewes exposed to thermal stress. The lambs born from the group 1 ewes had significantly higher birth weight than lambs from group 2 ewes. It is concluded from this study that exposure to heat stress treatment was sufficient to alter the onset of estrus, sexual behaviour, conception and lambing rates of ewes reared in the semi-arid tropical environment.
Post-Traumatic Neuropathic Pain: The Role Of The Skin

textabstractIn the past decades, a body of evidence has shown that the uppermost layer of the skin, the epidermis, not only serves as a protective layer but also plays a pivotal role in the transmission of painful and non-painful stimuli to the central nervous system. The epidermis consists of five layers (Fig. 1): stratum basale, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum, stratum lucidum (only in palmar and plantar skin) and stratum corneum, from the inner-most to the outer-most layer, respectively. The epidermis contains keratinocytes, which undergo gradual differentiation as they progress from the basal layer to the stratum corneum, with a turnover time of about 27 days. Keratinocytes relay sensory information as they are activated by mechanical, thermal and noxious stimuli and they transmit their information indirectly to the spinal cord by activating nearby located peripheral nerve fibers . For example, upon activation, keratinocytes secrete adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which binds to and activates P2X purinoceptor 3 (P2X3), receptors expressed on adjacent epidermal nerve fibers. In addition to keratinocytes, the epidermis contains Merkel cells, melanocytes and Langerhans cells, all of which serve different sensory purposes (Fig. 1). Merkel cells are believed to play a prominent role in the transduction of light touch . Melanocytes are UV sensitive cells that produce melanin, a pigment that has photo protectant properties. Langerhans cells are antigen-presenting cells, but are also sensitive to thermal stimulation, such as the increasing skin temperature occurring during local inflammation.
Photobiology — The science of life and light, 2nd ed.

Photobiology: The Science of Life and Light, Second edition, is fully updated and offers eight new chapters for a comprehensive look at photobiology. The chapters cover all areas of photobiology, photochemistry, and relationship between light and biology, each with up-to- date references.The chapter authors (of which seven are new) have very different backgrounds, and have produced a truly cross-disciplinary treatise. The book starts with the physics and chemistry of light, and how to handle light in the laboratory and measure it in the field, the properties of daylight, and new uses of light in research. It deals with the evolution of photosynthesis and with the mechanisms of its primary steps. Four chapters deal with how organisms use light for their orientation in space and time: The biological clock and its resetting by light, the light-dependent magnetic compass, and photoperiodism in animals and plants. There are also several medically oriented chapters and two chapters specifically aimed at the photobiology educator.
Testing the Runoff Tool in Sicilian vineyards: adopting best management practices to prevent agricultural surface runoff

Over the last decades rainfall has become more intense in Sicily, making large proportions of steeply sloping agricultural land more vulnerable to soil erosion, mainly orchards and vineyards (Diodato and Bellocchi 2010). The prevention of soil degradation is indirectly addressed in the European Union‘s Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and Sustainable Use Directive (2009/128/EC). As a consequence, new EU compliance conditions for food producers requires them to have tools and solutions for on-farm implementation of sustainable practices (Singh et al. 2014). The Agricultural Runoff and Best Management Practice Tool has been developed by Syngenta to help farm advisers and managers diagnose the runoff potential from fields with visible signs of soil erosion. The tool consists of 4 steps including the assessment of three key landscape factors (slope, topsoil permeability and depth to restrictive horizon) and 9 mainly soil and crop management factors influencing the runoff potential. Based on the runoff potential score (ranging from 0 to 10), which is linked to a runoff potential class, the Runoff Tool uses in-field and edge-of-the-field Best Management Practices (BMPs) to mitigate runoff (aligned with advice from ECPA’s TOPPS-prowadis project).
TOWARDS THE ORIGIN OF DARWINIAN NATURAL SELECTION

(Abstract) Unless the stipulation of the detailed balance is forcibly imposed on a theoretical ground of whatever type, chemical reactions proceeding there could already be selective internally. What is in place instead is the detour balance that can allow the participation of intermediary reactions in implementing the overall balancing in the involved chemical reactions. The evolutionary nature of chemical reactions in the absence of the detailed balance rests upon the persistent imbalance, even though the slightest one, between a direct pair of the forward and the backward reactions. Some reaction products being set free from the stipulation of the detailed balance can exhibit the chemical affinities that were not actualized in the initial reactants. The lack of the mutual consistency between the reactants and their chemical affinities makes the reactions internally selective and evolutionary, and could have implemented a selective process even prior to the onset of Darwinian natural selection. One likely candidate for constantly breaking the mutual consistency between the reactants and their chemical affinities on the primitive Earth could have been those chemical reactions riding on hydrothermal circulation of seawater around the hot vents in the ocean.
Tempting Fate: Social Media Posts, Unfollowing, and Long-Term Sales

In this study, we examine how a firm’s decision to post on social media affects the propensity of its followers to: (a) purchase its products and (b) unfollow the firm. Using a unique dataset from a large fashion retailer which frequently sends mass non-customized information-only posts on social media (i.e. non-coupons), findings indicate that such posts increase short-term purchases by 6%. However, these posts also increase followers’ propensity to unfollow the firm by 280%; significantly reducing long-term sales. Strikingly, this punitive effect of social media posting appears to manifest under very specific circumstances. Results indicate that these changes in unfollowing and long-term sales are larger if posts are sent in more crowded cities or during commuting hours (suggesting that the stress formed by personal crowding and the follower’s environment may play a key role in followers’ reaction to social media posting). These results underscore the potential downsides of sending blanket, non-customized, messages to followers, notably during times of intense psychological stress, as well as avenues to avoid such pitfalls.
Effect of Feeding Multiple Probiotics on Performance and Fecal Noxious Gas Emission in Broiler Chicks

A study was conducted to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of multiple probiotics (EM) on growth performance, blood cholesterol, intestinal micro flora, and fecal gas emission in broiler chicks. A total of 450 one day old male broiler chicks (Ross Ross) were divided into six treatments with five replications in each treatment for five weeks. Treatments were factorially designed with two levels of diet containing probiotics (DW; 0, ) and three levels of drinking water containing probiotics (DW; 0, 0.01, ). Basal diets contained CP and 3,100 kcal/kg ME for starting and CP and 3,100 kcal/kg ME for finishing period. Weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversions of birds fed with probiotics were not significantly different between Ds. Total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly lower (P or compared with no probiotics group, but there was no significant difference between D treatments. The number of E. coli, Salmonella and Lactobacillus in the ileum and cecum of the birds fed multiple probiotics were not significantly different from those of no probiotic groups. There were no significant differences in the gas emissions of fecal between birds fed with Ds or among birds fed with DW. However, gas emissions of DW were significantly lower (P. In the results of this study, supplementation of probiotics tended to decrease the serum cholesterol and triglyceride compared to those of control groups and reduction of fecal gas emission.
Biofilm formation in Enterococci and Streptococci

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Investigating the regulation of the Notch pathway ligand Delta-like 1 in the vertebrate segmentation clock

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H-NMR based serum metabolomic signatures imperative in retinalneurodegeneration and development of Diabetic Retinopathy

Aim: To identify serum metabolomic fingerprints using 1 H-NMR in Diabetic Retinopathy (DR). Methods and Materials: 1 H-NMR was performed on 32 subjects [11 type 2 diabetic patients each without DR (group A) and with DR (group B) along with 10 control (group C)]. Results: The study unraveled 1 H-NMR based serum metabolomic fingerprints of diabetic retinopathy showed significant variations in Ribitol, D-glucose, Fructose-6-phosphate, Uridine Diphosphate-N-acetyl glucosamine and Glycerophosphocholine. The study envisaged that abnormal polyol metabolism and accumulation of ribitol contributory to development of diabetic retinopathy. Presence of Uridine Diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine in blood has been also confirmed its probable role in progressive neurodegeneration in diabetic retinopathy. NMR spectra also indicated that downregulation of glycerophosphocholine is directly related to retinol metabolism and subsequent unusual chromophore synthesis facilitating retinal degeneration. Conclusion: Five metabolomic fingerprints have been identified and found to be unique in Diabetic Retinopathy (DR).
Use of tannin containing browse tree/shrubs in the control of intestinal parasites (helminthes) in small ruminants: review

The overall aim of this review was to evaluate the antihelminthics activity of browse forages containing secondary plant factors. Results from literature have shown the benefits of feeding browse foliage in terms of nutrient supply, supplementation supported animal growth and performance. It was found that supplementation with browse leaf meal reduced worm fecundity, also reduces the worm burdens and total fecal egg counts during feeding period. It is concluded that browse foliage can be used to reduce the adverse effects of intestinal parasite infections in ruminant, hence reducing the need for costly antihelminthics drugs and the development of resistance to these drugs. Keywords : Antihelminthics, browse foliage, intestinal parasite, tannins