Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mobilization and Role of Starch, Protein, and Fat Reserves during Seed Germination of Six Wild Grassland Species

Since seed reserves can influence seed germination, the quantitative and qualitative differences in seed reserves may relate to the germination characteristics of species. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the correlation between germination and seed reserves, as well as their mobilization during germination of six grassland species (Chloris virgata, Kochia scoparia, Lespedeza hedysaroides, Astragalus adsurgens, Leonurus artemisia, and Dracocephalum moldavica) and compare the results with domesticated species. We measured starch, protein, and fat content in dry seeds and the initial absorption of water during imbibition. Starch, soluble protein, fat, and soluble sugar content also were determined at five stages during germination. Starch, protein, and fat reserves in dry seeds were not significantly correlated with germination percentage and rate (speed), but soluble sugar and soluble protein contents at different germination stages were positively significantly correlated with germination rate for the six species. Starch was mainly used during seed imbibition, and soluble protein was used from the imbibition stage to the highest germination stage. Fat content for all species remained relatively constant throughout germination for six species, regardless of the proportion of other seed reserves in the seeds. Our results for fat utilization differ from those obtained for cultivated grasses and legumes. These results provide new insight on the role of seed reserves as energy resources in germination for wild species.
The Response of CO2 Evolution from Soils to Global Temperature Changes

Abstract Own experiments and literature data point at a strong correlation between mineralization processes in soils i.e. the corresponding CO2 release and temperature variations. This seems to be important with regard to the global CO2 problem, since it implies that due to the global temperature increase over 80 years (1860-1940) large additional amounts of CO2 were released to the atmosphere. These additional quantities seem to have been at least as important as the anthropogenic release of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels.
Attachment, Social Value Orientation, Sensation Seeking, and Bullying in Early Adolescence

In this study, bullying is examined in light of the “prosocial security hypothesis”— i.e., the hypothesis that insecure attachment, with temperamental dispositions such as sensation seeking, may foster individualistic, competitive value orientations and problem behaviors. A group of 375 Italian students (53% female; Mean age = 12.58, SD = 1.08) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding attachment security, social values, sensation seeking, and bullying behaviors. Path analysis showed that attachment to mother was negatively associated with bullying of others, both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values, while attachment to father was directly associated with victimization. Sensation seeking predicted bullying of others and victimization both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values. Adolescents’ gender affected how attachment moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and problem behavior.
Dual Isotope SPECT Study With Epilepsy Patients Using Semiconductor SPECT System

Purpose We developed a prototype CdTe SPECT system with 4-pixel matched collimator for brain study. This system provides high-energy-resolution (6.6%), high-sensitivity (220 cps/MBq/head), and high-spatial-resolution images. The aim of this study was to evaluate dual-isotope study of CBF and central benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) images using 99mTc-ECD and 123I-IMZ with the new SPECT system in patients with epilepsy comparing with single-isotope study using the conventional scintillation gamma camera. Methods This study included 13 patients with partial epilepsy. The BZR images were acquired at 3 hours after 123I-IMZ injection for 20 minutes. The images of IMZ were acquired with a conventional 3-head scintillation gamma camera. After BZR image acquisition with the conventional camera, 99mTc-ECD was injected, and CBF and BZR images were acquired simultaneously 5 minutes after ECD injection with the new SPECT system. The CBF images were also acquired with the conventional camera on separate days. The findings were visually analyzed, and 3D-SSP maximum Z scores of lesions were compared between the 2 studies. Results There were 47 abnormal lesions on BZR images and 60 abnormal lesions on CBF images in the single-isotope study with the conventional camera. Dual-isotope study with the new system showed concordant abnormal findings of 46 of 47 lesions on BZR and 54 of 60 lesions on CBF images with the single-isotope study with the conventional camera. There was high agreement between the 2 studies in both BZR and CBF findings (Cohen &kgr; values = 0.96 for BZR and 0.78 for CBF). In semiquantitative analysis, maximum Z scores of dual-isotope study with the new system strongly correlated with those of single-isotope study with the conventional camera (BZR: r = 0.82, P < 0.05, CBF: r = 0.87, P < 0.05). Conclusions Our new SPECT system permits dual-isotope study for pixel-by-pixel analysis of CBF and BZR information with the same pathophysiological condition in patients with epilepsy.
Women with metabolic syndrome present different autonomic modulation and blood pressure response to an acute resistance exercise session compared with women without metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of risk factors in individuals with high risk of diabetes and heart disease. Resistance training (RT) has been proposed to be a safe, effective and worthwhile method for the prevention and treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. However, no study has analysed the acute response of blood pressure (BP) and autonomic control of heart rate (HR) after a RT session in female patients with MetS. The aim of the present study was to analyse the response of laboratory assessed and ambulatory BP and cardiac autonomic modulation after a RT session in women with MetS. Nine women without MetS (35·0 ± 6·7 years) and 10 women with MetS (34·1 ± 9·4 years) completed one experimental exercise session and a control session. Laboratory BP, heart rate variability (HRV) and ambulatory BP of each subject were measured at rest, over 60 min, and for 24 h after the end of the sessions, respectively. There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP), night time diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean blood pressure (MBP) only for women with MetS, for all periods after the RT session when compared with the control session (P<0·05). Significantly lower laboratory values of SBP and DBP (10, 30 and 40 min postexercise) and MBP (10, 40 and 50 min postexercise) were observed in women with MetS (P<0·05). Patients with MetS exhibited significant lower basal HRV and a lower autonomic responsiveness during the 60 min of acute recovery. These results confirmed that an acute session of resistance exercise induced a lower BP during day time and sleeping hours in women with MetS that may offer a cardio‐protective effect. Women with MetS exhibited an impaired autonomic modulation at rest and a lower acute autonomic responsiveness to a RT session. The dissociation between BP and HRV responses suggests that other factors than autonomic control could be involved in the hypotensive effect of a RT session in MetS patients.
Cell Therapy in Organ Transplantation: Our Experience on the Clinical Translation of Regulatory T Cells

Solid organ transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage organ dysfunction. Despite improvements in short-term outcome, long-term outcome is suboptimal due to the increased morbidity and mortality associated with the toxicity of immunosuppressive regimens and chronic rejection (1–5). As such, the attention of the transplant community has focused on the development of novel therapeutic strategies to achieve allograft tolerance, a state whereby the immune system of the recipient can be re-educated to accept the allograft, averting the need for long-term immunosuppression. Indeed, reports of “operational” tolerance, whereby the recipient is off all immunosuppressive drugs and maintaining good graft function, is well documented in the literature for both liver and kidney transplantations (6–8). However, this phenomenon is rare and in the setting of liver transplantation has been shown to occur late after transplantation, with the majority of patients maintained on life-long immunosupression to prevent allograft rejection (9). As such, significant research has focused on immune regulation in the context of organ transplantation with regulatory T cells (Tregs) identified as cells holding considerable promise in this endeavor. This review will provide a brief introduction to human Tregs, their phenotypic and functional characterization and focuses on our experience to date at the clinical translation of Treg immunotherapy in the setting of solid organ transplantation.
A comparison of the content of memory rehabilitation groups for patients with neurological disabilities

The aim of the study was to compare the fidelity of manualised group memory rehabilitation programmes for participants with neurological disabilities. A sample of 11 neurological patients with memory problems, enrolled in a randomised controlled trial comparing compensation, restitution and self-help treatments, were observed during group sessions. Time-sampling was used to record the activity of the participants and the content of the discussion at one minute intervals. There was a significant difference between groups in the amount of time the group leader and participants spent talking (p < .001). Participants in the compensation and restitution groups spent significantly more time in memory rehabilitation discussion than participants in the self-help group (p < .001). There was also a significant difference between the amount of time spent discussing internal and external memory aids in the compensation and restitution groups (p < .001). These results support the fidelity of the interventions provided. This study also highlights the usefulness of time-sampling as a method to record the content and activity in rehabilitation groups.
The chromatin remodelling factor ATRX suppresses R‐loops in transcribed telomeric repeats

ATRX is a chromatin remodelling factor found at a wide range of tandemly repeated sequences including telomeres (TTAGGG)n. ATRX mutations are found in nearly all tumours that maintain their telomeres via the alternative lengthening of telomere (ALT) pathway, and ATRX is known to suppress this pathway. Here, we show that recruitment of ATRX to telomeric repeats depends on repeat number, orientation and, critically, on repeat transcription. Importantly, the transcribed telomeric repeats form RNA–DNA hybrids (R‐loops) whose abundance correlates with the recruitment of ATRX. Here, we show loss of ATRX is also associated with increased R‐loop formation. Our data suggest that the presence of ATRX at telomeres may have a central role in suppressing deleterious DNA secondary structures that form at transcribed telomeric repeats, and this may account for the increased DNA damage, stalling of replication and homology‐directed repair previously observed upon loss of ATRX function.
Time-Varying Block Codes for Synchronization Errors: MAP Decoder and Practical Issues

In this study, the authors consider time-varying block (TVB) codes, which generalise a number of previous synchronisation error-correcting codes. They also consider various practical issues related to maximum a posteriori (MAP) decoding of these codes. Specifically, they give an expression for the expected distribution of drift between transmitter and receiver because of synchronisation errors. They determine an appropriate choice for state space limits based on the drift probability distribution. In turn, they obtain an expression for the decoder complexity under given channel conditions in terms of the state space limits used. For a given state space, they also give a number of optimisations that reduce the algorithm complexity with no further loss of decoder performance. They also show how the MAP decoder can be used in the absence of known frame boundaries, and demonstrate that an appropriate choice of decoder parameters allows the decoder to approach the performance when frame boundaries are known, at the expense of some increase in complexity. Finally, they express some existing constructions as TVB codes, comparing performance with published results and showing that improved performance is possible by taking advantage of the flexibility of TVB codes.
Effect of Twisted-tape Inserts on Heat Transfer in a Tube

Influences of the twisted tape insertion on heat transfer and flow friction characteristics in a concentric double pipe heat exchanger have been studied experimentally. In the experiments, the swirling flow was introduced by using twisted tape placed inside the inner test tube of the heat exchanger with different twist ratios, y = 5.0 and 7.0. The experimental results revealed that the increase in heat transfer rate of the twisted-tape inserts is found to be strongly influenced by tape-induced swirl or vortex motion. Over the range investigated, the maximum Nusselt numbers for using the enhancement devices with y = 5.0 and 7.0 are 188% and 159%, respectively, higher than that for the plain tube. In addition, the effects of the twisted tape on the heat transfer enhancement efficiency are also investigated.
Spatiotemporal Recurrent Convolutional Networks for Traffic Prediction in Transportation Networks

Predicting large-scale transportation network traffic has become an important and challenging topic in recent decades. Inspired by the domain knowledge of motion prediction, in which the future motion of an object can be predicted based on previous scenes, we propose a network grid representation method that can retain the fine-scale structure of a transportation network. Network-wide traffic speeds are converted into a series of static images and input into a novel deep architecture, namely, spatiotemporal recurrent convolutional networks (SRCNs), for traffic forecasting. The proposed SRCNs inherit the advantages of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) and long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks. The spatial dependencies of network-wide traffic can be captured by DCNNs, and the temporal dynamics can be learned by LSTMs. An experiment on a Beijing transportation network with 278 links demonstrates that SRCNs outperform other deep learning-based algorithms in both short-term and long-term traffic prediction.
Key Management Protocol with Implicit Certificates for IoT systems

This paper proposes a Key Management Protocol for mobile and industrial Internet of Things systems, targeting, at the same time, robust key negotiation, lightweight node authentication, fast re-keying, and efficient protection against replay attacks. The proposed approach pragmatically leverages widely accepted Elliptic Curve Cryptography constructions, specifically the (Elliptic Curve) "Fixed" Diffie Hellman key exchange and the (Elliptic Curve) Qu-Vanstone implicit certificates. Our value added is their suitable integration into a security protocol exchange, designed at layer 2, in the 802.15. 4 protocol stack, which permits to i) avoid Elliptic Point multiplications upon rekeying of previously paired devices, and ii) support mutual authentication while securing the protocol exchange. To prove its viability, the proposed Key Management Protocol has been implemented and assessed on severely constrained devices. As expected, but made explicit and quantified by our experimental performance evaluation, the usage of implicit certificates in conjunction with an optimized message exchange yields impressive gains in terms of airtime consumption with respect to state of the art schemes.
Physiological and Metabolic Responses Triggered by Omeprazole Improve Tomato Plant Tolerance to NaCl Stress

Interest in the role of small bioactive molecules (< 500 Da) in plants is on the rise, compelled by plant scientists' attempt to unravel their mode of action implicated in stimulating growth and enhancing tolerance to environmental stressors. The current study aimed at elucidating the morphological, physiological and metabolomic changes occurring in greenhouse tomato (cv. Seny) treated with omeprazole (OMP), a benzimidazole inhibitor of animal proton pumps. The OMP was applied at three rates (0, 10, or 100 μM) as substrate drench for tomato plants grown under nonsaline (control) or saline conditions sustained by nutrient solutions of 1 or 75 mM NaCl, respectively. Increasing NaCl concentration from 1 to 75 mM decreased the tomato shoot dry weight by 49% in the 0 μM OMP treatment, whereas the reduction was not significant at 10 or 100 μM of OMP. Treatment of salinized (75 mM NaCl) tomato plants with 10 and especially 100 μM OMP decreased Na+ and Cl− while it increased Ca2+ concentration in the leaves. However, OMP was not strictly involved in ion homeostasis since the K+ to Na+ ratio did not increase under combined salinity and OMP treatment. OMP increased root dry weight, root morphological characteristics (total length and surface), transpiration, and net photosynthetic rate independently of salinity. Metabolic profiling of leaves through UHPLC liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry facilitated identification of the reprogramming of a wide range of metabolites in response to OMP treatment. Hormonal changes involved an increase in ABA, decrease in auxins and cytokinin, and a tendency for GA down accumulation. Cutin biosynthesis, alteration of membrane lipids and heightened radical scavenging ability related to the accumulation of phenolics and carotenoids were observed. Several other stress-related compounds, such as polyamine conjugates, alkaloids and sesquiterpene lactones, were altered in response to OMP. Although a specific and well-defined mechanism could not be posited, the metabolic processes involved in OMP action suggest that this small bioactive molecule might have a hormone-like activity that ultimately elicits an improved tolerance to NaCl salinity stress.
Geographic Variation in Sexual Attraction of Spodoptera frugiperda Corn- and Rice-Strain Males to Pheromone Lures

The corn- and rice-strains of Spodoptera frugiperda exhibit several genetic and behavioral differences and appear to be undergoing ecological speciation in sympatry. Previous studies reported conflicting results when investigating male attraction to pheromone lures in different regions, but this could have been due to inter-strain and/or geographic differences. Therefore, we investigated whether corn- and rice-strain males differed in their response to different synthetic pheromone blends in different regions in North America, the Caribbean and South America. All trapped males were strain-typed by two strain-specific mitochondrial DNA markers. In the first experiment, we found a nearly similar response of corn- and rice-strain males to two different 4-component blends, resembling the corn- and rice-strain female blend we previously described from females in Florida. This response showed some geographic variation in fields in Canada, North Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico, and South America (Peru, Argentina). In dose-response experiments with the critical secondary sex pheromone component (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7-12:OAc), we found some strain-specific differences in male attraction. While the response to Z7-12:OAc varied geographically in the corn-strain, rice-strain males showed almost no variation. We also found that the minor compound (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate (Z11-16:OAc) did not increase attraction of both strains in Florida and of corn-strain males in Peru. In a fourth experiment, where we added the stereo-isomer of the critical sex pheromone component, (E)-7-dodecenyl acetate, to the major pheromone component (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z9-14:OAc), we found that this compound was attractive to males in North Carolina, but not to males in Peru. Overall, our results suggest that both strains show rather geographic than strain-specific differences in their response to pheromone lures, and that regional sexual communication differences might cause geographic differentiation between populations.
Analysis of microsatellite markers in a Cuban water buffalo breed

The aim of this Regional Research Communication was to validate a panel of 30 microsatellite markers recommended by FAO/ISAG for studies of biodiversity in cattle to improve the characterisation of Cuban buffalo populations. The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an economically important livestock species. Therefore, research focused on the study of the genetic relationships among water buffalo populations is useful to support conservation decisions and to design breeding schemes. Twenty-eight of the 30 tested regions were amplified, one of which (ETH10) turned out to be monomorphic. A total of 143 alleles were observed in the Cuban water buffalo population. The average number of alleles per locus was 5·04. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from two (INRA 63 and MM12) to nine (ETH185). The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0·108 (HAUT24) to 0·851 (CSSM66) and 0·104 (MM12) to 0·829(INRA32), respectively. The polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0·097 (MM12) to 0·806 (INRA32), and the overall value for these markers was 0·482. Within the population, inbreeding estimates (F IS) was positive in 14 of the 30 loci analysed. This study thus highlights the usefulness of heterologous bovine microsatellite markers to assess the genetic variability in Cuban water buffalo breeds. Furthermore, the results can be utilised for future breeding strategies and conservation.
Effect of Early Versus Late Weightbearing in Conservatively Treated Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture: A Meta‐Analysis

&NA; Achilles tendon ruptures can be either surgically or conservatively treated with either early functional mobilization or cast immobilization. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a meta‐analysis comparing the effect of early versus late weightbearing in conservatively treated adult patients, including only randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The primary endpoint was rerupture, and the secondary endpoints were strength, quality of life during treatment, range of motion, deep venous thrombosis, return to sports, and return to work. The search for studies was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials. A search was performed, and 2 reviewers independently screened the studies by title, abstract, and, finally, by reading the full text. Four studies met the inclusion criteria. The reference lists of the included studies were scanned and 1 additional RCT study was included. The critical appraisal skills program checklist was applied for study appraisal. A statistician performed the data management and analysis. No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 treatment groups concerning rerupture (p = .796), return to sports (p = .455), or return to work (p = .888). One RCT found 1 case of deep venous thrombosis in the late weightbearing group. One RCT reported significant improvement in quality of life and one reported a significantly improved range of dorsiflexion in the early weightbearing group. No statistically significant difference was found between early and late weightbearing with conservative treatment regarding the rerupture rate. The results of the other outcomes were limited by the low number of studies included in the present meta‐analysis. Larger randomized studies are needed to investigate these outcomes. From the results in the present study, we would recommend early weightbearing when an Achilles tendon rupture is treated conservatively. &NA; Level of Clinical Evidence: 1