Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Behavioral Response of Podisus maculiventris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) to its Synthetic Pheromone

A wind-tunnel bioassay was used to determine the effect of age and feeding history (starvation) on the response of Podisus maculiventris (Say) to its synthetic pheromone. Starved male and female adults showed positive anemotaxis toward the pheromone source; well-fed insects did not. This supports the hypothesis that P. maculiventris adults use the pheromone as a cue indicating presence of prey, in addition to a mating cue, although a physiological explanation for the lack of response by well-fed insects is also possible. In the presence of the pheromone, fed as well as starved insects increased activities such as extending antennae upwind; fluttering wings; and rubbing antennae, proboscis, forelegs, hindlegs, and abdomen. These activities may indicate stimulation of olfactory receptors on antennae and contact chemoreceptors elsewhere on the body. First- to third-generation offspring of field-collected P. maculiventris showed greater response to the synthetic pheromone compared with individuals from a 2-ye.
Environmental pollutants and diabetic kidney disease (DKD)

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a common microvascular complication of diabetes. The etiology of DKD includes genetic and environmental factors. Genetics alone do not explain the high prevalence of DKD, therefore, modifiable environmental risk factors need to be identified. Many studies suggested that environmental pollutants such as persistent organic pollutants, bisphenal A and PM2.5 play important roles in DKD development and progression. In this review, the relationships between these environmental pollutants and DKD will be discussed. Furthermore, effects of pollutants on DKD risk factors will be reviewed, including glucose metabolism, blood pressure and body weight.
Microenvironmental regulation of the IL-23R/IL-23 axis overrides chronic lymphocytic leukemia indolence

An autocrine/paracrine loop involving IL-23 and the IL-23R complex drives CLL cell expansion and represents a potential therapeutic target. Interrupting IL-23 signaling could curb CLL Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells are derived from B cells, but the exact signals that drive their expansion and survival are not completely understood. Cutrona et al. observed differential expression of the IL-23 receptor on biopsies from early-stage CLL patients, and higher expression was associated with poor prognosis. CLL cells could also produce IL-23 in vitro. The authors reasoned that the cells could produce and respond to this cytokine in a survival feedback loop and demonstrated that an anti–IL-23 antibody could slow tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. These promising results could open up new avenues of treatment for CLL. Although the progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) requires the cooperation of the microenvironment, the exact cellular and molecular mechanisms involved are still unclear. We investigated the interleukin (IL)–23 receptor (IL-23R)/IL-23 axis and found that circulating cells from early-stage CLL patients with shorter time-to-treatment, but not of those with a more benign course, expressed a defective form of the IL-23R complex lacking the IL-12Rβ1 chain. However, cells from both patient groups expressed the complete IL-23R complex in tissue infiltrates and could be induced to express the IL-12Rβ1 chain when cocultured with activated T cells or CD40L+ cells. CLL cells activated in vitro in this context produced IL-23, a finding that, together with the presence of IL-23 in CLL lymphoid tissues, suggests the existence of an autocrine/paracrine loop inducing CLL cell proliferation. Interference with the IL-23R/IL-23 axis using an anti–IL-23p19 antibody proved effective in controlling disease onset and expansion in xenografted mice, suggesting potential therapeutic strategies.
SARCOPHAGA DUX THOMSON (DIPTERA: SARCOPHAGIDAE) RECOVERED FROM WRAPPED BODY OF AN INFANT: ITS EVIDENTIAL VALUE

The decomposed body of a male infant was found in an oil palm estate in Rengit, Batu Pahat, Johor wrapped with clothes. Entomological specimens recovered in this case were flesh fly larvae, Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) dux Thomson and Sarcophaga peregrina (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). Minimum post mortem interval (PMI min) was approximately 48 hrs based on the largest specimen, i.e. S. dux . This species has been featured as forensically important species in Malaysia but scarcity of developmental data and bionomics in cadaver environment limit its utilization in forensic case. Issues pertaining its evidential value in this case and recommendations are described herein.
Determinación y comparación de microhongos del suelo de un bosque húmedo premontano en Dagua, Valle del Cauca

Con el proposito de conocer las variaciones en la microbiota fungica, al perturbar un terreno, se comparo la diversidad, abundancia y riqueza de hongos filamentosos del suelo en dos situaciones (bosque intervenido y bosque no intervenido) en un bosque humedo premontano (bh-PM), en el municipio de Dagua, Valle del Cauca. Se determinaron los microhongos presentes y se calculo la diversidad (Simpson), la abundancia y la riqueza. Se tomaron 30 muestras (15 en el area intervenida y 15 en el area no intervenida) durante doce meses. Para el proceso de aislamiento, se utilizaron diluciones, desde 10- 2 hasta 10-5 y se sembraron en PDA. Para la identificacion, las muestras se montaron y se observaron en microscopio optico.Se identificaron 17 generos en cada zona (Intervenida y no intervenida) con 27 morfotipos para ambas areas. Se realizo una ANOVA factorial en donde no se encontraron diferencias significativas en diversidad (p= 0.88), abundancia (p=0.28) y riqueza (p=0.47). Se hallaron especies unicas en cada area como el morfotipo Botryotrichum sp. el cual solo se encontro en el area intervenida. Asi mismo, Penicillium sp2. , Mortierella sp1 y Colletotrichum sp. se observaron unicamente en el area no intervenida, considerando estas Morfoespecies como propias del bh-PM.
Effects of BMP-4 and FSH on growth, morphology and mRNA expression of oocyte-secreted factors in cultured bovine secondary follicles

This study evaluated the effect of different concentrations of bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), as well as the interaction of BMP-4 and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) on growth, ultrastructural integrity, and expression of mRNA for growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9), BMP-15, maternal antigen that the embryo requires (Mater) and nucleoplasmin-2 (Npm-2) in bovine secondary follicles cultured in vitro for 18 days. Follicles cultured in the presence of 50 ng/ml BMP-4 had a progressive increase in their diameters with the increase of culture period from 0 to 6 and 12 days, but no significant differences were observed among treatments. The presence of both FSH and BMP-4 in a culture medium did not stimulate follicle growth when compared to the control medium. After 12 days, the percentage of normal follicles was maintained similar to that of day 0 in the medium supplemented with both FSH and BMP-4, but no significant differences among treatments were observed after 18 days of culture. BMP-4 maintained the ultrastructural integrity of follicles after 18 days of culture, while follicles cultured in medium supplemented with FSH or both BMP-4 and FSH had oocyte with irregular zona pellucida, vesicular bodies, and an abundance of vacuoles. Follicles cultured in the presence of BMP-4 had an increase in the levels of BMP-15 mRNA, when compared to those cultured in medium supplemented with FSH alone. In conclusion, the addition of BMP-4 in culture medium contributes to preserve follicular ultrastructure, but BMP-4 did not interact positively with FSH. Regarding secondary follicles cultured in the presence of FSH, BMP-4 increases the expression of mRNA for BMP-15.
Influence of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Activity of Acifluorfen

The influence of temperature and relative humidity on the activity of acifluorfen {5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid} on common cocklebur (Xanthium pensylvanicum Wallr.) and common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) was studied in growth chambers. Treatment at high relative humidity (85 ± 5%) resulted in a significant increase in acifluorfen phytotoxicity and decrease in plant dry weight as compared to treatment at a lower (50 ± 5%) relative humidity (RH). Temperature (32 C day, 22 C night or 26 C day, 16 C night) was not as critical as relative humidity in influencing acifluorfen phytotoxicity. Addition of a non-ionic surfactant to the herbicide solution resulted in increased phytotoxicity. Penetration and translocation of acifluorfen in common cocklebur were increased when applications were made at high relative humidity.
NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC DRIVERS OF TREE EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS

NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC DRIVERS OF TREE EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS Brandon Michael Lind – Doctor of Philosophy – Integrative Life Sciences A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018 Major Director: Andrew Eckert, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Biology Species of trees inhabit diverse and heterogeneous environments, and often play important ecological roles in such communities. As a result of their vast ecological breadth, trees have become adapted to various environmental pressures. In this dissertation I examine various environmental factors that drive evolutionary dynamics in three Pinus species in California and Nevada, USA. In chapter two, I assess the role of management influence of thinning, fire, and their interaction on fine-scale gene flow within fire-suppressed populations of Pinus lambertiana, a historically dominant and ecologically important member of mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada, California. Here, I find evidence that treatment prescription differentially affects fine-scale genetic structure and effective gene flow in this species. In my third chapter, I describe the development of a dense linkage map for Pinus balfouriana which I use in chapter four to assess the quantitative trait locus (QTL) landscape of water-use efficiency across two isolated ranges of the species. I find evidence that precipitation-related variables structure the geographical range of P. balfouriana, that traits related to water-use efficiency are heritable and differentiated across populations, and associated QTLs underlying this phenotypic variation explain large proportions
The Genus Resinicium in French Guiana and the West Indies: a Morphological and Molecular Survey, Revealing Resinicium grandisporum sp. nov.

Abstract A revision of Resinicium collections (Basidiomycota, Hymenochaetales) from French Guiana and French West Indies is provided, and a new species, Resinicium grandisporum sp. nov., supported by morphological as well as phylogenetic analyses based on ITS rDNA sequences, is described and illustrated. An updated key of the genus Resinicium is also provided, which includes species previously described from outside of the studied area.
New record of the primnoid gorgonian Primnoella delicatissima Kukenthal, 1909 for Chilean waters

With 44 genera and approximately 275 species, the family Primnoidae constitutes the fourth largest octocoral family (Cairns & Bayer 2009), and also the family with the deepest living gorgonian species, which occur down to 5850 m (Cairns 2016a). Primnoids are typical deepwater species which are common on seamounts and deep-water coral banks. Due to a phenomenon called deep-water emergence they can be found in diving depth in channels of Chilean Patagonia (Häussermann & Försterra 2009). In deep-water emergent species the depth ranges are enlarged; they occur from deep to shallow water (Försterra 2009). Eleven species of primnoids have been described from Chile (Van Ofwegen et al. 2009), five of which have been reported from shallow
Effect of probiotic and different sources of fat on performance, carcass characteristics, intestinal morphology and ghrelin gene expression on broiler chickens.

The effect of Lactofeed probiotic and different sources of fat on performance, carcass characteristics, intestinal morphology and ghrelin gene expression of broiler chickens was studied in an experiment using a total of 240 one-day-old male chickens from commercial strain (Ross 308) in a completely randomized design via 6 treatments with 4 replicates (10 birds per replicate). The experimental diets included: (1) basal diet (control); (2) diet containing 3% animal fat from tallow (fat); (3) diet containing 3% plant oil from soybean (oil); (4) control + probiotic; (5) probiotic + (fat) and (6) probiotic + (oil). The results showed some improvement in performance in the third group (P<0.05). A significant difference in the length, width and depth of crypt was observed between the treatments 3 and 4, and the control group (P<0.05). There was a significant difference in ghrelin gene expression of the treatments 2 and 4 in comparison with the control group (P<0.05). The results generally showed that there were benefits from the separate use of probiotic and soybean oil in the diet of broiler chicken.
Finite Element Method Study on Stress State in Soil Induced by Agricultural Traffic

In general, when a tyre is running on a deformable soil, the soil compaction will occur not only on surface layers, but also on soil profile, in deeper layers. This leads to a series of negative effects not only on physical and mechanical properties of soil, but also influences the crops growth and the crop yield. For these reasons, currently are needed solutions to reduce soil compaction, caused mainly by agricultural implements passing on the soil surface in order to aply the specific crop production technologies. From our simulation we can draw the following conclusions: the soil stresses decreased with depth; the soil displacements magnitude increased with soil water content due to lower friction forces between soil particles (water acts like a lubricant between soil particles); decreasing rate for soil displacement is influenced by load magnitude and tyre inflation pressure; the soil particles moved in vertical plain from the top to the bottom, but also in horizontal direction, from the center to the edge in cross section and in longitudinal direction; the dimensions of the geometric shape of the mentioned soil volume is influenced by load and tyre inflation pressure. In this paper the agricultural traffic and its influence on stress state in soil, it was used a software application based on Finite Element Method, that has been proved to be a useful tool for soil compaction assessment in order to find the right decisions for a proper field traffic management.
AN INTEGRATED BIOINFORMATIC/EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH FOR DISCOVERING NOVEL TYPE II POLYKETIDES ENCODED IN ACTINOBACTERIAL GENOMES

Discovery of new natural products (NPs) is critical both for diseases treatment and crops protection. Numerous NP biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in sequenced microbial genomes allow identification of new NPs through genome mining. Developing an integrated bioinformatic/experimental approach for discovering novel type II polyketides (PK-IIs) facilitates investigation of this family of NPs in an efficient, systematic way. Here, we developed an approach to analyze ketosynthase α/β (KSα/β) gene sequences to predict PK-II core structures, allowing us to target novel PK-II BGCs either from isolated genomic DNA or genomes from the NCBI databank, and to isolate novel PK-IIs produced by these BGCs. First, new degenerate primers were designed to amplify the region containing key “fingerprint residues” used as predictive indicators of the KSα/β gene product novelty. This work resulted in identification of several BGCs encoding potentially novel PK-IIs in the genomes of 54 Actinobacteria, including 38 unique environmental strains. Next, complete
Linear coding of dynamic stimuli by electroreceptor afferents

To determine how sensory receptors respond to signal modulations, we estimated the frequency-intensity (f-I) curves of P-unit electroreceptors using 4 Hz random amplitude modulations (RAMs) and the covariance method (50 Hz RAMs). Both methods showed that P-units are linear encoders of stimulus amplitude with additive noise. The covariance method showed that a linear combination of eigenvectors representing the time-weighted stimulus intensity (El) and its derivative (E2) could account for 92% of the total response variability. The low gain of the low frequency f-I curve implies that detection of prey would require integration over many receptors and time. Weak signals at the limit of behavioural thresholds could be detected if the animal were able to extract El from the population of responding P-units. We propose a tentative mechanism for this operation despite no evidence as to whether it is actually implemented in the nervous system of these fish.
Analysis of differentially methylated regions in primates and non-primates provides support for the evolutionary hypothesis of schizophrenia

Introduction The persistence of schizophrenia in human populations separated by geography and time led to the evolutionary hypothesis that proposes schizophrenia as a by-product of the higher cognitive abilities of modern humans. To explore this hypothesis, we used here an evolutionary epigenetics approach building on differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of the genome. Methods We implemented a polygenic enrichment testing pipeline using the summary statistics of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia and 12 other phenotypes. We investigated the enrichment of association of these traits across genomic regions with variable methylation between modern humans and great apes (orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas; primate DMRs) and between modern humans and recently extinct hominids (Neanderthals and Denisovans; non-primate DMRs). Results Regions that are hypo-methylated in humans compared to great apes show enrichment of association with schizophrenia only if the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region is included. With the MHC region removed from the analysis, only a modest enrichment for SNPs of low effect persists. The INRICH pipeline confirms this finding after rigorous permutation and bootstrapping procedures. Conclusion The analyses of regions with differential methylation changes in humans and great apes do not provide compelling evidence of enrichment of association with schizophrenia, in contrast to our previous findings on more recent methylation differences between modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Our results further support the evolutionary hypothesis of schizophrenia and indicate that the origin of some of the genetic susceptibility factors of schizophrenia may lie in recent human evolution.
Supernumerary head of musculus biceps brachii

The most common variable of the muscle biceps brachii is the presence of supernumerary heads. The aim of this case report is to describe the presence of a third head of the muscle biceps brachii and its clinical significance. The anatomical variations described were found during routine dissection conducted in the laboratory of Morphology of the University of Pamplona in two male cadavers, embalmed of 75 and 59 years respectively. Measurements were taken using a Vernier caliper. Topographic details of the variations were examined, recorded and photographed. They have been described compression of the brachial artery, median nerve, musculocutaneous nerve between the supernumerary heads of muscle biceps brachii, your knowledge is of interest to clinicians, specialists; and health professionals in order to achieve diagnoses, procedures and safer and efficient rehabilitations.
Biometry and carcass characteristics of lambs supplemented in tropical grass pastures during the dry season.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the biometry and carcass characteristics of finished Santa Inês crossbred sheep grazed on tropical grass pastures during the dry season. The study was carried out at the Grupo de Estudos em Forragicultura (GEFOR/UFRN), in Macaíba – RN, Brazil. Four forage treatments were evaluated: Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Marandu e Piatã, Panicum maximum cvs. Aruana e Massai. The 2.88 ha-area used was divided in two blocks of 1.44 ha; each one was composed of four plots corresponding to each cultivar, and each plot was subdivided into six paddocks with an area of 0.06 ha. The pastures were managed under intermittent stocking with seven days of occupation and 35 days of rest, with variable stocking rate. No significant difference was observed in the biometric measurements evaluated in the animals, except for chest width in which animals kept in Marandu pastures obtained higher values than those in the Aruana cultivar. The lowest values of average daily gain, final weight and weight at slaughter values were observed in the animals kept in Aruana cultivars. Cut weights of the shoulder, the loins, short legs/shanks and ribs were higher in the animals kept in Marandu grass and lower in those kept in the Aruana grass; however, no differences were observed for the yield of the cuts and for the biometric measurements of the carcass. The evaluated pasture cultivars did not modify the finished sheep carcasses, however, the lower forage mass from Aruana grass pastures in the dry season affected animal performance and the sheep carcass composition.
Development of cyclic pentapeptide ligands for chemokine receptor targeting

Due to its pivotal role in tumor growth and metastasis in several types of human cancer, the chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) represents an innovative target for both diagnostic imaging and endoradio-therapeutic approaches. This work focused on the development of further optimized, CXCR4 targeting peptides for PET imaging (68Ga, 18F), fluorescence microscopy (fluorescent dye), and endoradiotherapy (177Lu) of CXCR4+ malignancies.