Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 9-cis β-Carotene–Enriched Diet Inhibits Atherogenesis and Fatty Liver Formation in LDL Receptor Knockout Mice

Our aim was to study the effect of 9-cis beta-carotene-rich powder of the alga Dunaliella bardawil on lipid profile, atherogenesis, and liver steatosis in high-fat diet-fed LDL receptor knockout mice. In 4 sets of experiments, mice were distributed into the following groups: control, fed an unfortified diet; Dunaliella 50, fed a diet composed of 50% 9-cis and 50% all-trans beta-carotene; Dunaliella 25, fed a diet containing 25% 9-cis and 75% all-trans beta-carotene; beta-carotene-deficient Dunaliella, fed beta-carotene-deficient Dunaliella powder; and all-trans beta-carotene, fed a synthetic all-trans beta-carotene. All fortified diets contained 0.6% total beta-carotene. Algal 9-cis beta-carotene was absorbed by the mice and accumulated in the liver. Synthetic all-trans beta-carotene was not converted to 9-cis beta-carotene. Dunaliella 50 inhibited high-fat diet-induced plasma cholesterol elevation by 40-63% and reduced cholesterol concentrations in the atherogenic VLDL and LDL. Atherosclerotic lesion area in mice treated with Dunaliella 50 was 60-83% lower compared with mice fed the high-fat diet alone. beta-Carotene-deficient Dunaliella did not influence plasma cholesterol and atherogenesis, suggesting that beta-carotene is essential for a Dunaliella protective effect. Moreover, by administrating Dunaliella powder containing different levels of 9-cis and all-trans beta-carotene isomers, we found that the effect on plasma cholesterol concentration and atherogenesis is 9-cis-dependent. Dunaliella 50 also inhibited fat accumulation and inflammation in the livers of mice fed a high-fat diet, which was accompanied by reduced mRNA levels of inflammatory genes. These results in mice suggest that 9-cis beta-carotene may have the potential to inhibit atherogenesis in humans.
An evolutionarily stable strategy for aggressiveness in feeding groups

Animals searching for food in groups display highly variable degrees of aggressiveness. In this paper I present an individualbased game theoretical model of how gregarious animals should adjust their level of aggressiveness to their environmental conditions. In accordance with behavioral observations, the predicted level of aggressiveness increases progressively with decreasing food availability and increasing animal density. The proposed model also predicts a positive influence of food energy value and handling time on the level of aggressiveness within the group. In addition, the model provides information about the influence of aggressive behavior on individual foraging success, interference, and population dynamics. Adaptive behavioral rules for aggressiveness in consumers are predicted to respond to both competitors and food density in a way that contributes to stabilization of the dynamics of population systems.
Disturbances in the normal regulation of SREBP-sensitive genes in PPARα-deficient mice

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor a (PPAR a )-null mice were used to investigate the nature of the relationship between the normal circadian rhythm of he- patic PPAR a expression and the expression of the lipo- genic and cholesterogenic sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-regulated genes, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase (FAS), and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl- CoA reductase (HMG-CoAR). The expression of FAS and HMG-CoAR varied rhythmically over the diurnal cycle in the normal mice, with patterns that were the opposite of that of PPAR a . The diurnal variation of lipogenic and cho- lesterogenic gene expression was attenuated or abolished in the PPAR a -null mice. This resulted in decreased expression compared with normal mice, but only during the dark phase of the cycle, when food intake was high. The diurnal varia- tion in hepatic fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis was also abolished in the PPAR a -null animals and the variations in the concentration of plasma triacylglycerol, nonesterified fatty acids, and cholesterol were all attenuated. The failure of HMG-CoAR expression to increase during the feeding period in the PPAR a -null mice was associated with a de- crease in hepatic nonesterified cholesterol content and an increase in cholesteryl ester compared with normal mice. There was no defect in the downregulation of hepatic HMG-CoAR mRNA in response to dietary cholesterol in the PPAR a -null mice. Under these conditions, hepatic PPAR g ex- pression increased in both the control and PPAR a -deficient mice. The results suggest that PPAR a -deficiency disturbs the normal circadian regulation of certain SREBP-sensitive genes in the liver, but does not affect their response to di- etary cholesterol. — Patel, D. D. , B. L. Knight, D. Wiggins, S. M. Humphreys, and G. F. Gibbons. Disturbances in the normal regulation of SREBP-sensitive genes in PPAR a -deficient mice. J. Lipid Res. 2001. 42: 328-337.
Distribution of Candida species isolated from blood cultures in a university hospital

Amac: Kandidemi, nozokomiyal kan dolasimi enfeksiyonlari arasinda dorduncu sirada yer almaktadir. Invaziv kandidiyazda Candida albicans halen en sik tanimlanan patojen olsa da, albicans disi kandida turlerine bagli enfeksiyonlarda dramatik artis dikkati cekmektedir bu durum, klinik uygulamadaki degisimleri yansitmaktadir. Bu calismanin temel amaci kandidemi etkeni Candida turlerinin hastanemizdeki dagilimini belirleyerek hastane enfeksiyonlarinin onlenmesine katkida bulunmaktir. Yontemler: Retrospektif (2013-2014) bu calismada kan kulturlerinden izole edilen Candida turlerinin epidemiyolojik, klinik ve mikrobiyolojik karakteristikleri bildirilmistir. Bulgular: Toplam 200 Candida spp turu %38 C. albicans , %24,5 C. parapsilosis , %16,5 C. tropicalis , %13 C. glabrata , %3 C. krusei , %2 C. sake , %1 C. lusitaniae , %0,5 C. guilliermondii olarak tanimlanmistir. Tanimlanan Candida turleri en yuksek oranla (103/200; %51,5) yogun bakim unitesinde saptanmistir. Sonuc: Candida infeksiyonlari icin risk teskil eden hasta populasyonunun artmasina paralel olarak, turlerin tanimlanmasi ve etkin tedavi protokollerinin gelistirilmesi icin epidemiyolojik calismalarin yapilmasi gerekmektedir. Anahtar kelimeler: Candida, kandidemi, invaziv kandida infeksiyonu, epidemiyoloji
Review Article Spore based biosensors for detection of contaminants in milk: A review

Milk and milk products comprise essential nutrients for all age groups. Ensuring the quality and safety of dairy products is mandatory objective of the dairy industry. Bacterial spores are amongst the hardiest forms of life and can be used as biosensing elements for detection of contaminants in milk. The presence of microbial and non-microbial contaminants in milk affects the life cycle of bacterial spores and hence can be exploited as platform for the exclusive detection of aforementioned in milk. This review focuses on the application of bacterial spores as biosensing system for contaminants in milk system. Furthermore, we have focused our attention on the discussion of principal concepts of spore structure and spore germination and examples of spore based detection systems that have been achieved up until now to detect potential contaminants such as antibiotics, aflatoxins and pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes and the hygiene indicator Enterococci in milk in our laboratory. Depending on the type of sensing system, the quantitative response to the presence of target analyte based on germination or inhibition of spores could be obtained as quickly as in 3–4 hrs. The developed spore based sensing systems can detect the target analyte within the detection limits as prescribed by the various regulatory authorities, in the milk samples. Spore based biosensing systems enables the rapid and sensitive detection of the analytes and is expected to facilitate the on-site use of such sensing systems.
Corvid Density and Nest Predation in Relation to Forest Fragmentation: A Landscape Perspective

The abundance and distribution of corvids (Common Raven, Corvus corax; Hooded Crow, C. corone; Jackdaw, C. monedula; Black-billed Magpie, Pica pica; and European Jay, Garrulus glandarius) were studied across a gradient from a landscape dom- inated by agricultural land to a landscape dominated by forest in south-central Sweden. The total density and the predation rate on dummy nests increased as the proportion of agricultural land increased. This supports the suggestion that the density of corvids increases as forest becomes fragmented and intermixed with agricultural land, causing an increase in nest predation in small forest fragments. However, the different species responded differently to the proportion of forest in the landscape. The two forest-living corvids, the Jay and Raven, were absent from small forest frag- ments in a matrix of agricultural land and mainly preyed upon dummy nests inside the large forest fragments. Thus, both of these species were habitat specialists restricted to forests. Three corvids basically inhabit agricultural land, the Hooded Crow, Jackdaw, and Magpie. The Jackdaw and the Magpie showed a strong preference for agricultural land and they mainly preyed upon dummy nests in agricultural land. On the other hand, the density of Hooded Crows was higher in landscapes with a mixture of agricultural land and forest than in landscapes dominated by either agricultural land or forest, indicating a use of both agricultural land and forest. Further, Hooded Crows regularly preyed upon nests in both forest habitat and agricultural land; it is a habitat generalist. Therefore, the Hooded Crow was the most important species in the corvid family, causing increased predation pressure close to forest-farmland edges and in small forest fragments surrounded by agricultural land.
Organic and free-range egg production

This chapter includes information on the development of the free range and the organic egg production and their market shares in different countries. Consumer behaviour is investigated particularly in relation to the price and availability of non-cage eggs. Regulations on the production of free range and organic eggs and their present and future impact are examined. Nutrient supply, animal welfare, productivity, safety and environmental impact of the types of egg production are covered with a focus on the effects of using different forage materials. Egg quality parameters of egg shell, sensory properties, yolk colour and carotenoid content, egg protein, and egg products are also discussed.
ECOLOGICAL AND QUORUM SENSING POTENTIAL OF VIBRIO SP. FROM PRAWN FARMS OF TAMIL NADU COASTAL REGIONS

Marine as source of living and non-living materials helped to develop many self-employment mainly prawn and shrimp farms in India. The aim of our study was to understand the ecological levels of Vibrio sp. in these prawn farms and to estimate the level of antibacterial activity against commonly used antibiotics to determining their quorum sensing activity. We had isolated organisms using sea water source used in cultivation farms of nine different areas in the coastal region of Tamil Nadu, India from December 2009 to February 2010 and isolated around 29 isolates of Vibrio sp. using Thiosulfate Citrate Bile Salt Sucrose Agar (TCBS) medium. Microbiological analysis of these isolated microbes were carried out and tested for antibiotic susceptibility test against various antibiotics used commonly in the medical treatment and found that based on the antibiotics like trimethoprim, co-trimoxazole and tetracycline were resistant for most of the organisms. To understand the quorum sensing principles of these microbes, the primary studies of minimum inhibitory concentration were performed for having a greater view towards their antibiotic resistance and to precede further investigation in their molecular mechanism involved for their pathogenesis.
Genome rearrangements during Anabaena heterocyst differentiation

The filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 produces specialized, terminally differentiated cells called heterocysts that are the sites of nitrogen fixation. The genome of Anabaena undergoes at least two specific developmentally regulated DNA rearrangements during heterocyst differentiation. One rearrangement involves the nitrogen-fixation genes nifH, nifD, and nifK. During heterocyst differentiation, an 11-kilobase (kb) DNA element is excised from the 3′ coding region of the nifD gene by site-specific recombination within 11 base pair, directly repeated sequences present at the ends of the element. The excision results in formation of a complete nifD coding sequence and allows transcription of all three genes from a single promoter upstream of nifH. The gene xisA, located at one end of the 11-kb element, is believed to encode the site-specific recombinase responsible for excision of the element from the nifD gene. A second DNA rearrangement occurs close to the 5′ end of the nifS gene and results.
Phylogenetic Relationships Among Sphagnum Sections: Hemitheca, Isocladus, and Subsecunda

Abstract Sphagnum macrophyllum, S. pylaesii, and S. cyclophyllum are morphologically atypical in the genus Sphagnum and their systematic placement has been a source of controversy. The first is generally classified in the mono-specific section Isocladus, and the second as section Hemitheca. Sphagnum cyclophyllum is classified in the section Subsecunda, but several authors have hypothesized a close relationship between all three species. Nucleotide sequences from eight nuclear and chloroplast loci were obtained to test hypotheses about relationships among these taxa. Phylogenetic analyses resolve these species (along with S. microcarpum, closely related to S. cyclophyllum) in a well-supported monophyletic group within the section Subsecunda. Sphagnum macrophyllum is sister to S. cyclophyllum, S. microcarpum, and S. pylaesii. Sphagnum cyclophyllum and S. microcarpum form a clade that is sister to S. pylaesii. Two mutually monophyletic groups of populations are resolved within S. pylaesii, one including the European populations and the other including populations from eastern North America and South America. The European populations are almost identical at the nucleotide sequence level whereas the American populations are genetically diverse. Short, delicate pseudopodia; exceptionally large opercula; and an absence or near absence of pseudostomata appear to be synapomorphies for the clade containing S. macrophyllum, S. microcarpum, S. cyclophyllum, and S. pylaesii.
Evolução de genótipos de Streptococcus agalactiae associados a colonização na grávida

vii Indice de Figuras xi Indice de Tabelas xii Lista de Abreviaturas xiii I – Introducao 1 1. O genero Streptococcus 1 2. Streptococcus agalactiae 2 2.1. Serotipos de S. agalactiae: epidemiologia e relevância clinica 2 2.2. Colonizacao versus Infeccao 3 2.3. Prevencao da infeccao por antibioterapia 5 3. O diagnostico laboratorial de S. agalactiae 6 4. Profilaxia Antibiotica Intravenosa Intraparto 7 4.1. Resistencia aos antibioticos 8 4.2. Associacao entre serotipos e resistencia a antibioticos 9 5. Caracterizacao molecular das estirpes de S. agalactiae 9 5.1. Linhagem genetica ST17 11 5.2. Elementos geneticos moveis como marcadores epidemiologicos 12 6. Analise genomica comparativa 13 7. Factores de virulencia em S. agalactiae 14 7.1. Alpha-like Proteins 15 7.2. DNases 15
The Importance of Liming Acid Soils of the Sahel Regions of Africa to Sustain High Crop Productivity—a Case Study from the Republic of Cameroon

SUMMARY Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) has very great economic importance in Cameroon. In pot experiments, groundnut yields on highly acidified but limed soil were 50% greater than those on unlimed soil. These results demonstrate that severely acidified soils of the western highlands of Cameroon should be limed at moderate rates to sustain crop productivity.
Seasonal changes in the pigments, carbohydrates and growth of red spruce as affected by ozone

Two-year-old red spruce seedlings were exposed to various levels ot ozone, from 0.4 to 3 times ambient levels, in open-top chambers in Ithaca, NY, USA. Exposures, which varied with changes in day length, commenced on May 30, 1987 and continued until December 14, 1987. Seedling biomass, carbohydrate contents, pigment contents, and rate of electron transport were assessed twice monthly during the fumigation period. Orthogonal quadratic or cubic polynomials were used to model the response through time each variable measured. A one-way analysis of variance model was fitted to every regression coefficient in each polynomial model to test for ozone effects on seasonal physiological patterns. Ozone did not influence growth, foliar pigment content, foliar starch content, root carbohydrate content, or rate of electron transport. The seasonal change of needle raffinose content differed between exposed to low (0.4 ×, 1×) and high (2×, 3×) ozone levels. There was also a trend towards reduced total soluble sugar content foliage during late autumn in higher ozone treatments.
Genotypic and phenotypic variability of Zostera marina on the west coast of North America

The relation between environmental factors and leaf morphology of Zostera marina L. have long been unclear, primarily because the species is intrinsically variable. The common-garden method was used to determine the genetic, environmental, and interaction components of leaf size variation. Zostera marina consists of several ecotypes with a wide range of phenotypic plasticity. Variation in the morphology of Z. marina was of three types: genetic, accounting for 14% across the localities studied; environmental (phenotypic plasticity along temporal and spatial gradients), accounting for 32%; and interaction between genotype and environmental, acounting for 35%. Five ecotypes were described for the North American Pacific coast: Z. marina L. var. izembekensis Backman, Z. marina L. var. typica Setchell, Z. marina L. var. phillipsii Backman, Z. marina L. var. latifolia Morong, Z. marina L. var. atam Backman. Temporal variation was due to seasonal phenotypic changes in ecotypes. Zostera marina var. izembekensis sh.
Effects of different photoperiods on in vitro plantlet regeneration of paulownia plants

We examined the effects of different photoperiods on i n vitro plantlet regenerations of Paulownia plants. The results indicated that the rates of shoot induction from le aves treated with different photoperiods directly o r 5 d and 10 d continuous illumination and dark pretreatments resp ectively were the highest under 24 h light photoper iod condition, but the time varied with leaves of different pretre atments when the induction rate was the largest. Fo r root induction, the influences of different photoperiods on the roo ting from shoots of 3 kinds of Paulownia plants wer e various. Much longer or shorter light illumination in the ph otoperiods might inhibit the rootings of the plants . The root inductions from the shoots of P. tomentosa and P. f ortunei were inhibited much more than those of P. e longate.
Mapping RAPD and SSR markers linked to net blotch resistance gene in barley

The doubled haploid barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) population produced from a cross between H. spontaneum 650 and Femina variety was characterized by RAPD and SSR markers for resistance to Pyrenophora teres. Of 360 RAPD random primers screened against the two DNA bulks from resistant and susceptible plants, 12% revealed polymorphic bands, ten showed an association to resistance in bulks and were mapped in such a population. Four markers showed no linkage to the net blotch locus. Three out of 120 SSR primers showed polymorphism among resistant and susceptible bulks. Only, one SSR marker (GMS1) and one RAPD marker (K20) showed the lowest recombination values (0.2 and 0.27, respectively) and were the nearest to the net blotch locus (14.02 and 22.95 cM, respectively). These two markers may be employed within the breeding programs to select net blotch resistant barley genotypes on the molecular level.
Call for papers: Themed Issue: Qualitative Methods and Data in Digital Societies

The explosion of digital social data in recent years has required a response from both the social science and computational science communities. This has been framed as an attempt to move beyond the coming crisis of empirical sociology (Savage and Burrows, 2007, 2009; Edwards et al., 2013; Housley et al., 2014). The opportunities and challenges for social science from this ‘data deluge’ are wide ranging and a spectrum of thinking is emerging across the community that includes enthusiasts, skeptics and those with deep reservations. Yet, the rise of digital data and the claims being made for it also rest on human practices and social life in multiple ways (Dicks, 2012; Smith, 2014). Consequently, Qualitative Research is central to understanding how digital data is accomplished, lived and analysed.
Antibacterial action on pathogenic bacterial spore by green tea catechins

Antibacterial effects of catechins, the major green tea polyphenols, were studied using Clostridium and Bacillus spores. Incubation with crude catechins decreased the number of C botulinum and C butyricum spores but not B cereus spores. Furthermore, the effects of six catechin derivatives on spores were investigated. (−)-Epicatechin gallate (ECg), (−)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) and (+)-gallocatechin gallate (GCg) were more effective in decreasing C botulinum and C butyricum spore numbers than (+)-catechin (C) and (−)-epicatechin (EC). The vegetative growth of C botulinum and B cereus was inhibited by crude extracts of the catechins. Specifically, purified GCg and EGCg inhibited the vegetative growth of C botulinum and B cereus. The inhibitory effect of ECg on B cereus was similar to that of GCg. However, toxin-production by B cereus was not inhibited by catechin. Damage to the membrane of C butyricum spores by catechin derivatives was shown using fluorescent microscopy. This study shows that low concentrations of catechins, although requiring a long exposure time, inhibited the growth of bacterial spores. However, the effects of the purified derivatives of the catechins were not the same and GCg and EGCg were found to be the most potent. Spores that are generally resistant to many disinfectants were sensitive to catechins. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry