Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variation in reproductive characteristics of Eupatorium adenophorum populations in different habitats

Summary The invasive plant, Eupatorium adenophorum, produces large numbers of small seeds with a high germination rate. However, this investigation showed that E. adenophorum populations in an evergreen broad-leaved forest had a high proportion of seedlings when compared with clonal plants. Whereas an opposite pattern was found in a deciduous broad-leaved forest and in a roadside site. A seed addition experiment where E. adenophorum seeds were added to each of the three habitats did not increase the number of E. adenophorum seedlings at any of the three field sites. Field and greenhouse experiments demonstrated that a soil litter layer significantly reduced the number of E. adenophorum seedlings during the early seedling emergence period. However, at later periods, the litter cover did not affect survival and growth of individuals. The emergence of E. adenophorum seedlings was significantly increased in field experiments when there was no litter, and parental plants were removed. Finally, the growth of seedlings was significantly reduced when planted with their parental plants in a root box experiment. In the low-resource environment of the evergreen broad-leaved forest, E. adenophorum reproduced primarily by its abundant seed production. In the more open deciduous broad-leaved forest and roadside site, the populations reproduce primarily by vegetative clones that can grow quickly, are better competitors and could take advantage of the high-resource environment.
DOMOIC ACID PRODUCTION IN NITZSCHIA SP. (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) ISOLATED FROM A SHRIMP‐CULTURE POND IN DO SON, VIETNAM

Domoic acid (DA), a neuroexcitatory amino acid, was detected in batch culture of the newly recognized species Nitzschia navis‐varingica Lundholm et Moestrup. The production of DA by this diatom was confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The diatom was collected from a shrimp‐culture pond in Do Son, Vietnam. The production of DA (1.7 pg·cell−1) is within the levels reported for Pseudo‐nitzschia multiseries (Hasle) Hasle. The DA production started during the late exponential growth phase and reached a maximum during the early stationary growth phase. Maximum DA levels in the axenic culture decreased to about half that of the nonaxenic culture (0.9 pg·cell−1 vs. 1.7 pg·cell−1), suggesting that DA production by the new species is influenced by bacteria.
ROLE OF EXTRACELLULAR ACETATE IN THE FERMENTATION OF GLUCOSE BY A RUMINAL BACTERIUM, MEGASPHAERA ELSDENII

In batch culture, addition of acetate stimulated the initial growth of Megasphaera elsdenii in medium containing glucose and Trypticase. As the initial concentration of acetate was increased, butyrate production increased. When acetate was used, the rate of butyrate production increased. Hydrogen production was decreased by adding acetate. Inhibition of hydrogen production by the hydrogenase inhibitor carbon monoxide inhibited the growth of M. elsdenii, but this inhibition was cancelled by adding acetate. In continuous culture, where the growth rate was kept relatively low by limiting the glucose supply, adding acetate similarly increased butyrate production. These results suggest that acetate serves as an electron sink in M. elsdenii.
Analysis Models Of The Life Quality Standard In Romania

The indicator that best expresses the quality of life (welfare) is gross domestic product per capita. The two factors that account for economic growth (number of employees and labor productivity) are taken into account, but the macroeconomic outcome must provide an average living standard for the entire population. The system of national accounts used by the Member States of the European Union as well as by other states as a form of evidence and macroeconomic analysis contains all the elements needed for such a study. In the period under consideration, regardless of the method of calculating GDP, we obtain a precise quantitative amount that, compared to previous developments, suggests how the quality of life of the population has evolved. In analyzing the quality of life, we have to go from the structure of the population, number of employees, other categories, expressed by statistical indicators.
Broadband infrared absorption enhancement by electroless-deposited silver nanoparticles

Abstract Decorating semiconductor surfaces with plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) is considered a viable solution for enhancing the absorptive properties of photovoltaic and photodetecting devices. We propose to deposit silver NPs on top of a semiconductor wafer by a cheap and fast electroless plating technique. Optical characterization confirms that the random array of electroless-deposited NPs improves absorption by up to 20% in a broadband of near-infrared frequencies from the bandgap edge to 2000 nm. Due to the small filling fraction of particles, the reflection in the visible range is practically unchanged, which points to the possible applications of such deposition method for harvesting photons in nanophotonics and photovoltaics. The broadband absorption is a consequence of the resonant behavior of particles with different shapes and sizes, which strongly localize the incident light at the interface of a high-index semiconductor substrate. Our hypothesis is substantiated by examining the plasmonic response of the electroless-deposited NPs using both electron energy loss spectroscopy and numerical calculations.
Effect of prostaglandins E1, E2, and F2α on osteoclast formation in mouse bone marrow cultures

Prostaglandins (PG) act as direct inhibitors of mature osteoclasts, but although resorption‐inhibition is also observed initially PG increase bone resorption in organ culture. This suggests that PG influence bone resorption in organ culture through actions on cell types other than mature osteoclasts. We have therefore tested the effects of PG E1, E2, and F2α on the differentiation of osteoclastic phenotype in mouse bone marrow cultures using bone resorption and calcitonin receptors (CTR) as markers of osteoclastic differentiation. We found that PGE2 (10−6–10−9 M) and PGE1 (10−6–10−7 M) induced a significant increase in CTR‐positive cell numbers, to levels five to eight times those seen in controls and similar to the number induced by 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25‐(OH)2D3]. Bone resorption was increased (10−7 M PGE2 and 10−6 M PGE1) in association with the increased CTR‐positive cell numbers, suggesting that the PG also induced resorptive function. 1,25‐(OH)2D3 increased both the number of CTR‐positive cells and the extent of resorption per cell; the additional presence of PG did not affect the number of CTR‐positive cells but did reduce bone resorption compared with 1,25‐(OH)2D3 alone. PGF2α had no significant effect on CTR‐positive cell induction or bone resorption. The results suggest that PGE1 and E2 induce osteoclastic differentiation in mouse bone marrow cultures and inhibit the function of the osteoclasts thus formed. The explanation for this apparently paradoxical behavior may be that osteoclast generation occurs in a different microenvironment from that in which osteoclast function is regulated and that PG production may be inversely modulated at the two sites, in response to a given stimulus, to effect a change in bone resorption.
The fine structure of Synura sphagnicola (Korsh.) Korsh. (Chrysophyceae)

S. sphagnicola resembles other species of Synura previously described by electron microscopy in most features of structure but differs in possessing pyrenoids and up to five cylindrical stacks of smooth cisternae which occur between the pyrenoids and leucosin vesicles. Each stack is surrounded by a tubular cisterna which bears ribosomes on its distal face but there are no clear permanent connections between this and the chloroplast ER. Other features apparently unique to this species previously known from light microscopy are described. These include the axial position of the chloroplasts; the peripheral position of the leucosin vesicles; and the loose attachment of the scales. The structure of the body scales is described for the first time from sections. The flagellar scales are formed in the swollen edges of the Golgi cisternae and appear to pass to the cell surface in large vesicles.
Transcriptional regulation of plant inducible defenses against herbivores: a mini-review

Abstract Inducible plant defenses against herbivores are controlled by a transient burst of jasmonic acid (JA) and its conversion to the active hormone (3R,7S)-jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine (JA-Ile). JA-Ile shows high affinity for binding to the COI1 protein complex with JAZ repressor protein(s), a multi component JA-Ile receptor, promoting hormone-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of JAZ transcriptional repressors. Degradation of JAZ proteins in Arabidopsis leads to the release of a bHLH transcription factor, MYC2, which functions as a master regulator of JA-dependent defense responses. Because the activity of the MYC2 coincides with the presence of active jasmonate in cells, it is unlikely that MYC2, alone, regulates prolonged transcriptional responses of genes encoding enzymes required for the accumulation of defense metabolites. In this review, we focus on MYC2 and a specific group of MYC2-regulated ‘secondary’ transcription factors as critical components of the JA signal transduction pathway that controls inducible chemical defense responses in plants.
Efeitos da redução ou substituição do soro fetal bovino por outros compostos na maturação in vitro de oócitos bovinos

A utilizacao do soro fetal bovino (SFB), embora bastante disseminada na producao in vitro (PIV) de embrioes bovinos, apresenta limitacoes por ser um meio indefinido e por causar efeitos que prejudicam a qualidade desses embrioes. Por esse motivo, nos ultimos anos, grande parte das pesquisas relacionadas a PIV esta voltada para a substituicao do SFB por outros compostos nos meios de cultura. No presente estudo, foram utilizados como compostos proteicos a albumina serica bovina livre de acidos graxos (BSA-FAF) e um produto comercial denominado fluido embrionico (FE) de maneira isolada ou em diferentes combinacoes e concentracoes, com objetivo de substituir ou diminuir a concentracao do SFB durante a maturacao in vitro (MIV). Para isso, oocitos bovinos foram maturados in vitro nos seguintes grupos (G) que foram delineados de acordo com a suplementacao proteica recebida: G1 (controle) = 10% de SFB, G2 = 8mg/mL de BSA-FAF, G3 = 10% de FE, G4 = 6mg/mL de BSA-FAF + 5% de SFB, G5 = 6mg/mL de BSA-FAF + 3,5% de SFB + 1,5% de FE, G6 = 6mg/mL de BSA-FAF + 1,5% de SFB + 3,5% de FE, G7 = 6mg/mL de BSA-FAF + 5% de FE e G8 = 5% de SFB + 5% de FE. Apos 24 horas de MIV, os oocitos foram classificados de acordo com a progressao meiotica e migracao dos grânulos corticais (GC). As taxas de maturacao foram avaliadas pelo teste do Qui-Quadrado (χ2) ou, quando apropriado, pelo teste exato de Fisher, e para o estudo dos efeitos dos suplementos foram realizados contrastes ortogonais. O grupo suplementado com BSA-FAF (G2) mostrou diminuicao na taxa de oocitos que atingiram MII (75%) em comparacao aos grupos G1, G4, G5 e G8 (88,9%, 89,6%, 87% e 86,8%, respectivamente), sem diferir do do G3 (79,8%), G6 (82,9%) e G7 (82,9%). Ademais, o G3 tambem apresentou diminuicao na taxa de maturacao nuclear quando comparado ao G4. Quanto a maturacao citoplasmatica, nos grupos G2, G7, G6 e G3, houve reducao (p<0,05) das taxas para 43,9%, 43,2%, 43,1% e 36,5%, respectivamente, quando comparadas ao meio controle (G1), que permitiu a obtencao de valores medios de 62,4%. Por outro lado, nos grupos G8, G4 e G5, a taxa de maturacao citoplasmatica nao foi afetada com a reducao do SFB, onde 59,3%, 51,3% e 50,8% dos oocitos apresentaram os GC dispostos na periferia, respectivamente. Os resultados obtidos pelo teste de contrastes ortogonais complementam os obtidos na avaliacao da maturacao nuclear e migracao de grânulos corticais, mostrando a necessidade do SFB durante a MIV, mesmo que em baixas concentracoes, e a possibilidade de diminuir a sua concentracao associando-o a BSA-FAF e/ou FE. Dessa forma, conclui-se que e possivel reduzir a concentracao de SFB no meio de MIV para ate 3,5% sem prejuizo significativo aos indices de maturacao nuclear e citoplasmatica.
The Effects of Enzyme and Probiotic Supplementation to Diets on Broiler Performance

This study was carried out to determine the effect of the supplementation of enzyme and probiotic to broiler feeds based on barley and wheat on broiler performance, dressing percentage, the small intestinal length and weight, liver and abdominal fat weights, intestinal viscosity and the percentage of sticky droppings. In this experiment, 600 one - day - old Hubbard broiler chicks were used. This study was performed on four treatment groups, each containing 150 chicks. One of the groups was the control group and the others were the experimental groups. Each treatment group was divided into 6 replicates of 25 chicks. The chicks were fed with broiler starter diet between days 1 and 21, broiler grower diet between days 22 and 35, and broiler finisher diet between days 36 and 42. While the control group was fed a diet without supplemented diet enzyme (l kg avizyme/ton), probiotic (0.23 kg fastrack/ton) and enzyme + probiotic (1 kg avizyme + 0.23 kg fastrack/ton) were added to the diets of the experimental groups respectively. The experimental period was 42 days. Live weight gain and feed consumption of all the groups were determined every week during the experiment. Nine male and nine female chickens from each group were slaughtered at the end of the experiment. The weights and percentages of the hot and cold carcass, the liver, abdominal fat and small intestine weights and the small intestine length were determined. Digesta viscosity was examined in 12 chickens from each treatment groups on day 25. At the end of the experiment, the addition of enzyme and enzyme + probiotic to the diet significantly increased body weight gain (P
PROPERTIES OF IMMOBILIZED THYLAKOID MEMBRANES IN A PHOTOSYNTHETIC PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL CELL

Abstract— Thylakoid membranes isolated from spinach were immobilized in a cross‐linked albumin‐glutaraldehyde matrix. Their properties in a single‐compartment photoelectrochemical cell using platinum electrodes in potentiostatic mode were compared with the native material. The porous network of the immobilized tissue retained a relatively significant quantity of aqueous media which could be modified at will by aspiration of the proper media. In the presence of the acceptor potassium ferricyanide the photocurrent generation was enhanced up to a value of one hundred times higher than the maximum output of thylakoids entrapped in a polyvinyl alcohol film deposited on a Sn02 electrode. Immobilization in the albumin‐glutaraldehyde matrix resulted in a better resistance to high pH, elevated temperatures and continuous exposure to high light intensity in potentiostatic mode (working conditions) in the electrochemical cell.
Climate warming alters competition between two highly invasive alien plant species and dominant native competitors.

Summary Biological invasions and climate warming are two major threats to the world's biodiversity. To date, their impacts have largely been considered independently, despite indications that climate warming may increase the success of many invasive alien species. We therefore set up an experiment to study competition between native and invasive alien plant species and the effects of climate warming thereon. Two highly invasive alien plant species in Belgium, each with a native competitor that dominated in invaded sites, were grown either together (1:1 mixtures) or in isolation (monocultures) at ambient and elevated temperature (+3°C) in climate-controlled chambers. To detect possible mechanisms underlying the effects of competition and elevated temperature, we conducted a combined growth and nitrogen uptake analysis. In one pair, Senecio inaequidens – Plantago lanceolata (alien invasive – native), the alien species dominated in mixture, while in the other pair, Solidago gigantea – Epilobium hirsutum, the native species dominated. Climate warming reduced the invader dominance in the first species pair, but stimulated the suppressed invader in the latter. Many of the biomass responses for these two species pairs could be traced to the root-specific nitrogen uptake capacity. The responses of the native-invasive interaction to warming could not always be extrapolated from the monoculture responses, pointing to the necessity for experiments that take into account species interactions.
Resistance genes to Leptosphaeria maculans in Brassica napus

Black leg of canola (Brassica napus), caused by Leptosphaeria maculans, is primarily controlled by the use of resistant cultivars. In Canada, resistance has been effective for about 10 years, but the frequency of new pathotypes is increasing and there are reports of breakdown of resistance in some cultivars. Race-nonspecific resistance is present in many cultivars in Australia and Europe. The genetic basis of resistance in Canadian cultivars is unknown. This paper reviews our current knowledge relating to disease management using resistance in Canada and the genetics of race-specific and race-nonspecific resistance in the host-pathogen interaction between L. maculans and B. napus. The particular focus is on resistance associated with the A genome and how resistance might be achieved over the long term.
THE LARVA OF LEUCORRHINIA PATRICIA WALKER (ODONATA: LIBELLULIDAE)

Abstract The final-stadium larva of Leucorrhinia patricia Walker is described from six exuviae with associated teneral adults collected in northern British Columbia. L. patricia belongs to the group of nearctic Leucorrhinia that has larvae with three ventral stripes. The larvae are very similar to those L. hudsonica (Sélys) larvae that are small and lack dorsal spines. Several characters help to separate these species, at least in the western part of their range; length of the epiproct and patterns of the profemora and abdomen. The preparation of a more definitive key awaits the analysis of more material of L. pafricia and L. hudsonica.
Underlying effects of resource use efficiency in diversity‐productivity relationships

At least three mechanisms have been proposed to explain observations of enhanced productivity in more diverse plant communities. Species could be complementary in resource uptake, either in time or space (Hooper 1998, Loreau 1998a), allowing species-rich assemblages to acquire more of a limiting resource. The sampling effect may also promote productivity: more diverse mixtures have a higher probability of containing more competitive, highly productive species, and these species would enhance community biomass by competitive dominance (Aarssen 1997, Huston 1997, Tilman et al. 1997). Application of this principle, in experiments with communities assembled by random sampling, is subject to debate because natural communities may not randomly assemble from a regional species pool (Wardle 1999). A third potential mechanism operates during exponential growth, where positive feedback effects amplify dissimilarities in growth rate between species (Nijs and Roy 2000). In particular, the presence of species with extreme traits (i.e. a wide range of growth rates within a community) promoted productivity in this study. Here we investigate a hitherto unidentified principle, based on interspecific differences in resource utilisation efficiency (RUE). When two species are grown in mixture, competitive interaction generally changes the amounts they acquire of an available resource (e.g. nitrogen), relative to their acquisition in monoculture. With every further addition of species to the community (i.e. increase in species richness, S), the existing array of interspecific interactions is modified, and the total resource is partitioned in a different way. Such redistributions with increasing S can either increase or decrease productivity, even if total absorbed resource remains the same. The underlying principle is that the re-allocated resource (amount lost by one species and gained by another) will be utilised for biomass production with a different RUE than before. The overall change in biomass of the community depends on the magnitudes of these re-allocations and on the RUEs of the species involved. We first examine this principle for two species, grown either in monoculture or in a 1:1 mixture with the same plant density. To exclude effects of complementarity, the same total amount (Rtot) of a limiting resource is available and absorbed in all three communities, for example, because the species occupy the same soil volume. In monoculture, plant biomass of species i (B1) is the product of the amount of resource acquired (Ri) and its utilisation efficiency in biomass production (R UE, or biomass produced per unit resource absorbed):
Save and Grow: A Policymaker's Guide to the Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Crop Production . Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2011), pp. 112, US$45.00. ISBN 978-92-5-106871-7.

This book claims that between 1970 and 2010 the Green Revolution reduced the percentage of undernourished people in developing countries from 30 to 15%, but it does not reveal that over this period the number of undernourished people has increased to 925 million. It does acknowledge the environmental cost of the Green Revolution and its inability to continue to improve the yields of cereal crops. It also accepts that the present production paradigm is unsustainable and in order to grow, production systems will depend on conservation of resources. Future crop systems will need to be based on a small-scale, knowledge-intensive, agro-ecosystem approach, which can be replicated world-wide. The book is offered as a toolkit of adaptable farming systems, technologies, practices and concomitant policies and institutional arrangements. There are seven sections: The Challenge; Farming Systems; Soil Health; Crops and Varieties; Water Management; Plant Protection, and Policies and Institutions. The overall availability of world food and its control by a few major players is ignored, as is the difficulty of obtaining food by millions of poorer people. Crop production systems are covered but the important role of livestock, local knowledge and skills within many farming systems are not fully acknowledged. The most important omissions are any discussion of social structures, social learning and political power over the production of crops and food. There are excellent technical chapters on soils, water and plant protection, but the text lacks an understanding of the real world and how it operates.
Estradiol and 20α-Dihydroprogesterone Dehydrogenase Activities in Human Endometrium During the Menstrual Cycle

Estradiol dehydrogenase E2-DH)and 20α-dihydroprogesterone dehydrogenase (20αDHP-DH) activities in human endometrium at various phases of the menstrual cycle were measured by incubating 3H-estradiol or 3H-20α-dihydroprogesterone (20αDHP) with an 800 × g supernatant of tissue and excess NAD*. The enzymatic activities, expressed as nmoles of product formed per hr and per mg of protein, showed a significant increase during the secretory phase. The average values of E2-DH activities were 1.2 in proliferative endometrium and 14 in secretory tissue. The corresponding 20αDHP-DH activities were lower (0.3 and 3.0). The total amount of E2 receptors in endometrium, determined by the method of superfusion, was found o t decline from 3.2 pmole/mg DNA in the proliferative phase to 0.6 pmole/mg DNA at the end of the secretory phase. The increase in E2-DH levels leads to a faster removal of E2 from endometrium since the conversion of E2 to E2 is only partially reversible and E1 rather than E2 is released by the tissue. T.