Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptability of old Italian flint maize (Zea mays L.) varieties to different weed control systems

The current diffusion of high-yielding hybrid maize varieties has relegated old Italian flint varieties for polenta dishes to domestic scale. However, increasing demands for traditional foods as well as the exploitation of the local biodiversity furnish the base for the rediscovery of old flint varieties. Their cultivation represents an important source of income for low-input agricultural systems, marginal areas and organic systems. Information is currently lacking on the management of old flint varieties. This article provides information on the management of three flint maize varieties, concerning yield level and the adaptations found under chemical and mechanical weed control methods. The varieties Marano, Nostrano dell'Isola, Pignoletto and Ottofile were described and evaluated. The varieties assayed were shown to completely recover from damage caused by mechanical weed control means and to tolerate herbicide treatment with foramsulfuron and bromoxynil. In our study we observed increasing presence of Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Chenopodium album, Galinsoga ciliata and Panicum dichotomiflorum in the non-chemical system in comparison with the chemical system. No differences of weed infestation were recorded among varieties. The yield obtained was about 4 t ha−1 in both chemical and mechanical weed control strategy.
Preliminary Observations On a Population of Gastrosaccus Sanctus (Van Beneden) (Mysidacea, Gastrosaccinae) On a Mediterranean Sand Beach of Israel

[Das Verhalten und die okologische Verbreitung einer Population von Gastrosaccus sanctus (Van Beneden) an der Mediterrankuste Israels werden beschrieben. , Das Verhalten und die okologische Verbreitung einer Population von Gastrosaccus sanctus (Van Beneden) an der Mediterrankuste Israels werden beschrieben. ]
Sobrevivencia del parásito Leishmania en el insecto vector: interacciones moleculares

Leishmania requiere de dos hospedadores para completar su ciclo de vida, un vertebrado y un insecto vector. Los flebotominos vectores han logrado sobrevivir en coexistencia con el parasito Leishmania. Esta convivencia se ha logrado gracias a las diversas estrate-gias de defensa desarrolladas por el insecto, que incluyen estrategias de inmunidad innata. La sobrevivencia del parasito en el vector se debe a su vez, a mecanismos complejos de evasion y co-evolucion. Reconocer estos mecanismos de interaccion Leishmania-vector y profundizar su estudio molecular, puede contribuir al desarrollo de blancos para nuevas estrategias que reduzcan la capacidad vectorial de los flebotominos vectores de Leishmania.
Carbon isotope discrimination and wood anatomy variations in mixed stands of Quercus robur and Quercus petraea

The two most common oak species in western Europe, Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, display different ecological behaviours, particularly with respect to their responses to drought. The ecophysiological basis of this niche difference is not understood well. Here we test the hypothesis that these two species present distinct water use efficiencies (WUEs), using the carbon isotope discrimination approach. Leaves and 13 dated ring sequences were sampled in 10 pairs of adult trees growing side by side. Carbon isotope composition was measured on cellulose extracts. In addition, relationships between carbon isotope discrimination and wood anatomy were assessed at the tree level. Quercus robur displayed a 1.0‰ larger isotopic discrimination than Q. petraea, and therefore a lower intrinsic WUE (-13%). This interspecific difference of isotopic discrimination was quite stable with time and independent of tree radial growth and climate fluctuations. A strong positive correlation was observed between average tree values of earlywood vessel surface area and 13 C isotopic discrimination. This correlation was even higher with 13 C of the 1976 dry year (r = 0.86). These observations led to the hypothesis that hydraulic properties of xylem could exert a constraint on leaf gas exchange, resulting in a larger WUE for individuals with smaller vessel cross-section area.
Molecular Characterization of a ${\beta}$-1,4-Endoglucanase Gene from Bacillus subtilis H12

A -1,4-endoglucanase gene from Bacillus subtilis H12 was cloned into Escherichia coli JM109 (pBC8) and sequenced. The endoglucanase gene with an insert DNA of 2.5 kb possessed an open reading frame of 1,500 bp encoding a mature protein of 499 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 55 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence showed similarity to those of the known neutral cellulase genes of B. subtilis PAP115 (99.2%) and BSE616 (97.8%), as well as the alkaline gene of Bacillus sp. N4 (55.1%). The endoglucanase activity expressed by E. coli (pBC8) was localized in the periplasmic fraction (80%) and the cytoplasmic fraction (20%). An endoglucanase was purified from the periplasmic fraction by performing gel filtration and anion exchange chromatography. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 31 kDa by SDS-PAGE, and the maximum activity occurred at pH 7 and . The enzyme easily hydrolyzed soluble substrates such as carboxymethyl cellulose and barely -glucan, whereas the sigmacell and xylan, the known insoluble substrates, were not entirely hydrolyzed.
Neue Strategien zur extrazellulären Produktion rekombinanter Proteine mit Escherichia coli

Bestimmte Escherichia coli-Stamme produzieren antibiotisch wirkende Bacteriocine, welche unter Beteiligung sog. Bacteriocin freisetzender Proteine (BRP) in die extrazellulare Umgebung sekretiert werden. Die Nutzbarkeit dieser BRP fur die Sekretion periplasmatischer Proteine in das Kulturmedium von Escherichia coli ist seit langem bekannt und konnte bereits fur eine Vielzahl rekombinanter Proteine gezeigt werden. Dennoch existieren bislang vergleichsweise wenige Untersuchungen zur Vermeidung oder Verringerung des toxischen Charakters von BRP, der das bakterielle Wachstums negativ beeinflusst und ein inharentes Problem der BRP-Coexpression bei der sekretorischen Produktion heterologer Proteine darstellt. In dieser Arbeit wurde auf verschiedene Weise und mit unterschiedlichem Erfolg versucht, die BRP-Toxizitat zu vermeiden bzw. zu verringern. Neben Untersuchungen zur Optimierung von BRP auf molekularer Ebene wurden zur Verbesserung der Proteinsekretion insbesondere prozesstechnische Ansatze verfolgt, welche sich auf die Steuerung der BRP-Coexpression durch entsprechende Induktionsstrategien fokussierten.
Gènes impliqués dans l'apoptose prostatique provoquée par un déficit androgénique

La prostate est le siege d'affections invalidantes et graves telles l'hyperplasie benigne et, surtout, le cancer. Ce dernier se caracterise par un taux de proliferation cellulaire particulierement faible, et il est admis aujourd'hui qu'il resulte essentiellement d'un deficit du processus d'apoptose. La mort cellulaire programmee est un phenomene actif qui requiert la synthese de nouvelles proteines. Plusieurs genes, regles au cours de l'apoptose affectant les cellules epitheliales prostatiques privees d'androgenes, ont ete mis en evidence. Toutefois, la (ou les) cascade(s) d'activation conduisant a la mort de ces cellules demeure(nt) encore fort mal connue(s). L'identification de nouveaux genes impliques dans cette apoptose dependante d'un deficit en androgenes, notamment a l'aide de techniques de clonage differentiel, pourrait s'averer tres importante pour le developpement de nouvelles strategies de traitement du cancer prostatique.
Experimental warming interacts with soil moisture to discriminate plant responses in an ombrotrophic peatland

Question A better understanding of the response of Sphagnum mosses and associated vascular plants to climate warming is relevant for predicting the carbon balance of peatlands in a warmer world. Open-top chambers (OTCs) have been used to investigate the effect on soil biogeochemical processes in peatlands, but little information is available on the effects of OTCs on microclimate conditions and the associated response of the plant community. We aimed to understand how simulated warming and differences in soil moisture affect plant species cover. Location A Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in French Jura. Methods We used OTCs to measure the effect of a near-ground temperature increase (+1.5 °C on average) on vegetation dynamics over five growing seasons (2008–2012) in a Sphagnum-dominated peatland, in two adjacent microhabitats with different hydrological conditions – wet and dry. Microclimatic conditions and plant species abundance were monitored at peak biomass in years 1, 2, 3 and 5 and monthly during the plant growing season in year 5. Results The response to warming differed between vascular plants and bryophytes, as well as among species within these groups, and also varied in relation to soil moisture. Andromeda polifolia abundance responded positively to warming, while Vaccinium oxycoccus responded negatively, and Eriophorum vaginatum showed a high resistance. Conclusion Depth of rooting of vascular plants appeared to control the response in plant abundance, while moss abundance depended on various other interacting factors, such as shading by the vascular plant community, precipitation and soil moisture.
SUSTAINABLE HARVESTING STRATEGIES OF WILLOW PTARMIGAN IN A FLUCTUATING ENVIRONMENT

Stochasticities in population dynamics as well as uncertainties in parameters often make it difficult to obtain reliable predictions of future population fluctuations. Here we use a long-term data set to model the fluctuations of a Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) population in Central Sweden. We use this model to examine how different harvest strategies affect mean annual yield, and how these results are influenced by uncertainties in parameter estimates. Restricted proportional harvest (each hunter is allowed to shoot only a limited number of grouse per day) gave slightly higher mean annual yields than proportional threshold harvesting (harvesting only a fixed proportion of the difference between the estimated population size and the threshold when this difference is positive). However, variance in annual yield was reduced by restricted proportional harvesting because periods with low population size became shorter. Uncertainties in population parameters did not affect which strategy was optimal although those uncertainties strongly influenced the expected yield and the uncertainties in the hunting statistics. Inaccuracies in population projections are therefore important to estimate and to model when developing sustained harvest strategies for fluctuating populations.
Thermal Stratification and the Potential for Enhanced Phosphorus Release from the Sediments in Lake Okeechobee, USA

Abstract We inferred the potential importance of enhanced phosphorus (P) release from the sediments during periods of thermal stratification in Lake Okeechobee USA, a large, shallow, eutrophic lake. This was accomplished by determining the frequency and duration of thermal stratification, using monitoring data collected during 1997 and 1999, with multiparameter sondes, which were positioned at a weather platform in the center of the lake. We also monitored dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, turbidity and redox potential, to assess if any relationships existed between these variables and thermal stratification. Thermal stratification was infrequent, documented for 42 and 74 total hours, and occurred for an extrapolated period of at least one hour on approximately 18 days or 5% of both years. Thermal stratification occurred almost exclusively during the summer (May – September), and was brief, typically lasting for one to six hours per event, although there was one event during 1999, where 49 continuous hours of thermal stratification were documented. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and redox potential (ORP) measurements collected 0.5 m above the sediment surface suggested that the top of the sediment may not have ever become anoxic and was rarely reducing. Chemical characteristics during periods of thermal stratification, compared to those considered favorable for P release based on previous Lake Okeechobee sediment studies, indicate that thermal stratification is usually insufficiently long for chemical conditions (anoxic or low DO and ORP) to develop above the sediment surface that would enable enhanced P release from the sediments.
Des maladies génétiques simulent une infection virale congénitale par la présence d’interféron

Des maladies genetiques simulent une infection virale congenitale par la presence d’interferon (IFN). En 1988, nous avions attire l’attention sur la decouverte de taux eleves d’IFN dans le liquide cephalorachidien (LCR) et le sang chez des enfants atteints d’une encephalopathie familiale severe. Celle-ci, appelee syndrome Aicardi-Goutieres (SAG) est caracterisee par des calcifications des noyaux gris centraux, une atteinte de la myeline et la presence de lymphocytes dans le LCR. L’ensemble des signes mime une infection virale acquise in utero si bien que le SAG est parfois pris pour les sequelles d’une infection congenitale. Le diagnostic differentiel est d’importance sachant que le SAG est une maladie autosomale recessive dont la vraie nature est souvent seulement reconnue a la naissance d’un second enfant atteint. Les mutations dans cinq genes correspondant a l’abolition fonctionnelle de trois nucleases TREX1, ARNase H2, SAMHD1 ont ete identifies comme etant chacune la cause du SAG. La relation entre les deficiences de ces enzymes qui assurent le metabolisme d’acides nucleiques cellulaires et la stimulation de l’immunite innee est discutee ; le role de l’IFN dans la pathogenie des lesions cerebrales est argumente.
Energy allocation to growth and reproduction in a viviparous lizard endemic to the highlands of the Andes, Argentina

Individuals devote energy intake to growth, maintenance and reproduction, so knowing the way in which they allocate this energy between competing demands is essential to understand their relationship with the environment. Phymaturus lizards, viviparous and mostly herbivorous, inhabit cold environments of the Andes highlands of Argentina and Chile and the volcanic plateaus of Patagonia, Argentina. Herein, we discussed the interplay between reproductive effort and growth in Phymaturus punae, a lizard with a biannual female reproductive cycle and the lowest annual reproductive output of the genus. Using skeletochronology, we estimated that juveniles reach up to 7–8 years and that adults have 8–18 years in females and 9–20 years in males. Juveniles grow faster than adults and adult females have higher specific growth rates than adult males. The adult life span was 10 years for females and 11 for males and the relative reproductive time was 1.25 for females and 1.22 for males. Net reproductive rate resulted in 7.5 offspring throughout the females' reproductive life. During adulthood a negative correlation between the ring width and age was found in males, while in females the ring width showed a pattern related with the yearly reproductive state. Females tend to have wider rings when pregnant and narrower rings when vitellogenic. The intersexual differential investment in growth is congruent with different requirements for reproduction between genders, whereas the tendency of females to grow less during vitellogenesis than during pregnancy, suggests differences in the metabolic costs of these reproductive processes. Even when P. punae exhibits high life span, females have a relative low lifetime reproductive effort and net reproductive rate. However, this still represents a high reproductive investment for this species, considering the harsh conditions of the environments where it lives, the viviparous reproductive mode and their herbivorous diet.
Molecular mechanisms governing CD4+ T cell recognition of human papilloma virus (HPV) E6 in cervical carcinoma

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is common and the majority of infected individuals successfully clear with this virus. But in less than 5% of the cases the infection by high-risk HPV induces cervical cancer, which is preceded by a phase of persistent HPV infection during which the host immune system fails to eliminate the virus. Effective eradication of HPV-positive tumours may require both CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell-mediated immune responses. Specific CD4 T cell responses against the protein E6 of the HPV16 have been described in healthy subjects, but appear absent in patients with cervical cancer. This suggests the importance of specific CD4+ T-cell responses against E6 protein for the clearance of the virus. The aim of this project was to investigate the molecular interactions involved in T cell recognition of the HPV16 E6127-141 (DKKQRFHNIRGRWTG) peptide, in particular, mapping the important amino acids for T cell receptor (TCR) and MHC contact. Initially, this was to be done directly by studying the biophysical interactions between soluble TCR and MHC molecules. Several constructs were made with the pBACgus expression vector in an attempt to generate soluble HLA-DR1/HPV16 E6127-141 complexes. These vectors were used to generate recombinant baculovirus to infect insect cells, but unfortunately no stable MHCipeptide complexes were expressed. Since the biophysical approach was unsuccessful, the impact of changes in the peptide structure was assessed using functional T cell activation (IFN-gamma secretion). Two separate T-cell clones against HPV16 E6127-141 were tested against truncated versions of the peptide. The results show that the amino acids from the Cterminal end are essential for functional activation of both T-cell lines. Conversely, the amino acids from the N-terminal end do not appear to be as important. These variations in the responses induce by truncated peptides could be due to effects on TCR contact or MHC binding. However, molecular modelling of the HPV16 E6127-141 associated with the MHC complex suggests that the Cterminal end of the peptide contributes to MHC binding. These two clones were tested against variants of HPV16 E6127-141 from different High risk HPV types (HPV31, 52, 33, 58, 67). Three types of response could be demonstrated. Indeed two peptides (HPV31, 52) have a null effect on the two T-cell clones, two others (HPV33, 58) have a partial agonist effect and one peptide (HPV67), has an antagonist effect on the T-cell clone. Based on these limited results, a model mechanism for viral immune evasion is proposed, whereby co-infection or sequential infection by different high risk HPV types could induce antagonistic effects on T cell responses. This could potentially inhibit effective clearance of a single HPV type, leading to viral persistence and disease.
Is there temporal variation on solid waste stranding in mangroves? A case study in Ratones mangrove, Florianopolis, Brazil

Mangrove areas are decreasing around the world due to population increase. The most damaging activities include embankments, shrimp farming, and dumping of wastes. The temporal and spatial stranding patterns of solid waste are important to establish probable sources and understand their role in the dispersion of organisms through natural areas. In this study, we analyze temporal variation of solid waste stranding in Ratones mangrove, northwestern Santa Catarina Island (Brazil). Samplings were carried out monthly during one year in four different areas. In each area, two 50 m2 random plots were sampled per month. All solid waste strands on the plots were removed, quantified, and qualified. Plastic and nylon items (both made of petroleum) represented 80% of waste stranding. There were significant differences in temporal stranding with regard to plastic, but not to nylon. Wastes were found in all samples throughout the year, and some areas are more affected than others. Places with dense edges of Spartina alterniflora Loisel (Poaceae) seem to have less solid waste inside mangrove forest, perhaps due to the effect of grass acting as a mesh barrier. The results reflected concerns with conservation, considering that these coastal ecosystems are impacted by waste dumping throughout the year, with highest concentration within important nursery points.
Role of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway in epithelial‐mesenchymal transition of human prostate cancer induced by hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α

Objectives: Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important process in tumor development, and several studies suggest that the Wnt/β‐catenin signal pathway may play an important role in EMT. However, there is no direct evidence showing that the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway actually determines the EMT induced by an exogenous signal. Our previous research has successfully proved that overexpression of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) could induce EMT in LNCaP cells, but not in PC‐3. The present study aims to determine whether the signal of HIF‐1α for inducing prostate cancer cells to undergo EMT might possibly pass through the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway.
Simultaneous operation of ultradian and circadian rhythms in Chlamydomonas reinhardii

Abstract Synchronous cultures of the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardii established by repetitive light and dark cycles displayed both ultradian and circadian rhythms in chlorophyll a levels. The ultradian oscillation had a period of approximately 55 min and appeared superimposed upon the circadian rhythm. These data support the theory that the ultradian oscillator may be a common element in both circadian and cell cycle timing.
Morphological analysis of female gametophyte development in the bel1 stk shp1 shp2 mutant

Abstract In Arabidopsis thaliana, cell fate in developing ovules is determined by the action of the homeodomain factor BELL1 (BEL1) and of the MADS-box factors SEEDSTICK (STK), SHATTERPROOF1 (SHP1) and SHP2. The analysis of the bel1 and the stk shp1 shp2 mutants revealed that the functional megaspore is formed, however, it does not proceed into megagametogenesis. In the bel1 stk shp1 shp2, quadruple mutant megasporogenesis does not take place. In this article we describe a detailed morphological analysis of the quadruple mutant, and we discuss the possibility that BELL1, STK, SHP1 and SHP2 not only control integument identity determination and development, but that they might also play a role during megasporogenesis.
Islet xenotransplantation – concepts, challenges, and chances

prevent human anti-pig T cell reactivity will be evaluated. In order to evaluate viral safety, genomic distribution of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) and their expression will be studied in the multitransgenic pigs bred for xenotransplantation (Project VIII: Ralf Tönjes and Joachim Denner). Successful immunosuppressive protocols will be investigated in the lifesupporting orthotopic heart transplant model which represents the only accepted pre-clinical animal model before considering clinical trials of cardiac xenotransplantation.