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Current Biology : CB Sep 2017Barbier et al. give a quick guide to apical dominance, whereby a plant's main shoot dominates and inhibits the outgrowth of other shoots.
Barbier et al. give a quick guide to apical dominance, whereby a plant's main shoot dominates and inhibits the outgrowth of other shoots.
Topics: Crops, Agricultural; Plant Development; Plant Shoots
PubMed: 28898653
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.024 -
Animals : An Open Access Journal From... Dec 2020The Sicilian black pig (SB) (Nero Siciliano), also known as the Nero dei Nebrodi, Nero delle Madonie, or Nero dell'Etna pig ecotype, is an autochthonous Italian breed.... (Review)
Review
The Sicilian black pig (SB) (Nero Siciliano), also known as the Nero dei Nebrodi, Nero delle Madonie, or Nero dell'Etna pig ecotype, is an autochthonous Italian breed. The origins of this breed date back to Greek and Carthaginian dominations. In ancient times, its breeding was fairly common throughout Sicily, registering only a temporary reduction during the Arab domination. This breed is known primarily for its distinctive black coat, although some individuals display wattles and a partially or wholly white face. The SB pig has a birth rate with an average per sow of 7.6 piglets, each of 1.4 kg live body weight, showing an average daily gain (ADG) of 346 g/day during the fattening period. Slaughter generally takes place at an average age of 390 days, with an average live weight of 95 kg. This breed also appears to withstand adverse climatic conditions and resist disease. The purpose of this manuscript is to offer a general overview regarding the Sicilian Black pig and to consider the recent findings related to genome investigation. The recent application of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies in the study of the genome of autochthonous breeds showed that polymorphisms of some candidate genes for production performance and phenotypic traits represent important information for selection processes. The protection of autochthonous breeds, intended as sources of genomic diversity for the further improvements of pigs for commercial use, constitutes a valuable opportunity to create new sustainable pig chains.
PubMed: 33297476
DOI: 10.3390/ani10122326 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Feb 2022Individuals occupying dominant and subordinate positions in social hierarchies exhibit divergent behaviours, physiology and neural functioning. Dominant animals express...
Individuals occupying dominant and subordinate positions in social hierarchies exhibit divergent behaviours, physiology and neural functioning. Dominant animals express higher levels of dominance behaviours such as aggression, territorial defence and mate-guarding. Dominants also signal their status via auditory, visual or chemical cues. Moreover, dominant animals typically increase reproductive behaviours and show enhanced spatial and social cognition as well as elevated arousal. These biobehavioural changes increase energetic demands that are met via shifting both energy intake and metabolism and are supported by coordinated changes in physiological systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes as well as altered gene expression and sensitivity of neural circuits that regulate these behaviours. Conversely, subordinate animals inhibit dominance and often reproductive behaviours and exhibit physiological changes adapted to socially stressful contexts. Phenotypic changes in both dominant and subordinate individuals may be beneficial in the short-term but lead to long-term challenges to health. Further, rapid changes in social ranks occur as dominant animals socially ascend or descend and are associated with dynamic modulations in the brain and periphery. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of how behavioural and phenotypic changes associated with social dominance and subordination are expressed in neural and physiological plasticity. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
Topics: Aggression; Animals; Hierarchy, Social; Reproduction; Social Dominance; Territoriality
PubMed: 35000436
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0443 -
PloS One 2020In many objective optimization problems (MaOPs), more than three distinct objectives are optimized. The challenging part in MaOPs is to get the Pareto approximation (PA)...
In many objective optimization problems (MaOPs), more than three distinct objectives are optimized. The challenging part in MaOPs is to get the Pareto approximation (PA) with high diversity and good convergence. In Literature, in order to solve the issue of diversity and convergence in MaOPs, many approaches are proposed using different multi objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). Moreover, to get better results, the researchers use the sets of reference points to differentiate the solutions and to model the search process, it further evaluates and selects the non-dominating solutions by using the reference set of solutions. Furthermore, this technique is used in some of the swarm-based evolutionary algorithms. In this paper, we have used some effective adaptations of bat algorithm with the previous mentioned approach to effectively handle the many objective problems. Moreover, we have called this algorithm as many objective bat algorithm (MaOBAT). This algorithm is a biologically inspired algorithm, which uses echolocation power of micro bats. Each bat represents a complete solution, which can be evaluated based on the problem specific fitness function and then based on the dominance relationship, non-dominated solutions are selected. In proposed MaOBAT, dominance rank is used as dominance relationship (dominance rank of a solution means by how many other solutions a solution dominated). In our proposed strategy, dynamically allocated set of reference points are used, allowing the algorithm to have good convergence and high diversity pareto fronts (PF). The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has significant advantages over several state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of the quality of the solution.
Topics: Computer Heuristics; Neural Networks, Computer
PubMed: 32525939
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234625 -
Polymers May 2020This review presents first, rather succinctly, what are the important points to look out for when preparing good wood composites, the main types of wood composites... (Review)
Review
This review presents first, rather succinctly, what are the important points to look out for when preparing good wood composites, the main types of wood composites manufactured industrially, and the mainly oil-derived wood composite adhesives and binders that dominate and have been dominating this industry. Also briefly described are the most characteristic biosourced, renewable-derived adhesives that are actively researched as substitutes. For all these adhesives, synthetic and biosourced, the reviews expose the considerable progresses which have occurred relatively recently, with a host of new approaches and ideas having been proposed and tested, some even implemented, but with even many more already appearing on the horizon.
PubMed: 32414198
DOI: 10.3390/polym12051115 -
Cell Reports Oct 2023Healthy Kupffer cell (KC) pool is dominated by embryonic KCs (EmKCs), preserving liver homeostasis. How the KC pool varies upon injury remains unclear. Using chimeric...
Healthy Kupffer cell (KC) pool is dominated by embryonic KCs (EmKCs), preserving liver homeostasis. How the KC pool varies upon injury remains unclear. Using chimeric mice with bone marrow (BM) cells labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein, we identify that BM monocyte-derived KCs (MoKCs) become dominant in cholestatic- or toxic-injured livers via immunofluorescence and mass cytometry. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) unveils the enhanced proliferative, anti-apoptotic properties and repair potential of MoKCs compared with EmKCs, which are confirmed in vivo and ex vivo through flow cytometry, qPCR, Cell Counting Kit-8, and immunofluorescence. Furthermore, compared with EmKC-dominated livers, MoKC-dominated livers exhibit less functional damage, necrosis, and fibrosis under damage, as tested by serum alanine aminotransferase activity detection, H&E and Sirius red staining, qPCR, and western blot. Collectively, we highlight that MoKCs dominate the KC pool in injured livers and show enhanced proliferative and anti-apoptotic properties while also promoting repair and attenuating fibrosis.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Kupffer Cells; Monocytes; Liver; Necrosis; Fibrosis
PubMed: 37740916
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113164 -
Brain and Behavior Dec 2019Social hierarchy is one of the most influential social structures employed by social species. While dominants in such hierarchies can preferentially access rich... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUNDS
Social hierarchy is one of the most influential social structures employed by social species. While dominants in such hierarchies can preferentially access rich resources, subordinates are forced into lower social statuses and lifestyles with inferior resources. Previous studies have indicated that the social rank regulates social behaviors and emotion in a variety of species, whereby individual organisms live within the framework of their ranks. However, in human societies, people, particularly young men, who cannot accept their own social status may show social withdrawal behaviors such as hikikomori to avoid confronting their circumstances.
METHODS
This article reviews the neural mechanisms underlying social status identified in animal studies with rodents and primates, and assesses how social rank affects animal's social behaviors and emotion which may be relevant to modern type depression.
RESULTS
Several brain regions such as medial prefrontal cortex are implicated in the formation of animal's social status, which leads to the differences in vulnerability and resilience to social stress.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of these findings, we propose that physical interventions such as voluntary exercise, diet, transcranial direct current stimulation, and psychotherapy, rather than psychotropic drugs, may be useful therapeutic approaches for modern type depression, which is a typical example of social status conflict and a phenotype of adjustment disorder to the traditional hierarchical social order.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Depression; Disease Management; Emotions; Hierarchy, Social; Humans; Prefrontal Cortex; Social Behavior; Social Class
PubMed: 31743626
DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1464 -
Physiology & Behavior Sep 2017The visible burrow system (VBS) is an ethologically relevant social stress model that creates a distinct dominance hierarchy in rats. Randall Sakai's laboratory... (Review)
Review
The visible burrow system (VBS) is an ethologically relevant social stress model that creates a distinct dominance hierarchy in rats. Randall Sakai's laboratory performed an impressive series of studies documenting the very different impact of VBS exposure on the brain and behavior of dominants (DOM) and subordinates (SUBs). Hierarchy formation causes pronounced changes in metabolism in SUBs relative to both DOMs and unstressed controls, resulting in marked weight loss and metabolic imbalance. Stress testing revealed multiple phenotypes in the VBS, including DOMs, stress-responsive SUBs and stress-non-responsive SUBs. Stress-responsive SUBs have adrenal hypertrophy and elevated baseline corticosterone, consistent with prolonged HPA axis activation; however, peak acute stress responses are not sensitized. In contrast, stress non-responsive individuals do not mount a response to an acute stress, suggesting HPA axis hypofunction. In brain, SUBs exhibit a pattern of gene regulation consistent with impaired stress inhibition (e.g., hippocampal adrenocorticosteroid receptor down-regulation and dendritic retraction) and drive of stress pathways (e.g., increased locus coeruleus tyrosine hydroxylase expression). The non-responsive phenotype is distinguished by down-regulation of paraventricular nucleus corticotropin releasing hormone expression and enhanced neuropeptide Y expression in amygdala. The brain 'signature' created by VBS hierarchy formation differed substantially from that of another well-studied chronic stress model (chronic variable stress). Thus, the impact of VBS is mediated by neurocircuit mechanisms at least in part distinct that of other chronic stress modalities, and suggests that the nature of the stressor may be an essential consideration in development of treatment strategies for stress-related diseases.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Dominance-Subordination; Psychological Tests; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 28089702
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.01.021 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2020A cement-based geological disposal facility (GDF) is one potential option for the disposal of intermediate level radioactive wastes. The presence of both organic and...
A cement-based geological disposal facility (GDF) is one potential option for the disposal of intermediate level radioactive wastes. The presence of both organic and metallic materials within a GDF provides the opportunity for both acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. However, for these processes to proceed, they need to adapt to the alkaline environment generated by the cementitious materials employed in backfilling and construction. Within the present study, a range of alkaline and neutral pH sediments were investigated to determine the upper pH limit and the preferred route of methane generation. In all cases, the acetoclastic route did not proceed above pH 9.0, and the hydrogenotrophic route dominated methane generation under alkaline conditions. In some alkaline sediments, acetate metabolism was coupled to hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis syntrophic acetate oxidation, which was confirmed through inhibition studies employing fluoromethane. The absence of acetoclastic methanogenesis at alkaline pH values (>pH 9.0) is attributed to the dominance of the acetate anion over the uncharged, undissociated acid. Under these conditions, acetoclastic methanogens require an active transport system to access their substrate. The data indicate that hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis is the dominant methanogenic pathway under alkaline conditions (>pH 9.0).
PubMed: 33343555
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.614227 -
International Journal of Environmental... Nov 2022Monodominant (one species dominates) or polidominant (multiple species dominate) cyanobacterial blooms are pronounced in productive freshwater ecosystems and pose a...
Monodominant (one species dominates) or polidominant (multiple species dominate) cyanobacterial blooms are pronounced in productive freshwater ecosystems and pose a potential threat to the biota due to the synthesis of toxins. Seasonal changes in cyanobacteria species and cyanometabolites composition were studied in two shallow temperate eutrophic lakes. Data on cyanobacteria biomass and diversity of dominant species in the lakes were combined with chemical and molecular analyses of fifteen potentially toxin-producing cyanobacteria species (248 isolates from the lakes). Anatoxin-a, saxitoxin, microcystins and other non-ribosomal peptides formed the diverse profiles in monodominant () and polidominant (, spp. and ) lakes. However, the harmfulness of the blooms depended on the ability of the dominant species to synthesize cyanometabolites. It was confirmed that . produced a greater amount and diverse range of MCs and other NRPs. In the polidominant lake, isolates of the co-dominant . , . and . synthesized no or only small amounts of cyanometabolites. In general, the profile of cyanometabolites was greater in cyanobacteria isolates than in environmental samples, indicating a high potential for toxic cyanobacteria bloom.
Topics: Lakes; Ecosystem; Cyanobacteria; Biota; Biomass
PubMed: 36430059
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192215341