Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of pollen competition on maintenance of variation in fertilisation ability

Pollen competition in the pistil does not only give flowering plants the possibility to reduce inbreeding but also provides an opportunity for selection of pollen traits that increase male reproductive success. An objection to the existence of selection on pollen competitive ability is that individual variation should quickly vanish if selection is strong. A balance between selection for local adaptation of sporophytes within sites and pollen flow between sites could maintain variation in pollen competitive ability. A prerequisite is that variation in male competitive ability is condition dependent, i.e., influenced by sporophytic adaptation to a patch. This further means that selection on pollen competitive ability can occur both directly on the gamethophytic level and indirectly on the sporophytic level. Our dynamic model shows that maintenance of variation in male competitive ability is more probable when differences in pollen competitive ability influence male fitness, i.e., in cases with pollen competition, than when differences in this trait only is a side effect of selection for more viable individuals. Since there is a connection between the gamethophytic and sporophytic life-phases, the incidence of pollen competition between donors should make it more probable that variability also in sporophyte fitness is preserved.
Molecular epidemiology analysis of Brucella in ticks in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Objective To carry out a investigation on molecular epidemiological features of tick-borne Brucella in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang), and to provide a scientific basis for formulation of effective preventive and control measures. Methods In 2016-2018, parasitic ticks (including engorged females) were collected on the body surface of livestock in 10 counties (cities) along the border of Xinjiang. The free-living ticks were collected by flagging method in Alashankou. The engorged female was placed in a breathable insect tube for spawning, each egg batch was divided into two parts: one part was tick eggs, while the second part was allowed further larval development. All ticks were identified by molecular biology (16S rRNA) identification. Tick DNA was extracted, PCR was performed based on Brucella omp22 and IS711, and amplification products were sequenced and analyzed by BLAST. Results A total of 1 084 ticks were collected in 11 counties (cities), of them 747 were parasitic ticks (including 34 engorged females) and 337 were free-living ticks. Based on 16S rRNA identification, 1 084 ticks belonged to 4 genera and 5 species, and the proportions of Dermacentor nuttalli, Dermacentor marginatus, Haemaphysalis punctata, Hyalomma asiaticum and Rhipicephalus turanicus were 29.43% (319/1 084), 16.51% (179/1 084), 10.42%(113/1 084), 37.27% (404/1 084), and 6.37% (69/1 084), respectively. A total of 214 Brucella-positive nucleic acid samples were detected, the positive rate was 19.74%. The parasitic ticks' positive rate was 25.30% (189/747), and the free-living ticks' positive rate was 7.42% (25/337), parasitic ticks' positive rate was higher than that of free-living ticks (χ2=46.873, P < 0.05). Two Brucella melitensis nucleic acid samples were detected in 34 "engorged females-tick eggs" developmental stage, and one Brucella melitensis nucleic acid sample was detected in 22 "tick eggs-larvae" developmental stage. Conclusions Brucella is widely distributed in parasitic ticks and free-living ticks in Xinjiang border areas, and the parasitic ticks' positive rate is obviously higher than that of free-living ticks. The Brucella melitensis has potential transovarian transmission and transstadial transmission in ticks. In the prevention and control of livestock brucellosis, the work of killing ticks should be strengthened, including parasitic ticks on the body surface and free-living ticks in the environment. Key words: Ticks; Brucella; Transovarian transmission; Transstadial transmission
Isoniazid Activity Is Terminated by Bacterial Persistence

levofloxacin, gatifloxacin, or moxifloxacin for 7 days also failed to detect any cases of secondary resistance [5]. These findings argue strongly against resistance being the mechanism causing loss of isoniazid effect. There is an urgent need for new drugs to shorten therapy for tuberculosis and prevent relapse, for which rifampin is the prototype. It is thought that sterilizing activity indicates effects against nonreplicating bacilli. In its present form, the hollowfiber model described by Gumbo et al. appears to have little relevance to the discovery of such sterilizing drugs. However, the authors may wish to consider 2 modifications to the model: studying the combined effects of isoniazid plus ethambutol (in which case bacillary survival is due to phenotypic drug tolerance rather than to mutant selection) and substituting Bactec 12B medium, which contains palmitic acid as the sole carbon source, for enriched 7H9 broth. Palmitic acid induces the
Contamination of cattle carcasses by Escherichia coli shiga like toxin with high antimicrobials resistence

During processing of cattle carcasses, contamination may occurs with the transfer of microbiota of animals feaces to carcasses. This contamination many times may be byEscherichia coli carriers of virulence factor as stx and eae genes being classified as Shiga like toxin. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is recognized wordwide as human pathogen. A survey was performed to determine the sensibility profile to several antimicrobial drugs of STEC in carcasses obtained from an abattoir in Brazil between March 2008 and August at 2009. A total of 120 STEC were isolated. All isolates were confirmed as being E. coli by their biochemical analysis and submitted to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of stx, eae and ehly genes. No strains was isolated being carriers of ehly gene. The number of isolates carriers of eae gene were 48/120. The most frequent resistance was seen against cephalothin (84.0%), streptomycin (45.0%), nalidixic acid (42.0%) and tetracycline (20.0%). Multidrug resistance (MDR) to three or more antimicrobial agents was observed in 46 (38.3%) E. coli isolates. The findings of STEC and MRD show that cattle carcasses may be a reservoir of pathogenic bacterial for the consumer public. Key words: Multi-drug resistance, Escherichia coli, shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli(STEC).
Presentation and management of diabetic ketoacidosis in adults in Malta

Aim: The aim of this audit was to assess adherence to local guideline in the management of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). Method: Patients admitted with DKA between April 2013 and March 2015 were identified and data was retrospectively collected from patients’ confidential files and Isoft ® . Data collected included initial parameters recorded and biochemical investigations taken (initial and subsequent assessment of pH, HCO 3- , blood glucose, potassium levels and urinary ketones), insulin regime started and intravenous fluid administered. Results: During the established time period 40 cases of DKA were identified in 18 patients. Median age was 33 years with a female preponderance of 60%. Six patients had newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus while 8 patients had more than one admission of DKA. All cases had capillary blood glucose monitoring (BGM) and/or venous random blood (plasma) glucose (RBG) checked and pH and HCO 3- recorded on admission. 0.9% sodium chloride was the intravenous fluid started in all cases (as recommended by the guideline) and a median of 6.75L was prescribed during the first 24 hours. The median time spent on intravenous insulin infusion was 42.7 hours while the median time to pH >7.30, HCO 3- >15mmol/L and negligible urinary ketones were 6.88, 12.83 and 34.5 hours respectively. Subcutaneous insulin was started at a median time of 48.21 hours from initiation of DKA protocol. Conclusion: This audit showed good adherence to local guideline. The great discrepancy between the time to pH >7.3 and the time to negligible urinary ketones highlights the need to introduce tools to measure systemic ketone production in the management of DKA with an update in the current local clinical practice guideline.
Quality variations in transgenic rice with a synthetic cry1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis

In order to estimate the potential of transgenic rice, characteristics related to grain quality and starch viscosity were investigated in six japonica lines based on three primary transgenic lines containing a synthetic cry1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis. No significant differences were found between the transgenic lines and the wild type, including negative lines and an untransformed line. All six transgenic lines were comparable in size, milling quality, appearance quality and physicochemical properties to the wild type that were derived from. One exception was that the lines derived from the primary transgenic line TR0-101 had smaller grains. Crude protein contents were equivalent in all the material tested, but Cry1Ab protein was only detected in grains of transgenic rice and was undetectable in the cooked rice. The viscosity of the starch differed between the transgenic lines, the wild type and other controls, and two transgenic lines had breakdown values (BDV) and setback values (SBV) similar to the wild type. A positional effect of T-DNA insertion on starch viscosity was found in three primary transgenic lines.
EFFECT OF GROWTH REGULATORS AND OSMOTICA IN ALLEVIATING SALINITY EFFECTS ON THE GERMINATION OF SALICORNIA UTAHENSIS

Salicornia utahensis Tiderstrom is a perennial halophyte from the family Chenopodiaceae and is widely distributed in brackish water playas of northern Utah. Salicornia utahensis produces seeds under high salinity and deposits its seed on saline soil. Seeds showed only 65% germination in distilled water. Seed germination decreased with the increase in salinity and less than 5% seeds germinated at 900 mM NaCl. We determined the role of germination regulating chemicals in alleviating salinity stress. This germination was substantially enhanced with the inclusion of ethephon, fusicoccin (FC), and kinetin, under saline conditions while gibberellic acid, thiourea, proline and betaine had little effect. Rate of germination showed a similar pattern with that of percentage germination.
Fuzzy Logic Energy Management Strategy of a Multiple Latent Heat Thermal Storage in a Small-Scale Concentrated Solar Power Plant

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems allow us to effectively store and release the collected thermal energy from solar thermodynamic plants; however, room for improvements exists to increase their efficiency when in operation. For this reason, in this work, a smart management strategy of an innovative LHTES in a micro-scale concentrated solar combined heat and power plant is proposed and numerically investigated. The novel thermal storage system, as designed and built by the partners within the EU funded Innova MicroSolar project, is subdivided into six modules and consists of 3.8 tons of nitrate solar salt kNO3/NaNO3, whose melting temperature is in the range 216 ÷ 223 °C. In this study, the partitioning of the storage system on the performance of the integrated plant is evaluated by applying a smart energy management strategy based on a fuzzy logic approach. Compared to the single thermal energy storage (TES) configuration, the proposed strategy allows a reduction in storage thermal losses and improving of the plant’s overall efficiency especially in periods with limited solar irradiance. The yearly dynamic simulations carried out show that the electricity produced by the combined heat and power plant is increased by about 5%, while the defocus thermal losses in the solar plant are reduced by 30%.
Direct regeneration and rapd assessment of male inflorescence derived plants of musa cuminata cv. berangan

Regenerated plants were established using male inflorescence of Musa acuminata cv. Berangan. Explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) solid medium supplemented with three different concentrations of 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP). After 2 weeks, whitish bud-like structures (WBLS) were obtained and MS media supplemented with 70.0 µM BAP was observed as the best media for the growth of WBLS. After 3 months, shoot-like structures emerged and MS media supplemented with 31.0 µM BAP gave a large number of shoot formation. Normal looking plantlets were obtained within 4 - 6 months with an average of 80 - 130 shoots regenerated from each male inflorescence. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was carried out to determine the clonal fidelity on in vitro Musa acuminata cv. Berangan micropropagated from male inflorescence derived from the same mother plant. Eighteen arbitrary decamer primers were used to amplify DNA from in vitro plants materials. All RAPD profiles from regenerated plants were monomorphic thus no somaclonal variation was detected. A total of 81 bands were scored from PCR amplification of genomic DNA from 15 micropropagated plants. This was further confirmed by the value of similarity index which was equaled to 1. This result implied that male inflorescence could be used as an alternative explant for commercial planting
Conservation of tree genetic resources of North-Eastern Lagos Nigeria

This study investigates the rate of concurrent depletion on the remnant flora growing in the Northeastern part of Lagos, which lies in the South-western part of Nigeria. Tree species growing in this area are not spared from advancing civilization, which has resulted in inevitable loss of genetic resources. Hence, molecular technique is adopted in an effort to conserve the genetic resources of the tree species. Samples were collected at random from various sites in north eastern part of Lagos and identified. A total of 66 tree species was recorded. Genomic DNA was extracted from fresh leaves samples following modified cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) DNA extraction protocol. The DNA when viewed on 1% agarose revealed bands of high molecular weight. Also, spectrophotometric check on the genomic DNA showed a good quality DNA samples with absorbance ratio of 1.7 to 1.8. The purified DNA was dissolved in buffer and stored at -80°C in the established DNA Bank at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria. This can be used for further investigations including understanding genetic and evolutionary relationships between taxa, functional analysis of genes, comparative genomics, DNA barcoding and plant breeding amongst others.
Positive Effects on Game Species of Top Predators by Controlling Smaller Predator Populations: An Example with Lynx, Mongooses, and Rabbits

Top predators have often been persecuted because of their supposed negative effects on species of economic concern on which they feed. In some cases, however, they may actually benefit their prey through intraguild predation on other smaller predators that share the prey. In each of two representative situations, in one of which lynx were present and in the other absent, we (1) estimated gross numbers of rabbits taken by lynx and Egyptian mongooses (smaller predators that are themselves preyed upon by lynx); (2) simulated size-structured rabbit populations of different densities, taking into account the reproductive value of the individuals taken by predators; and (3) estimated actual rabbit densities. Numbers of rabbits taken by predators during a year werefound to be between 4.8 and 9.5 times greater when lynx were notpresent. After ayear, rabbit population growth for an initial rabbit density of 15/ha was between 12% and 22% lower when lynx were not present For lower initial rabbit densities, the positive effect of lynx presence on rabbits was greater. Actual rabbit densities in the areas used by lynx were 2-4 times higher than in areas not used by lynx, even though these areas were similar or identical in habitat composition. These results support the suggestion that removal of top predators may sometimes have a negative effect on prey populations of human economic concern.
Degradation of Antibiotics By Bacteria and Fungi From The Aquatic Environment

The potential of using bacteria and fungi from aquatic environment to degrade a mixture of two antibiotics, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin, was investigated. The antibiotics were added to river water at a concentration of 4 and 120 mg.L -1 for ciprofloxacin and erythromycin respectively. Three variations of the study unit were setup. The first having increased phosphate concentration; the second having slight increase in pH; and the last having increased phosphate concentration and slight increase in pH. The pH of all the study units was reduced on day 15. Preliminary biodegradation tests showed that though biodegradation of the antibiotics were achieved, phosphate augmentation and variation in pH had no significant effect on the biodegradability of the antibiotics. The results indicate that some bacteria and fungi from aquatic environment exposed to antibiotics will develop the ability to degrade the antibiotics, and develop resistance to the antibiotics and some other antibiotics. The degrading ability of these organisms does not depend on phosphate augmentation and variation in pH of the external environment.
Aggressiveness and Expressiveness as a Language Strategy in Political Discourse

In regards to ethnic and social stratification, the Slovak Republic is among the diversified countries and this stimulates cultural-social, economic, linguistic or ethnic discourses in society. These stimuli are being noticed by several political subjects of the extreme right and these subjects then present them through radical expressive means. These usually surprise the recipient by their exaggerated catastrophic scenarios about the state of the country or captivate the addressee by the attempt of right-wing populists to save the country or to mobilize the party against the threat. The aim of such expressions is to arouse negative as well as positive emotions in the recipient, which means that radical language strikes at the lowest human urges. It is a typical tool of right-wing populists which is characterized by several language strategies and its aim is to draw attention to a given political party. The interest of the addressee in populist rhetoric intensifies due to the simplicity of the language which provides space for an easy interpretation of the message by a wide spectrum of the public of various age and education levels.
Toxicants and Osmoregulation in Fish

Fish are extremely sensitive to many water-borne toxicants, because these affect the gills by increasing the permeability to water and ions of the gill epithelium and by inhibition of the ion exchange activity of the chloride cells. The compensatory responses of the fish will significantly increase the energy required for maintenance of water and ion homeostasis, and this will result in reduced growth and reproduction. The effects of toxicants are to a great extent comparable to those of stressors such as confinement, transport, and handling, not only where the endocrine and metabolic responses are concerned, but also with respect to the osmoregulatory disturbances produced. Stressors may affect osmoregulation indirectly through the action of catecholamines on the gills. Furthermore, stressors induce immunosuppression and this may result in gill damage by infectious agents. Many toxicants evoke a stress response, and thus it is difficult to determine the mechanism of action of toxicants on the gills, because the specific effects of the toxicants are hard to distinguish from the effects of non-specific stress responses on the gills. This further implies that the negative effects of many toxicants and non-toxicant stressors on gill structure and hydromineral balance are additive. This aspect needs more attention in aquaculture.
A triple mode robust sliding mode controller for a nonlinear system with measurement noise and uncertainty

This research work proposes a novel triple mode sliding mode controller for a nonlinear system with measurement noise and uncertainty. The proposed control has the following goals (1) it ensures the transient and steady state robustness of the system in closed loop (2) it reduces chattering in the control signal with measurement noise. Fuzzy system is used to tune the appropriate order of the fractional operators for the proposed control system. Depending on the tuned range of the fractional operators, the proposed controller can operate effectively in the following three modes (1) classical sliding mode (SMC) (2) fractional order sliding mode (FSMC) (3) Integral sliding mode control (ISMC). With the noisy feedback, the performance of the classical SMC and SMC with boundary layer degrades significantly while ISMC shows better performance. However ISMC exhibits large transient overshoots.The proposed control method optimally selects the appropriate mode of the controller to ensure performance(transient and steady state) and suppresses the effect of noisy feedback. The proposed scheme is derived for the permanent magnet synchronous motor, s (PMSM) speed regulation problem which is subject to uncertainties, measurement noise and un-modeled dynamics as a case study. The effectiveness of proposed scheme is verified using numerical simulations.
Predicting algal sensitivity to a pesticide stress

Twelve freshwater phytoplankton species were used to investigate the factors affecting the toxicity of the organophosphorus insecticide fenitrothion (O,O-dimethyl-O-nitro-m-tolyl phosphorothioate) to algae. The unicellular chlorophytes Ankistrodesmus falcatus, Chlamydomonas segnis, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Chlorella vulgaris, Cosmarium sp. , Pediastrum sp. , Scenedesmus obliquus, Selenastrum capricornutum, and Staurastrum sp. ; the bacillariophyte Navicula sp. ; and the cyanophyte Anabaena sp. were exposed to three concentrations (0.1, 1.0, and 10.0 mg/L) of fenitrothion. Differential growth effects were observed among the species exposed to fenitrothion over short (96 h) and long-term (14 d) durations. Fenitrothion concentrations eliciting a 50% growth reduction over 96 h (EC50) ranged from 0.8 to 24.4 mg/L. Selected properties of the test algae (cell size, lipid content, and bioconcentration capacity) were measured and examined for their relationship to fenitrothion sensitivity. Strong correlations were obtained between fenitrothion sensitivity and cell surface area/volume (S/V) ratios, cell lipid content, and fenitrothion bioconcentration capacity of the cells, suggesting that these attributes may be useful predictors of differential sensitivity to lipophilic xenobiotics in unicellular phytoplankton. A positive relationship observed between cell S/V ratio and the bioconcentration of fenitrothion further implicates algal cell size as a significant factor in alga/pesticide interaction and subsequent vulnerability to lipophilic xenobiotics.
Effect of Red Pepper (Capsicum annuum) on Pigmentation of Blue Streak Hap (Labidochromis caeruleus)

The orange-red hue of the skin of blue streak hap (Labidochromis caeruleus) is one of the desirable and necessary traits sought by aquarists and commercial producers. In this study, the effect of two concentrations (20 g/kg and 50 g/kg) of red pepper (Capsicum annuum) meal on the skin coloration of juvenile blue streak hap was examined. In a 45-day feeding trial, nine plastic 20-l baskets were each stocked with 10 fish (1.07±0.02 g), fed at 3% of their body weight. Skin color was measured in the center of the body. At the end of the trial, skin redness (a*), yellowness (b*), and chroma (C*) were greater, while skin luminosity (L*) and hue (H°ab) were less in fish fed the diets containing red pepper than in fish fed the control diet without red pepper (p<0.05). Results show that red pepper meal can be used as an alternative natural carotenoid source in blue streak hap diets and that 50 g/kg is an appropriate dietary level to ensure good pigmentation, suitable growth, and feed utilization in blue streak hap.