Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence des perturbations anthropiques, des conditions environnementales et des traits individuels sur l'utilisation de l'espace d'un ongulé alpin

L’etude de l’utilisation de l’espace permet de comprendre comment les individus se repartissent spatialement et comment ils interagissent entre eux et avec l’environnement. Mon projet portait sur l’utilisation de l’espace des chevres de montagne en fonction de trois grands types de facteurs : les perturbations anthropiques, les conditions environnementales et la periode de reproduction. Dans le cadre de travaux portant sur les impacts potentiels du developpement d’un centre de ski alpin, nous avons demontre que les chevres de montagne evitaient spatialement les perturbations anthropiques. Concernant l’influence des conditions environnementales, nos resultats indiquent que la quantite de neige fraichement tombee limite l’utilisation de l’espace des chevres de montagne de maniere plus importante que l’epaisseur totale de neige au sol. Enfin, durant la periode de reproduction, les mâles augmentent leurs deplacements mais l’utilisation de l’espace semble peu influencee par leur masse ou leur âge. Nos resultats illustrent comment l’etude de l’utilisation de l’espace peut contribuer a la conservation de la faune. %%%%Space use studies allow a better understanding of the spatial distribution of individuals and how they interact among themselves and with their environment. We studied space use of mountain goats in relation to three main factors: anthropogenic disturbances, environmental conditions, and the reproductive period. During a project on the potential impacts of the development of a ski station, we showed that mountain goats spatially avoided anthropogenic disturbances linked to recreational activities. Regarding the influence of environmental conditions, our results revealed that recently fallen snow limits mountain goat space use substantially more than cumulative snow depth. Finally, during the reproductive period, males increased movements but age and mass did not affect space use. Our results underline how space use studies can inform wildlife conservation.
Interactome-transcriptome analysis reveals the high centrality of genes differentially expressed in lung cancer tissues

Motivation Global protein interaction network (interactome) analysis provides an effective way to understand the relationships between genes. Through this approach, it was demonstrated that the essential genes in yeast tend to be highly connected as well as connected to other highly connected genes. This is in contrast to the genes that are not essential, which share neither of these properties. Using a similar interactome-transcriptome approach, the topological features in the interactome of differentially expressed genes in lung squamous cancer tissues are assessed. Results This analysis reveals that the genes that are differentially elevated, as obtained from the microarray gene profiling data, in cancer are well connected, whereas the suppressed genes and randomly selected ones are less so. These results support the notion that a topological analysis of cancer genes using protein interaction data will allow the placement of the list of genes, often of the disparate nature, into the global, systematic context of the cell. The result of this type of analysis may provide the rationale for therapeutic targets in cancer treatment.
Protection against Candidiasis by an Immunoglobulin G3 (IgG3) Monoclonal Antibody Specific for the Same Mannotriose as an IgM Protective Antibody

ABSTRACT We previously reported that a liposome-mannan vaccine (L-mann) ofCandida albicans induces production of mouse antibodies that protect against disseminated candidiasis and vaginal infection. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) monoclonal antibody (MAb) B6.1, specific for aC. albicans cell surface β-1,2-mannotriose, protects mice against both infections. Another IgM MAb, termed B6, which is specific for a different cell surface mannan epitope, does not protect against disseminated candidiasis. The B6.1 epitope is displayed homogeneously over the entire cell surface, compared to a patchy distribution of the B6 epitope. To determine if protection is restricted to an IgM class of antibody, we tested an IgG antibody. MAb C3.1 was obtained from L-mann-immunized mice. By results of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and immunodiffusion tests, MAb C3.1 is an IgG3 isotype. By epitope inhibition assays, we determined that MAb C3.1 is specific for same mannotriose as MAb B6.1. As expected by the results of the inhibition assays, immunofluorescence microscopy showed that the C3.1 epitope is distributed on the yeast cell surface in a pattern identical to that of the B6.1 epitope. Kidney CFU and mean survival times of infected mice pretreated with MAb C3.1 indicated that the antibody enhanced resistance of mice against disseminated candidiasis. Mice in pseudoestrus that were given MAb C3.1 prior to vaginal infection developed fewer vaginal Candida CFU than control animals that received buffered saline instead of the antibody. The finding that an IgG3 antibody is protective is consistent with our hypothesis that epitope specificity and complement activation are related to the ability of an antibody to protect against candidiasis.
Animal "orphan" enteroviruses.

Since the discovery, some ten years ago, of the pathogenic effect of polioviruses on non-nervous-tissue cells, tissue-culture methods have come to be widely used in virological research. Through these improved techniques for studying viruses, a large number of new cytopathogenic agents have been isolated from the intestinal tract of man. Many of these agents have been obtained from persons suffering from polio-like disease, but others have been isolated from apparently normal persons. The term "orphans" is used to designate those viruses which cannot definitely be associated with any recognized disease syndrome.The existence of these enteric pathogenic human orphan (ECHO) viruses, and their association with clinical disease in certain cases, stimulated interest in their animal counter-parts, which might constitute a serious threat to both human and animal health. In this paper, the author reviews the information at present available on the occurrence of the so-called "orphan" enteroviruses in monkeys, cattle, swine, and other animals in various parts of the world, and discusses the possible interrelationships of these animal viruses with each other and with the human enteroviruses.
Residence Time Controls on the Fate of Nitrogen in Flow‐Through Lakebed Sediments

For many glacial lakes with highly permeable sediments, water exchange rates control hydrologic residence times within the sediment‐water interface (SWI) and the removal of reactive compounds such as nitrate, a common pollutant in lakes and groundwater. Here we conducted a series of focused tracer injection experiments in the upper 20 cm of the naturally downwelling SWI in a flow‐through lake on Cape Cod, MA. We systematically varied residence time and reactant controls on nitrate processing, using isotopically labeled 15N nitrate to monitor the effect of these changes on nitrate removal via denitrification. The addition of acetate, a labile carbon compound, triggered the lake SWI to switch from net production to net removal of nitrate. When acetate was combined with increased residence time created by controlled reductions in water flux, we observed a fivefold increase in nitrate removal, a 26‐fold increase in N2 production, and a 42‐fold increase in N2O production. We demonstrate that water residence time is an important control on the fate of nitrate in these lake SWIs and illustrate that seasonal conditions that alter lake exchange rates and variability in lake carbon may predict dynamic nitrate removal across the SWI. Additionally, observed N2O production during the oxic pore water experiments paired with geophysical characterization of the sediment porosity revealed that the lake SWI has less mobile pores occupying upward of 50% of the total porosity volume, which function as reactive microzones for nitrate processing.
Air pollution and daily mortality in Seoul and Ulsan, Korea.

The relationship between air pollution and daily mortality for the period 1991-1995 was examined in two Korean cities, Seoul and Ulsan. The observed concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2; mean = 28.7 ppb), ozone (O3; mean = 29.2 ppb), and total suspended particulates (TSP; mean = 82.3 microg/m3) during the study period were at levels below Korea's current ambient air quality standards. Daily death counts were regressed separately in the two cities, using Poisson regression on SO2, O3, and/or TSP controlling for variability in the weather and seasons. When considered singly in Poisson regression models controlling for seasonal variations and weather conditions, the nonaccidental mortality associated with a 50-ppb increment in a 3-day moving average of SO2 concentrations, including the concurrent day and the preceding 2 days, was 1.078 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.057-1.099] for Seoul and 1.051 (CI, 0.991-1.115) for Ulsan. The rate ratio was 1.051 (CI, 1.031-1.072) in Seoul and 0.999 (CI, 0. 961-1.039) in Ulsan per 100 microg/m3 for TSP, and 1.015 (CI, 1. 005-1.025) in Seoul and 1.020 (0.889-1.170) in Ulsan per 50 ppb for 1-hr maximum O3. When TSP was considered simultaneously with other pollutants, the TSP association was no longer significant. We observed independent pollution effects on daily mortality even after using various approaches to control for either weather or seasonal variables in the regression model. This study demonstrated increased mortality associated with air pollution at both SO2 and O3 levels below the current World Health Organization recommendations. ImagesFigure 1Figure 2Figure 3
Appendix 1 : Classification of Countries All Countries Agricultural goods exporters Non-agricultural goods exporters Benin Benin Botswana Botswana Burkina Faso Cameroun Burkina Faso Burundi DRC Burundi Cote d ’ Ivoire Gabon Cameroun Ethiopia Ghana

This empirical paper adopts panel data methodologies to investigate the impact of trade liberalisation on export growth and import growth across 28 Sub-Saharan African countries from 1981 to 2010. The results show that trade liberalisation increases the growth of exports; however, imports grow faster by approximately two percentage points which gives a prima facie evidence that the trade balance in the region deteriorated in the post-liberalisation era. We also find that trade liberalisation significantly raises the price elasticity of demand for exports and imports; however, it does not significantly affect income elasticity of demand.
Association of Polymorphism in Pri-microRNAs-371-372-373 with the Occurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hepatitis B Virus Infected Patients

Background Micro RNAs-371-372-373 (miRNAs-371-373), originating from the same pri-miRNA transcript, are reported to be upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to be related to the regulation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Our study investigated whether pri-miRNAs-371-373 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of HCC occurrence and HBV clearance. Methods Genetic variations were identified through direct DNA sequencing using TaqMan assay. Three sequence variants of pri-miRNAs-371-373 were identified. Genetic associations of those with HCC occurrence and HBV clearance among patients with HBV infection were analyzed using logistic regression analyses with adjustment for age and gender (n = 1439). Results For the occurrence of HCC, polymorphism rs3859501C>A acted as a protective factor both in chronic carriers (OR = 0.75, P = 0.005 in a codominant model; OR = 0.71, P = 0.02 in a dominant model; OR = 0.66, P = 0.03 in recessive model) and liver cirrhosis patients (OR = 0.69, P = 0.001 in a codominant model; OR = 0.60, P = 0.003 in a dominant model; OR = 0.63, P = 0.03 in a recessive model). The pri-miRNAs-371-373_ht2 [C-A-C] also showed a protective effect on HCC occurrence both in the chronic carrier and liver cirrhosis groups (P<0.05 in both). However, there was no significant association between pri-miRNAs-371-373 polymorphisms and HBV clearance. Conclusions In conclusion, among chronic carriers and liver cirrhosis patients, the A allele of rs3859501 and the haplotype pri-miRNAs-371-373_ht2 were more protective to HCC than other genotypes and haplotypes. Further studies into the roles of rs3859501 and pri-miRNAs-371-373_ht2 haplotype in hepatocarcinogenesis are needed.
Resting Membrane Potential, Extracellular Potassium Activity, and Intracellular Sodium Activity during Acute Global Ischemia in Isolated Perfused Guinea Pig Hearts

Transmembrane potentials, extracellular potassium activity, and intracellular sodium activity were determined during acute global ischemia in Langendorff perfused guinea pig ventricles by microelectrode techniques. Resting membrane potential decreased with a sigmoidal time course from −82 mV to −49.5 ± 2.7 mV (SD, n = 6) and extracellular potassium activity increased from 4 to 5 mM to 14.7 ± 1.3 ITIM (n = 8) during 15 minutes of ischemia. The estimated potassium equilibrium potential was 7 mV more negative than resting membrane potential prior to occlusion, but approached resting membrane potential during ischemia. An increase in extracellular potassium accumulation occurred when heart rate was increased abruptly from 60 to 170 beats/min. After rapid stimulation, a transient decrease of extracellular potassium activity occurred which was abolished in the presence of 10−6 M strophanthidin. If the preparations were paced before and after aortic occlusion at a constant rate, potassium accumulation was independent of heart rate within a range of 50–170 beats/min. Intracellular sodium activity was 8.8 ± 2.8 mM (n = 8) prior to occlusion and decreased slightly to values between 4.7 and 7.6 mM after 10–15 minutes of ischemia. The results suggest that relative potassium permeability largely predominates over relative sodium permeability during the decrease of resting membrane potential after interruption of aortic flow. Furthermore, active sodium-potassium exchange compensates for the rate-dependent fraction of potassium efflux and maintains a low intracellular sodium activity. For reasons of electroneutrality, the potassium efflux underlying extracellular potassium accumulation must be balanced by an equivalent charge movement which is not carried by sodium. The most probable hypothesis regarding the charge carriers is that net potassium efflux occurs secondary to efflux of phosphate and lactate generated during ischemia.
Distributed Reasoning for Context-Aware Services through Design of an OWL Meta-Model

A growing number of applications start using semantic Web technologies. The base concept in this technology is the use of ontologies, allowing first-order logic reasoning engines to execute a number of semantic tasks, such as the validation and consistence checking of the underlying ontology. Because applications work in a distributed environment, e.g. the retrieval of sensor values, resulting in ever increasing amounts of data, there is a clear need for this reasoning process to be distributed. Additional concepts to enable this distributed reasoning are therefore needed. In this paper, we present a meta-model based on the same Semantic Technology. To facilitate distributed reasoning, an architecture supporting this meta-model has been developed as well. The paper will show that the proposed solution offers significant improvement in terms of the reasoning process response times.
Comparison of the efficacies of abatacept and tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by propensity score matching

Objective To compare the clinical outcomes at 1 year after the treatment with either abatacept or tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in routine clinical practice. Methods To overcome potential bias in allocation to treatment with abatacept or tocilizumab, a propensity score based on multiple baseline characteristics variables was calculated and 102 of 194 patients treated with abatacept and 102 of 273 patients treated with tocilizumab were statistically extracted. Clinical outcomes were assessed. Results The baseline characteristics were statistically comparable. At week 52, 72%/69% of patients (abatacept/tocilizumab) were still receiving treatment. The Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) decreased from 28.7/27.7 at baseline to 14.0/12.5 at week 52 with abatacept/tocilizumab, respectively. At week 52, the remission rates for abatacept/tocilizumab were 18%/20%, respectively. No statistical difference in clinical efficacy between abatacept and tocilizumab was seen. Moreover, a subanalysis showed that abatacept and tocilizumab had similar effectiveness with or without methotrexate. However, prognostic factors at baseline contributing to the Clinical Disease Activity Index at week 52 were different between the two groups by multiple regression analysis. A higher rheumatoid factor (RF) titre and lower SDAI at baseline were associated with lower SDAI at week 52 in patients treated with abatacept, whereas patients receiving tocilizumab with a lower Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index and who were biologics-naïve at baseline had a lower SDAI at week 52. Conclusions We compared patients treated with abatacept or tocilizumab after statistical adjustment by propensity score matching. Clinical efficacies, including SDAI, were comparable in both treatment groups. However, the predictive factors were different: abatacept appears to benefit patients with higher RF titres, and early induction of tocilizumab is an important factor for good clinical efficacy.
Decoupling the scholarly journal

Although many observers have advocated the reform of the scholarly publishing system, improvements to functions like peer review have been adopted sluggishly. We argue that this is due to the tight coupling of the journal system: the system's essential functions of archiving, registration, dissemination, and certification are bundled together and siloed into tens of thousands of individual journals. This tight coupling makes it difficult to change any one aspect of the system, choking out innovation. We suggest that the solution is the “decoupled journal (DcJ). ” In this system, the functions are unbundled and performed as services, able to compete for patronage and evolve in response to the market. For instance, a scholar might deposit an article in her institutional repository, have it copyedited and typeset by one company, indexed for search by several others, self-marketed over her own social networks, and peer reviewed by one or more stamping agencies that connect her paper to external reviewers. The DcJ brings publishing out of its current seventeenth-century paradigm, and creates a Web-like environment of loosely joined pieces—a marketplace of tools that, like the Web, evolves quickly in response to new technologies and users' needs. Importantly, this system is able to evolve from the current one, requiring only the continued development of bolt-on services external to the journal, particularly for peer review.
Effects of landscape on the distributions of nutrients and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an urban river system

Urban river systems have large potentials for determining the fate, distribution, and transport of water contaminants. This study was conducted to investigate the distribution and identify the sources of 16 Environmental Protection Agency priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with respect to four different urban river landscapes (river channels managed with hard revetment, unmanaged, with wetland construction, and in city park). The significant differences of water nutrient physicochemical indices in the four landscapes were also compared with the general linear model, and their relationship with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results showed that the city parks and wetlands may improve the water quality and accelerate degradation of contaminants. Furthermore, the river channels in the park and wetland were of lowered proportions of low molecular weight (2, 3-rings) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the river sediment compared to urban river channels with other two landscapes.
C0 and C1 N-terminal Ig domains of myosin binding protein C exert different effects on thin filament activation

Significance Cardiac myosin binding protein C (cMyBP-C) is a regulatory protein that modulates the strength and speed of heart contractions. cMyBP-C is required for normal heart function, and mutations in the gene encoding cMyBP-C are the most common cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease affecting an estimated 1 in 500 people. Here we used an integrated structure–function approach to determine how C0 and C1, the first two domains of cMyBP-C, interact with muscle thin filaments (composed of F-actin and regulatory proteins) to influence their ability to interact with myosin, the force-generating protein of muscle. Results reveal that C0 and C1 both bind to actin at multiple, distinct sites and that C0 and C1 exert different effects on heart muscle contraction. Mutations in genes encoding myosin, the molecular motor that powers cardiac muscle contraction, and its accessory protein, cardiac myosin binding protein C (cMyBP-C), are the two most common causes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Recent studies established that the N-terminal domains (NTDs) of cMyBP-C (e.g., C0, C1, M, and C2) can bind to and activate or inhibit the thin filament (TF). However, the molecular mechanism(s) by which NTDs modulate interaction of myosin with the TF remains unknown and the contribution of each individual NTD to TF activation/inhibition is unclear. Here we used an integrated structure–function approach using cryoelectron microscopy, biochemical kinetics, and force measurements to reveal how the first two Ig-like domains of cMyPB-C (C0 and C1) interact with the TF. Results demonstrate that despite being structural homologs, C0 and C1 exhibit different patterns of binding on the surface of F-actin. Importantly, C1 but not C0 binds in a position to activate the TF by shifting tropomyosin (Tm) to the “open” structural state. We further show that C1 directly interacts with Tm and traps Tm in the open position on the surface of F-actin. Both C0 and C1 compete with myosin subfragment 1 for binding to F-actin and effectively inhibit actomyosin interactions when present at high ratios of NTDs to F-actin. Finally, we show that in contracting sarcomeres, the activating effect of C1 is apparent only once low levels of Ca2+ have been achieved. We suggest that Ca2+ modulates the interaction of cMyBP-C with the TF in the sarcomere.