Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of phenolic monomers on the production of laccases by the edible mushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju, and partial characterization of a major laccase component

Abstract The effects of several phenolic monomers on the growth and laccase production by the edible mushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju have been compared. Of the phenols tested, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and vanillin were most inhibitory to fungal growth, and cultures supplemented with these two compounds also exhibited the largest increases in laccase specific activity compared with unsupplemented controls. Up to five laccase isoforms were detected in culture fluids when P. sajor-caju was grown in submerged culture in the presence of several phenolic monomers. A major laccase component (laccase IV) present in P. sajor-caju culture supernatants was purified 152-fold with an overall recovery of 4.9%. Laccase IV was shown to be homogeneous by SDS-PAGE and isoelectric focusing, and had a molecular weight of 55 kD and an isoelectric point of 3.6. It displayed a maximum reaction velocity at pH 2.1 and 45 C, and the activation energy of the enzyme reaction between 25 and 45 C as determined by an Arrhenius plot was 12.4 kJ mol-1. The Km of laccase IV, as determined using ABTS as the substrate, was 0.092 mM. Laccase IV was glycosylated with mannose as the major sugar component together with galactose, glucosamine and fucose. Comparison of up to thirteen N-terminal amino acids of laccase IV with those of other fungal laccases revealed the highest similarity (85%) with a laccase from Pleurotus ostreatus. Considerable similarity (46–50%) was also observed with laccases from Coriolus versicolor, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, Phlebia radiata, Coriolus hirsutus and Ceriporiopsis subvermispora but not Agaricus bisporus.
Taxonomic Relatedness of Butyrivibrio, Lachnospira, Roseburia, and Eubacterium Species as Determined by DNA Hybridization and Extracellular-Polysaccharide Analysis

DNA hybridization and extracellular-polysaccharide (EPS) analyses were performed for 19 strains of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens and six strains of Butyrivibrio crossotus, Lachnospira maltipara, Roseburia cecicola, and Eubacterium rectale. Both methods showed that these strains constitute a heterogeneous group of bacteria, and both methods sorted the strains into related groups. As determined by DNA analysis, 20 strains formed five separate groups of closely related bacteria. Nine of these strains were closely related to two previously established groups of B. fibrisolvens. These two groups, group 1 and group 3, contain 11 and 8 strains, respectively, and could represent new species. The type strain of B. crossotus, an isolate from human feces, was closely related genetically to five of the strains presently identified as B. fibrisolvens, which were isolated from rumina of bison. The groups formed by EPS analysis were similar to those formed by DNA analysis. Our data suggest that for some groups of microorganisms EPS analysis may be a useful adjunct to DNA analysis to clarify complex taxonomic relationships.
Extracellular mechanism through the Edg family of receptors might be responsible for sphingosine-1-phosphate-induced regulation of DNA synthesis and migration of rat aortic smooth-muscle cells

Exogenous sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) increased cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration, stimulated thymidine incorporation (DNA synthesis) and inhibited cell migration in rat aortic smooth-muscle cells (AoSMCs). Although exogenous sphingosine, a substrate of sphingosine kinase or a precursor of S1P, markedly induced the intracellular accumulation of S1P, the lipid failed to mimic the S1P-induced actions. In contrast, dihydrosphingosine 1-phosphate (DHS1P), an S1P receptor agonist, duplicated these S1P actions even though DHS1P was approx. 20-50-fold less potent than S1P. The pharmacological properties of DHS1P for the S1P receptor subtypes Edg-1, Edg-3, Edg-5 and Edg-6 were compared in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that were overexpressing the respective receptor. In these S1P-receptor-overexpressing cells, DHS1P was approx. 20-30-fold less potent than S1P for the displacement of [(3)H]S1P binding and inositol phosphate response in Edg-5-expressing CHO cells, as was the case for AoSMCs. However, it was slightly (not more than 3-fold) less potent than S1P in cells expressing Edg-1, Edg-3 or Edg-6. Of the above-mentioned four types of S1P receptor, Edg-5 was abundantly expressed in AoSMCs, as demonstrated by Northern blotting. These results suggest that the intracellular accumulation of S1P is not necessary for the S1P-induced Ca(2+) response, for the stimulation of DNA synthesis or for the inhibition of cell migration. Thus these S1P-induced actions might be mediated through extracellular (or cell-surface) S1P receptors in AoSMCs: Edg-5 might be a most important receptor subtype.
Tyrosinase Inhibitors from Cumin

Cuminaldehyde (p-isopropylbenzaldehyde) was identified as a potent mushroom tyrosinase inhibitor from cumin, a common food spice. This benzaldehyde derivative was found to inhibit the oxidation of l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA) by mushroom tyrosinase with an ID50 of 7.7 μg/mL (0.05 mM). Its oxidized analogue, cumic acid (p-isopropylbenzoic acid), was also characterized to inhibit this oxidation with an ID50 of 43 μg/mL (0.26 mM). These two inhibitors affect mushroom tyrosinase activity in different ways. Keywords: Cumin; cuminaldehyde; cumic acid; tyrosinase inhibitory activity; noncompetitive inhibition; Schiff base formation
Comparison of three closed-loop transmit diversity schemes

In this paper several closed-loop transmit diversity schemes with different levels of feedback about the channel coefficients to the transmitter side are described and compared. These schemes are transmit beamforming with perfect channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter, transmit antenna selection/maximal-ratio combining (TAS/MRC) and the transmit antenna selection/space-time block code (TAS/STBC) schemes with partial CSI available at the transmitter. It is shown that the TAS/MRC scheme provides a good trade-off between feedback complexity and performance.
Timecourse of development of the wallaby trigeminal pathway. II. Brainstem to thalamus and the emergence of cellular aggregations

This paper is the second in a series which makes use of the protracted postnatal maturation of the wallaby to study the development of the trigeminal sensory system. Previous work has established similarities in the organisation of the trigeminal sensory system in the wallaby and in rodents. This study describes the structure and development of the ventroposteromedial nucleus in the wallaby in relationship to the arrival of afferents from the trigeminal nuclei, the formation of neuronal aggregations and naturally occurring cell death. Enzyme histochemistry, Nissl and myelin stains were used. Pathway development was followed using carbocyanine dyes.
Correlação linear e espacial entre produtividade de milho (Zea mays L.) e atributos físicos de um Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico sob plantio direto do Cerrado Brasileiro

The vegetal productivity depends on several factors, including the bulk density and the soil porosity. The corn grains yield (GY), under no-tillage system and irrigated, and the following soil attributes (particle density-PD, bulk density-BD, and the total porosity-TP), in a Dystroferric Red Latosol (Haplic Acrustox), located at the Experimental Station of the Faculdade de Agronomia (Unesp), in Ilha Solteira, Sao Paulo State, Brazil (22o23’’ latitude S; 51o27’’ longitude W), were analyzed in the crop year 2004/2005. The aim was to study the linear and spatial correlations among the attributes. A geostastical grid to collect soil and plant data was installed with one hundred and twenty sample points, in an area of 0.8 ha. The soil attributes showed low variability of their data, although it showed to be on average at the GY. The BD and TP, in the soil surface, did not change randomly. They showed an excellent spatial performance, with ranges between 28.6 and 60.6 m. The multiple linear correlations showed that the TP1, TP3, and BD3 were significant attributes when they correlated with the GY. Among the soil attributes, the simple linear correlations were very elastics. Thus, when in correlations with the GY they showed little variability. With reservation due to low correlation, with the increase of the BD3 the GY decreased. Differently, the spatial correlations among the soil attributes and the GY were practically nulls. However, they were high when exclusively among every all the other attributes of the soil.
Efficient design of experiments in the Monod model

Summary. Estimation and experimental design in a non‐linear regression model that is used in microbiology are studied. The Monod model is defined implicitly by a differential equation and has numerous applications in microbial growth kinetics, water research, pharmacokinetics and plant physiology. It is proved that least squares estimates are asymptotically unbiased and normally distributed. The asymptotic covariance matrix of the estimator is the basis for the construction of efficient designs of experiments. In particular locally D‐, E‐ and c‐optimal designs are determined and their properties are studied theoretically and by simulation. If certain intervals for the non‐linear parameters can be specified, locally optimal designs can be constructed which are robust with respect to a misspecification of the initial parameters and which allow efficient parameter estimation. Parameter variances can be decreased by a factor of 2 by simply sampling at optimal times during the experiment.
Nuclear translocation of antizyme and expression of ornithine decarboxylase and antizyme are developmentally regulated

The polyamines are important regulators of cell growth and differentiation. Cells acquire polyamines by energy‐dependent transport and by synthesis where the highly regulated ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) catalyzes the first and rate‐controlling step. Inactivation of ODC is mainly exerted by antizyme (AZ), a 20–25 kDa polyamine‐induced protein that binds to ODC, inactivates it, and targets it for degradation by the 26S proteasome without ubiquitination. In the present study, we have performed a systematic analysis of the expression of ODC and AZ, at the mRNA and protein levels, during mouse development. The expression patterns for ODC and AZ were found to be developmentally regulated, suggesting important functions for the polyamines in early embryogenesis, axonogenesis, epithelial‐mesenchymal interaction, and in apoptosis. In addition, AZ protein was found to translocate to the nucleus in a developmentally regulated manner. The nuclear localization is consistent with the fact that the amino acid sequence of AZ exhibits features that characterize nuclear proteins. Interestingly, we found that cultivation of mandibular components of the first branchial arch in the presence of a selective proteasome inhibitor caused ODC accumulation in the nucleus of a subset of cells, suggesting that the observed nuclear translocation of AZ is linked to proteasome‐mediated ODC degradation in the nucleus. The presence of AZ in the nucleus may suggest that nuclear ODC activity is under tight control, and that polyamine production can be rapidly interrupted when those developmental events, which depend on access to nuclear polyamines, have been completed. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Amplification of the MLL gene on double minutes, a homogeneously staining region, and ring chromosomes in five patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome

Gene amplification is one of the mechanisms for activating proto‐oncogenes resulting in an enhanced expression of the corresponding gene product. By fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), amplification of the proto‐oncogene MLL has been described only in seven patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We report five new patients (four had de novo AML, one had a de novo myelodysplastic syndrome) displaying different mechanisms of MLL amplification, suspected by G‐banding and confirmed by FISH analysis. In two patients, MLL was amplified on double‐minute chromosomes (dmins). In both cases, an interstitial deletion in 11q23 including the MLL gene was associated with the occurrence of the dmins containing MLL. As a rarely described mechanism, MLL amplification in the form of size‐variable ring chromosomes was observed in two patients. Remodeling of the ring chromosomes leads to multiple copies of MLL and obviously provided a selective growth advantage. In one of the two cases with ring chromosomes, the centromeric α‐satellite DNA of the ring chromosome was not detectable. Our fifth patient showed the unique finding of MLL amplification within a uniformly (homogeneously? ) stained region in interaction with amplified ribosomal DNA sequences. Also, one of the patients with ring chromosomes exhibited the amplification of ribosomal DNA on the ring chromosomes. The transcriptionally active genes for ribosomal RNA could probably enhance the expression of MLL. In one of our five patients, we found the new combination of concomitant amplification of the proto‐oncogenes MLL and MYC. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 27:380–386, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Indoor propagation prediction accuracy and speed versus number of reflections in image-based 3-D ray-tracing

Ray-tracing based prediction of indoor microwave propagation has great potential as a practical and accurate technique to engineer wireless systems. The prediction accuracy of such methods increases with the number of reflections included in a single propagation path. At the same time, the computation time grows exponentially with the number of reflections. Thus, it is critically important to understand the minimum number of reflections needed to achieve the desired level of accuracy. We quantify the prediction accuracy and computation time for a 3-D ray-tracing tool Wireless Systems Engineering Tool (WiSE) by comparing predictions to a large database of measurements collected in three different office buildings located in New Jersey, USA.
Subgroups of non‐atypical hyperplasia of breast defined by proliferation of oestrogen receptor‐positive cells

In normal breast, there is a negative association between expression of oestrogen receptor (ER) and the proliferation marker Ki67, indicating that ER‐positive (ER+) cells do not divide, or that the receptor is down‐regulated when they do so. However, dual staining has been found in carcinomas and precancerous lesions, indicating that abnormal regulation of ER could be important in breast tumourigenesis. ER expression in relationship to cell proliferation was studied in 241 foci of hyperplasia of usual type (HUT), a lesion associated with a 1.5 to 2‐fold increase in risk of developing breast cancer. Dual label immunofluorescence was employed, using the antibodies 1D5 and Ki67. Two hundred and thirteen foci of HUT contained ER+ cells, which were distributed singly or contiguously and increased with age. Most foci resembled normal breast, but 51 contained dual labelled cells, which did not increase with age. Some of these foci exhibited few, scattered ER+ cells with greater proliferation rates than the ER‐negative (ER−) cells, whereas others contained many, contiguous ER+ cells, whose rate of proliferation was less than that of the ER− cells. The latter picture is similar to that which has previously been reported in atypical ductal hyperplasia and ductal carcinoma in situ. The first type of HUT may evolve into the second. The proportion of Ki67+ cells that was ER+ was similar in both types, suggesting a homeostatic mechanism that slows the proliferation of ER+ cells as they become confluent. Overriding this inhibition may be crucial in further progression. Non‐atypical hyperplasia is thus heterogeneous in ER expression and proliferation and a significant proportion exhibit abnormal regulation of ER. These findings could have implications for pathological diagnosis, risk assessment, and prophylactic hormonal therapy. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Compartmentation of the starch-related R1 protein in higher plants

Starch granules were isolated from tubers or leaves of Solanum tuberosum L. and the starch associated proteins were analysed. Based on the solubilisation procedure used, two protein fractions were distinguished: Proteins that are bound to the surface of the starch particles and those enclosed within the granule. A 160 kDa starch associated protein was recovered in both fractions: in starch granule preparations isolated from darkened potato leaves it was predominantly located at the surface of the particle but in tuber starch it was mainly enclosed. In addition, the 160 kDa protein also occurs in a soluble state and resides in the stromal space of amyloplasts from tubers. By using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) the 160 kDa protein was identified to be the recently described R1 that appears to be involved in phosphorylation and/or degradation of starch. In a screening approach, starch granules and soluble proteins from tubers, seeds and fruits of a variety of plant species were analysed for R1 and the amount of phosphate covalently bound to starch was determined. The level of R1 did not correlate with the content of starch derived phosphate.
Management Briefs: Short‐Term Effects of Wildfire on Fishes and Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in the Southwestern United States

Abstract A brief (3-year) study on three headwater streams in the Tonto National Forest, Arizona, documented the immediate effects of wildfire on fishes and their food supply. Hydrologic events following a 1990 wildfire in Arizona effectively extirpated two populations of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and one population of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Aquatic macroinvertebrate densities in affected streams (1) declined to near zero within a month after the fire, (2) recovered to only 25–30% of prefire diversity in two of the streams 1 year later, and (3) continued to fluctuate postfire. Salmonid stocks reintroduced into two of the affected streams a year after the fire declined 75% within a year. The quality and quantity of hydrologic events interact after fires in southwestern landscapes and climatic regimes to markedly affect populations of fish and macroinvertebrates. Managers and researchers in the Southwest must be on the alert for field situations that provide an opportunity to cooperative.
Genetic organization of A chain and B chain of β‐bungarotoxin from Taiwan banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus)

β-Bungarotoxin, the main presynaptic neurotoxin purified from the venom of Bungarus multicinctus, consists of two dissimilar polypeptide chains, the A chain and the B chain, cross-linked by an interchain disulfide bond. In this study, A and B chain genes isolated from the liver of B. multicinctus encoded the A and B chain precursors, respectively. Analyses of the coding regions of the A and B chain genes revealed that both consist of three exons and two introns. The sequences of all exon/intron junctions agree with the GT/AG rule. However, sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis did not support that the evolution of A and B chain genes are closely related. Comparative analysis of A chain genes with Viperinae and Crotalinae phospholipase A2 genes indicated that genetic divergence of the A chain and phospholipase A2s was in accordance with their family. Moreover, evolutionary divergence of the intron and exon regions of the A chain, as observed for phospholipase A2 genes, was not consistent. Noticeably, the transcription of A and B chain genes may be regulated under different transcription factors as revealed by analyses of their promoter sequences. In terms of the finding that A and B chains are encoded separately by different genes, this strongly supports the view that the intact β-bungarotoxin molecules should be derived from the pairing of A and B chains after their mRNAs are translated.
The Revised Revised Report on Scheme or An Uncommon Lisp

Abstract : Scheme is a statically scoped and properly tail-recursive dialect of the Lisp programming language invented by Guy Lewis Steele Jr and Gerald Jay Sussman. It was designed to have an exceptionally clear and simple semantics and very few different methods of expression formation. This paper reports their unanimous recommendations augmented by committee work in the areas of arithmetic, characters, strings, and input/output. Scheme shares with Common Lisp the goal of a core language common to several implementations. Scheme differs from Common Lisp in its emphasis upon simplicity and function over compatibility with older dialects of Lisp. Contents: Notational conventions; Special forms; Booleans; Equivalence predicates; Pairs and lists; Symbols; Numbers; Characters; Strings; Vectors; The object table;
Mechanism‐related changes in the gene transcription and protein synthesis patterns of Haemophilus influenzae after treatment with transcriptional and translational inhibitors

High‐resolution two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis of pulse‐labeled Haemophilus influenzae extracts allows for the separation and quantification of more than five hundred protein spots. We have determined the changes in the protein synthesis patterns triggered by treatment with inhibitors of transcription, Rifampicin (Rif) and translation, Chloramphenicol (Chl), Erythromycin (Ery), Fusidate (Fus), Puromycin (Pur), Kanamycin (Kan), Streptomycin (Str), and Tetracycline (Tet) relative to the total protein synthesis rate. More than 200 spots changed in intensity under at least one condition. With the exception of the aminoglycosides, Kan and Str, all inhibitors triggered a clear increase in the synthesis rates of ribosomal proteins and RNA polymerase subunits. Northern analysis of rpoA, rpoB, rpoC, and six ribosomal protein genes indicated induction of transcription as well as antitermination as part of the mechanism of the regulation of gene expression. Total RNA synthesis was increased after exposure to Chl, Ery, Fus, and Tet, whereas Str had no effect. Rif led to an almost complete shutdown of RNA synthesis. Exposure to Chl, Ery, Fus, Rif, and Tet resulted in a decrease in the concentration of the stringent factor, guanosine 5',3'‐bis‐diphosphate (ppGpp) whereas Str again had no effect. Thus, as in Escherichia coli, the response of H. influenzae to translational inhibitors appears to be mediated by the regulatory nucleotide ppGpp.
Avaliação da qualidade óssea mediante parâmetros morfométricos, bioquímicos e biomecânicos em frangos de corte

The objective of the experiment was to determine the biochemical, morphometrics and biomechanical aspects of femur bones of broilers. It was used six hundred male and female broilers at one day of age from three different lines (Hb1 and Hb2 - UFV and Hb3 - commercial). They were fed ad libitum on starter (1 to 21 days), grower (22 to 35 days) and finisher (36 to 42 days) rations. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a factorial arrangement 3 × 2 (three lines and two sexes) with 5 replicates and 10 birds per experimental unit (box). The weight, length, cross-sectional area, moment of inertia, maximum load, modulus of elasticity, bending strength, collagenous and non collagenous proteins and body weight of the broilers were evaluated in the femur. At 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of age, one male and one female of each line were randomly selected per box, in a total of five boxes per line. Among lines, Hb3 presented higher superior body weight in all ages, and among sexes, the males were heavier. The strength of maximum load was higher for the males and lines HB3 was higher than HB1and equal to HB2 at 42 days of age. The worst results of elasticity and bending strength at 42 days of age were observed in males from line HB2, which did not differ from HB3 regarded to bending at 42 days of age and to elasticity measured in all ages, which characterizes low bone quality of the males and line HB3. Biomechanical aspects of femurs bones, as modulus of elasticity and bending strength, to correct and avoid bone damages of broilers due to their heavier weight.