Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of the fate of phyto-oestrogens in the sheep by determination of isoflavones and coumestrol in the plasma and adipose tissue

A method is presented for the specific determination in plasma or adipose tissue of sheep of the phyto-oestrogens genistein (G), biochanin A (BA), formononetin (F), daidzein (D), pratensein, and coumestrol. The method is based on selective extraction, paper chromatography, spectrophotometry and fluorometry, and use of radioactive recovery standards. A modification including gas chromatography is also described. Intraruminal administration to sheep of the synthetic isoflavones G, BA, or F gave rise within 2½ hr to detectable blood levels of the compound infused. In addition, intraruminal administration of BA and F was followed by the appearance of G and D, respectively, in blood and fat depots. Such O-demethylation at the C4 position was also observed after intramuscular injection of BA or F, and in sheep grazing subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and red clover (T. pratense). Plasma levels of free G above 5 µg/100 ml (excluding circulating isoflavone conjugated as glucuronide) were associated with maximal uterine growth response in ovariectomized ewes, while levels of 1–5 µg/100 ml appeared to elicit a graded uterine response; free plasma F and D levels above 0.5 ¦g/100 ml seem to be required for detectable uterotrophic action in the 5-day assay used. G, BA, F, and D were present in the plasma of sheep grazing subterranean clover var. Yarloop in concentrations adequate to explain the observed uterine growth response, but in sheep grazing red clover, the plasma levels seemed too low to account fully for the oestrogenic action of this pasture. No free isoflavones were detected in plasma from sheep grazing subterranean clover var. Marrar, despite the high isoflavone content of the pasture.
DCG: A Client-side Protection Method for DNS Cache

Domain name system provides resolution services between domain names and IP addresses for internet applications and it is the backbone of the modern internet. Since the security of domain name system is critical to the internet, a large number of solutions have emerged. Unfortunately, most of these works are focused on server-side protection, but few solutions for client protection. Because the server-side solution cannot guarantee that the client uses a trusted domain name, this paper proposes a client-side protection method for domain name system cache. Our solution monitors the local cache of domain name system in real time and asynchronously veriﬁes the authenticity of each name resolution result through a trusted third party. Experimental results show that our method can resist domain name poisoning attacks against clients. And our solution is fully compatible with the existing domain name system, and has good incremental deployment capabilities.
Antioxidant enzyme and morphological characteristics of roots of three Nicotiana Tabacum L. genotype seedlings under chilling stress

In order to study the morphological and physiological ecological response of root of Flue-cured tobacco seedling after low temperature stress, this experiment was conducted with different stressful period which was 2, 4 and 6 days under 5 to 7°C (day) by the material named Yunyan87, Msk326 and Yunyan85, respectively. The results showed that comparing with favorable temperature (23 to 25°Cday), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (CAT) had different change trends with difference variety, in which three parameters increased for YY87, and except activities of SOD rise for YY85, other parameters decreased after low temperature stress for short-term (2 days) as for K326 and YY85. When low-temperature stress period prolonged, these parameters come to rise gradually. As for morphological parameters, average diagram, surface area and volume of root declined significant after low-temperature stress for 2 days for YY87, while these morphological parameters are similar to normal level if prolonging stress to 6 days. However all morphological parameters are opposite for K326 comparing with YY87. Surface area, volume of root declined to some extent for YY85. These conclusion indicate different morphological and physiological ecological response mechanisms for roots of Flue-cured tobacco seedling of different variety after chilling stress. Key words: Chilling stress, flue-cured tobacco, morphology, physiology, roots.
Convergence Rates of Gradient Descent and MM Algorithms for Bradley-Terry Models

We present tight convergence rate bounds for gradient descent and MM algorithms for maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) estimation of a popular Bayesian inference method, for Bradley-Terry models of ranking data. Our results show that MM algorithms have the same convergence rate, up to a constant factor, as gradient descent algorithms with optimal constant step size. For the ML estimation objective, the convergence is linear with the rate crucially determined by the algebraic connectivity of the matrix of item pair co-occurrences in observed comparison data. For the MAP estimation objective, we show that the convergence rate is also linear, with the rate determined by a parameter of the prior distribution in a way that can make convergence arbitrarily slow for small values of this parameter. The limit of small values of this parameter corresponds to a ﬂat, non-informative prior distribution.
Voie Patched/Sonic Hedgehog et carcinomes basocellulaires

La decouverte recente de la voie Patched/Sonic Hedgehog et de son role dans la predisposition genetique et dans l’oncogenese du carcinome basocellulaire ont permis des avancees majeures dans la comprehension de la genese de cette tumeur. Pour la premiere fois, des modeles murins de carcinome basocellulaire ont ete developpes, qui devraient permettre, d’une part, de mieux comprendre les autres mecanismes moleculaires impliques et, d’autre part, de tester de nouvelles strategies therapeutiques preventives ou curatives, pour tenter de maitriser les formes multiples de carcinome basocellulaire, souvent invalidantes.
Mantis religiosa L. (Mantodea: Mantidae) a new host for Podagrion pachymerum Walker (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) in Turkey.

The present survey was carried out in Şanlıurfa province in rice fields during 2013-2014 on Xanthium strumarium L. and Cyperus glomeratus L. infested with the oothecea of European mantid Mantis religiosa L. (Mantodea: Mantidae). Torymid parasitoid, Podagrion pachymerum (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) was obtained from M. religiosa oothecea collected from X. strumarium and C. glomeratus species in Şanlıurfa province. M. religiosa is a new host record for P. pachymerum inTurkey. In addition, P. pachymerum is a new record for the insect fauna of Turkey.
Isolation and Characterisation of Cellobiohydrolase Gene from Aspergillus terreus SUK-1

Aspergillus terreus SUK-1 isolated from oil palm waste was reported to produce cellulolytic enzymes for the degradation of cellulosic materials. RNA Ligase Mediated Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends methodology was used to facilitate the isolation and cloning of a full length cDNA. The cDNA sequence consists of 1623 nucleotides complete coding sequence encoding a cellobiohydrolase of 540 amino acids. Analysis showed that the gene had high identity with various cellobiohydrolase genes and proteins. Catalytic and cellulose binding domains were detected by Pfam and the NCBI Conserved Domain Search. Study of the gene expression showed that the highest gene expression was seen 24 h after fungal inoculation, and then the expression was subsequently reduced until the fifth day when the fungus reached the stationary growth phase. Addition of glucose into growth media completely suppressed the gene expression. The gene was designated as CBHat1 and the GenBank accession number is AY864863.1.
Identification of a walnut (Juglans regia L.) germplasm collection and evaluation of their genetic variability by microsatellite markers

The characterization and evaluation of walnut ( Juglans regia ) germplasm constitute important aspects of taxonomic analysis and are valuable tools for breeding programs. In this work, a collection of 57 common walnut cultivars, mainly coming from Spain and the USA, has been studied with microsatellite markers. To carry out this work, 32 primer pairs flanking simple sequence repeats previously developed in Juglans nigra were screened to select the loci that presented high polymorphism and that were easier to score. The 19 selected microsatellite markers allowed the discrimination of the studied cultivars, with a total of 97 alleles detected and an average of 5 alleles per locus, confirming that these markers are more suitable tools for walnut identification than other molecular markers studied previously. The genetic similarity estimated from the molecular data clearly separated the Spanish walnuts from the Californian genotypes. Allelic data are presented for use as size standards to assist in correcting laboratory-tolaboratory variation of allele size calling. Some of them are compared with previous results published and the discrepancies found are discussed.
Payments for Ecosystem Services: A New Way of Conserving Biodiversity in Forests

The concept of payments for ecosystem services (PES) is probably the most promising innovation in conservation since Rio 1992, slowly but certainly to expand in the tropics. In a global context of stagnating or even decreasing public funding for biodiversity conservation, PES have the potential both to raise some new funds, and to absorb more efficiently money previously spent otherwise. The most novel and persuasive feature of PES lies in its “business-like” conditional payment form, which differs from traditional conservation projects. The most promising entry point for international PES transfers for biodiversity interests seems to be to piggyback on the currently revived debate on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). The novel idea here would be to make agreements at the nation-state level, either bilaterally or multilaterally, and either within or outside the Kyoto framework. However, to take advantage of this opportunity, biodiversity conservation and forest stakeholders would need to be more proactive in the REDD debate than we have seen so far.
Effect of a different concentrate-forage sequence on digesta passage rate, faeces traits and milk features of dairy cows

Abstract To ascertain the effects of a different feed sequence, which could modify digestion rate and sites as well as metabolic - endocrine status and milk features, 6 lactating dairy cows have received the same diet with a different time of concentrate administration when close to the two daily forage meals: 30’ before or 60’ after them. Cows were tied in a barn with controlled temperature, humidity and light, individually fed and monitored for: daily dry matter intake, milk yield and its features at 2 milkings, concentrate passage rate and faecal traits. The results have showed that DMI, feeding behaviour, milk yield and milk features were not significantly affected (except fat content, increased when forage was supplied as first feed). The digesta passage rate was also different: concentrate escaped more rapidly from the rumen when fed before forage or 4 hours after them. This effect has not modified the faeces, but some endocrine and /or metabolic changes can be hypothesized, because milk fat content was increased when concentrate was supplied after forage.
A arara-azul-de-Lear, Anodorhynchus leari Bonaparte, 1856

The case of the Indigo, or Lear's Macaw, Anodorhynchus leari, is unique in South American ornithology. The species, although described more than 100 years ago, was known only through very few living specimens, which entered occasionally the bird trade, without any indication of their origins. It was presumed "probably some part of Brazil" (Salvadori, 1891). The last speculation was that it was unlikely, though not impossible, that the Indigo Macaw might not be an independem species, but rather, a hybrid between the two other well known blue macaws, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus and A. glaucus (Voous, 1965).
Incidence of apothecia of Tapesia yallundae at setaside sites in England and sensitivity of the ascospore offspring to the fungicides benomyl and prochloraz

A total of 45 field sites in England were surveyed once for the presence of apothecia of Tapesia yallundae from 1992 to 1994. Apothecia were found at 21 locations and were mainly present on less than 3% of stems. However, apothecia were found on 15-32% of stems at four sites. Analysis of the growth characteristics of ascospore isolates from seven sites showed that most produced colonies characteristic of the W-type of T. yallundae, with only one site yielding the R-type. Most ascospore isolates were resistant to the fungicide benomyl and effectively all remained sensitive to prochloraz. The results of the study are discussed in relation to the fungicidal control and epidemiology of T. yallundae, and the risk of spread of disease from set-aside sites.
Introgressive hybridisation and incipient ecological speciation amongst saltmarsh Aphrodes leafhoppers

Ecological and host adapted races provide evidence that evolutionary divergence and sympatric speciation can occur through divergent natural selection in the face of continued gene flow. Likewise, hybridisation and introgression (interspecific gene flow) are commonly identified in natural populations, between what are described as distinct taxa. These processes have implications for how we define species and the processes necessary for the persistence and initiation of species and speciation, above and below the species level. The main focus of the present study was elucidation of the nature and extent of differentiation, and processes involved in shaping diversity within and between, species of the Aphrodes leafhopper genus, Curtis 1833, particularly from UK saltmarshes. A multidisciplinary approach was taken, combining the use of morphological, behavioural (vibrational mating signals), mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene sequencing) and multiple genome-wide nuclear marker (amplified fragment length polymorphism) analyses to test hypotheses relating to taxonomy, ecological speciation and hybridisation among Aphrodes leafhoppers. Of primary interest were: 1) identification of Aphrodes inhabiting saltmarshes, and first confirmation that two species (A. makarovi and A. aestuarina) exist there; 2) comparison of divergent ecological lineages of inland and estuarine A. makarovi, showing possible incipient speciation and evidence of convergent morphological evolution of estuarine A. makarovi and A. aestuarina; 3) exploration of the evolutionary significance of an introgressed hybrid population of A. aestuarina, found only in the Medway estuary, showing complete mitochondrial capture and some nuclear introgression.
Desenvolvimento do rudimento seminal em Borreria verticillata (L.) G. Mey. (Rubiaceae - Rubioideae - Spermacoceae)

The structural characteristics of the ovule formation are an important tool for the systematics of the Rubiaceae family. This paper describes the ovule ontogeny and ginosporogenesis (megasporogenesis) of Borreria verticillata (L.) G. Mey. in order to classify this species based on the evolutive diagrams proposed for the Rubiaceae family. The studied species presents an inferior, bicarpellate, bilocular ovary, with one ovule per loculus. The ovule is anatropous, unitegmic, and tenuinucellate, with axial placentation. The ovule primordia present three distinct layers of cells: dermal, subdermal and central. The integument, nucellar epidermis and ovule primordia originate respectively by divisions in the dermal, subdermal and central layers. The archesporium is constituted by one to five cells, while the nucellar epidermis has two to three cells. One to three ginospore mother cells, originated by divisions in archesporial cells, undergo meiotic divisions developing a linear tetrad. Only the chalazal ginospore remains and becomes functional. The remnant cells from the external integument, the inclusion of the nucellus in the chalaza, the occurrence of few elongated cells in the nucellar epidermis and the increased number of archesporial cells classify the ovule formation of B. verticillata in the Mitracarpus type.
Ocorrência e caracterização de Salmonella Não Tifóide em esgotos brutos e águas superficiais da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo

Silva LZ. Ocorrencia e caracterizacao de Salmonella Nao Tifoide em esgotos brutos e aguas superficiais da Regiao Metropolitana de Sao Paulo. /Occurrence and caracterization of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella in raw sewage and surface water from the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo [dissertation]. Sao Paulo (BR): Faculdade de Saude Publica da Universidade de Sao Paulo; 2015. Non-Typhoidal Salmonella (NST) is a concern pathogen which is responsible for gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. So its presence in environmental sources such as surface waters and sewage has been investigated around the world. The aims of this research were quantify and characterize NST in samples of surface water and raw sewage from Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo (MRSP). Samples were collected fortnightly in the catchment point of supply from Guarapiranga reservoir and Sao Lourenco River, as well as raw sewage from the cities of Taboao da Serra and Sao Lourenco da Serra. Quantification of NST was performed using Most Probable Number technique (MPN). Characterization of the isolates (serotype identification and pathogenic potential) was carried out by multiplex Polimerase Chain Reaction technique (m-PCR) with four sets of primers, including genetic markers (fliC, invA and spvC) and gene regions not yet characterized. Surface water showed concentrations ranging from detection limit (DL <0.06473 MPN / 100 mL) to 0.67 MPN/100 mL with a frequency of 4%. Raw wastewater concentrations were from DL to 54.22 MPN/100 mL, with a frequency of 54%. Seven strains of surface water samples were isolated and identified as Salmonella sp. and 499 from raw sewage, of which nine were identified as potentially pathogenic serotypes. The most prevalent serotypes were Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica ser. Enteritidis and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica ser. Typhimurium, which have been found almost exclusively in summer months (December-January). The two serotypes presented atypical patterns of PCR with gene regions containing genes that express fimbrial constituents and other not yet characterized. This research shows the presence of potentially pathogenic Non-Typhoidal Salmonella in raw sewage samples suggesting its circulation in the population of the study area and corroborates with the seasonal cases of salmonellosis. DeCS: Salmonella, surface water, sewage, serotype
Anisotropic and hierarchical SiC@SiO2 nanowire aerogel with exceptional stiffness and stability for thermal superinsulation

Anisotropic and hierarchical microstructure is designed to realize thermal superinsulation and high stiffness of ceramic aerogels. Ceramic aerogels are promising lightweight and high-efficient thermal insulators for applications in buildings, industry, and aerospace vehicles but are usually limited by their brittleness and structural collapse at high temperatures. In recent years, fabricating nanostructure-based ultralight materials has been proved to be an effective way to realize the resilience of ceramic aerogels. However, the randomly distributed macroscale pores in these architectures usually lead to low stiffness and reduced thermal insulation performance. Here, to overcome these obstacles, a SiC@SiO2 nanowire aerogel with a nanowire-assembled anisotropic and hierarchical microstructure was prepared by using directional freeze casting and subsequent heat treatment. The aerogel exhibits an ultralow thermal conductivity of ~14 mW/m·K, an exceptional high stiffness (a specific modulus of ~24.7 kN·m/kg), and excellent thermal and chemical stabilities even under heating at 1200°C by a butane blow torch, which makes it an ideal thermally superinsulating material for applications under extreme conditions.
Reply to van Oven: Suggestions and caveats for naming mtDNA haplogroup

We agree with van Oven (1) that a uniform mitochondrial (mt)DNA haplogroup nomenclature is indispensable for the future studies, and we actually propagated the same idea a few years ago (2). The current conflicts regarding the Asian haplogroup nomenclature (1) were essentially caused by publication delay: at the time when we submitted the manuscript (July 14, 2009), there was no conflict between the haplogroup system in our paper (3) and PhyloTree (mtDNA tree Build 5; http://www.phylotree.org/) to which we referred. To avoid similar problems in the future, a possible solution is that researchers in the mtDNA field indicate to van Oven (1) on submission of a paper that certain haplogroup names are being introduced, so that other researchers would at least not choose the same code for their newly identified haplogroups. The blocked names (possibly with some further information) could then be shown in the bulk mtDNA tree on that website.
Implications for the mechanism of cell adhesion

In this study we have characterized the mode of cell adhesion to calcite and calcium (R,R)-tartrate tetrahydrate crystals. The use of crystals as adhesion substrata was motivated by their well-established chemical nature and structurally defined surfaces. We show that calcite binds A6 Xenopus laevis epithelial cells rapidly and effi ciently, most likely via surface-adsorbed proteins. Sur face topology had only a limited effect on the adhesive interactions. Calcium (R,R)-tartrate tetrahydrate crystals exhibits two chemically equivalent, yet structurally distinct faces that differ mainly in the surface distribu tion of their lattice water molecules and charges. However, despite the gross similarity between the two faces striking differences were noted in their adhesive behav ior. One of the faces was highly adhesive for cells, lead ing to protein-indep endent attachment and spreading followed by cell death. In contrast, cell adhesion to the other surface of tartrate was slow ( 24 h) and apparently mediated by RGD-containin g protein(s). It was further shown that the latter face of tartrate crystals could be “conditioned” by long (24 h) incubation with serum-containing medium, after which it becomes highly adhesive. The results presented here indicate that crystal sur faces may serve as excellent, structurally defined, substrata for cell adhesion, that cell binding may occur directly or via RGD-containing proteins and that cell adhesion may be dramatically modulated by variations in surface structure. The implications of the results to the mechanism of cell-substrat um adhesion are discussed. SUMMARY
NEW EARLY EOCENE MAMMALIAN FOSSILS FROM THE HENGYANG BASIN, HUNAN CHINA

Abstract New fossil mammal materials found in the upper Lingcha Formation of the Hengyang Basin, Hunan, China, include a complete skull of Hapalodectes hetangensis and a taxon new to the fauna, Dissacus zengi, n. sp. H. hetangensis is the morphologically least derived species of the genus and currently is the earliest known record of the genus. D. zengi, n. sp. is the second Asian early Eocene record of the genus and represents the last occurrence of the genus in Asia. The Lingcha Formation includes two fossiliferous intervals. The upper contains about 12 species belonging to 7 mammalian orders, and the lower has yielded one mammalian species and one reptilian species. Biostratigraphic, chemostratigraphic, and magnetostratographic study in the Lingcha Formation indicates that the transient carbon isotope excursion that marks the Paleocene–Eocene boundary as currently advocated is present in the upper Lingcha Formation. The fauna from the upper Lingcha Formation occurs within the excursion interval, and is of earliest Eocene age. It is correlative with the Wasatchian-0 faunal zone in the Big Horn Basin, Wyoming, North America. The lower Lingcha Formation is of Paleocene age.