Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulation by Bicarbonate of Catalytic and Regulatory Properties of C4Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase from Amaranthus hypochondriacus: Desensitization to Malate and Glucose 6-Phosphate and Sensitization to Mg2+

The catalytic and regulatory properties of phosphoe«o/pyruvate (PEP) carboxylase (PEPC) are modulated remarkably by the increase in the level of bicarbonate in the assay medium. The activity of PEPC increased by two-fold as the concentration of bicarbonate was raised from 0.05 to 10 mM. During this state, there was only marginal effect on Km for PEP, while the affinity of PEPC to Mg 2+ increased by >2 fold. In contrast, the sensitivity of PEPC to malate decreased with increasing concentration of HCO3~. Similarly, the stimulation by glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P) at optimal concentration (10 mM) of HCO3~ was much less than that at suboptimal concentration (0.05 mM). K, for malate increased by about 3 fold and Ka for G-6-P rised by fourfold as bicarbonate concentration was rised from 0.05 to 10 mM. These results suggest that HCO3" desensitizes PEPC to both malate and G-6-P. Further, these changes were manifested in both dark- as well as light-forms of the enzyme. Similar results were obtained with PEPC in leaf extracts or in purified form. We therefore propose that bicarbonate-induced changes are independent of phosphorylation and possibly through a significant change in the conformation of the enzyme. This is the first detailed report indicating marked modulation of regulatory and catalytic properties of PEPC by bicarbonate, one of its substrate.
Amygdala Structural Connectivity Is Associated With Impulsive Choice and Difficulty Quitting Smoking

Introduction: The amygdala is known to play a role in mediating emotion and possibly addiction. We used probabilistic tractography (PT) to evaluate whether structural connectivity of the amygdala to the brain reward network is associated with impulsive choice and tobacco smoking. Methods: Diffusion and structural MRI scans were obtained from 197 healthy subjects (45 with a history of tobacco smoking) randomly sampled from the Human Connectome database. PT was performed to assess amygdala connectivity with several brain regions. Seed masks were generated, and statistical maps of amygdala connectivity were derived. Connectivity results were correlated with a subject performance both on a delayed discounting task and whether they met specified criteria for difficulty quitting smoking. Results: Amygdala connectivity was spatially segregated, with the strongest connectivity to the hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and brainstem. Connectivity with the hippocampus was associated with preference for larger delayed rewards, whereas connectivity with the OFC, rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and insula were associated with preference for smaller immediate rewards. Greater nicotine dependence with difficulty quitting was associated with less hippocampal and greater brainstem connectivity. Scores on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) correlated with rACC connectivity. Discussion: These findings highlight the importance of the amygdala-hippocampal-ACC network in the valuation of future rewards and substance dependence. These results will help to identify potential targets for neuromodulatory therapies for addiction and related disorders.
Genome-Wide Association Study and Gene Specific Markers Identified 51 Genes or QTL for Resistance to Stripe Rust in U.S. Winter Wheat Cultivars and Breeding Lines

Stripe (yellow) rust, caused by fungal pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a serious disease of wheat in the United States and many other countries. Growing resistant cultivars has been approved to be the best approach for control of stripe rust. To determine stripe rust resistance genes in U.S. winter wheat cultivars and breeding lines, we analyzed a winter wheat panel of 857 cultivars and breeding lines in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using genotyping by multiplexed sequencing (GMS) and by genotyping with molecular markers of 18 important stripe rust resistance genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL). The accessions were phenotyped for stripe rust response at adult-plant stage under natural infection in Pullman and Mount Vernon, Washington in 2018 and 2019, and in the seedling stage with six predominant or most virulent races of Pst. A total of 51 loci were identified to be related to stripe rust resistance, and at least 10 of them (QYrww.wgp.1D-3, QYrww.wgp.2B-2, QYrww.wgp.2B-3, QYrww.wgp.2B-4, QYrww.wgp.3A, QYrww.wgp.5A, QYrww.wgp.5B, QYrww.wgp.5D, QYrww.wgp.6A-2 and QYrww.wgp.7B-3) were previously reported. These genes or QTL were found to be present at different frequencies in breeding lines and cultivars developed by breeding programs in various winter wheat growing regions. Both Yr5 and Yr15, which are highly resistant to all races identified thus far in the U.S., as well as Yr46 providing resistance to many races, were found absent in the breeding lines and commercially grown cultivars. The identified genes or QTL and their markers are useful in breeding programs to improve the level and durability of resistance to stripe rust.
Reactive oxygen species stimulate prostaglandin F2α production in human endometrial stromal cells in vitro

BACKGROUND The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of reactive oxygen species on prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) production by human endometrial stromal cells (ESC). METHODS AND RESULTS Isolated ESC were incubated with hydrogen peroxide, which induces lipid peroxidation. Hydrogen peroxide increased both intracellular and medium concentrations of PGF2 alpha (P < 0.01). A time course study showed that hydrogen peroxide significantly increased PGF2 alpha concentrations in the medium after 6 h incubation (P < 0.01), after which no further increase was observed. To study whether the increase in PGF2 alpha production caused by hydrogen peroxide was mediated by cyclooxygenase, ESC were incubated with indomethacin (0.5 microg/ml), an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Indomethacin significantly blocked the increases in PGF2 alpha production caused by hydrogen peroxide (P < 0.01). Hydrogen peroxide also increased PGF2 alpha production by decidualized ESC (P < 0.01), induced by the incubation with medroxyprogesterone acetate (10(-6) mol/l) and oestradiol (10(-8) mol/l). CONCLUSIONS Reactive oxygen species stimulate PGF2 alpha production in ESC, suggesting that they might influence endometrial function by regulating PGF2 alpha production.
Evaluation of the pigments concentration in the Iris species native to Iran

The color and morphology flower is one impressive feature the flower industry. Accumulation of pigments in flowers is determining one of the major factors in flower color. In this experiment accumulation of pigments were evaluated in the Iris species native to Iran. The following were properties were measured, accumulation of chlorophyll a, b and all , anthocyanins, carotenoids of leaves and flowers and heritability percent. The results showed that the Iris acutiloba was highest concentration anthocyanins and carotenoids of pigments than the other species. Most of the heritability was observed of the b chlorophyll pigments.
Traditional and modern practices in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of animal diseases in South Kordofan State, Sudan

The present study shows at least 32 animal diseases of different etiological factors found to be prevalent in South Kordofan State. The most economically important ones are: foot and mouth disease, pox infections, lumpy skin disease, hemorrhagic septicemia, black quarter, contagious bovine pleuro pneumonia, and parasites infestations. Practically, all of these diseases have local names and most of them can be diagnosed by animal owners from the clinical signs. Traditional treatment of many animal diseases was found to be a common practice particularly herbal treatment. Tar (Gutran), Aradaib (Tamarindus mdica), Garad (Acacia nilotica) and cauterization (Kai) were the most used traditional treatment for a number of diseases and non-inflammatory conditions. The study also showed that the animal owners receive veterinary services from the government, private sector, NGOs and Community Base Animal Health Workers (CBAHWs). They are aware of all important infectious conditions and zoonotic diseases in the area as well as their treatment using veterinary drugs preparations or traditional therapies. The trial of treating natural mange infection in donkeys showed that treatment by veterinary drugs (combined drug- mangezal, cypermethrine and ivermectin paste) was most superior followed by the traditional treatment with tar (Gutran) which was considered to be the best alternative for treating mange in animals. The current study revealed that infection with blood parasites was common. 70% of bovine blood smears were positive for the blood parasites: Theileria spp. , Babesia spp. , Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma conglense. 80, 3.7, 19.4, 16 and 7.1% of blood samples taken from sheep, goats, camels, donkeys and horses, were positive for blood parasites, respectively. In sheep and goats, Theileria spp. and Babesia spp. were detected. The prevalence was much higher in sheep. On the other hand, only Trypanosoma evansi was diagnosed in camels and only Babesia equi infection was found in equines. The prevalence of babesiosis and trypanosomosis was higher in the rainy season compared with the dry season, but that of thieleriosis in ruminants was higher in the dry season.
The Hub: Facilitating Walking Meetings through a Network of Interactive Devices

Walking meetings are a promising means to improve healthy behavior at work. By providing a physically active way of working, walking meetings can reduce our sitting time. Several obstacles that limit the social acceptance and wider adoption of walking meeting practice have been highlighted in previous research. Amongst these, the difficulty to take notes or present files is a recurring concern for office workers. To address these barriers, we designed the Hub, a network of stand-up meeting stations that accommodate different work-related tasks during walking meetings. We report on two pilot user tests investigating users' experiences and ideas for improvement, and present future research steps. We discuss the usefulness and relevance of the Hub concept to overcome the obstacles associated with walking meetings.
Use of yeast cell walls and Yucca schidigera extract in layer hens’ diets

This research was conducted to determine the impact of diet supplementation with yeast cell walls (YCW) and Yucca schidigera extract (YE) on performance, egg weight, specific gravity, body weight, and intestinal tissue histology in layer hens. White, 48-week-old, Hyline hybrid hens (n=320) were divided into four main groups, each comprising eight groups of 10 hens: (1) control, (2) 500 mg/kg YCW added, (3) 500 mg/kg YE added and (4) 250 mg/kg YE plus 2500 mg/kg YCW added. While the egg production and feed intake of the hens was significantly affected, overall feed efficiency, damaged-egg ratio, dirty-egg ratio, egg weight and specific gravity did not differ between the control group and the YCW, YE or YCW+YE groups. Final body weight was higher in the YCW, YE and YCW+YE groups than in the control group. There were differences in the width, muscle layer thickness and height/crypt depth ratio of the duodenal villus and the width of the ileal villus among the four groups. It can be concluded that YCW and YCW+YE supplementation for layer hens are beneficial for egg production.
PERFORMANCE OF FORAGE BASED INTERCROPPING OF OAT (MEDICAGO SATIVA L.)– LUCERNE (AVENA SATIVA) UNDER DIFFERENT ROW RATIO

A field experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2016-2017 at Navsari, Gujarat to study the performance of forage based intercropping of oat (Medicago sativa L.) – lucerne under different row ratio. Intercropping system had significant effect on green fodder yield, dry fodder yield, crude protein content and crude fibre content. The results of the experiment showed significant increase in green fodder yield of oat and lucerne, dry fodder yield of oat under different row ratios. However, oat + lucerne in the ratio of 2:1 recorded significantly highest green fodder yield (991.14 q/ha) of oat and lucerne as well as significantly higher dry fodder yield (114.12 q/ha) of oat.Crude protein content and crude fibre content in oat were significantly influenced by different row ratio. However, no significant difference was observed in lucerne crop. Oat and lucerne in 2:1 row ratio recorded significantly higher crude protein and crude fibre content over rest of the treatments at first and second cut.
Endophytic Fungi, Characteristics and Their Potential for Genetic Manipulation

Unique benign endophytes from Ascomycets have wide distribution among grass species. The symbioticfungi enhance plant characters including performance, insect and mammalian deterrence, nematode resistance and tolerance to drought, salt and other biotic and abiotic stresses. Endophytes from genusNeotyphodium (Acremonium) are of the major focus than their ancestors, and Epichloe species, becausethe formers have lost their sexual reproduction. Therefore they should be genetically stable, and mostimportantly, they cannot disassociate from host tissues, and are transferred vertically. They are maternallyinherited and are therefore attractive for genetic transformation without the concern about geneescape. Some marker genes have been successfully transferred to endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialumand Neotyphodium lolii existing in Festuca arundinacea Schreb. and Lolium perenne L. , respectively.Furthermore, gene silencing has been proved to be feasible for eliminating traits, which are economicallyharmful. Methods of direct DNA uptake using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and electroporation have beenfound to be useful in transformation of these fungi. Transgenic fungi can be reinserted into the host withoutneed to tissue culture. The endophytic genes responsible for a specific trait can be isolated and transferred to grass species or other microorganisms for direct exploitation of secondary metabolites and endophytic enzymes. Considering advancements in this filed, endophytes can open new horizons faced to scientists and biotechnologist to use them as a surrogate target of transformation.
Cell-Mediated Immune Responses to COVID-19 Infection

An unprecedented outbreak of pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus (CoV), subsequently termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, emerged in Wuhan City (China) in December 2019. Despite rigorous containment and quarantine efforts, the incidence of COVID-19 continues to expand, causing explosive outbreaks in more than 160 countries with waves of morbidity and fatality, leading to significant public health problems. In the past 20 years, two additional epidemics caused by CoVs have occurred: severe acute respiratory syndrome-CoV, which has caused a large-scale epidemic in China and 24 other countries; and respiratory syndrome-CoV of the Middle East in Saudi Arabia, which continues to cause sporadic cases. All of these viruses affect the lower respiratory tract and manifest as pneumonia in humans, but the novel SARS-Cov-2 appears to be more contagious and has spread more rapidly worldwide. This mini-review focuses on the cellular immune response to COVID-19 in human subjects, compared to other clinically relevant coronaviruses to evaluate its role in the control of infection and pathogenesis and accelerate the development of a preventive vaccine or immune therapies.
Communicating Sustainable Consumption and Production in 360° Video

Research at the intersection of technology and sustainability is increasing across disciplines. Virtual reality is one technology used to address social issues, though less work has explored how immersive environments might impact a viewer's impression of complex environmental issues like sustainability. SCP in 360°: Sustainable Consumption and Production in 360 Degrees is a series of 360° videos aiming to make sustainable consumption and production understandable and engaging to a wider audience. In this paper, we describe the context and production of these videos, report on the visitor study conducted during the videos' exhibition, and discuss the specifics of using 360° video for communicating sustainability and the broader implications for other 360° video projects and sustainability-focused interactive media. In contrast to research on empathy in virtual reality, our study suggests that 360° video supports participants in feeling compassion towards the situations viewed and understanding the context and complexity of sustainability solutions.
Image Recognition for Detecting Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease is a common childhood skin infection that could quickly develop into a severe case. It spreads easily, with R0 typically above 2. At school, an individual class could be closed for several days. The school could be closed for clean-up. All these closings become an economic burden, especially in the low-income population, that could be prevented or mitigated by a quick response once the disease is first detected. This paper experimented with various combinations of existing image processing and recognition techniques. A state-of-the-art method was discovered to effectively detect lesions of the Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. The results show that color-space conversion as preprocessing followed by segmentation using the KMeans-Morphological process, GLCM and Mean for feature extraction, and Support Vector Machine classifier performed best for the Hand Food and Mount Disease image recognition.
RESOLVING “NYFFELER'S PUZZLE”—THE INTRIGUING TAXONOMIC POSITION OF BLOSSFELDIA

Abstract Taxonomic relationships between Blossfeldia liliputana Werdermann and other members of the Cactoideae have not been fully clear due to morphological and anatomical peculiarities of this diminutive species. Current classifications place Blossfeldia in Tribe Notocacteae Buxbaum due to similarities in seed morphology with Parodia microsperma Weber (Spegazzini). Following an extensive molecular study by Nyffeler, the phylogenetic placement of Blossfeldia was shown to be as the sister lineage to the Cactoideae, a finding which Nyffeler considered extremely intriguing. A number of hypotheses have been advanced to explain Nyffeler's puzzle. In this paper, the author investigates the phylogenetic position of Blossfeldia through the use of the presence/absence of the chloroplast rpoC1 intron, which is missing in all members of Cactoideae sampled to date. Blossfeldia possesses the rpoC1 intron, thus supporting Nyffeler's previous findings and dismissing other hypotheses regarding Blossfeldia. A new tribe, Blossfeldieae, is described for Blossfeldia.
IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAYS IN PLANT PATHOLOGY

During the past decade the independent introduction into plant pathology of two related immunosorbent procedures has led to a major reevaluation of the potential of serology for detecting and identifying plant pathogens. The first of these procedures, serologically specific electron microscopy, here called immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM), was reported by Derrick in 1973 (44). Three years later, following the highly successful outcome of exploratory tests made in collaboration with colleagues at the Nuffield Centre for Comparative Medicine (114), A. N. Adams and I de­ scribed an adaptation of the medical immunodiagnostic procedure, enzyme­ linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (51), for the quantitative detection of plant viruses (33). This review is concerned principally with the latter technique (ELISA), although much of the discussion that follows is also applicable to ISEM. For a more detailed consideration of ISEM the reader should consult the review of Milne & Luisoni (85) and specific research articles (18, 22, 45, 46, 73, 74, 83, 84, 88, 93, 96, 102). International recognition of the potential of ELISA as a practical sero­ diagnostic technique was surprisingly rapid in view of the novel concepts involved. The readiness with which it has been incorporated in various large-scale disease indexing programs, particularly with perennial and vegetatively propagated crops (1, 2, 11, 12, 16, 24, 48, 54, 59, 65, 86, 98, 106) retlects the advantages oirered by the ELISA technique over the meth­ ods previously available. This review assesses the current state of knowledge of immunosorbent assays, in particular ELISA, concentrating on those variable aspects of the technique that are likely to affect its performance in the qualitative and quantitative detection of plant pathogens.
A Simple Residual Network for Lung Nodule Classification

Purpose: Lung nodules have very diverse shapes, sizes, densities and textures, which makes predicting the malignancy of lung nodules a very challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a simple global-local residual network to classify pulmonary nodules as benign or malignant. Methods: Different from previous models, we suppose that global features effect lung nodule classification tasks before local features logically. Thus, we propose to use Self-Attention mechanism to detect global features firstly. After that, inceptionlike module is introduced to extract multi-scale local features. The detected local features would be treated as complementary part of global features with residual connection. Results: We trained and validated the proposed network on the public and comprehensive LIDC-IDRI dataset. The comparison with five state-of-the-art models and five self-designed methods shows that, the proposed GLR network achieved state-of-the-art results with an AUC of 96.07%. Conclusions: On the basis of the present results, the GLR network works well on predicting the malignancy of lung nodules.
Correlation between nematode abundance and decomposition rate of Spartina anglica leaves

Dead Spartina angljca leaves which are not washed away by the tides either decompose in the canopy as standing dead crop or decompose on the sediment surface. In the sediment, many nematode species are present which may colonize the Spartina litter. Some of these species may affect the decomposition of Spartina detritus. A field experiment was carried out to identify these nematode species. Small mesh containers were filled with green or aged Spartina leaves to obtain different decomposition rates. The containers were placed in the Stroodorpepolder salt marsh (The Netherlands). in the Oosterschelde, a tidal inlet of the southern North Sea. After 3 mo the containers were collected and nematodes were counted and identified. The experiment was repeated in 4 subsequent seasons. Sixty nematode species were found in the containers; most species were found in all treatments. Total numbers of nematodes did not differ among treatments. Using multivariate analysis (RDA), however, we found differences of nematode community structure among treatments. Bacterivorous nematodes, particularly monhysterid species, prevailed in the containers with the highest decomposition rates. A positive correlation was found between decomposition rate and the numbers of Diplolaimella djevengatensis in spring, summer and autumn. The numbers of Diplolaimelloides bruciei, Monhystera parva, Desmolaimus zeelandicus and Theristus acer showed positwe correlations with decomposition rates in 1 or 2 of these seasons. In winter no significant correlations were found. Thus, of the 60 nematode species present in the litter the abundances of only 5 species seemed to be affected by decomposition rate of the litter. It is suggested that these nematode species react primanly to the increased microbial activity coinciding with higher decomposition rates. In addition, these species may further enhance microbial decomposition activity.