Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crystal structure of the TbBILBO1 N-terminal domain reveals a ubiquitin fold with a long rigid loop for the binding of its partner

BILBO1 was the first characterized component of the flagellar pocket collar (FPC) in trypanosomes. The N-terminal domain (NTD) of BILBO1 plays an essential role in T. brucei FPC biogenesis and is thus vital for the parasite’s survival. Here we report a 1.7-Å resolution crystal structure of TbBILBO1-NTD, which revealed a conserved horseshoe-like hydrophobic pocket formed by an unusually long loop. Mutagenesis studies suggested that another FPC protein, FPC4, interacts with TbBILBO1 via specific binding to this pocket. Overall, we have determined the exact binding site of TbFPC4 on TbBILBO1-NTD, which may provide a basis for rational drug design in the future. Background BILBO1 is the core component of the flagellar pocket collar (FPC) in trypanosomes and recruits other FPC proteins including FPC4 to form this essential cytoskeleton-associated structure in kinetoplastids. Results We determined a high-resolution crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of T. brucei BILBO1, which revealed a characteristic horseshoe-like surface pocket for specific binding of T. brucei FPC4. Conclusion The C-terminal loop of the TbBILBO1 N-terminal domain adopts an unusual circular conformation to provide a unique contact site for TbFPC4 binding. Significance The crystal structure together with mutagenesis studies reveals for the first time how two FPC proteins interact with each other.
ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL IMPORTANCE OF CONSERVATION OF SACRED GROVES IN KERALA

In Kerala, based on ownership patterns, sacred groves (Kavu in the regional language, Malayalam) can be broadly categorised into three groups namely those managed by individual families, group of families and the statutory bodies for temple management (Devaswom Board). Ollur Kavu, S.N. Puram Kavu and lringole Kavu, which represent above mentioned management systems respectively were studied for their tree species composition, vegetation structure, biomass production and nutrient cycling pattern. The study was also designed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of present management systems and role of different stakeholder groups in conserving the sacred groves. Of the three sacred groves, the one managed by individual family (Ollur Kavu) is highly disturbed as indicated by low density of mature trees (367 ha-I) and poor regeneration potential with a ratio of 1:0.4 between mature trees and saplings. Aboveground biomass of the tree components in Ollur Kavu was also significantly lower than those recorded in other two sacred groves. In order to quantify the level of disturbance, Ramkrishnan index of stand quality (RISQ) was calculated. The values obtained for all three tree layers (i.e., mature trees, saplings and seedlings) in single family managed sacred grove (Ollur Kavu) was between 2.265 -2.731. This indicates the dominance of light demanding species in the population and in turn, suggests that the grove is highly disturbed one. lringole Kavu and S.N. Puram Kavu are least disturbed as indicated by lower 'RISQ values (between 1.319 and 1.648). Estimation of nutrient pool in the aboveground biomass and litter indicated that the quantity of elements either in the biomass or in litter is a function of the absolute weight of biomass and litter respectively. However, significant difference in the weighted average nutrient concentration of biomass/litter was recorded between disturbed and relatively undisturbed sacred groves. In addition to this, larger relative turnover rate and enrichment exhibited by potassium, than by other elements both in vegetation and soil in Ollur Kavu may indicate that potassium accumulates and recycles very rapidly in early secondary succession and slowed later when the forest matures and was relatively undisturbed. It is also obvious that the reorganisation of nutrient pools varied widely among the elements analysed. Macronutrients most directly involved in metabolism and less in structure, such as potassium recycle rapidly in disturbed sites. Therefore, the present study also reveals that for a complex entity like an ecosystem, there are multiple measures for determining the effects of disturbance and ecosystem recovery processes.
Knowledge Spillovers Across Developing Economies

Manjinder Kaur, Research Fellow, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, India 147002. (E-mail): manukaur30@yahoo.in, (Tel): +91-7696734939, (Fax): 91+175-2283073; Lakhwinder Singh, Professor and Coordinator, Centre for Development Economics and Innovation Studies (CDEIS), Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, India 147002. (E-mail): lakhwindergill@pbi.ac. in, (Tel): +91-9888755642, (Fax): 91+175-2283073.
Correlation between Food Intake and Health Status with the Nutritional Status of School Children Age 9-11 in Semarang City

Background: Malnutrition, a major risk factor for a number of infectious diseases, including acute upper respiratory tract infections (AURTI), is common in developing countries. Nutritional status is an important index of the quality of life. Anthropometric examination is a tool almost mandatory in any research to assess the health and nutritional conditions in childhood. Physical measurements such as weight, height, arm and calf circumference and triceps skin fold thickness of the children have been widely used to determine the health and nutritional status of the community. Objectives: To analyze the correlation between food intake and health status to nutritional status of 9 – 11 years old children in Semarang. Methods: The study was a correlation study carried among school children in Semarang aged 9-11 years old. Data obtained during the study were height, weight, age, energy and protein intake and frequency of AURTI experienced in the last two months. Energy and protein intake were measured using semi quantitative food frequency method. , while nutritional status were in z-score of W/A,H/A, Wt/H and BMI. Data are presented in the descriptive analyses and Sperman correlation. Results: Overall, food intake (energy and protein) of 9-11 years old children in Semarang is normal with ≥ 90% RDA, health status of 9-11 years old children in Semarang is good enough, nutritional status of 9-11 years old children in Semarang are mostly normal, however about 20 % are obese and less than 5 % are skinny and stunted. There was a correlation between energy intake with nutritional status with indicators BMI, W/A, H/A, and W/H, but there was no relationship between protein intake with nutritional status with indicators BMI, W/A, H/A, and W/H. Health status using AURTI incidence was not correlated with nutritional status using all indicators. Conclusion & Recommendation: The health authority and school authority should pay more attention either to the malnourished children as well as the obese children in the elementary schools and design programs to correct the nutritional status in order to increase the health status of children, through the school health program. It should be suggested to parents implement balanced nutrition guidelines/ diet, to avoid the development of obesity among elementary school children by developinhg special program of nutrition education to prevent malnutrition as well as obesity.
PREDICTION OF RAPID INTENSITY CHANGES IN TROPICAL CYCLONES USING ASSOCIATIVE CLASSIFICATION

of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Professor Mei-Ling Shyu No. of pages in text. (81) Accurate forecasting of Tropical Cyclone (TC) track and intensity are vital for safeguarding the lives and property of communities in regions that are subject to TC impact. While there have been impressive advancements in TC track forecasting over the last 40 years, forecasts of TC intensity have seen virtually no improvement since 1990, chiefly because of the difficulty of predicting rapid changes in TC intensity. This study applies data mining techniques to a data set of meteorological parameters in order to construct an associative classifier that has been named AprioriGrad. This classifier is based on the association rule mining technique together with the Apriori algorithm for frequent itemset selection, but includes customizations for detecting rare events and for labeling a series of interrelated classification targets defined as yes/no thresholds on an underlying continuous measurement of 24-h TC intensity change. AprioriGrad’s performance on this domain is compared to a variety of classification techniques, and implications for possible development as an operational forecasting tool or for further meteorological study are examined.
Trait expression studies of indigenous Joha rice of Assam under organic and inorganic culture

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate 12 indigenous Joha rice genotypes for different yield characters under inorganic and organic cultures. The materials were characterized during sali season of 2015-16 at the Instruction-cum-Research (ICR), Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat using Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed the existence of significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits under both inorganic and organic cultures. Among all the characters, panicle weight, grains/panicle, 1000-grain weight, grain yield/plant, straw yield/plant and harvest index exhibited moderate to high estimates of the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were recorded under organic and inorganic culture. Also, high estimates of heritability were recorded for days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering, plant height, grains/panicle, 1000-grain weight, and harvest index. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed only for 1000-grain weight under both the cultures. The correlation analysis revealed that under both the condition the grain yield/plant had a significant positive association with biological yield and harvest index at both genotypic and phenotypic level respectively. Thus, all these information could be effectively used to formulate a breeding programme for improvement of their adaptation under organic farming.
The Nature of Culture of Learning in Nigerian Non-Tertiary English Language Classroom

The study aims to characterize the culture of learning of English in Nigerian schools to determine the nature of Nigerian culture of learning appropriate to the teaching of English as an International Language (EIL) not only in Nigeria but also in all Anglophone West African countries. The study is a report based on an extensive classroom observation of the researcher’s experience, as a supervisor, of undergraduate Education student teaching practice. There are two parts to the report—pre-pedagogical and pedagogical inputs. The pre-pedagogical input reveals that teaching and learning are instrumentally and extrinsically motivated. Teachers teach to enable their students to pass their examination in English and students learn to pass their examinations to please their parents. Government provides and recommends curriculum and textbooks respectively for the teacher, who is tacitly compelled to abide by their provisions in lesson delivery. Pedagogically, Nigerian classroom does not tolerate autonomous classroom dominated by peer-group interaction in which the teacher is a facilitator and may be challenged by his students. Rather, the classroom is regulated. The teacher wields unquestioned authority and respect. Teaching is explicit and deductive. Teacher talk dominates the classroom. Questions and answers, enhanced by other appropriate instructional techniques, are common classroom procedure. Keywords : Teaching method, culture of learning, culture learning, culture for learning
State estimation of stochastic systems with switching measurements: A polynomial approach

The state estimation problem is here investigated for a class of stochastic linear switching‐output systems, in which the output matrix switches in a finite set of possible values according to a not directly measured discrete Markov sequence. This note presents a real‐time algorithm, based on the optimal polynomial filtering approach, which achieves the simultaneous estimation of both the continuous system state and the switching parameter. The state and observation noises do not need to be Gaussian. It is shown that the optimal filter of degree one (best affine filter) does not solve the parameter estimation problem, due to a structural first‐order unobservability property, and therefore the use of higher‐order filters becomes necessary. As an application of the proposed filter, the problem of the online simultaneous estimation of the transmitted signal and of the impulse response samples of a multipath fast‐fading digital communication channel is considered in this paper. Differently from other approaches, the polynomial filter solves the problem without the use of training sequences (preambles) in the transmitted data, so that the information flow through the channel is not interrupted. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigation of the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana using a genetic approach.

The regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana was investigated using a genetic approach. A new class of carbohydrate insensitive mutant (cai) was characterised in order to gain insight into the control of carbohydrate metabolism. Wild type seedlings germinated on media containing 100 mM sucrose and 0.1 mM nitrogen but their cotyledons did not expand and accumulated anthocyanins. After 1 week growth was arrested. The internal carbohydrate content increased accompanied by repression of photosynthetic genes and induction of chs gene expression, cai mutants germinated on agar media containing 100 mM sucrose and 0.1 mM nitrogen but their cotyledons expanded and greened. After initial characterisation of a number of the mutants, two were selected for further analysis. When germinated on a range of different carbon; nitrogen ratios cai 10 and cai 28 displayed a reduced sensitivity to the high carbohydrate and low nitrogen conditions, cai 10 also displayed a mannose insensitive (mig) phenotype compared to the post-germinative growth of wild type which was arrested by mannose. This growth arrest in the wild type on mannose correlates with phosphate sequestration, cai 10 metabolises mannose at a different rate and accumulates less hexose phosphate than the wild type when germinated on mannose, thus indicating that the mannose insensitive phenotype may be a consequence of a disruption in metabolism. Overexpression of Arabidopsis hexokinase 1 in cai 10 did not complement the cai 10 phenotype. In contrast to previous results by Jang et al., (1997), who found that plants overexpressing hexokinase were hypersensitive to sugars, our results indicate that they are less sensitive than wild type. This is not in agreement with the proposed model of hexokinase as a sugar sensor (Jang et al., 1997). Seeds of the hexokinase overexpressors germinated rapidly (within 18-20 h). The seeds also contained elevated levels of some amino acids, smaller lipid bodies and less lipid than the wild type. It is proposed that hexokinase overexpression increases glucose-6-phosphate concentration which activates phosphoenolpyravate carboxylase (PEPCase) and in so doing diverts carbon from lipid biosynthesis to amino acid synthesis.
Civic Engagement and Sense of Community in the Military

ABSTRACT In the context of current discussions among social commentators about the status and well being of community in American society, this article examines the nature of civic engagement and sense of community in the U.S. military. Framed by social disorganization theory, a conceptual model is developed and tested with a sample of married active duty Air Force (AF) members. Our analysis examines variations in perceptions of sense of community as a consequence of three indicators of civic engagement: community capacity, community connections, and community participation. The results suggest that community participation plays a particularly important role in influencing the sense of community that active duty members feel. Human service organizations and unit leaders are discussed as critical resources in promoting civic engagement and strengthening the sense of community among AF members.
PLANING FOR THE SUB - AND SUPERSONIC SPEEDS

The present paper is devoted to some quantitative estimation of hydrodynamic characteristics of planing plate for high speeds. The plate has finite aspect ratio and moves on compressible fluid with detached and attached nose shock. The applicability of the isentropic equation of a thermodynamic state of water is supposed. The similarity transonic flows of water and perfect gas is shown. A stream turn angle dependence on a shock sweep, and Mach number, at which shock attaches to a plate, dependence on a trim angle for water is built. Generalized with due regard for free surface of compressible fluid Young's formula for the plate normal force coefficient derivative with respect to hull angle for finite aspect ratio planing plate is obtained. The numerical results for little hull angles are in keeping with known theoretical and experimental data for an undersurface of a plate and wedge at subsonic, transonic, and supersonic velocity range.
Weight-length relationship, morphometric and meristic characters of the yellow seahorse Hippocampus kuda Bleeker, 1852 (Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae) from central west coast of India

Eighteen morphometric and five meristic characters of the yellow seahorse, Hippocampus kuda inhabiting the coastal waters of Ratnagiri, central west coast of India, were studied. Morphometric/numerical analysis confirmed the identity of the species from Ratnagiri coastal waters as Hippocampus Kuda Bleeker, 1852. A negative allometric relationship was observed in both genders of H. kuda. The estimated weight-length relationships (WLR) for male and female specimens, respectively were, W=0.0034 SL2.8533 and W=0.0078 SL2.5253 (r2>0.95). The biological information on morphometric and meristic characters, WLR and length-length relationship (LLR) provided in this study would be helpful for conservation and management of this vulnerable seahorse species.
Improvement of Sabkha Soil by Using Geomesh and Addition of Polycoat

Sabkha soil is a rich soil with salt deposited which result from evaporation of water, it is one of the many types of collapsible soils and in turn is one of the many types of problematic soils. This soil totally has good engineering properties when dry ,i.e ,moderately bearing capacity with low settlement. But once is wetted it loses its entire structure (collapse) and undergoes very large instantaneous settlement. A laboratory model test consists of a cylindrical steel container of 270mm diameter and 300mm height, the soil is brought from Al-Khalis discrete. The density of soil is controlled by placing the required weight inside the container of known volume, to the required height. A square footing 40mmx40mm makes from steel is used. The stress is applied from a fixed loading system designed especially for model tests. In this study two types of improvement are used , the first improvement consists of fine geomesh under footing at different depth (0.5B,B,2B),the second improvement is the addition of polycoat with different concentration to surface of soil . The first method do not give good results of improvement but the second method gives good improvement which reduces the collapsibility to 62% at stress level of 50kPa.
Developing T cells form an immunological synapse for passage through the β−selection checkpoint

The β-selection checkpoint of T cell development tests whether the cell has recombined its genomic DNA to produce a functional T Cell Receptor β (TCRβ) receptor. Passage through the β-selection checkpoint requires the nascent TCRβ protein to mediate signaling through a pre-TCR complex. In this study, we show that developing T cells at the β-selection checkpoint establish an immunological synapse in in vitro & in situ, resembling that of the mature T cell. The immunological synapse is dependent on two key signaling pathways known to be critical for the transition beyond the β-selection checkpoint, Notch and CXCR4 signaling. In vitro and in situ analyses indicate that the immunological synapse promotes passage through the β-selection checkpoint. Collectively, these data indicate that developing T cells regulate pre-TCR signaling through the formation of an immunological synapse. This signaling platform integrates cues from Notch, CXCR4, and MHC on the thymic stromal cell, to allow transition beyond the β-selection checkpoint. Summary T cell development requires testing whether genomic rearrangement has produced a T cell receptor capable of transmitting signals. Most T cells fail this test. Here, we show that passage through the β-selection checkpoint requires assembly of a platform to support TCR signaling.
GROWTH PERFORMANCE, DIGESTIBILITY, CARCASS TRAITS AND SOME BLOOD CONSTITUENTS OF JAPANESE QUAILS AS AFFECTED BY SUPPLEMENT OF CHROMIUM IN GROWING RATIONS

The present study aimed to the effects of chromium (Cr) supplementation with different levels on growth performance, digestibility nutrients, carcass characteristics, some blood constituents and economic efficiency of the growing Japanese quail. A total number of 450 one-day-old Japanese quail's chicks was used divided randomly into five experimental groups. Each group was distributed by 3 replicates pens containing (30 birds in each) until 6 weeks of age. The 1 st group fed the basal experimental diet without supplementation (as control), while the other groups were fed on diets supplemented with 200, 400, 800, and1200 μg chromium (Cr)/kg ration as chromium picolinate (Cr pic.), respectively. The results showed that the addition of chromium in the diets of growing Japanese quail resulted in an improvement (P<0.05) in body weight, and weight gain of group which received 1200 μg Cr/kg diet as compared to control one at the first three and six weeks of age. Moreover, at the same level addition of chromium in quail diets significantly (P≤0.05) improved the feed conversion, protein efficiency ratio and efficiency of energy utilization when compared with those fed unsupplemental diet, during the experimental periods (0-3 and 0-6 weeks of age). However, the addition up to 800 μg /kg of Cr in the diets improved significantly (P<0.05) the digestibility of organic matter and nitrogen free extract, while crude protein, crude fibre and ether extract digestibility were insignificantly affected. The results, also demonstrated that the abdominal fat decreased as the levels of chromium increased while, carcass percentage was increased. Serum total cholesterol, glucose were significantly (P<0.05) decreased by Cr supplementation. On the other hand total lipid, total tri-glycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL %) showed the inverse trend. The highest value of economic efficiency (EE) was obtained for quails fed on diets supplemented by Cr up to 800 μg /kg. The results from this study demonstrate that a supplementation up to 800 μg /kg of Cr in the ration improved the growth performance, digestibility, carcass characteristics and blood constituents of the growing Japanese quail.