Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic characterization of native southern African chicken populations: evaluation and selection of polymorphic microsatellite markers

This study presents the first results on the evaluation and selection of polymorphic microsatellite markers for the genetic characterization of native chicken populations in southern Africa. Blood samples for DNA extraction were obtained from five chicken lines from South Africa (Koekoek, New Hampshire, Naked-Neck, Lebowa-Venda and Ovambo), and from one population each from Mozambique and Botswana. Twenty-three markers were found to be polymorphic in most of the lines studied. The mean number of alleles observed for all markers was 6.1, and varied from 2.3 (Koekoek) to 4.3 (Mozambique population). The lowest heterozygosity was found in the Koekoek line (31.4%), and the highest in the populations from Mozambique (60.7%) and Botswana (61.2%). It was concluded that this particular set of microsatellite markers can be of use a measure of genetic variability in native chicken lines in southern Africa, and should be evaluated as diagnostic tools for breed identification. (South African Journal of Animal Science, 2000, 30(1): 1-6)
The TRI11 Gene of Fusarium sporotrichioides Encodes a Cytochrome P-450 Monooxygenase Required for C-15 Hydroxylation in Trichothecene Biosynthesis

ABSTRACT Several genes in the trichothecene biosynthetic pathway ofFusarium sporotrichioides have been shown to reside in a gene cluster. Sequence analysis of a cloned DNA fragment located 3.8 kb downstream from TRI5 has led to the identification of the TRI11 gene. The nucleotide sequence ofTRI11 predicts a polypeptide of 492 residues (Mr = 55,579) with significant similarity to members of the cytochrome P-450 superfamily. TRI11 is most similar to several fungal cytochromes P-450 (23 to 27% identity) but is sufficiently distinct to define a new cytochrome P-450 gene family, designated CYP65A1. Disruption of TRI11 results in an altered trichothecene production phenotype characterized by the accumulation of isotrichodermin, a trichothecene pathway intermediate. The evidence suggests that TRI11 encodes a C-15 hydroxylase involved in trichothecene biosynthesis.
Diet quality, added sugar, and dietary fiber intakes in American preschoolers.

PURPOSE The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between meeting the intake recommendations for added sugar (AS) and dietary fiber and overall diet quality in American preschoolers from different ethnic backgrounds. METHODS Data from a nationally representative sample of preschoolers participating in the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) 1994-1996, and 1998 (n=5,437) were categorized into 3 groups: (1) meeting the recommendation for AS intake (< or = 10% of energy) and dietary fiber (14 g and 20 g in 2- to 3-year-olds and 4- to 5-year-olds, respectively; n=236); (2) meeting only 1 recommendation (n=1,502); and (3) meeting neither (n=3,699). Dietary AS and dietary fiber sources were ascertained. Mean energy intake, nutrient intake, and food group density were established within each category, and student's t test was employed to determine significant differences. Nutrient and food group density was also examined stratified by 4 distinct ethnic groups. RESULTS Children meeting both recommendations had better diet quality but also higher energy intakes than children meeting only 1 or neither recommendation. CONCLUSION Most American preschoolers do not meet the dietary intake recommendations for AS and dietary fiber. Health professionals should work together to increase dietary fiber density and reduction of added sugar in the diets of preschoolers to improve diet quality and oral health.
Detection of spinal cord compression in dogs with cervical intervertebral disc disease by magnetic resonance imaging

The medical records and magnetic resonance images of 33 dogs with surgically confirmed Hansen type I cervical intervertebral disc disease were reviewed. Fourteen of the dogs were chondrodystrophic and 19 were not chondrodystrophic. The most common clinical sign was neck pain, which affected 28 of the dogs, and 23 of the dogs were able to walk. Fifteen of the dogs had developed clinical signs acutely, within the previous 24 hours. On cross-sectional images the median area of spinal cord compression was 26 per cent (range 11 to 71 per cent) of the normal spinal cord area. The degree of spinal cord compression was significantly associated with the dogs' presurgical neurological status but not with their postsurgical neurological status. The dogs with an acute onset of clinical signs had more severe neurological dysfunction before surgery, but their condition improved more as a result of surgery.
Adaptive neural network tracking control for a class of non-linear systems

This article extends the application of the adaptive neural network control to a new class of uncertain MIMO non-linear systems, which are composed of interconnected subsystems where each interconnected subsystem is in the non-affine pure-feedback form. Because both the variables which are used as virtual controllers and the actual controllers appear non-linearly in unknown functions of the MIMO systems, thus, this class of systems is difficult to control. The radial basis function neural networks are utilised to approximate the desired virtual controllers and the desired actual controllers which are obtained by using implicit function theorem. The salient property of the proposed approach is that the number of the adjustable parameters is less than the numerous alternative approaches existing in the literature. It is proven that, under appropriate assumptions, all the signals in the closed-loop system are uniformly bounded and the tracking errors converge to a small neighbourhood of the origin by appropriately choosing design parameters. The feasibility of the developed approach is verified by two simulation examples.
A 460MHz at 397mV, 2.6GHz at 1.3V, 32b VLIW DSP, embedding FMAX tracking

Wide-voltage-range-operation DSPs bring more versatility to achieve high energy efficiency in mobile applications to increase signal processing complexity and handle a large range of performance specifications. This paper describes a 32b DSP fabricated in 28nm UTBB FDSOI technology [1]. Body-bias-voltage (VBB) scaling from 0V up to ±2V (Pwell/Nwell) decreases the DSP core VDDMIN to 397mV and increases clock frequency by +400% at 500mV and +114% at 1.3V. In addition to technology gains, dedicated design features are included to increase frequency over the full VDD range, considering parameter variations. As depicted in Fig. 27.1. 1, the 32b datapath VLIW DSP is organized around a MAC dedicated to complex arithmetic and two dedicated operators: a cordic/divider and a compare/select. Data enters the circuit through a serial interface and code is run from a 64×32b register file. It has been shown in [1] that a given operating frequency can be achieved at a lower VDD in UTBB FDSOI compared to bulk by applying a forward-body bias. An additional design step is achieved in this work by (1) increasing the frequency at low VDD thanks to a specific selection and design of standard cells with respect to power vs. performance and (2) dynamically tracking the maximum frequency to cope with variations.
A Systematic Approach to the Physiologic Adaptations of Pregnancy

When a woman learns that she is pregnant, her emotions are like a roller coaster. To her, she is pregnant. She begins to plan all the things that could be and is in constant motion to await the 9 months until the arrival of her bundle of joy. However, to those of us in the perinatal nursing field, it means so much more. The pregnant woman's body goes through some profound anatomical, physiologic, and biochemical changes to adapt to and support the entire pregnancy, which ultimately support the growing fetus. Although these physiologic changes are normal, often they can be misinterpreted as disease. These changes may also unmask or worsen a preexisting condition or disease, ultimately because the pregnant woman's body cannot adequately adapt to the changes of pregnancy. It is essential to know and understand the physiology—the inner workings—of both the mother and the fetus. This includes the basic adaptations related to pregnancy, placental physiology and action, uterine activity physiology, and fetal heart rate regulation, although this article will focus on maternal and uterine physiology only.
Childlessness and the economic well-being of older Americans.

OBJECTIVES The study's purpose is to examine the relationship between childlessness and two key indicators of older Americans' economic well-being: income and wealth. METHODS Using the Health and Retirement Survey, the study estimates this relationship and compares findings from standard ordinary least squares, random effects, quantile regression, and two propensity score models. RESULTS Compared with married parents, childless married couples tend to have slightly more income and about 5% more wealth. Unmarried childless men enjoy no income advantage over unmarried fathers but have 24%-33% more wealth. Compared with older unmarried mothers, unmarried childless women have 12%-31% more income and about 33% more wealth. The strength of these relationships increases as one moves up the distribution of income or wealth. DISCUSSION This study provides evidence on the relationship between childlessness and both income and wealth, including the first evidence for men. The findings may be useful for persons concerned about the determinants of childless adults' well-being as well as the long-run financial demands on public programs that provide income support, health and nursing home care, and social services for older Americans.
Effect of Magnesium Sulfate Pretreatment and Significance of Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 and Interleukin-6 Levels in Coronary Reperfusion Therapy for Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Magnesium (Mg) inhibits the influx of calcium in vascular smooth muscle cells. The purposes of this study were to test the hypothesis that an intravenous administration of magnesium might effect the complement response and to determine the effects of a magnesium pretreatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) on the incidence of reperfusion injuries. Thirty-eight AMI patients were treated with coronary reperfusion therapy within 6 hours of onset. They were randomly divided into two groups: group pretreated with intravenous magnesium sulfate (0.27 mmol/kg) (magnesium group, n=19), and nonpretreated controls (placebo group). The reperfu sion injuries observed within 1 hour after the coronary reperfusion included arrhyth mias, aggravated chest pain, and ST segment elevation in 12-lead electrocardiograms. Coronary recanalization was performed in 36 patients. The incidence of reperfusion arrhythmia was significantly lower in the magnesium group than in the placebo group (17% vs 78%, p<0.001). At the postreperfusion stage, there was a tendency for the degree of ST segment reelevation in the magnesium group lower than in the placebo group (2.5 ±2.3 mm vs 4.7 ±3.8 mm, p=0.07). No marked difference was observed in the incidence of chest pain aggravation between the two groups (67% vs 73%, ns). The peak serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly lower in the magnesium group than those in the placebo group (38.9 ±25.0 vs 92.3 ±76.5 pg/mL, p=0.016). The peak serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) were lower than those in the placebo group (16.2 ±4.8 vs 19.7 ±9.0 ng/mL, p=0.09), but the difference was not significant. A positive correlation was observed between the peak MMP-1 values and the peak IL-6 values (r=0.57, p=0.001) in all patients. Increased serum ionized Mg2+ may inhibit arrhythmic recurrence and the production of IL-6 and MMP-1 after reperfusion and prevent the increase of myocardial lesions caused by calcium overload on myocytes. The increased IL-6 production may induce MMP-1, leading to tissue organ injury. Pretreatment with magnesium sulfate may protect the myocardium of AMI patients from reperfusion injuries.
Erythrocyte Delta‐Aminolaevulic Acid Dehydrase Activity in Anaemia

Summary. A method is described for measuring the activity of the enzyme δ‐aminolaevulic acid dehydrase (ALA‐dehydrase) in the erythrocytes of normal subjects and of patients with macrocytic anaemia due to vitamin‐B12 and folic‐acid deficiency, iron‐deficiency anaemia, lead poisoning and the secondary anaemias of rheumatoid arthritis and carcinomatosis.
Studies on fertilization in Xenopus laevis.

In Xenopus laeutc, the fertilization rate increases gradually between the fallopian tube and the ovisac without any marked local rise correlated with a special jelly layer. This suggests that the diameter of the jelly coat, rather than a factor restricted to one or another jelly layer, is important in sperm capacitation in vivo. Xcno pus body cavity eggs can be fertilized in vitro after they have passed through the fallopian tube and about a quarter length of adjacent oviduct. The passage time of about 50 mm suggests that body cavity eggs in Xenopus are ready for development shortly after ovulation. Single, motile sperm injected into body cavity eggs induce normal development. This indicates that sperm capacitation and niembrane interactions between the sperm and the egg arc not absolute prerequisites to the transfon#{236}iation of the spermatozoid nucleus into a functional male pronucleus, at least in Xeno pus.
A dual-band printed dipole slot antenna for 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN applications

A dual-band printed dipole slot antenna for wireless local area network operation has been designed. The proposed antenna is obtained by folded dual dipole slots operated at the half-wavelength mode. The antenna has a compact substrate size of 40 mm by 15 mm only. The antenna uses a T-shape microstrip fed line which can excite the dual slots to cover the operating bands 2.45 GHz (2.4 GHz – 2.484 GHz) and 5.25 GHz (5.15 – 5.35 GHz) WLAN band. The antenna has good radiation characteristics and good impedance bandwidth.
Critical role of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ferredoxin-5 in maintaining membrane structure and dark metabolism

Significance Our results suggest that particular ferredoxins in photosynthetic organisms are tailored to serve as electron carriers that sustain day-time and night-time metabolism and that the chloroplast-localized ferredoxin-5 (FDX5) appears to function in the desaturation of fatty acids required for maintaining the correct ratio of the dominant lipids in the thylakoid membranes and the integration of chloroplast and mitochondrial metabolism, which is absolutely required for growth in the dark. The most important messages from this work are that redox components associated with critical activities in photosynthetic organisms must be tuned to the redox conditions of the cells and the overall carbon budget of photosynthetic cells requires an understanding of metabolic features that accompany the movement of cells between light and dark conditions. Photosynthetic microorganisms typically have multiple isoforms of the electron transfer protein ferredoxin, although we know little about their exact functions. Surprisingly, a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant null for the ferredoxin-5 gene (FDX5) completely ceased growth in the dark, with both photosynthetic and respiratory functions severely compromised; growth in the light was unaffected. Thylakoid membranes in dark-maintained fdx5 mutant cells became severely disorganized concomitant with a marked decrease in the ratio of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol to digalactosyldiacylglycerol, major lipids in photosynthetic membranes, and the accumulation of triacylglycerol. Furthermore, FDX5 was shown to physically interact with the fatty acid desaturases CrΔ4FAD and CrFAD6, likely donating electrons for the desaturation of fatty acids that stabilize monogalactosyldiacylglycerol. Our results suggest that in photosynthetic organisms, specific redox reactions sustain dark metabolism, with little impact on daytime growth, likely reflecting the tailoring of electron carriers to unique intracellular metabolic circuits under these two very distinct redox conditions.
Numerical simulation of motility patterns of the small bowel. II. Comparative pharmacological validation of a mathematical model.

A model of a locus of the small bowel, described earlier by the authors (Miftakhov et al., 1999) was validated in a comparison of the results of numerical simulations of pharmacological compounds to their effects in biological studies. The actions of the following four classes of drugs were simulated, those: (i) acting on the sarcoplasmic reticulum, (ii) altering the permeability of L- and T-type Ca(2+)channels on the smooth muscle membrane, (iii) motilides, and (iv) benzodiazepines. The strong qualitative resemblance between the theoretical and experimental results supports the robustness of the model.
L’abstract scientifique anglais - français : contraintes et libertés

L’objet de l’abstract est de presenter en quelques lignes les points essentiels d’un article. Les contraintes exterieures et les exigences inherentes a cette forme de discours determinent le langage utilise par l’auteur. Nous proposons une analyse comparative du francais et de l’anglais a partir d’un corpus d’abstracts en informatique traite par le programme Alceste. Les resultats permettent de degager le style langagier, les attitudes differentielles entre Anglophones et Francais et la marge de liberte de l’auteur.
Photoreceptor death: Spatiotemporal patterns arising from one-hit death kinetics and a diffusible cell death factor

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited disease affecting approximately 1: 4000 individuals in North America. It is characterized clinically by the gradual apoptotic death of photoreceptor cells that occurs nonuniformly across the surface of the retina. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the time of death of many individual photoreceptors is random, a fact that must be reconciled with the spatiotemporal patterns of photoreceptor degeneration that are observed in patients with RP. One possible explanation is that a diffusible toxic factor is released by dying photoreceptors and induces adjacent cells to likewise undergo apoptosis. To determine if such a mechanism can result in patchy distributions of photoreceptor death, as frequently observed in RP patients, we studied cell attrition produced by a bistable biochemical switch in an idealized one-dimensional retina. We found that with a reasonable choice of parameter values, our model was able to produce patterns of cell death resembling those observed in RP. In the context of this model, patches on the order of histologically observable size could develop from a single release event, but their rates of formation were independent of the concentration of toxic factor released. Instead, factor concentration affected the overall rate of cell death, the number of degenerating patches, and their distribution across the retina.
Biological Relevance and Therapeutic Potential of the Hypusine Modification System*

Background: Hypusine modification of the eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF-5A) represents a conserved post-translational modification that regulates translation. Results: Deletion of hypusine modification enzymes exerts strong phenotypes. eIF-5A2-deleted animals are viable and fertile. Conclusion: Both enzymatic steps of hypusine modification are essential for mammalian homeostasis, whereas the cancer-related isoform eIF-5A2 is dispensable. Significance: eIF-5A2 might represent a safe therapeutic target. Hypusine modification of the eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF-5A) is emerging as a crucial regulator in cancer, infections, and inflammation. Although its contribution in translational regulation of proline repeat-rich proteins has been sufficiently demonstrated, its biological role in higher eukaryotes remains poorly understood. To establish the hypusine modification system as a novel platform for therapeutic strategies, we aimed to investigate its functional relevance in mammals by generating and using a range of new knock-out mouse models for the hypusine-modifying enzymes deoxyhypusine synthase and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase as well as for the cancer-related isoform eIF-5A2. We discovered that homozygous depletion of deoxyhypusine synthase and/or deoxyhypusine hydroxylase causes lethality in adult mice with different penetrance compared with haploinsufficiency. Network-based bioinformatic analysis of proline repeat-rich proteins, which are putative eIF-5A targets, revealed that these proteins are organized in highly connected protein-protein interaction networks. Hypusine-dependent translational control of essential proteins (hubs) and protein complexes inside these networks might explain the lethal phenotype observed after deletion of hypusine-modifying enzymes. Remarkably, our results also demonstrate that the cancer-associated isoform eIF-5A2 is dispensable for normal development and viability. Together, our results provide the first genetic evidence that the hypusine modification in eIF-5A is crucial for homeostasis in mammals. Moreover, these findings highlight functional diversity of the hypusine system compared with lower eukaryotes and indicate eIF-5A2 as a valuable and safe target for therapeutic intervention in cancer.
The Effects of Phosphoramidon on the Expression of Human Endothelin‐converting Enzyme‐1 (ECE‐1) Isoforms

&NA; Endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) is generated from big ET‐1 by endothelin converting enzyme‐1 (ECE‐1). This process is inhibited by phosphoramidon through binding to the catalytic domain of ECE‐1. There are four isoforms of human ECE‐1 (ECE‐1a, ECE‐1b, ECE‐1c and ECE‐1d) which possess a conserved catalytic domain. Interestingly, a recent study has shown that in ECE‐1b‐transfected CHO cells phosphoramidon increases the expression and activity of ECE‐1b. It is not known, however, whether phosphoramidon has similar effects on the expression of other ECE‐1 isoforms. To address this point, we have established recombinant CHO cell lines that permanently express either human ECE‐1a, ECE‐1b or ECE‐1c. Incubation of CHO/ECE‐1a, ‐1b, and ‐1c with phosphoramidon (100 &mgr;M) for 16 hours markedly elevated the intracellular expression of ECE‐1a and ECE‐1b, but not ECE‐1c protein, as indicated by Western blotting and immunocytochemistry. These increases appear to be due to inhibition of intracellular degradation of the protein because metabolic labeling followed by immunoprecipitation showed ECE‐1a and ECE‐1b proteins had prolonged half‐lives in the phosphoramidon‐treated cells. This is further supported by the finding that ECE‐1 mRNA levels were unchanged following phosphoramidon treatment. Taken together, our results demonstrate that phosphoramidon differentially affects the expression of three human ECE‐1 isoforms.
Safety and immunogenicity of different immunization regimens of CVD 103-HgR live oral cholera vaccine in soldiers and civilians in Thailand.

Attenuated Vibrio cholerae oral vaccine CVD 103-HgR was well tolerated by 324 Thai soldiers and civilians. Most received a single 5 x 10(8) cfu dose, while 40 each received one or two 5 x 10(9) cfu doses. Vibriocidal antibody (the best correlate of immunity) seroconversion was lower in soldiers than civilians (P less than .001). Increasing the vaccine dose to 5 x 10(9) cfu raised the geometric mean titer (P less than .001). A second 5 x 10(9) cfu dose one week later did not notably increase seroconversions. Likelihood of seroconversion was inversely correlated with baseline vibriocidal titer (P less than .001). CVD 103-HgR caused seroconversion in most subjects with baseline titers less than or equal to 1:40, including 100% of civilians after one 5 x 10(8) cfu dose, 79% of soldiers after one 5 x 10(9) cfu dose, and 45% of soldiers after one 5 x 10(8) cfu dose. In persons with elevated baseline titers, vibriocidal antibody seroconversion is not a sensitive measure of whether vaccine has boosted intestinal immunity; for such subjects, other measurements must be used. Study regimens in endemic areas should use a single 5 x 10(9) cfu dose.