Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring the stepwise phytate degradation in the upper gastrointestinal tract of pigs

The degradation and formation of inositol phosphates as affected by microbial phytase and gastrointestinal enzyme activities during the passage of phytate through the stomach and small intestine were studied in two experiments with four barrows and three collection periods. The degradation and formation of inositol phosphates were measured at the duodenal and ileal sites using Cr-NDR, TiO2 and Co-EDTA as indigestible markers. In experiment 1, the effect of graded doses of Aspergillus niger phytase (0, 150 and 900 FTU Natuphos® kg-1), added to a maize-soybean meal-based diet with very low intrinsic phytase activity on the degradation of phytate and the formation of inositol phosphates during digestion in the stomach and small intestine was investigated. In experiment 2, three different mixtures of inositol phosphates, produced by Aspergillus niger phytase, containing mainly high, intermediate and low phosphorylated inositol phosphates, were added to the same maize-soybean meal-based diet as used in experiment I. The fate of the inositol phosphates during digestion in the stomach and small intestine was studied. Experiment 1 showed that the extent of phytate degradation was dependent of the graded dietary phytase activities. At high phytase activity (900 FTU kg-1 of diet), strong phytate degradation occurred and the once hydrolysed phytate was rapidly dephosphorylated to lower inositol phosphates (mainly inositol di- and triphosphates). Intermediate inositol phosphates, such as inositol tetraphosphates, were quantitatively unimportant in duodenal and ileal digesta. At a phytase activity of 150 FTU kg-1 of diet, a broader spectrum of intermediate inositol phosphates was determined, which was probably due to a slower breakdown of phytate. Experiment 2 showed as a predominant result that lower inositol phosphates such InsP4 and InsP3 were degraded, whereas InsP2 accumulated in the duodenal and ileal digesta. No substantial disappearance of phytate from the stomach and small intestine was found when high concentrations of soluble phytate were added to the diet, which indicates that no substantial phytate absorption occurs in the upper part of the pig gut.
Karhunen-Loève's Series Truncation for Bivariate Functions

Karhunen-Loeve's decompositions (KLD) or the proper orthogonal decompositions (POD) of bivariate functions are revisited in this work. We investigate the truncation error first for regular functions and try to improve and sharpen bounds found in the literature. However it happens that (KL)-series expansions are in fact more sensitive to the liability of fields to approximate to be well represented by a small sum of products of separated variables functions. We consider this very issue for some interesting fields solutions of partial differential equations such as the transient heat problem and Poisson's equation. The main tool to state approximation bounds is linear algebra. We show how the singular value decomposition underlying the (KL)-expansion is connected to the spectrum of some Gram matrices. Deriving estimates on the truncation error is thus strongly tied to the spectral properties of these Gram matrices which are structured matrices with low displacement ranks.
Underproduction of ς70 Mimics a Stringent Response

When Escherichia coli cells enter stationary phase due to carbon starvation the synthesis of ribosomal proteins is rapidly repressed. In a ΔrelAΔspoT mutant, defective in the production of the alarmone guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), this regulation of the levels of the protein synthesizing system is abolished. Using a proteomic approach we demonstrate that the production of the vast majority of detectedE. coli proteins are decontrolled during carbon starvation in the ΔrelA ΔspoT strain and that the starved cells behave as if they were growing exponentially. In addition we show that the inhibition of ribosome synthesis by the stringent response can be qualitatively mimicked by artificially lowering the levels of the housekeeping ς factor, ς70. In other words, genes encoding the protein-synthesizing system are especially sensitive to reduced availability of ς70 programmed RNA polymerase. This effect is not dependent on ppGpp since lowering the levels of ς70 gives a similar but less pronounced effect in a ppGpp0 strain. The data is discussed in view of the models advocating for a passive control of gene expression during stringency based on alterations in RNA polymerase availability.
Egg yolk nutritional constituents as indicators of egg quality in Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.)

Variation in oocyte quality affects sustainability of finfish aquaculture products including Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.). To have an insight into role of major egg yolk constituents in the oocyte quality, egg fatty acid (FA), amino acid (AA) and folate contents were related to normal blastomere symmetry, and fertilization and hatching success. Significant correlations were found between dihomo-c-linolenic acid (DGLA, 20:3n6), palmitic acid (PA, 16:00) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5n3), and normal blastomere symmetry and survival success. Egg concentrations of myristic acid (MA, 14:0), oleic acid (OA, 18:1n9), stearidonic acid (SA, 18:4n3) and eicosadienoic acid (EDA, 20:2n6) explained 56 % variation in fertilization success. OA and EDA explained 70 % of variation in blastomere symmetry. Palmitoleic acid (POA, 16:1n7) and linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n3) concentrations explained 57% of variation in hatching success. Egg valine concentrations correlated with fertilization rates, and aspartic acid and leucine correlated with normal blastomere symmetry. Alanine and valine concentrations explained together 45% of variation in fertilization. Glutamic acid and tyrosine concentrations explained 68% of variation in normal blastomere symmetry while serine, arginine and valine explained 36% of variation in hatching. These FAs and AAa may be potential indicators of oocyte quality in Atlantic halibut.
T cell‐mediated cytolysis: on the strength of effectortarget cell interaction

Allosensitized lymphoid cell populations contain T lymphocytes that can bind to target cells and lyse them. We asked whether there was a relationship between lymphocyte target cell‐binding strength and occurrence of cytolysis. Using graded shear forces to dissociate effector‐target cell conjugates, we found that (a) within an allosensitized lymphoid cell population derived from an heterogeneous mixed leukocyte culture, there were lymphocyte‐target cell conjugates with binding strengths differing by a factor of at least 102, (b) even the minimal force required to release a significant amount of bound target cells could disrupt the plasma membranes of some tumor cells and (c) these tumor cells disrupted by shear forces were probably part of cytolysis‐conducive rather than of non‐cytolysis‐conducive conjugates.
5 The origin of the dinoflagellate plastid

Dinoflagellates are griffins, that is the merger of two eukaryotes: a heterotrophic host, the dinoflagellate, and a photosynthetic eukaryote. Our work has been focussed on the endosymbiont's identity and the massive gene transfer implied by secondary endosymbiosis. Dinoflagellates have many different types of chloroplasts, but the majority of photosynthetic dinoflagellates are pigmented with the carotenoid peridinin and chlorophyll c. The chloroplast genome of these organisms is cryptic. Genes that have been attributed to the chloroplast are encoded on minicircles that contain one or two genes. Phylogenetic analysis using these genes suggests that the peridinin chloroplast was derived from haptophytes. Since these minicircle genes have an extreme rate of change phylogenetic methods may produce misleading results. Statistical tests were used to test the quality of phylogenetic methods given these data, particularly the maximum likelihood model. To find plastid associated genes with more reasonable evolutionary rates an expressed sequence tag survey was begun. Among these sequences many typically plastid encoded genes were found including six genes that are exclusively plastid encoded in other eukaryotes. These data suggest massive chloroplast to nucleus gene transfer in dinoflagellates, and fits well with the small complement of minicircle genes. Phylogenetic analyses using these typically plastid encoded genes was also performed. It is now possible to directly test hypotheses of plastid origin within dinoflagellates and the chlorophyll c containing algae.
Corroboration of a Bioenergetics Model for Sockeye Salmon

Abstract We constructed a bioenergetics model for sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka and evaluated its sensitivity to parameter error. When used to predict annual growth, the model was most sensitive, in declining order of importance. to changes in the intercept of the dependence of consumption on body weight, the proportion of maximum consumption, the energy density of prey, low temperature and its associated proportion of maximum consumption in the temperaturedependence function, the intercept of the energy density relationship to predator weight, and the intercept of the relationship between body weight and respiration. Estimates of consumption from the model, when consumption was constrained by fixed growth, were quite insensitive to perturbation of all parameters except the energy density of prey. We computed consumption rates and energy budgets with the model and compared these with independently derived estimates for populations in Lake Dalnee, USSR; Lake Washington, USA; and Babine Lake, Canada. Th.
Lyme disease from a physician's point of view

ABSTRACT Lyme disease caused by the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, from the bite of the tick, Ixodes dammini, in the USA is a recurrent multisystemic disease beginning with the lesions of erythema chronicum migrans and followed by arthritis of the large joints, myalgia, malaise, neurologic and cardiac manifestations. Raynaud's disease and other conditions may also be associated. As clinical diagnosis may not always be clear-cut, a physician has to be vigilant in considering this disease when only a few symptoms or unrelated symptoms are present. Subclinical infections, atypical presentation, and chronic neurologic manifestations in the absence of classic Lyme disease symptoms or after they have disapeared may cause problem in the diagnosis. Presence of serum antibody in the patient of B. burgdorferi will be a diagnostic tool to consider this disease.
Testing the potential of proposed DNA barcodes for species identification of Zingiberaceae

Abstract In 2009, the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) recommended the combination of rbcL and matK as the plant barcode based on assessments of recoverability, sequencing quality, and levels of species discrimination. Subsequently, based on a study of more than 6600 samples belonging to 193 families from seven phyla, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 2 locus was proposed as a universal barcode sequence for all major plant taxa used in traditional herbal medicine. Neither of these two studies was based on a detailed analysis of a particular family. Here, Zingiberaceae plants, including many closely related species, were used to compare the genetic divergence and species identification efficiency of ITS2, rbcL, matK, psbK–psbI, trnH–psbA, and rpoB. The results indicate that ITS2 has the highest interspecific divergence and significant differences between inter‐ and intraspecific divergence, whereas matK and rbcL have much lower divergence values. Among 260 species belonging to 30 genera in Zingiberaceae, the discrimination ability of the ITS2 locus was 99.5% at the genus level and 73.1% at the species level. Thus, we propose that ITS2 is the preferred DNA barcode sequence for identifying Zingiberaceae plants.
Carbon and nitrogen balance in beech roots under competitive pressure of soil-borne microorganisms induced by girdling, drought and glucose application

The goal of this work was to increase the understanding of factors regulating nitrogen (N) competition between roots and soil microbes. For this purpose, root assimilate supply was diminished or abolished in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seedlings by girdling, drought stress or a combination of both factors. This was revealed by 13 C tracer abundance in root tips after 13 CO2 pulse labelling of the shoots. Analysis of different root tip fractions revealed that only 6% were ectomycorrhizal. Carbon (C) allocation to ectomycorrhizal and vital non-mycorrhizal root tips was ~26% higher than to distorted root tips. Drought resulted in ~30% increased ammonium (NH4 + ) and amino acid concentrations in roots and ~65% increased soil NH4 + concentrations, probably because of lower consumption of NH4 + by free-living microorganisms. Root uptake of glutamine of 13nmolg -1 fresh mass h -1 decreased 2-fold with drought, although the number of vital root tips did not decrease. Carbon content in biomass of free-living microbes increased with glucose application regardless of drought, resulting in significant depletion in soil nitrate (NO3 - ), root NH4 + and amino acid concentrations. Our results suggest that the root-soil system of young beech trees was C-limited, and this prevented amino acid metabolism in roots and microbial NO3 - consumption in the soil, thereby exerting feedback inhibition on uptake of inorganic N by roots. We suggest that rhizodeposition is a key link in regulating the plant-microbial N balance.
The mid-ventral gland of the Indian gerbil, tatera indica and soft-furred field rat, Rattus meltada

Kumari S. & Prakash I. , 1983: The mid-ventral gland of the Indian gerbil, Tatera indica and soft-furred field rat, Rattus meltada. Acta theriol. , 28, 28: 425—438 [With 3 Tables, 2 Figs. & Plates XIV—XV] The ventral scent marking gland occurs in about 91 and 72 per cent male Tatera indica and Rattus meltada respectively. It is absent in the females of the latter species but is present in about 5.8 per cent female T. indica residing in urban areas and 10.3 per cent female residing in desert grasslands. The gland size is positively and significantly correlated with body weight. The growth of the gland is a continuous process throughout the life of the rodents. No relationship has been found between the gland size and the home range of the rodents. The sebaceous alveoli in the gland of both the species are of typical holocrine type and the epidermal stratified epithelium in T. indica is smooth whereas in R. m. pallidior it is papillaeform. [Coordinating & Monitoring Centre for Rodent Research and Training, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur-342 003, India]
A Quantitative Technique to Compare and Classify Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Sounds

In an attempt to minimize observer bias, numerical taxonomy methods were used to describe and classify humpback whale sounds. The spectrograms (N = 1255) were digitized into a 16 × 21 binary matrix. The rows were 16 frequencies selected on a logarithmic scale (0.12–8 kHz). The columns were 21 time samples taken every 0.1 s. Each point of the matrix was coded 1 if it lay over part of the sound. Other binary variables were added to code for relative intensity within a sound, frequency modulation and amplitude modulation. The sounds were then compared using the Jaccard similarity coefficient for binary data, and classified with average linkage cluster analysis. This technique produced 115 clusters, which were compared with my aural and visual impressions of the sounds. I agreed with most major categories identified by cluster analysis, but many small clusters had to be fused to other categories. This was partially due to the technique used, and to the complexity of the repertoire under study. Improvements are proposed to further reduce observer bias in classification of sounds, and thus make studies of animal communication performed by different researchers or on different species more easily comparable.
Influence of Herbicides on Yield and Botanical Composition of Alfalfa Hay1

Perennial weeds frequently infest alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) swards. While herbicides have been identified that control these weeds, alfalfa tolerance to these herbicides and effects on dry matter yields and botanical and chemical composition are largely unknown. Thus, field studies were conducted on a Dodgeville silt loam (Typic Argiudoll fine-silty over clayey, mixed, mesic) soil near Mt. Horeb, Wis. in 1974 and on a Plano silt loam (Typic Argiudoll fine-silty, mixed, mesic) soil near Verona, Wis. in 1976 to compare the effects of seven herbicides applied alone, or in combination with pronamide [N (1,1-dimethylpropynyl)-3,5-dichlorobenzamide] to alfalfa swards which had been colonized with quackgrass [Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv. ] and several perennial broadleaf weed species. Forage yield and botanical composition were determined. Secbumeton (2-sec-butylamino-4-ethylamino-6-methoxy-s-triazine), cyanazine {2-[[4-chloro-6-(ethylamino) -s-triazin-2-yl] amino]-2-methylpropionitrile], metribuzin [4-amino-6-tert-butyl-3-(methylthio)-as-triazin-5(4H)-one], and S-6044 [N-benzyl-N-isopropyltrimethylacetamide / 2-cyclopropanecar-boxamide-5-(2-chloro-1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole], applied to actively growing swards in the fall reduced alfalfa yields in at least one cutting or at one location during the following season. Pronamide increased the total alfalfa yield. In 1974, common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber.) and hoary alyssum [Berteroa incana (L.) DC. ] populations increased when quackgrass was suppressed with pronamide. None of the herbicides reduced common dandelion and hoary alyssum populations. Yellow rocket (Barbarea vulgaris R. Br.) populations were reduced by secbumeton at 1.8 kg/ha, terbacil (3-tert-butyl-5-chloro-6-methyluracil) at 0.9 kg/ha, metribuzin at 2.3 kg/ha, and bentazon [3-isopropyl-1H-2,1,3-benzothiadiazin-4-(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide] at 1.7 kg/ha. None of the treatments increased total forage yields.
Seasonal infection of nonwounded peach bark by Botryosphaeria dothidea

Conidial suspensions of Botryosphearia dothhidea were applied at various concentrations to the nonwounded stems of 1-yr-old peach trees maintained under wet conditions for periods that varied. Bark necrosis increased with spore concentration and the duration of bark wetness. Similar inoculations made at 3-wk intervals during 1987 and 1989 revealed that infection occurred from March through August with a peak period from about late April through July or early August. A significant correlation was found between disease severity and temperature for a 3- to 6-wk period after inoculation. In two commercial orchards, stems of newly planted peach trees were periodically exposed to natural inoculum of B. dothidea [. ]
Análise de proteínas e isoenzimas de isolados de Rhizoctonia spp. patogênicos a Eucalyptus

Isolates of Rhizoctonia solani (anastomosis groups AG1 and AG4) and binucleate isolates of other unidentified species, all pathogenic to Eucalyptus in Brazil, were characterized by protein and isozyme (ACP, 6-PGDH, LAP, SOD, MDH e IDH) analysis. Japanese strains of R. solani AG1 and other Brazilian isolates from others hosts were also included for comparison. Differences in protein patterns and isozyme phenotypes were observed between binucleate and multinucleate isolates, and among isolates of different anastomosis groups and subgroups. The protein patterns and isozyme phenotypes of Japanese isolates of R. solani AG1 differed from those of Brazilian isolates of the same anastomosis groups and the same morphological subgroups. Some Brazilian isolates morphologically similar to R. solani AG1-IB presented high similarity in protein patterns and isozyme phenotypes. This similarity was independent of the host plant and geographical origin. Polymorphisms in protein and isozyme patterns were also observed within the Brazilian R. solani AG4 group. We discuss the usefulness of protein and isozyme analyses for characterization of Rhizoctonia spp. isolates and for genetic and phylogenetic studies of fungi of this genus.
The evolution of density–dependent dispersal

Despite a large body of empirical evidence suggesting that the dispersal rates of many species depend on population density, most metapopulation models assume a density–independent rate of dispersal. Similarly, studies investigating the evolution of dispersal have concentrated almost exclusively on density–independent rates of dispersal. We develop a model that allows density–dependent dispersal strategies to evolve. Our results demonstrate that a density–dependent dispersal strategy almost always evolves and that the form of the relationship depends on reproductive rate, type of competition, size of subpopulation equilibrium densities and cost of dispersal. We suggest that future metapopulation models should account for density–dependent dispersal
Aspectos sobre a utilização de aminoácidos totais e digestíveis nas rações para poedeiras

Aspects on the use of total and digestible amino acids in diets for laying hens The modernization of poultry laying hens resulted in birds more productive with lower body weight, lower feed intake and higher production efficiency. This modernization resulted in the need for feeding programs increasingly modern and efficient metabolically, especially for amino acids, meeting the demand biological maintenance, gain and production of the birds. In this context, knowledge of the forms of amino acids supplementation in the diet, on the basis total or digestible, is fundamental because of its participation in the formation of pullet and in the production and quality of eggs of hens and reduction in production costs. Diets based on digestible amino acids can provide productive and economic maximization and reduction in nitrogen excretion by birds. Methods for determining the digestibility of amino acids in foods can be: in vitro, indirect and direct, the latter being the most widely used scientifically.
Winter Sunlight, Ultra Violet Light, and Glass Substitutes in the Prevention of Rickets in Growing Chicks

Abstract In 1923, Hart and associates1 published data showing that light can play a very important part in the rearing of baby chicks, acting as a supplement or the equivalent to the antirachitic factor of food stuffs. Data in agreement with the above conclusions were also presented by Hughes2. The latter investigator found a condition to develop in chicks identical with mammalian rickets when birds were given adequate food, but received sunlight filtered through glass. Chicks receiving the same food and treatment, but exposed to direct sunlight for a few hours, developed normally. Since common window glass is known to shut off the beneficial ultra violet rays, much attention has been directed toward the manufacture of glass filters which will overcome this deficiency. During the past two years several of these substitutes have been tested in this laboratory for their transmissibility. However, Tisdall and Brown3 at Toronto, Canada, and Cochran and .