Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Responses of High Arctic wet sedge tundra to climate warming since 1980

The global climate is changing rapidly and Arctic regions are showing responses to recent warming. Responses of tundra ecosystems to climate change have been examined primarily through short‐term experimental manipulations, with few studies of long‐term ambient change. We investigated changes in above‐ and belowground biomass of wet sedge tundra to the warming climate of the Canadian High Arctic over the past 25 years. Aboveground standing crop was harvested from five sedge meadow sites and belowground biomass was sampled from one of the sites in the early 1980s and in 2005 using the same methods. Aboveground biomass was on average 158% greater in 2005 than in the early 1980s. The belowground biomass was also much greater in 2005: root biomass increased by 67% and rhizome biomass by 139% since the early 1980s. Dominant species from each functional group (graminoids, shrubs and forbs) showed significant increases in aboveground biomass. Responsive species included the dominant sedge species Carex aquatilis stans, C. membranacea, and Eriophorum angustifolium, as well as the dwarf shrub Salix arctica and the forb Polygonum viviparum. However, diversity measures were not different between the sample years. The greater biomass correlated strongly with increased annual and summer temperatures over the same time period, and was significantly greater than the annual variation in biomass measured in 1980–1983. Increased decomposition and mineralization rates, stimulated by warmer soils, were likely a major cause of the elevated productivity, as no differences in the mass of litter were found between sample periods. Our results are corroborated by published short‐term experimental studies, conducted in other wet sedge tundra communities which link warming and fertilization with elevated decomposition, mineralization and tundra productivity. We believe that this is the first study to show responses in High Arctic wet sedge tundra to recent climate change.
Conteúdo de N, P, K+, Ca2+ e Mg2+ no amaranto (Amaranthus spp) sob estresse salino e cobertura morta

The saline stress can affect the absorption of nutrients by plants causing reduction of the production potential. A study was carried out, in greenhouse, in the experimental area of the Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica do Rio Grande do Norte, in Natal-RN, Brazil, from July to November 2006, to evaluate the contents of nutrients in the amaranth tissue. Columns of PVC with 30 kg of a silt loam soil were used. A completely randomized arrangement with eight treatments and four replications was tried to test the use or not of mulch and four levels of salinity (0.15; 1.50; 3.00 e 4.50 dS m -1 , a 25 oC), totalizing 32 plots. The use of the mulch increased the contents of K + and P in the roots, of Cl - in the leaves the same time that reduced N and Na + in the dry biomass of the amaranth stem. The dry biomass production of plants was increased due to use of mulch, when compared to that obtained in the soil without mulch. The increase of the irrigation water salinity caused reduction in the contents of N, K + and Mg 2+ in the roots, also increased Cl - in the stems and Na + in different parts of the plants but didn't affected the others nutrients. The dry biomass production of amaranth was affected by the increase in saline concentration of the irrigation water up to the level of 4.50 dS m -1 (P < 0.05). The average content of protein in the dry biomass of the
Impact of Corbicula fluminea (Asian clam) on seston in an urban stream receiving wastewater effluent

Abstract. We hypothesized that C. fluminea could remove anthropogenic N at a rate sufficient to affect particulate N in the water column of North Buffalo Creek, North Carolina, USA, a 4th-order stream that receives treated urban wastewater. We used stable-isotope analysis to evaluate trophic relationships between seston and C. fluminea and conducted field sampling and laboratory experiments to evaluate the potential qualitative and quantitative effects of C. fluminea on seston. Corbicula fluminea &dgr;15N was 3 to 5‰ enriched compared to seston along a longitudinal transect downstream of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), a result consistent with use of seston N. However, seston &dgr;13C declined and C. fluminea &dgr;13C showed no pattern with distance downstream, a result that was inconsistent with a trophic relationship between seston and C. fluminea. In 2 laboratory experiments designed to measure filter-feeding rate and qualitative effects on seston, seston ash-free dry mass and chlorophyll a data indicated that C. fluminea either was not filtering or was filtering at a rate insufficient to affect seston concentration over the course of the experiments. &dgr;15N data showed that the sediment was an N source for C. fluminea, but &dgr;13C and C∶N data from the same experiments indicated that C. fluminea probably affected seston quality by suspending benthic algae and returning settled algae to the water column. These results illustrate that the food sources for C. fluminea and implications of C. fluminea activity in stream ecosystems should be evaluated more fully.
Revision of the fishes collected by Burger and Von Siebold in Japan

INTRODUCTION The collections made by Burger and Von Siebold during the second quarter of the previous century, in the neighbourhood of Nagasaki, were so extensive that they gave Temminck & Schlegel the opportunity to build the foundation for the knowledge of the Japanese ichthyofauna. In her publication "'s Rijks Museum van Natuurlijke Historie, 1820-1915", Dr. A. Gijzen states: "Burger sent among others fishes"; "25 December 1832 Temminck gives him a list of the desired species of animals. " As she further states, Burger's position in Japan is not quite clear; in a letter from 9 November 1839, Temminck writes to the Minister that he knows Burger as a collector only, but that he knows no further particulars about him. Burger's name has been mentioned in several publications, generally as Burger, but according to an original signature in our archives, this spelling must be regarded as erroneous. Burger not only collected an excellent collection of Japanese fishes, more than 650, generally dry preserved and stuffed, specimens, but he had also a number of beautifully coloured drawings of Japanese fishes made by (a) Japanese artist(s), while he also made a manuscript on this subject containing the descriptions of 200 species. Almost all this material still is in the possession of the Museum of Natural History at Leiden. About Von Siebold we know more particulars : according to Dr. A. Gijzen (l.c.), "Von Siebold has been sent to Japan by Van der Capellen, then Gouverneur-Generaal of the Dutch East-Indies, for explorations. He wanted to give a description of his voyage and invoked Temminck's assistance for
Heat shock-induced thermotolerance inListeria monocytogenes13-249 is dependent on growth phase, pH and lactic acid

The effect of heat shock on the thermotolerance ofListeria monocytogenes13-249 was compared as a function of growth phase (log and late stationary phase), pH (5.4, 5.8, 6.2) and heating medium (broth vs minced beef). Lactic acid was added to tryptic phosphate broth (TPB+) to simulate the level found in beef. Furthermore, the specific effect of lactic acid was investigated, comparing results obtained in broth with and without lactic acid with pH adjusted to 5.4 and 7.0. In late stationary cultures, heat shock produced only marginal differences in thermotolerance in TPB+and beef regardless of pH. For log phase cultures, the increase in heat shock induced thermotolerance (HSIT) depended on pH in both TPB+and beef with gradually larger increases at rising pH. At the highest pH tested (pH 7.050 in TPB+and pH 6.2 in beef) the increase in HSIT was 5.7-fold and 2.4-fold, respectively. These increases were highly significant (P< 0.001). If no lactic acid was present, the HSIT increased at both pH 5.4 for 7.0 for log phase cultures. This indicates that the presence of lactic acid in naturally occurring levels will have a specific effect on the response ofL. monocytogenesto heat shock. The D60-values ofL. monocytogenes13-249 were generally higher (2—6-fold) in minced beef than in TPB+.
ANALISIS FAKTOR YANG BERHUBUNGAN DENGAN KEJADIAN KETUBAN PECAH DINI DI RUMAH SAKIT UMUM DAERAH DR. ADJIDARMO KABUPATEN LEBAK TAHUN 2013

Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kuantitatif dengan pendekatan case control bertujuan untuk memperoleh informasi tentang Factor-Faktor yang Berhubungan Dengan Kejadian Ketuban Pecah Dini di Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Dr. Adjidarmo Kabupaten Lebak tahun 2013. Populasi penelitian ini adalah seluruh ibu bersalin di Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Dr. Adjidarmo Kabupaten Lebak periode Januari sampai dengan Desember 2013 berjumlah 4.328 orang ibu bersalin. Sedangkan yang menjadi sampel penelitian berjumlah 1036 orang ibu bersalin yakni 518 kelompok kasus dan 518 kelompok control; dengan demikian pengambilan sampel ini dengan menggunakan perbandingan 1:1 tidak berpasangan. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara menelaah data skunder pada buku register ibu hamil di ruang bersalin, dengan menggunakan format pengumpulan data yang disesuaikan dengan variabel yang diperlukan. Pengolahan data dilakukan dengan bantuan perangkat komputer. Analisis yang dilakukan adalah analisis univariat dan analisis bivariat dengan menggunakan uji Chi Square Hasil analisis diperoleh bahwa kejadian ketuban pecah dini (KPD) dari seluruh ibu bersalin sebanyak 12,0%. Sebagian besar (55,2%) ibu bersalin berusia 0,05 (p > α). Dari hasil penelitian tersebut diharapkan dapat dijadikan sebagai bahan acuan dalam membuat kebijakan terutama dalam pengelolan persalinan untuk mencegah terjadinya KPD. Disamping itu, perlu pula diamati hubungan trauma dengan kejadian KPD.
Estudio de la descomposición de la hojarasca en un pastizal de Panicum maximum Jacq cv. Likoni

Se realizo un estudio en la Estacion Experimental de Pastos y Forrajes ¨Indio Hatuey¨, Matanzas, con el objetivo de determinar la descomposicion de la hojarasca de Panicum maximum y su relacion con algunos de los factores bioticos y abioticos. La descomposicion de la hojarasca se determino como la perdida de biomasa a traves del tiempo, con relacion al peso inicial. Para el estudio de la dinamica de la descomposicion se utilizo el metodo de bolsas de hojarasca ( litter bags ). Las bolsas median 10 x 10 x 10 cm, con poros de 1 cm de diametro, lo cual permite el acceso al interior de un amplio rango de la biota edafica. Se distribuyeron al azar 40 bolsas que contenian hojarasca de P. maximum . En cada bolsa se colocaron 20 g de hojarasca (base seca) previamente colectada. Los resultados demostraron que el proceso de descomposicion de la hojarasca de P. maximum fue lento, ya que a los 210 dias la hojarasca aun presentaba el 45,3% de su peso inicial, con una mayor tasa de descomposicion en los primeros 30 dias. En el material remanente del proceso de descomposicion de la hojarasca, la concentracion del N-FND se incremento. La composicion taxonomica de la fauna asociada al proceso de descomposicion estuvo constituida por tres phylum , cinco clases, ocho ordenes, siete generos y siete especies determinadas. La presencia de una diversa y estable fauna asociada a las bolsas influyo en el proceso de descomposicion de la hojarasca. Las especies Venezillo sp. , Nagarus sp. y Pycnocelus surinamensis fueron las de mayor presencia durante todo el proceso. El modelo matematico que contempla el efecto de la temperatura, la humedad relativa y la precipitacion, mostro el mejor ajuste en el proceso de descomposicion de la hojarasca en este pastizal.
Modulation of cytokine production and complement activity by biopolymers extracted from medicinal plants

This study evaluates the anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts obtained from the medicinal plants Aster tataricus, Pinellia ternata, Ostericum koreanum, Platicodon grandiflorum, Asarum sieboldii, Tussilage farfara, and Acanthopanax sessiliflorus. These plants are used in Korea to treat inflammatory and respiratory ailments, including asthma. The hot water extract (HWE) of A. sessiliflorus inhibited production of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-5. The HWE of A. tataricus, O. koreanum, P. grandiflorum, A. sieboldii and T. farfara had similar inhibitory effects on IFN-γ and IL-5. The endo-polysaccharide (ENP) screened were less active than the HWE and had varying effects on the production of cytokines. The HWE fractions from all the plants except that from P. grandiflorum had marked anti-complement activity at a concentration of 1000 g/ml. The ENP of A. sieboldii, T. farfara and A. sessiliflorus exhibited significant anti-complement activity compared to the positive control.
Allopatric Speciation and the Fold Catastrophe

Using ideas similar to Simpson's "selection landscape," we set up a model of a population in a homogenous environment which varies gradually with time and location. This model exhibits allopatric speciation at the periphery of its range and reinvasion by the descendant species, without postulating the appearance and disappearance of geographic barriers. Thom's celebrated theory of catastrophes implies that it can be safely assumed in this model that any allopatric speciation must arise from the fold catastrophe. The theory also predicts that the morphological variation in the vicinity of the speciation obeys a "square root" law, which in principle can be tested.
Compartimentalisation cellulaire viro-induite : agrésomes, inclusions virales et usines virales

Certains virus sont capables de former dans les cellules infectees des corps d’inclusion essentiellement composes de proteines virales. Ces inclusions virales qui semblent partager un certain nombre de points communs avec les agresomes cellulaires ont ete initialement considerees comme des structures non fonctionnelles dues a l’accumulation et l’agregation d’une grande quantite de proteines mal repliees produites au cours de l’infection virale. Neanmoins, des resultats recents obtenus sur certaines familles virales suggerent que ces structures ont, selon les virus, des fonctions differentes allant de la degradation specifique de certaines proteines cellulaires antivirales au role d’usine virale hebergeant une ou plusieurs etapes essentielles du cycle infectieux (transcription/replication, traduction des proteines virales, assemblage des virions neo-synthetises). Il est propose que cette compartimentalisation cellulaire induite par les virus soit le resultat d’un mecanisme de defense cellulaire detourne par les virus a leur profit.
Species diversity of genus Riccia (Mich.) L. in Satara district (Maharashtra) India

Satara district (Maharastra), part of central Western Ghats exhibits unique topographical and climatic conditions that support rich bryoflora. This paper describes species diversity of genus Riccia (Mich.) L. along with the distributional pattern in the studied area. Key to the existing species and description with field photographs are also provided.
Replacement of canola meal for soybean meal in female broiler diets with and without enzyme supplementation.

Three hundred and sixty female broiler chicks (Ross 308) were used in an experiment starting from 6 days of age and ending at 49 days of age. Experimental treatments were 5 substitution levels of canola meal (CM) for soybean meal (SBM) (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) with or without enzyme supplementation. Enzyme mixture (Endofeed®) contained ßglucanase and xylanase activities and was added at 400g per ton of diet. Data were analyzed in a completely randomized design in a 2*5 factorial arrangement. The results showed that body weight gain and feed intake were significantly (P<0.05) affected by substitution level during the starting period but not during the growing and whole periods. The effect of enzyme and interaction of substitution level and enzyme supplementation were not significant during the entire experiment. The complete (100%) replacement of CM for SBM resulted in the best feed conversion ratio (FCR). Carcass yield and percentages of breast and liver were not significantly affected by main effects and their interaction. However, abdominal fat deposition was reduced by inclusion of CM instead of SBM (P<0.05). Plasma alkaline phosphatase activity and T3 and T4 hormone concentrations were not affected by main effects and their interaction.
A population dynamics perspective on effect of irrigation regimes and plant densities on greenbug abundance in grain sorghum using regression

1 A dataset generated from previous experiments on greenbug Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) response to irrigation and plant density in grain sorghum was reanalyzed using a recently‐developed mechanistic ecological model for describing aphid population density curves. The model was used to estimate seven response variables: observed peak aphid abundance, predicted peak aphid abundance, time of peak abundance, per capita birthrate, death rate coefficient, final cumulative density and duration of substantial aphid infestation across three irrigation regimes and five plant densities. 2 Using regression, the observed peak aphid abundance, predicted peak aphid abundance, per capita birthrate and final cumulative abundance were shown to decrease significantly, whereas the death rate coefficient and duration of the infestation were shown to increase significantly for each 100 000 plant/ha increase. 3 Although significant results were found for a number of variables generated from the specific data set used in the analyses, of perhaps greater importance is the potential use of these equations in future predictions of aphid population dynamics. An example of projecting population curves based on estimated peak and cumulative counts and an example of projecting population curves based on estimated birth and death rate coefficients are provided.
High-Throughput Computational Approaches to Analyzing Histone Modification Next-Generation Sequencing Data

Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP–seq) facilitates systematic analysis of chemical modifications of histone tails. As the cost of next-generation sequencing continues to drop, genome-wide histone modification sequencing becomes a common approach in a variety of researches in the epigenetic area. However, challenges of efficient ChIP–seq data analysis are now the main hurdle to interpret the histone modification ChIP-seq data, calling for continued enhancements of computational approaches. Here we provide a pragmatic overview of available computational approaches for the study of histone modification ChIP-seq data. We present the latest advances of computational methods for systematically detecting and functionally characterizing various types of histone modification ChIP-seq data, discuss the software packages currently available for performing tasks from short read mapping, peak calling to downstream genomic characterization and genome-wide visualization. We also present that the regulatory roles of histone modifications upon gene expression can be inferred by developing algorithms and methods specifically for histone modification ChIP-seq data. Such approaches will facilitate the epigenetic regulatory network construction and provide explicit biological hypothesis for further experiment testing. We also describe some challenges and important directions for histone modification analysis based on ChIP-seq data in future. We envision that the advances of computational approaches will bring more about a bright future for large-scale histone modification studies.
Salmonella virulence factors and their role in intracellular parasitism

Salmonella is an intracellular pathogen, whose virulence relies on the function of two type three secretion systems (T3SSs). The T3SSs are responsible for the delivery of effector proteins into the host cell cytoplasm in order to mediate invasion of the cell and to shape Salmonella's intracellular life.Salmonella's intracellular survival and replication depends on its niche, the Salmonella containing vacuole (SCV), a compartment that is derived from host plasma membrane. Several effectors shape the SCV and give rise to a tubular network, which is implicated in the SCV's stabilization and consists of three different kinds of tubules. We were able to show that the effector proteins SseF and SseG play in concert to form one kind of tubules, the recently discovered LAMP-1-negative tubules (LNTs). Their function is important to Salmonella, as strains having only LNTs but none of the other tubules are able to create a stable SCV, which leads to better replication and virulence in vivo compared to a strain that lacks in tubule formation. Starting from these LNTs as working model, we tried to understand the contribution of tubules to the formation of the SCV and their interactions with the late endosomal / lysosomal compartment (LE/lys). We deciphered the small GTPase Arl8B to play an essential role in the fusion of tubules with LE/lys. Thereby, the knockdown of Arl8B reduced Salmonella's capability to replicate within host cells. We were able to show that an interaction between the effector SifA and Arl8B was responsible for our observations.
Exceptional seed longevity and robust growth: ancient Sacred Lotus from China

A 1,288 + 271-yr-old (1,350 ? 220 yr BP, radiocarbon age) seed of Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) from an ancient lake bed at Pulantien, Liaoning Province, China, has been germinated and subsequently radiocarbon dated. This is the oldest demonstrably viable and directly dated seed ever reported, the preserved relict of one of the early crops of lotus cultivated by Buddhists at Pulantien after introduction of the religion into the region prior to 372 A.D. A small portion of the dry pericarp of a second lotus fruit from the same locale has been dated as being 332 + 135-yr-old (270 ? 60 yr BP, radiocarbon age) by accelerator mass spectroscopy at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This polycentenarian seed not only germinated but is still growing (since March, 1994). Of six old lotus fruits tested, two-thirds germinated, almost all in fewer than 4 d, as rapidly as fruits harvested from the progeny of Pulantien Sacred Lotus plants (under cultivation by the National Park Service in Washington, DC), and more rapidly than fresh fruits of Yellow Lotus [N. lutea (Willd.) Pers. ]. Growth of the old lotus is robust: rhizome formation and leaf emergence at rhizome nodes are more rapid than those of the Pulantien progeny, although the leaf width is smaller. Activity of the protein-repair enzyme L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase in the old lotus seed is persistent during germination and is as robust as that in the progeny, and the degree of aspartyl racemization in proteins of the two groups of plants is minimal and essentially identical. The six dated ancient Sacred Lotus fruits range in age from 95 to 1,288 yr (with a mean age of 595 ? 380 yr), evidently reflecting their production, deposition, and preservation at varying times during the intervening millennium.
ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES OF ORIGANUM VULGARE SUBSP. HIRTUM, MENTHA SPICATA, LAVANDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA AND SALVIA FRUTICOSA ESSENTIAL OILS AGAINST HUMAN PATHOGENIC FUNGI

The essential oils of Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum, Mentha spicata, Lavandula angustifolia, and Salvia fruticosa exhibited antifungal properties against the human pathogens Malassezia furfur, Trichophyton rubrum, and Trichosporon beigelii. Of the four oils, O. vulgare subsp. hirtum oil showed the highest fungicidal activity and at a dilution of 1/50000 caused a 95% reduction in the number of metabolically active cells within 6 h of exposure. Among the main components of the four oils, carvacrol and thymol exhibited the highest levels of antifungal activity. The therapeutic efficacy of the O. vulgare subsp. hirtum essential oil was tested in rats experimentally infected with T. rubrum and yielded promising results. Furthermore, the above essential oils were tested with the Ames test and did not exhibit any mutagenic activity.