Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decrease of Nitrergic Innervation in the Esophagus of Patients with Chagas Disease: Correlation with Loss of Interstitial Cells of Cajal

The pathogenesis of megaesophagus in chronic Chagas disease, which is caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is compelling. Individuals with megaesophagus often present achalasia and disturbances of peristalsis and neuronal loss. Esophageal samples were obtained from 6 T. cruzi infected individuals with megaesophagus, 6 T. cruzi infected individuals without megaesophagus, and 6 noninfected individuals who underwent necropsy procedures. Using one antibody specific for neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase (nNOS) and another specific for Protein Gene Product 9.5 (PGP-9.5), which is a pan-neuronal marker, we demonstrated the relative area of nitrergic innervation. Additionally, we analysed the area occupied by Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICCs) with antibody specific anti-CD117. The analyses presented here show that the relative area of nitrergic innervation is reduced in T. cruzi infected individuals with megaesophagus. Furthermore, we demonstrated reduced CD117-immunostained areas in the esophagus of T. cruzi infected individuals. Statistical analyses revealed a positive correlation between the relative area of nitrergic innervation and the density of ICCs in the same infected individuals. Considering data from the literature, we raised the hypothesis that the loss of nitrergic nerve fibers and ICCs could be view as an interdependent phenomenon occurring in the esophagus of T. cruzi infected individuals and that it could contribute to peristalsis disturbances, to achalasia and to megaesophagus development.
A Systematic Evaluation of Noah‐MP in Simulating Land‐Atmosphere Energy, Water, and Carbon Exchanges Over the Continental United States

Accurate simulation of energy, water, and carbon fluxes exchanging between the land surface and the atmosphere is beneficial for improving terrestrial ecohydrological and climate predictions. We systematically assessed the Noah land surface model (LSM) with mutiparameterization options (Noah‐MP) in simulating these fluxes and associated variations in terrestrial water storage (TWS) and snow cover fraction (SCF) against various reference products over 18 United States Geological Survey two‐digital hydrological unit code regions of the continental United States (CONUS). In general, Noah‐MP captures better the observed seasonal and interregional variability of net radiation, SCF, and runoff than other variables. With a dynamic vegetation model, it overestimates gross primary productivity by 40% and evapotranspiration (ET) by 22% over the whole CONUS domain; however, with a prescribed climatology of leaf area index, it greatly improves ET simulation with relative bias dropping to 4%. It accurately simulates regional TWS dynamics in most regions except those with large lakes or severely affected by irrigation and/or impoundments. Incorporating the lake water storage variations into the modeled TWS variations largely reduces the TWS simulation bias more obviously over the Great Lakes with model efficiency increasing from 0.18 to 0.76. Noah‐MP simulates runoff well in most regions except an obvious overestimation (underestimation) in the Rio Grande and Lower Colorado (New England). Compared with North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2 (NLDAS‐2) LSMs, Noah‐MP shows a better ability to simulate runoff and a comparable skill in simulating Rn but a worse skill in simulating ET over most regions. This study suggests that future model developments should focus on improving the representations of vegetation dynamics, lake water storage dynamics, and human activities including irrigation and impoundments.
In silico study on baicalein and baicalin as inhibitors of dengue virus replication

The dengue virus (DENV) is an important human arbovirus that belongs to the Flaviviridae. Currently, there is no vaccine or effective antiviral agent against DENV. Therefore, finding an efficient antiviral agent against this virus is crucial. We have previously reported the anti-DENV activity of two flavonoids, namely, baicalein and baicalin, against different stages of the virus replication cycle in Vero cells. In this study, we aimed to predict the possible interactions between viral proteins that are important for DENV replication and these two flavonoids as potential candidates for anti-DENV drug discovery with known in vitro anti-DENV activity. In this study, the interactions between compounds of interest and three important proteins of DENV were predicted using appropriate software. Moreover, the binding energy between these compounds and selected proteins was calculated as one of the main criteria for molecular docking studies. The results showed that both compounds of interest, as ligands, can bind with chosen viral proteins, as receptors, through hydrogen bonding and other interactions such as pi–pi interactions, pi–sigma interactions and pi–cation interactions. The obtained data showed significant affinity between the tested compounds and the NS2B–NS3 protease of DENV. Therefore, an in vitro anti-protease assay was conducted and the results showed significant anti-DENV protease activity for both compounds, especially baicalein. In conclusion, our obtained data showed that both tested compounds can affect DENV intracellular replication and internalization. However, these results support our previous findings from in vitro studies and encourage us to further studies towards finding the mechanism of action of these compounds.
The Demand and Supply of Mortgage Fixation Periods. Managing Interest Rate Risk and Credit Risk in a Low Rate Environment

We examine the determinants of households' and banks' choice of mortgage rate fixation periods (FP) in a low interest rate environment. The existing literature interprets equilibrium FP, often reduced to the choice between Fixed Rate Mortgages (FRM) and Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM), as purely demand driven. Using a unique dataset with offers from multiple banks for each mortgage request, we are the first to explicitly disentangle demand and supply determinants of FP choices. We show that banks can advance their own FP preferences along several dimensions. Their desired FP must account both for the implied Interest Rate Risk (IRR), and for the Credit Risk implications from shifting that IRR to households. Our empirical results confirm that banks do indeed take into account both types of risk, although some margins of response are used only to small extent.
Neogene shortening contribution to crustal thickening in the back arc of the Central Andes

To illustrate the Neogene shortening distribution in the back-arc units of the Central Andes and to estimate the contribution of the shortening to crustal thickening, two balanced crustal cross sections have been constructed across the northern and southern branches of the Bolivian orocline. Total Neogene shortening, which varies from 191 to 231 km, is accommodated by a crustal duplex below the Cordillera Oriental, but is insufficient to produce the 70 km of crustal thickness evidenced by geophysical data below the Altiplano. The best explanation for this anomalous thickening seems to be crustal underplating by material tectonically eroded from the continental margin; this process probably caused the Altiplano uplift. The subduction of oceanic lithosphere coupled with this underplating and a brief episode of gravity spreading of the Altiplano constituted the driving forces that produced Neogene shortening and development of the Central Andes.
How Different Nitrogen Application Rates
Affect Yield Composition and Nitrogen Uptake
of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in a Saline-Sodic
Paddy Field

Planting rice (OryzasativaL.) is an effective and feasible approach for improving salt-affected soils, especially in saline-sodic soils. Improved rice is the main biological measure for rapid treatment and utilization of a saline-sodic paddy field. Reasonable application of nitrogen fertilizer is an important measure for obtaining saline-sodic soil high yield. Dongdao 4 (D-4), Dongdao 2 (D-2), Changbai 9 (C-9), and Baijing 1 (B-1)) were studied by a field experiment in this paper. On the growth, yield, and yield component responses of different nitrogen levels (150 kg N/ha, 225 kg N/ha and 300 kg N/ha), and the nitrogen uptake of four saline-tolerant rice cultivars at different nitrogen application levels was calculated, which provided a useful reference for the rational application of nitrogen fertilizer in a salinesodic paddy field. The results showed that: biomass of four kinds of rice accumulates over time and reached their maximums in September, with the biomasses of D-2 and D-4 reaching the maximum of 225 kg N/ha, and C-9 and B-1 reaching the maximum at 300 kg N/ha, which is related to rice varieties; the yields of four salt-tolerant rice plants reached the highest in 150 kg N/ha; applied nitrogen fertilizer reasonably was beneficial to increase the number of spikes and the number of effective grains per spike, in this experiment, the optimum amount of nitrogen is 150 kg N/ha, and the number of spikes and the number of effective grains per spike also were major factors in increasing production. With 1000-grain weight, primary and secondary branches made no significant contribution to the yield; the N uptake of four kinds of rice gradually increased over time and reached the maximum in September. There was no significant difference in the nitrogen grain production efficiency of 4 rice varieties under different nitrogen application rates; with the increase of nitrogen application rate, partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer *e-mail: baoyiweicas@163.com DOI: 10.15244/pjoes/85203 ONLINE PUBLICATION DATE: 2018-08-31
Would a currency union by any other name be as integrated

Conventional wisdom suggests that the adoption of a single currency over a given geographic region indicates a high level of integration within that region relative to the integration between that region and outside areas. When this region consists of multiple countries, the integration should manifest itself through greater trade ows among the countries within the region. Glick and Rose (2002) established this result for currency unions. They found that adherence to a currency union increases trade within member pairs by an amount ranging from %92 to %266. Such a large prediction prompted subsequent studies to question the validity of these results and to discern the true eect of currency union membership on trade and, hence, economic integration. Yet, however much economists recognized that the universe of currency unions considered displayed astonishing heterogeneity (ECCU, CFA, later the EMU, among others), few, if any, asked if the unions had produced signicantly dierent eects on trade and, hence, integration. Furthermore, recent work has called into
Investigating the primary school teachers perspectives on the use of education platforms in teaching

Technology plays an important role in educational activities in Turkey. This is largely because of the Faith Project, which was recently introduced into the country. The Fatih Project is a project of Turkish government which seeks to integrate computer technology into the country’s public education system. Education Informatics Network is one of the sub projects of the Faith Project which makes many free websites available for teachers’ use. Furthermore, Ministry of Turkish National Education has included primary schools in the project and as a result, the usage of education platforms at primary schools is available now. Considering all the mentioned points, the purpose of this study was to find out classroom teachers' opinions in employing the education platforms in teaching. The participants of this study consist of teachers working in the city of Mersin, Turkey. The data were gathered from 116 primary school teachers working in the first, second, third and fourth grades, by using a semi-structured interview with 7 open-ended questions. The data were analyzed based on a descriptive research design. Besides, a qualitative approach was employed based on the answers given in the interview. The data and their frequencies are presented in tables. As a result of the data obtained from the study, it has been concluded that class teachers think education platforms are useful, the usage frequency of education platforms varies relative to different factors; and education platforms are used in an attempt to provide effective and permanent learning. Moreover, it was also stated in the study that teachers are not competent in using these education platform and they lack the required background knowledge. Consequently, several suggestions have been made to eliminate the mentioned inadequacies. Key words: Education platforms, primary school teacher, technology, the Fatih Project.
Precision Electroweak Constraints on Near-Conformal Dynamical EWSB

Early attempts to construct models of Dynamical Electro-Weak Symmetry Breaking (DEWSB), assuming familiar dynamics for the technisector, failed to overcome strict constraints from the oblique correction parameter S. More recently it has been suggested that models involving a technisector with near-conformal dynamics might be more successful in avoiding these constraints. In such theories the reduced strength of chiral symmetry breaking is expected to suppress the splitting between the vector and axial channels, leading to a reduced contribution to S. We describe an ongoing attempt to measure the contribution to the S parameter from a technisector involving the SU(2) theory with two flavours of adjoint Dirac fermions, which is the main component of the minimal walking-technicolor (MWT) model. The dynamics of this theory have been extensively studied and it has been shown to be consistent with the presence of an infra-red conformal fixed point. We study the S parameter in this theory using a mixed-action lattice simulation, using Wilson sea fermions and Domain-Wall fermions in the valence sector. We describe the steps involved in the computation, explore important systematic effects, and present current results.
Performance of ‘Fuji’ Apple on M.9 Rootstock in Different Tree Training Systems for the First Five Years

The effects of five training systems on tree growth, yield, and some fruit characteristics were assessed for ‘Fuji’ apple grafted on M.9 rootstock for the first five years in Tokat, Turkey. The trees were trained in one of five ways: Slender Spindle (SS, 4762 trees ha -1 ), Vertical Axis (VA, 2857 trees ha -1 ), HyTec (HT, 1904 trees ha -1 ) and two different tree densities of super spindle (L-Sup S with 5,000 trees ha -1 ; H-Sup S with 10.000 trees ha -1 ). Trunk Cross-sectional Area (TCA), canopy diameter and canopy volume were higher in low tree density systems (HT and VA) than in high tree density systems (SS, L-Sup S and H-Sup S). Annual and cumulative yields per tree over the first cropping years were higher in VA and HT than in SS, L-Sup S or H-Sup S. Yield per unit area was the highest in HSup S in every year due to the higher number of trees per hectare. Yield efficiency (yield cm -2 TCA) was higher in VA and HT than in SS, L Sup S or H-Sup S in every year. HT produced the largest fruit among the training systems in every year. VA had the second largest fruit in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
International Comparison of Household Savings Behaviour : A Study of Life-Cycle Savings in Seven Countries

This special issue of Research in Economics is devoted to a further step in this direction. It presents a first stock taking of the International Savings Comparison Project – a project performed under the auspices of a European Union sponsored network of researchers. The main focus of this project is the interaction of household saving with public policy, notably the generosity and design of public pension systems. It is very much in the tradition of Feldstein's (1974) seminal study, but we transpose the inference from time series data to a set of international panel data.
Contrasting motivation and learning strategies of ex-mathematics and ex-mathematical literacy students

This inquiry contrasts motivation and learning strategies of ex-Mathematics (Maths) and ex-Mathematical Literacy (ML) students. ML ideally delivers candidates who can make sense of and actively participate in a world of numbers and numerical arguments, but ex-ML students are excluded from many undergraduate studies at most South African higher education institutions (HEIs). Institutions employ various strategies in enhancing student transition to higher education (HE), however, such options are rare for ex-ML students. A year-long foundation programme offered by a private HEI is one exception. This inquiry employed the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and t-test, detecting significant differences in motivation and learning strategies between 111 ex-Maths and 81 ex-ML students. The intrinsic goal orientation, task value, self-efficacy, effort regulation and test anxiety-handling abilities of ex-Maths students were significantly superior. The article offers insights into strategies that might improve the motivation of ex-ML students in support of their academic development.
Comparative performance of farming practices in terms of carbon sequestration potential of mulberry and soil organic carbon stock

Experimentation under the study at Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Berhampore (West Bengal, India) was laid out in RBD comprising of seven treatments replicated thrice. The treatments consist of six different farming practices along with a fallow. Mulberry variety, S 1635, spaced at 60 x 60 cm was subjected to those farming practices under irrigated Gangetic alluvial soil. Three years’ field experimentation revealed that yield attributes, carbon sequestration potential (CSP) and NPK uptake by mulberry was varied significantly with respect to farming practices as well as seasons. Mulberry growing under moderate tillage with grass cover registered the highest leaf productivity and CSP of 38.72 t ha-1 year-1 and 6.90 t ha-1 year-1, respectively in comparison to the existing farming practice (intensive tillage without grass) registering the same two parameters as 38.16 t ha-1 year-1 and 6.54 t ha-1 year-1, respectively. It shows that the former is capable of earning an annual carbon credit of 0.36 t from one hectare of land in comparison to the existing farming practice and of course without any compromise with the leaf productivity. Furthermore, the particular farming practice, moderate tillage with grass cover, registered 40.16 Mg ha-1soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) estimated after completion of the field experimentation and the same was significantly higher than the existing farming practice registering the value of 35.25 Mg ha-1. Thus, in terms of SOCS also, the same farming practice is capable of earning carbon credit to the tune of 4.91 Mg ha-1 in comparison to the existing farming practice over a time period of three years. It is also worthy to mention that the particular altered farming practice as mentioned can even earn a carbon credit of 1.14 Mg ha-1 in terms of SOCS in comparison to the fallow land over the same period of time. Key words: Carbon sequestration potential, farming practice, mulberry, soil organic carbon stock.
Baculovirus Replication: Purification and identification of the Trichoplusia ni Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus-induced DNA Polymerase

Summary DNA polymerase activity present in Trichoplusia ni multiple nucleocapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus-infected Spodoptera frugiperda cells has been analysed by chromatography on DNA-cellulose and phosphocellulose columns. In infected cells a new fraction of activity was found to bind to the columns more strongly that did polymerase activity in uninfected cells. The infected-cell-specific DNA polymerase was purified by a combination of DNA-cellulose chromatography of crude extracts and phospho-cellulose chromatography of the semi-purified activity. The final product contained a single polypeptide of molecular weight 126 000 which was not found in uninfected cells. The purified enzyme was inhibited by aphidicolin and [E]-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2′-deoxyuridine triphosphate, but not by bromovinyldeoxyuridine. The enzyme was shown to be an early enzyme, probably a delayed early protein, since it was present in cells inhibited by aphidicolin which were locked into the synthesis of early proteins by the drug.
The Effects of Deferoxamine on the Up regulation of Chemokine Receptor 2 in Bone Marrow Stromal Stem Cells

Background : Bone marrow stromal stem cells (BMSCs) are non-hematopoietic, stromal cellsthat can differentiate into mesenchymal and other type of tissues. The BMSCs have properties that make them ideal candidates for tissue engineering. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of deferoxamine (DFO) on homing of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell, and to examine if DFO can increase migration and subsequent homing of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro. Methods : BMSCs were isolated from the long bones of NMARI rats through density gradientcentrifugation and adherent cell culture. Next, they were treated using DFO in Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium (DMEM) for 24 h. The expression of chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) were assessed using RT-PCR. Results : BMSCs expressed CCR2 on a large proportion of cells. In DFO-treated BMSCs,expression of CCR2 (P<0.005) significantly increased compared to that in control groups. Elevation and up regulation of CCR2 in DFO-treated MSCs were observed. Conclusion : Preconditioning of BMSCs using DFO prior to transplantation could increasehoming of BMSCs through affecting some chemokine receptors as well as proteases involved and thus improve the efficacy of cell therapy.
Luminosity function and radial distribution of Milky Way satellites in a ΛCDM Universe

We study the luminosity function (LF) and the radial distribution of satellite galaxies within Milky Way (MW) sized haloes as predicted in cold dark matter based models of galaxy formation, making use of numericalN-body techniques as well as three different semi-analytic models (SAMs) galaxy formation codes. We extract merger trees from very high-resolution dissipationless simulations of four Galaxy-sized DM haloes, and use these as common input for the SAMs. We present a detailed comparison of our predictions with the observational data recently obtained on the MW satellite LF. We find that SAMs with rather standard astrophysical ingredients are able to reproduce the observed LF over six orders of magnitude in luminosity, down to magnitudes as faint as MV =− 2. We also perform a comparison with the actual observed number of satellites as a function of luminosity, by applying the selection criteria of the SDSS survey to our simulations instead of correcting the observations for incompleteness. Using this approach, we again find good agreement for both the luminosity and radial distributions of MW satellites. We investigate which physical processes in our models are responsible for shaping the predicted satellite LF, and find that tidal destruction, suppression of gas infall by a photoionizing background, and supernova feedback all make important contributions. We conclude that the number and luminosity of MW satellites can be naturally accounted for within the (� )cold dark matter paradigm, and this should no longer be considered a problem.