Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation and Partial Purification of a Phytotoxin Related to Pathogenic Verticillium species

The low molecular weight metabolites are considered as phytotoxins of pathogenic Verticillum species. The resin, Amberlite XAD-4 was used for isolation of toxin from log-phase culture fluids of the fungus. The toxin was purified further using, gel permeation. The isolated toxin induced chlorosis and necrosis in detached-leaflets of susceptible tomato and potato cultivars similar to natural symptoms. The metabolite is polar, multifunctional, heat stable, cold labile with molecular weight less than 1000. The activity was retained in dried samples of the crude filtrate and kept at room temperature for up to 8 months.
Cooperative Nesting in the Multivoltine Large Carpenter Bee Xylocopa sulcatipes Maa (Apoidea: Anthophoridae): Do Helpers Gain or Lose to Solitary Females?

Whether an individual strives to breed or restrains from reproducing directly but increases the fitness of another individual through its help, may be viewed as a result of a trade-off between fitness costs and benefits arising from this decision. A population of the large carpenter bee Xylocopa sulcatipes Maa was studied in southeast Israel over a two year period. Female reproductive success, in terms of genetic representation in the gene pool (genetic gain), was calculated using coefficients of relatedness and the number of offspring produced by solitary, reproductively dominant and helper bees of social nests. In one year helper females, that shared a nest with a related female accrued a higher genetic gain than did solitary females. In the subsequent year solitary females did better than the helper bees. In nests founded by unrelated females a helper bee accrued only little genetic gain. However, evidence is presented to show that subordinate behaviour can have an adaptive value and can ultimately be beneficial through nest inheritance by the subordinate bee.
TUMOR ANGIOGENESIS BASED ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF MCT AND MTD CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES IN CANCER

Solid tumor survives by the process of angiogenesis. In this process micro-vessels are generated around it. Two factors govern this process. One is Tumor Angiogenic Factor (TAF) secreted by the tumor cells and another is tissue Fibronectin (FNT) concentration in the extra-cellular space. These two factors help in mobilization of endothelial cells from nearby blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. Metronomic chemotherapeutic (MCT) procedure is targeted at this angiogenic microvessels at the cancer milieu and thereby, limits the growth of cancer cells. Here, we have developed a fluid dynamical based analytical model. The model comprises tumor system and a microvasculature system around it. Another characteristic of the developed model is the incorporation of a tracking procedure of either the tumor or microvasculature system from the peripheral blood. Therefore, this analytical method makes a correlation between tumor system, its micro-vasculature system and the peripheral blood circulatory system. With this analytical armamentarium we have tested the effectiveness of MCT in comparison with the conventional maximum tolerable dosing (MTD) strategy. Our simulation result reveals that under the condition MCT is better compared to MTD in controlling tumor growth in a dynamical sense. The advantage of this analytical model is that the tumor system dynamics can be effectively traced through both invasive and non-invasive procedure as and when required.
CUTL1: A Key Mediator of TGFβ-Induced Tumor Invasion

The TGFβ pathway plays a dual role in human carcinogenesis. On one hand, TGFβ is well known for its ability to inhibit epithelial cell proliferation and promote apoptosis. However, many advanced cancers acquire resistance to the growth-inhibitory effects of TGFβ and respond to it instead with promotion of proliferation, invasion and tumor progression. The homeobox transcription factor CUTL1, also known as CCAAT displacement protein, CDP or Cux-1, is involved in the control of normal embryonic development and differentiation. Recently, we found that CUTL1 is a transcriptional target of TGFβ and is an important mediator of the TGFβ-induced cell migration and invasion. In addition, CUTL1 is highly expressed in various epithelial cancers and seems to negatively correlate with tumor differentiation and patient survival. Therefore we postulate that CUTL1 might be a key mediator of the tumor-promoting effects of TGFβ in advanced cancers.
Attention, awareness, and noticing in language processing and learning

This chapter reviews current psychological and applied linguistic research that is relevant to Schmidt’s landmark theoretical analysis of the concepts of attention, conscious awareness, and noticing. Recent evidence that attention and awareness are dissociable makes it possible to ask which of these constructs is required for either processing familiar stimuli, or learning novel associations. There is good evidence for processing familiar stimuli without conscious awareness, and even without attention. There is mounting evidence for learning without awareness at the level of understanding regularities, particularly when meaning is involved (semantic implicit learning). There is even some recent evidence for learning without awareness at the level of noticing form, for example learning associations between subliminal and liminal words. Thus, whilst attention does appear to be necessary for learning, awareness might not be. It is suggested that future research should probe the types of regularity that can be learned without awareness, and that this will shed more light on the nature of the underlying learning mechanism, and permit an evaluation of its relevance to SLA.
Patchiness of eggs, larvae and juveniles of European hake Merluccius merluccius from the NW Mediterranean

We estimated patchiness for different life stages (egg, larvae and juveniles) of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) from two ichthyoplankton surveys (September and November 1999) and four bottom-trawl surveys (November 1998, February, June and September 1999). Lloyd's patchiness P = 1 + 1/k, where k is the dispersion parameter of the negative binomial distribution, was calculated. Juveniles showed lower indices of patchiness than early ontogenetic stages. In juveniles, patchiness was highest for smaller size classes (3.5–5 cm TL) settling to their near-bottom habitat and was very low for those larger than 5 cm up to the 30–35 cm size class (approximately 3 yr of age, 50% mature individuals). Patchiness of settling juveniles was especially high in the June and September surveys, coinciding with peak recruitment to the bottom. Both eggs and yolk sac larvae showed patchiness values <10, increasing in flexion stage larvae from 12 to 20. This pattern is different to that observed in other studies for pelagic species, where patchiness of early-stage eggs is very high, but coincides with results obtained for other demersal species with pelagic eggs. Factors that may explain these patterns are discussed in light of oceanographic conditions, adult distribution and larval ontogenesis.
Root-induced solubilization of phosphate in the rhizosphere of lowland rice.

Lowland rice (Oryza sativa L., cv IR74) was grown in cylinders of a P-deficient reduced Ultisol separated into upper and lower cells by a fine nylon mesh so that the roots formed a planar layer above the mesh. This enabled changes in soil P fractions and other root-induced changes in the soil near the root plane to be measured. In both P-fertilized and unfertilized soil, the quantity of readily plant-available P was negligible in comparison with the quantity of P extracted by the plants, and the plants therefore necessarily induced changes in the soil so as to solubilize P. After 6 wk of growth, 90 % of the P taken up was drawn from acid-soluble pools. The remainder was from an alkali-soluble inorganic pool which was on balance depleted, although its concentration profile contained zones of accumulation corresponding to zones of Fe(III) accumulation. There was also a small accumulation of alkali-soluble organic P. There were no changes in the more recalcitrant soil P pools. The zone of P depletion was 4-6 mm wide, increasing with P addition, and coincided with a zone of acidification in which the pH fell from near 6 in the soil bulk to less than 4 near the roots. The acidification was due to H+ generated in oxidation of Fe2+ by root-released O2 , and to H+ released from the roots to balance excess intake of cations over anions. With increasing P deficiency there were increases in the ratio of root: shoot d. wt; the ratio of shoot d. wt to total P in the plant; the excess intake of cations over anions per unit plant d. wt and corresponding release of H+ to the soil; and the quantity of Fe oxidized per unit plant d. wt and corresponding release of H+ to the soil. Independent, in vitro measurements confirmed that acid addition increased the P concentration in the soil solution and the quantity of P that could be desorbed per gram of soil. A mathematical model of the diffusion of acid away from the roots, acid reaction with the soil in solubilizing P, and the diffusion of P back to the absorbing roots showed that, under the conditions of the root-plane experiments, solubilization by acidification accounted for at least 80% of the P taken up in both P-fertilized and unfertilized soil, but that less than 50% of the P solubilized could be taken up by the roots.
Ligand-receptor interaction atlas within and between tumor cells and T cells in lung adenocarcinoma

Purpose: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although tumor cell-T cell interactions are known to play a fundamental role in promoting tumor progression, these interactions have not been explored in LUAD. Methods: The 10x genomics single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and gene expression data of LUAD patients were obtained from ArrayExpress, TCGA, and GEO databases. scRNA-seq data were analyzed and infiltrating tumor cells, epithelial cells, and T cells were identified in the tumor microenvironment. Differentially expressed ligand-receptor pairs were identified in tumor cells/normal epithelial cells and tumor T cells/non-tumor T cells based on corresponding scRNA-seq and gene expression data, respectively. These important interactions inside/across cancer cells and T cells in LUAD were systematically analyzed. Furthermore, a valid prognostic machine-learning model based on ligand-receptor interactions was built to predict the prognosis of LUAD patients. Flow cytometry and qRT-PCR were performed to validate the significantly differently expressed ligand-receptor pairs. Results: Overall, 39,692 cells in scRNA-seq data were included in our study after quality filtering. A total of 65 ligand-receptor pairs (17 upregulated and 48 downregulated), including LAMB1-ITGB1, CD70-CD27, and HLA-B-LILRB2, and 96 ligand-receptor pairs (41 upregulated and 55 downregulated), including CCL5-CCR5, SELPLG-ITGB2, and CXCL13-CXCR5, were identified in LUAD cancer cells and T cells, respectively. To explore the crosstalk between cancer cells and T cells, 114 ligand-receptor pairs, including 11 ligand-receptor pair genes that could significantly affect survival outcomes, were identified in our research. A machine-learning model was established to accurately predict the prognosis of LUAD patients and ITGB4, CXCR5, and MET were found to play an important role in prognosis in our model. Flow cytometry and qRT-PCR analyses indicated the reliability of our study. Conclusion: Our study revealed functionally significant interactions within and between cancer cells and T cells. We believe these observations will improve our understanding of potential mechanisms of tumor microenvironment contributions to cancer progression and help identify potential targets for immunotherapy in the future.
Solitary plants do as well as clumped ones in Silene uniflora (Caryophyllaceae)

Many studies have been done on seed production as a function of population density in wild plants. Most of them show a higher seed-set per flower of densely growing plants. In this study, in a gynodioecious Silene uniflora (Caryophyllaceae) population on the Baltic island of Oland, high plant density did not increase fruit-set or seed-set. Instead, the total number of seeds set was slightly higher for widely scattered plants as a result of a somewhat lower number of ovules per flower in densely growing plants. Individuals had nothing to gain by growing close together, because there was no reproductive parameter which could compensate for the low ovule number per flower of closely growing plants. Plant size determined the total seed production of individuals, but did not correlate with any of the fitness components studied per flower basis. The different gender morphs showed the same pattern, which is discussed as a comparison with pollen limitation in self-compatible and self-incompatible plants.
Query Resolution for Conversational Search with Limited Supervision

In this work we focus on multi-turn passage retrieval as a crucial component of conversational search. One of the key challenges in multi-turn passage retrieval comes from the fact that the current turn query is often underspecified due to zero anaphora, topic change, or topic return. Context from the conversational history can be used to arrive at a better expression of the current turn query, defined as the task of query resolution. In this paper, we model the query resolution task as a binary term classification problem: for each term appearing in the previous turns of the conversation decide whether to add it to the current turn query or not. We propose QuReTeC (Query Resolution by Term Classification), a neural query resolution model based on bidirectional transformers. We propose a distant supervision method to automatically generate training data by using query-passage relevance labels. Such labels are often readily available in a collection either as human annotations or inferred from user interactions. We show that QuReTeC outperforms state-of-the-art models, and furthermore, that our distant supervision method can be used to substantially reduce the amount of human-curated data required to train QuReTeC. We incorporate QuReTeC in a multi-turn, multi-stage passage retrieval architecture and demonstrate its effectiveness on the TREC CAsT dataset.
Costus afer stem extracts protected against paracetamol induced oxidative stress and liver damage in rats

Aim: This study was designed to evaluate the in vivo antioxidant and hepatoprotective potentials of Costus afer stem extracts against paracetamol induced acute liver injury. Methods: Fifty male albino rats were randomly distributed into ten groups of five rats each and orally co-administered with varying doses (20 60 mg/kg b.w.) of ethanol stem extract (ETSE), chloroform stem extract (CFSE) and paracetamol (PARA) (1 g/kg b.w.) for 7 days. In vivo liver and plasma antioxidants and hepatotoxic biomarkers were examined by using spectrophotometric methods. Results: Antioxidant study indicated no significant difference (p>0.05) in liver and plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in all treated groups compared with untreated control group. Catalase (CAT) activity in co-administered “PARA + ETSE” treated groups were significantly reduced (p<0.05) compared with “PARA + CFSE” treated groups. The liver and plasma glutathione (GSH) levels in “PARA + ETSE” treated groups were elevated compared with “PARA + CFSE” and PARA treated groups while the liver and plasma glutathione Stransferase (GST) activities in “PARA + ETSE” treated groups were reduced compared with “PARA + CFSE” and PARA treated groups. Liver and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were significantly reduced in “PARA + ETSE” treated group compared with “PARA + CFSE” and PARA treated groups. Furthermore, “PARA + CFSE” treated groups have reduced plasma aspartate amino transferase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT) activities compared with “PARA + ETSE” treated groups and PARA treated groups. Conclusion: This investigation indicates that C. afer ETSE possess a higher antioxidant activity than CFSE while CFSE had a higher hepatoprotective property against paracetamol-induced tissue damage. Hence, C. afer stem could be exploited in drug discovery process to identify potential biopharmaceutical agents against oxidative stress related diseases and hepatic disorders.
Experimental results of HFO/HCFO refrigerants in a laboratory scale HTHP with up to 150 °C supply temperature

The range of electrically driven high temperature heat pumps (HTHP) for industrial applications has grown steadily in recent years. At least 26 industrial HTHP products are commercially available, capable of delivering heat at sink temperatures from 90 to 160 °C [1–4]. Heat pumps of this type are available in a wide range of heat outputs (20 kW to 20 MW) and the technology will be further commercialised in the coming years to play a key role in the decarbonisation of the industrial sector. Several presentations at the industrial heat pumps sessions at the ICR 2019 conference in Montréal confirmed this trend. By switching from fossil fuels to renewable energies and increasing energy and resource efficiency, the CO2 footprint can be significantly reduced.
Serum maintains the fertilizability of mouse oocytes matured in vitro by preventing hardening of the zona pellucida

The effects of serum and cumulus cells during oocyte maturation in vitro on subsequent oocyte fertilizability and zona pellucida digestability have been examined. Cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes were cultured 15–16 hours in medium containing bovine serum albumin plus varying concentrations of fetal bovine serum (FBS). When the serum concentration was decreased incrementally from 5% to 0%, resistance to chymotrypsin digestion increased accordingly in a dose-dependent manner. The zona pellucida digestion time for oocytes matured in serum-free medium was increased nearly 500% above that for control oocytes matured in 5% FBS. Also, fertilization was decreased as serum concentration was lowered; the fertilization percentage for oocytes matured in serum-free serum was reduced by over 90%. This loss of fertilizability was correlated with an absence of sperm within the vitellus following insemination of matured ova. Increasing the serum concentration from 5% to 10% had no effect on fertilization or zona pellucida digestion time. Serum deprivation, even for a short period of time, at the onset of culture significantly reduced the fertilizability of cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes and increased the zona pellucida digestion time. Removal of serum after oocyte maturation in vitro had little effect. The presence of an intact cumulus oophorus during maturation in vitro was important in the maintenance of fertilizability and zona digestability. These data support the idea that serum deprivation and/or removal of the cumulus cells during oocyte maturation in vitro results in an alteration of the zona pellucida that is manifested as an increased resistance to proteolytic digestion and sperm penetration.
RE‐ASSESSMENT OF THE TYPE COLLECTIONS OF FOURTEEN CORALLINALEAN SPECIES (CORALLINALES, RHODOPHYTA) DESCRIBED BY W. ISHIJIMA (1942–1960)

Abstract: Many species of fossil coralline algae have been separated on the basis of only a few characters with slight or doubtful taxonomic significance. Analysis of the type material of the fossil coralline algal species is, therefore, needed in order to assess the taxonomic status and circumscription of these taxa. Wataru Ishijima has been one of the most prolific Japanese palaeontologists who worked on fossil calcareous algae from the western Pacific region. Ishijima described a large number of new taxa of fossil calcareous algae mostly belonging to the Corallinales from Eocene to Pleistocene sedimentary successions. An analysis of some of Ishijima’s types of Corallinales (Rhodophyta) described from 1942 to 1960, currently housed in the Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan), is presented. For fourteen taxa, changes were made to previously published statements of typification. Re‐examination of the types from a modern perspective of coralline algal taxonomy reveals that Hydrolithon taishakuensis (Ishijima) comb. nov (= Lithothamnium taishakuensis), Sporolithon kobamazimensis (Ishijima) comb. nov. (= Archaeolithothamnium kobamazimensis), Sporolithon kuboiensis (Ishijima) comb. nov. (= Archaeolithothamnium kuboiensis) and Sporolithon taiwanensis (Ishijima) comb. nov. (= Archaeolithothamnium taiwanensis) showed significant features justifying their use as species names. No diagnostic characters occur in two types (L. nishiwadai, L. otsukiensis) and therefore the taxonomic disposition of these taxa remains unknown. Lithophyllum quadratum Ishijima is considered as a species of uncertain status within Lithophyllum pending further study. Lithoporella crassa Ishijima and Lithoporella hayasakai Ishijima are considered heterotypic synonyms of Lithophyllum prototypum (Foslie) Foslie, while Porolithon hanzawai Ishijima is a heterotypic synonym of Hydrolithon onkodes (Heydrich) Penrose and Woelkerling. Mesophyllum arakuraensis Ishijima is co‐specific to, and has nomenclatural priority over, M. contii Ishijima. However, M. arakuraensis and M. contii do not show evidence whether either might belong to Synarthrophyton instead of Mesophyllum. Lithothamnion ishizuchiensis Ishijima and L. kasedaensis Ishijima have no diagnostic features that can be used to ally them to any particular genus or species of Melobesioideae.
Concentrations of Organochlorine Substances in Relation to Fish Size and Trophic Position: A Study on Perch (Perca fluviatilis L.)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of trophic position as a determinant of the concentrations of organochlorine substances (OCS) in fish. Perch (Perca fluvatilis) was selected since the species increases in trophic level over the course of its lifetime. The trophic position was characterized by stable isotope analysis of nitrogen and gut content. Perch (130 individuals) of different lengths and of both sexes were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated pesticides. There were no pronounced differences in the OCS concentrations between the perch sexes. Perch up to a length of 20 cm did not show any increase in OCS concentrations with increased length, despite a pronounced increase in trophic position. Thus, the trophic position cannot explain the observed concentrations of OCS in smaller perch. In perch >20 cm, the levels of all analytes increased with length or trophic position. The magnitude of the concentration increase was positively correlated with the lipophilicity of .
Diffusion of Sucrose in Osmo-Dehydrofrozen Apple

Apple parallelepipeds were dewatered by osmosis in sucrose solution at 30°C for 3 h, and at 70°C for 1 h. Dewatered material was air-frozen at −12, −20, and −35°C and stored for 1, 3, and 6 months. After a prescribed time of storage, cryoscopic temperature, amount of non-frozen water, and effective diffusion coefficients were calculated based on sucrose concentration profiles in the frozen material. In frozen, osmotically dewatered apple, mass transfer was very slow. After 6 months of storage, large concentration gradients still occurred in the frozen material. Effective diffusion coefficients, based on sucrose concentration expressed as percent of the total mass of the sample, were statistically not dependent on storage temperature. They were dependent on sucrose concentration and varied from 2·10−14 m2/s, at high sucrose concentration, to 5·10−11 m2/s, at low sucrose concentration. On the other hand, effective diffusion coefficients, based on the sucrose concentration in non-frozen water, were dependent on storage temperature and sucrose concentration as well. They were from 1·10−15 m2/s to 2·10−12 m2/s.