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Major advancements in ecology and biodiversity conservation have been made thanks to methods for marking and individually tracking animals. Marking animals is both widely used and controversial due to the potential consequences for animal welfare, which are often incompletely evaluated prior to implementation. Two outstanding knowledge gaps concerning the welfare consequences of individual marking are their short-term behavioural impacts and the relative impacts from marking versus the handling of animals while carrying out procedures. We addressed these knowledge gaps through an experimental study of alpine newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris) in which we varied handling and marking procedures. Examining individual responses to handling, toe clipping and visible implant elastomer (VIE) injection over 21 days showed that handling and marking elicited increased newt activity and hesitancy to feed compared to animals that did not get handled or marked. These effects were apparent even when animals were handled only (not marked), and marking did not further increase the magnitude of responses. Increases in newt activity and feeding hesitancy were transient; they were not observed in the weeks following handling and marking. While previous studies emphasise the welfare impacts of marking procedures themselves, these findings highlight that handling alone can elicit behavioural changes with possible costs to welfare. Yet, the transient nature of behavioural responses suggests that immediate costs of handling may be subsequently compensated for in the short term.

The common Giant Pigweed or Black Pigweed Trianthema portulacastrum L.is a well-known hepatoprotactant against chemical-induced toxicity. In this study, we evaluated the radioprotective activity of T. portulacastrum stem extract in Swiss albino mice through survival assay and confirmed by histopathology of the liver and jejunum. We observed that at higher concentrations (200 mg/kg body wt.) of extract, the survival of mice was 20% higher. The mechanism of protection was evaluated by endogenous colony-forming assay, bone marrow cell count, membrane integrity, and antioxidant enzymes of the liver. Histopathology of the liver and jejunum revealed that irradiated animals to have suffered loss of normal architecture of the liver in the form of hepatic sinusoid dilation and neutrophil infiltration, and distorted structure of villi in the jejunum of mice was observed. Pre-treatment of mice with extracts of Trianthema portulacastrum (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body wt.) attenuated the effects of radiation in a dose-dependent manner. Further, the increased spleen colony numbers and augmented number of bone marrow cells in extract pre-treated mice, in comparison with untreated irradiated mice suggest the protective activity of T. portulacastrum. The treated group of mice also showed increased activities of antioxidant enzymes measured in tissue homogenates of the liver as compared to the untreated irradiated controls. Our present study demonstrated dose-dependent radioprotective property of T. portulacastrum against membrane damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In anthropological sciences, the areas of the bones where muscles or ligaments attach ("entheses" or "muscle attachments") are routinely used for reconstructing habitual physical activity based on skeletal remains. However, several previous studies have argued against this practice, considering the low measuring repeatability of most traditional evaluation techniques and the former lack of supportive experimental evidence for an actual effect of physical activity on entheseal morphology. In 2016, I proposed a repeatable virtual approach for reconstructing habitual physical activity using entheseal morphology, which has been validated based on several experimental studies on laboratory animal species and human skeletons with uniquely detailed and longitudinal occupational documentation. This method, which was later named the "Validated Entheses‐based Reconstruction of Activity" (VERA) method, relies on a precise protocol for virtually delineating and quantifying entheseal areas on three‐dimensional bone models. The obtained area measurements are then subjected to size adjustment and multivariate statistical analyses, which have been experimentally shown to reveal group correlations among entheses that reflect habitual coordination among muscle groups. This paper presents the first critical review of all the various statistical approaches previously employed for analyzing entheses using VERA (so far), providing the first coherent step‐by‐step protocol for the complete univariate and multivariate analysis of entheseal three‐dimensional data. These include the introduction of a new, simple, and fast plotting technique for the initial screening of group entheseal patterns prior to multivariate analysis (i.e., the "VERA Bar‐Chart"), followed by the calculation of the "group entheseal patterning index" (hereafter GEPI%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nikolai K. Koltzoff (Koltsov) (1872-1940) is one of the key figures in Russian biology. He essentially initiated Russian physicochemical biology and established a large scientific school in the area. Among his disciples, there are the geneticists B.L. Astaurov, S.S. Chetverikov, N.P. Dubinin, V.P. Efroimson, I.A. Rapoport, V.V. Sakharov, and N.V. Timofeeff-Ressovsky; histologist G.I. Roskin, experimental surgeon A.G. Lapchinsky, developmental biologist M.M. Zavadovsky, physiologist L.V. Krushinsky, microbiologist S.M. Gershenson, biochemist V.A. Engelhardt, hydrobiologist G.G. Vinberg, cytologist M.A. Peshkov, and many other famous Soviet biologists. He made several fundamental discoveries; the first of them was the discovery of the cytoskeleton (1903). He was the first to formulate the idea of a crystal-like mechanism for copying inherited information (1927) and the principles of epigenetics (as well as the term itself, in 1934; it seems astonishing, but as early as 1915, he hypothesized that the gene methylation might be a mechanism of genetic variability). He started the work which later led his disciples V.V. Sakharov and I.A. Rapoport to the discovery of chemical mutagenesis. His research on sex regulation in silkworms was later successfully continued by B.L. Astaurov. Koltzoff encouraged S.S. Chetverikov, the entomologist, to study the genetics of natural Drosophila populations, which went on to form the basis of the Modern Synthesis reconciling Darwinian evolutionary theory and the Mendelian laws of heredity. Unfortunately, the name of N.K. Koltzoff has almost sunk into oblivion. This is largely due to the fact that mentioning his name was prohibited in the USSR over a long period of time, since he was a staunch opponent of Lysenko. In this paper dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Koltzoff, we briefly describe the milestones of the life and scientific research of this outstanding biologist and his scientific school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of 'key innovations' has long been influential in theoretical and empirical approaches to understanding adaptive diversification. Despite originally revolving around traits inducing major ecological shifts, the key innovation concept itself has evolved, conflating lineage diversification with trait-dependent ecological shifts. In this opinion article we synthesize the history of the term, clarify the relationship between key innovations and adaptive radiation, and propose a return to the original concept of key innovations: the evolution of organismal features which permit a species to occupy a previously inaccessible ecological state. Ultimately, we suggest an integrative approach to studying key innovations, necessitating experimental approaches of form and function, natural history studies of resource use, and phylogenetic comparative perspectives. The concept of 'key innovations' – the evolution of phenotypic traits that permit shifts into previously inaccessible ecological spheres – has been a powerful idea in evolutionary biology. The expectation that key innovations should result in increased species richness or adaptive radiation is conceptually problematic. The roles of behavior and physiology in major ecological shifts characteristic of key innovation evolution needs more research attention. Studies of key innovations that integrate experimental performance and evolution approaches, measures of ecological resource use, and novel phylogenetic comparative methods pose great promise for conceptual and empirical advances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract As APS President‐elect, I participated in the Williamsburg Retreat in 1989 to address the issue of keeping member societies in FASEB. The Retreat led to focusing on public affairs and reducing society dues. As APS President, I met with leadership of ASBMB to convince them to remain in the restructured FASEB. As the first elected President of the new FASEB in 1992, I organized member societies to participate in NIH Strategic Plan meeting to maintain the priority of funding of unsolicited investigator‐initiated research instead of a top‐down approach. A new Office for Policy Analysis and Research was established to pursue proactive public affairs activities and strategic thinking. In response to qualitative and quantitative threats to biomedical research funding, I worked with FASEB member societies and the Public Affairs office to mobilize letter‐writing and a petition drive to the President and Members of US Congress, resulting in >20,000 signatures. This led to a 6.1% increase of FY94 funding, instead of a cut. When FASEB’s annual meeting was changed to Experimental Biology (EB), I worked with EB to ensure the smooth transition. I organized Tang Prize Lectures which became the highly successful EB plenary lectures. My involvement with FASEB was helpful in the formation of NIBIB in 2001 and recruitment of BMES as a member society in 2008.

For over 20 years, the Schmid Training Course (STC) has offered unique opportunities for marine biology students from European universities to learn about marine model organisms. While the topics of the course have continuously changed over the years with the advent of new research techniques and discoveries, the pedagogical approach has remained largely the same – a combination of lectures, lab practicals, and field excursions. Several life science researchers, who have taught in the STC for many years, sought to bring the course's pedagogical approach into the 21st century, and with the support of Erasmus+ Programme of the European Community funding, the Digital Marine project was developed. Digital Marine began in 2018 as an international partnership between the six research centers from which the STC instructors hail, and its main objective was to introduce a flipped, blended approach to learning and teaching with respect to established and emerging marine biological model systems. The Digital Marine platform, which covers 12 marine model organisms, is now publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent volume, edited by Marco Piccolino and entitled Rita Levi Montalcini e il suo Maestro, una grande avventura nelle neuroscienze alla scuola di Giuseppe Levi, is the stimulus for situating in a historical perspective the formidable achievements in the twentieth century neurosciences of Rita Levi-Montalcini. The volume points to the importance for Levi-Montalcini of the technical and theoretical background acquired during the period spent in the Turin Anatomical Institute directed by Giuseppe Levi, a prominent figure of the twentieth century biology. In opposition to a static conception of the morphological research, Levi promoted a dynamic and functional approach based on the modern technologies. This attitude, which had a long tradition in the Italian biomedical research, dating up to the epoch of Marcello Malpighi, was revived by Levi and by his master Giulio Chiarugi, and represented Rita's atout in her path of discovery of the Nerve Growth Factor, one of the main breakthroughs in the history of the modern neurosciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As APS President‐elect, I participated in the Williamsburg Retreat in 1989 to address the issue of keeping member societies in FASEB. The Retreat led to focusing on public affairs and reducing society dues. As APS President, I met with leadership of ASBMB to convince them to remain in the restructured FASEB. As the first elected President of the new FASEB in 1992, I organized member societies to participate in NIH Strategic Plan meeting to maintain the priority of funding of unsolicited investigator‐initiated research instead of a top‐down approach. A new Office for Policy Analysis and Research was established to pursue proactive public affairs activities and strategic thinking. In response to qualitative and quantitative threats to biomedical research funding, I worked with FASEB member societies and the Public Affairs office to mobilize letter‐writing and a petition drive to the President and Members of US Congress, resulting in >20,000 signatures. This led to a 6.1% increase of FY94 funding, instead of a cut. When FASEB's annual meeting was changed to Experimental Biology (EB), I worked with EB to ensure the smooth transition. I organized Tang Prize Lectures which became the highly successful EB plenary lectures. My involvement with FASEB was helpful in the formation of NIBIB in 2001 and recruitment of BMES as a member society in 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major advancements in ecology and biodiversity conservation have been made thanks to methods for marking and individually tracking animals. Marking animals is both widely used and controversial due to the potential consequences for animal welfare, which are often incompletely evaluated prior to implementation. Two outstanding knowledge gaps concerning the welfare consequences of individual marking are their short-term behavioural impacts and the relative impacts from marking versus the handling of animals while carrying out procedures. We addressed these knowledge gaps through an experimental study of alpine newts ( Ichthyosaura alpestris ) in which we varied handling and marking procedures. Examining individual responses to handling, toe clipping and visible implant elastomer (VIE) injection over 21 days showed that handling and marking elicited increased newt activity and hesitancy to feed compared to animals that did not get handled or marked. These effects were apparent even when animals were handled only (not marked), and marking did not further increase the magnitude of responses. Increases in newt activity and feeding hesitancy were transient; they were not observed in the weeks following handling and marking. While previous studies emphasise the welfare impacts of marking procedures themselves, these findings highlight that handling alone can elicit behavioural changes with possible costs to welfare. Yet, the transient nature of behavioural responses suggests that immediate costs of handling may be subsequently compensated for in the short term., Competing Interests: None., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Early-life experiences can shape life histories and population dynamics of wild animals. To examine whether stressful stimuli experienced in early life resulted in carryover effects in later life stages, we conducted several experimental manipulations and then monitored wild fish with passive integrated transponder tags during juvenile out-migration and adult return migration. In total, 3,217 juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta) were subjected to one of six manipulations: chase to exhaustion, thermal challenge, food deprivation, low-concentration cortisol injection, highconcentration cortisol injection, and sham injection, plus a control group. Cortisol and food deprivation treatments were previously shown to have short-term effects on juveniles, such as lower survival to out-migration and changes in migration timing.However, it remained unknown whether any of the six manipulations had effects that carried over into the adult phase. We therefore investigated whether these extrinsic manipulations, as well as intrinsic factors (size and condition), affected probability of return as adults and time spent at sea. Of the 1,273 fish that out-migrated, 146 returned as adults. We failed to detect any effect of treatments on return rates, while high-concentration cortisol weakly affected time spent at sea in one tagging event.We also found that juvenile condition was positively correlated to likelihood of adult return in only one tagging event.Overall, our findings did not identify either intrinsic factors or extrinsic stressful early-life experiences that have strong effects on fish that survive to adulthood. This suggests that some species may be more resilient than others to stressful stimuli encountered early in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fascioliasis is a freshwater snail-borne zoonotic disease. The Northern Bolivian Altiplano is a very high altitude endemic area where the highest human prevalences and intensities have been reported. Preventive chemotherapy by treatment campaigns is yearly applied. However, liver fluke infection of cattle, sheep, pigs and donkeys assures endemicity and consequent human infection and re-infection risks. A One Health action has therefore been implemented. Activity concerns lymnaeid vectors and environment diversity. Studies included growth, egg-laying and life span in laboratory-reared lymnaeids. Different habitat types and influencing factors were assessed. All populations proved to belong to Galba truncatula by rDNA sequencing. Analyses comprised physico-chemical characteristics and monthly follow-up of water temperature, pH and quantity, and lymnaeid abundance and density. Population dynamics in the transmission foci differed. Mean environmental temperature was lower than fluke development minimum temperature threshold, but water temperature was higher, except during winter. A two generations/year pattern appeared in permanent water habitats, and one generation/year pattern in habitats drying out for months. The multidisciplinary control measures can be extended from one part of the endemic area to another. These studies, made for the first time at very high altitude, constitute a baseline useful for fascioliasis control in other countries.

The order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) is among the most ancestral groups of winged insects with drastic morphological changes upon metamorphosis, and thus important for understanding evo-devo aspects of insects. However, basic developmental descriptions of Odonata have been scarce. In an attempt to establish the foundation of developmental and experimental biology of Odonata, we present an unprecedentedly comprehensive survey of dragonflies and damselflies, in total 158 larvae representing 49 species and 14 families, wherein morphological changes of all the final and/or penultimate instar larvae were photographed and monitored everyday. Although their morphology and development were diverse, we consistently identified two visually recognizable morphogenetic events in the final larval instar, namely start of wing expansion and onset of melanization on the wing sheaths, thereby categorizing the final instar into three stages. While the duration of the first stage ranged 4–66 days across diverse Odonata species, the second or third stages exhibited relatively small variation ranging 3–22 days or 1–8 days, respectively, probably reflecting the steady and irreversible metamorphosis process after stage 2. We also described other characteristic morphological changes during the larval development, although they were observed only in some Odonata species and lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saccharomyces cerevisiae serves as a useful model in experimental biology. Within dermatology research, several studies have examined this organism's role in skin physiology, pathology, and treatment. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used to explore the mechanisms of melanogenesis as its extract inhibits key enzymes involved in melanogenesis and melanosome transfer. Additionally, the lack of probiotic intestinal Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been associated with psoriasis, potentially related to the anti-inflammatory effects of the yeast. Furthermore, antibodies against Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been observed in skin conditions, including atopic dermatitis. Saccharomyces cerevisiae may even cause skin infections, such as septic emboli in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia. Lastly, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has potential use in vaccine development against melanoma and is utilized to study various treatment modalities such as zinc pyrithione, an ingredient often used in anti-dandruff shampoo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All students of xylem structure–function relations need to be familiar with the work of Sherwin Carlquist. He studies xylem through the lens of the comparative method, which uses the appearance of similar anatomical features under similar conditions of natural selection to infer function. "Function" in biology implies adaptation; maximally supported adaptation inferences require experimental and comparative xylem scientists to work with one another. Engaging with comparative inferences of xylem function will, more likely sooner rather than later, bring one to the work of Sherwin Carlquist. To mark his 90th birthday, I highlight just a few examples of his extraordinarily perceptive and general comparative insights. One is "Carlquist's Law", the pervasive tendency for vessels to be solitary when background cells are conductive. I cover his pioneering of "ecological" wood anatomy, viewing xylem variation as reflecting the effects of selection across climate and habit variation. Another is the embolism vulnerability–conduit diameter relationship, one of the most widely invoked structure–function relationships in xylem biology. I discuss the inferential richness within the notion of Carlquistian paedomorphosis, including detailed functional inferences regarding ray cell orientation. My final example comes from his very recent work offering the first satisfactory hypothesis accounting for the geographical and histological distribution of scalariform perforation plates as an adaptation, including "Carlquist's Ratchet", why scalariform plates are adaptive but do not re‐evolve once lost. This extraordinarily rich production over six decades is filled with comparative inferences that should keep students of xylem function busy testing for decades to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is part of a special issue entitled "Looking Backward, Looking Forward: HSNS at 50," edited by Erika Lorraine Milam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations were made on the flowers of Cajanus cajan in order to estimate the impact of the activity of Dactylurina staudingeri on pollination and yields at Dang, in 2016 and 2017. For each of these years, 540 flowers buds labeled on 120 plants were divided into four treatments: 120 open-pollinated flowers, 120 bagged flowers, 200 flowers protected, then unbagged, exclusively visited once by D. staudingeri and rebagged, and 100 flowers bagged, unbagged and rebagged without insect or any other organism visit. The fruiting rate, the mean number of seeds per pod and the percentage of normal seeds were compared between these treatments. Among 33 insect species recorded, D. staudingeri was prominent with 12.19% of 6037 visits. This bee harvested intensely nectar and collected slightly pollen from C. cajan flowers. The mean foraging speed was 7.14 flowers/min. Through the pollinating efficiency of a single flower visit, D. staudingeri increased the fruiting rate by 14.71%, the mean number of seeds per pod by 35.29% and the percentage of normal seeds by 17.31%. The conservation of D. staudingeri colonies close to C. cajan farms is recommended to improve yields of the crop and to promote the good meliponiculture in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relative to its size, no scientific institute was hit harder by National Socialism than Vienna's Institute for Experimental Biology (Biologische Versuchsanstalt, BVA). Of the 33 collaborators before March 1938, 18 were expelled immediately after the Anschluss for racist reasons. Among them were two of the three founders and sponsors, zoologist Hans Przibram and botanist Leopold von Portheim. Seven members of the BVA were killed in the Holocaust, including Przibram. The building was destroyed by fire during the last days of the war. Afterwards the Institute remained forgotten and suppressed. It took more than 75 years after Austria's annexation, before the Academy of Sciences -- from 1914 to 1945 owner of the BVA -- acknowledged the tragic history of the Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Lungfishes are a singular group of Sarcopterygii which in the Neotropics is represented by Lepidosiren paradoxa. They present anatomical and physiological features that allow them to survive under adverse conditions. Here we described and illustrated the otoliths and determinate their composition. L. paradoxa skull is also described and illustrated with emphasis in the jaw morphology. This skull was compared with the skull of the other extant lungfishes Neoceratodus (Australian lungfish) and Protopterus (African lungfish). Experimental observations were included on the behavior in aquarium and on the construction of galleries under laboratory conditions. L. paradoxa otoliths presented subcircular shape with a convex internal face, a narrow sulcus of regular edges, marginal and parallel to the dorsal edge. The external face presented calcareous concretions and heterogeneously distributed undulations. The otholith chemical composition differs from most of marine and freshwater teleost, but resembles to other dipnoos. The skull streamlined presents numerous bones fusions in the occipital and parietal region and exhibits a significant sagital crest. The jaw suspension showed fusion of superior jaw with the skull. Both jaws have dental plates with prominent crests. The distance between the first and the second crest in the inferior jaw increases in relation to total length. Overall, skull and otolith showed great similarities with the African genus.

Respirometry is a ubiquitous practice in experimental biology, but there is a lack of standard practices when analysing the resulting data, limiting transparency and reproducibility. As respirometry datasets become increasingly large and analytical approaches more complex, manipulating the data remains a challenge and often intractable with existing tools.Here we describe the respRR package, a collection of functions that implement a workflow‐based approach to automate the analysis and visualisation of respirometry data. The package can be used for closed, intermittent flow, flow‐through and open‐tank respirometry and uses well‐defined sets of rules to reliably and rapidly generate reproducible results.We demonstrate how respR uses novel computing methods such as rolling regressions and kernel density estimates to reliably detect maximum, minimum and most linear sections of the data, and critical oxygen tension, Pcrit.Although designed specifically with aquatic respirometry in mind, the object‐oriented approach of the package and the unit‐less nature of its analytical functions mean that parts of the package can easily be used to estimate linear relationships from a range of applications in many research disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small organic molecule, bis(pyrazolium p-toluenesulphonate) (BPPTS), was crystallized, characterized and used to scavenge free radicals in biological systems. SXRD and spectroscopic analyses were used to confirm the structure of BPPTS. Methanolic and ethanolic solutions of BPPTS were used to assess the stability of the proposed drug using the UV-vis spectrophotometric technique. Optimization of the molecular structure was carried out by DFT with B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of basis set. MEP and Fukui functions that elaborate theoretically the predominant electrophilic, nucleophilic and radical sites in BPPTS were correlated with experimental biological screening. BPPTS exhibits strong activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli, comparable with all other analyzed pathogens. The free radical scavenging activity of BPPTS was assessed by both experimental studies and theoretical calculations. The binding sites of DPPH, which can bind to BPPTS, were also predicted by Fukui functions. DNA binding of BPPTS in UV-vis studies revealed the groove mode of binding due to the occurrence of hyperchromism. The phenomenon of hyperchromism was established by the Hirshfeld surface analysis of BPPTS, which confirmed the presence of π⋯π interactions (2.4%). Molecular docking established a positive correlation between experimental bio-screening reports and simulated data. ADMET properties were also calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly held that in vivo biological experimental models are concrete and non-fictional. This belief is primarily supported by the fact that in vivo studies involve biological models which are alive, and what is alive cannot be fictional. However, I argue that this is not always the case. The design of an experimental model could still render an in vivo model fictional because fictional elements and processes can be built into these in vivo experimental models. These fictional elements are essential parts of a credentialed fiction because the designs of in vivo experimental models are constrained by imaginability, conceivability, and credit-worthiness. Therefore, despite its fictionality, it is credible for an in vivo experimental model to stand in for the phenomenon of interest. • It is commonly held that in vivo biological experimental models are concrete and therefore cannot be fictional. I argue that it is not always the case. • Scientific models may be false with respect to the real world, but their assumptions are true in the model world. • An in vivo experimental model could be fictional in the sense that they can be contrived adroitly to represent the phenomenon of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Accurately targeting metal ion-binding sites solely from protein sequences is valuable for both basic experimental biology and drug discovery studies. Although considerable progress has been made, metal ion-binding site prediction is still a challenging problem due to the small size and high versatility of the metal ions. In this paper, we develop a ligand-specific predictor called MIonSite for predicting metal ion-binding sites from protein sequences. MIonSite first employs protein evolutionary information, predicted secondary structure, predicted solvent accessibility, and conservation information calculated by Jensen-Shannon Divergence score to extract the discriminative feature of each residue. An enhanced AdaBoost algorithm is then designed to cope with the serious imbalance problem buried in the metal ion-binding site prediction, where the number of non-binding sites is far more than that of metal ion-binding sites. A new gold-standard benchmark dataset, consisting of training and independent validation subsets of Zn2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Na+, K+, Cd2+, and Ni2+, is constructed to evaluate the proposed MIonSite with other existing predictors. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed MIonSite achieves high prediction performance and outperforms other state-of-the-art sequence-based predictors. The standalone program of MIonSite and corresponding datasets can be freely downloaded at https://github.com/LiangQiaoGu/MIonSite.git for academic use. Highlights • We construct a new gold-standard benchmark dataset to evaluate the prediction performance. • We propose E-AdaBoost to relieve the negative impact buried in class imbalance dataset. • We design an accurate predictor, MIonSite, for predicting metal ion-binding sites. • Lots of appropriate experiments can verify that E-AdaBoost and MIonSite are effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urolithiasis is a common disorder in the veterinary clinic and is considered as one of the most frequently cause of morbidity. This disorder is closely associated with urinary pH and nutrition plays a key role in the control of this disease, because through dietary manipulation it is possible to modify the urinary pH. Sulfur is considered macroelement with a strong influence on the acid-base status and may be crucial to control urinary pH in cats. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of addition of different sources of sulfur (S) in the diet of cats on the urinary parameters and acid-base balance. Forty-two healthy adult cats were divided into 3 groups, and each group of 14 cats received 7 diets in a complete randomized block design. Calcium sulfate (CaSO4), DL-methionine (DLM) and methionine hydroxy analog (MHA) were added to a control diet in two levels (1.28g S/kg and 2.56g S/kg) to formulate 6 other experimental diets. The acid-base balance was evaluated by hemogasometry in samples of venous blood. The DLM at the highest level and MHA differed of the control diet in relation to urinary pH (P<0.05). Calcium sulfate; although, not differentiated from the control diet, has been shown to alter urinary pH despite its zero electrolyte balance. Apparently, the alkalizing effect of calcium was not sufficient to avoid sulfate acidification of the urine. Treatments showed no alteration of the acid-base balance of the animals and no affect the consumption of the diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]