Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TORC2 Affects Endocytosis through Plasma Membrane Tension

Target Of Rapamycin complex 2 (TORC2) is a conserved protein kinase that regulates multiple plasma membrane (PM)-related processes including endocytosis. Direct, chemical inhibition of TORC2 arrests endocytosis but with kinetics that are relatively slow and therefore inconsistent with signaling being mediated solely through simple phosphorylation cascades. Here, we show that, in addition to regulation of the phosphorylation of endocytic proteins, TORC2 also controls endocytosis by modulating PM tension. Elevated PM tension, upon TORC2 inhibition, impinges on endocytosis at two different levels: first, by severing the bonds between the PM adaptor proteins Sla2 and Ent1 and the actin cytoskeleton; and, second, by hindering recruitment of Rvs167, an N-BAR-containing protein important for vesicle fission, to endocytosis sites. These results underline the importance of biophysical cues in the regulation of cellular and molecular processes.
Capillary wetting response of coal after exposure to ambient air atmosphere. Report of Investigations/1989

The U.S. Bureau of Mines examined the wettability of bituminous and subbituminous coals before and after exposure to ambient air atmosphere, as part of an ongoing project investigating the coal-wetting abilities of surfactant solutions intended for the suppression of dust during coal-mining operations. Exposure periods were generally 7 days or less, and the changes in wetting response were measured with a capillary penetration apparatus. Wetting solutions tested included a nonionic surfactant, two anionic surfactants, and pure distilled water. After exposure, higher-ranked bituminous coals treated with nonionic surfactant solution and pure water showed increased wettability, but lower-ranked subbituminous coals showed decreased wettability. With the anionic surfactants, the coals demonstrated opposite responses. The wettability changes appeared to be related to the coal moisture content. These changes may be amplified by specific, but incompletely understood, interactions between surfactant, polar groups, absorbed water, and the coal surface.
GC-MS Investigation of Volatiles from Honeybee Worker Larvae and Larval Food at Different Instars

(E)-β-ocimene was the only found volatile chemical emitted by whole, live worker larvae of Apis mellifera L. by sampling in the vapor phase. While in addition to (E)-β-ocimene, there is evidence for the existence of other volatiles; but the changes of their composition and contents remain unknown during larval development, as are their differences from larvae to larval food. This is the main purpose of the study. We investigated volatile components of worker larvae and larval food using solid phase dynamic extraction (SPDE) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Nine compounds were identified with certainty and six tentatively, consisting of terpenoids, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ester and ketone. The contents of volatiles of the second-instar worker larvae differ greatly from larvae of other stages mainly attributable to terpenoids, which made the second-instar worker larvae had significantly higher amounts of overall volatiles. Larval food contained significantly higher amounts of aldehydes and hydrocarbons than the corresponding larvae from the fourth to fifth-instar. We discovered volatiles in worker larvae and their food which were never reported before; we also mastered the change of these volatiles’ contents during larval development.
Impact of delivery method on the efficacy of biological control agents and the virulence of Fusarium root rot pathogens in the greenhouse

ABSTRACT Biological control methods are now more valuable as a plant disease management strategy and are a particularly promising method for managing fusarium root rot, an economically important soilborne disease of row crops. Currently, the management of the disease relies on fungicide seed treatment, but a better understanding of disease development by fusarium root rot pathogens is crucial to enable the better utilisation of biological control agents (BCAs) or biological products. The BCA application method is a very important factor that affects efficacy. This study aimed to (i) identify the inoculation method that leads to appropriate inoculum level and reliable disease development in the greenhouse for fusarium root rot pathogens in corn, soybean, and wheat and (ii) evaluate different application methods for biocontrol agents to determine the most consistent method for enhancing the efficacy of biocontrol agents and products. Greenhouse studies were conducted in a randomised complete block design and the experiments were repeated. Disease severity was significantly high and consistent in the greenhouse when pathogens were inoculated through millet inoculation or agar plug inoculation methods. The pathogen dose rate did not affect disease development. The performance and efficacy of BCAs against fusarium root rot in soybean, corn, and wheat were highest when a combination of coating by seed spray and drenching was the method of application.
Efficacy of Rhazya stricta leaf and seed extracts against Rhyzopertha dominica and Trogoderma granarium

The protection of stored grains from insect pests depends upon highly toxic synthetic insecticides which cause a number of harmful effects on public health and environment. This necessitates finding eco-friendlier control measures of these stored insects pests. In this study, leaf and seed extracts of the local medicinal plant Rhazya stricta (Apocynaceae) were evaluated for toxicity and repellency to Rhyzopertha dominica (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and Trogoderma granarium (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) under laboratory conditions. The results show an increase in mortality (%) and repellency (%) with an increase in the concentrations of the extracts. After 120 h, the leaf extract caused the highest mortality (61.10 ± 1.20 - 72.11 ± 1.25%) as compared to the seed extract (56.95 ± 3.26 - 69.50 ± 1.04) in both targeted insects. Leaf and plant extracts show maximum repellency (62.50 ± 1.73 - 47.20 ± 1.45%) in R. dominica and T. granarium at higher concentrations in comparison to lower concentration in the 24-hour trial. Our study suggests that leaf extracts of the medicinal plant R. stricta could be used as an effective component of the integrated pest management program against stored grain pests.
Biopriming of micropropagated banana plants at pre- or post-BBTV inoculation stage with rhizosphere and endophytic bacteria determines their ability to induce systemic resistance against BBTV in cultivar Grand Naine

ABSTRACT Rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria isolated from the roots and corms of banana were tested to find out their efficiency in controlling against banana bunchy top virus (BBTV). Bioformulations of mixtures of endophytic Bacillus pumilus and B. subtilis isolated from banana cv. Grand Naine and rhizobacterial isolate Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf1) were found to be effective in increasing the growth and physiological parameters such as pseudostem girth and height, number of leaves, phyllochron, and leaf area in biohardened plants under greenhouse study. The consortia of bioformulation mixture of B. pumilus, B. subtilis, and P. fluorescens I showed 61.62% disease reduction over control. The defence enzymes such as peroxidase (POX), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), and total phenol were induced to an elevated level in biohardened plants. The applications of bioformulations to plants led to delay the symptom expression for 63.75 to 70.50 days compared to control after challenge inoculation with the virus in 34–67% of plants that exhibited the symptoms till 150 DAI. However, biohardening of plants with the same combinations of bacteria three days after BBTV inoculation led to express the symptoms 29.16 to 36.71 days and there was a significant decrease in plant growth parameters. Biopriming prior to BBTV infection has attributed to the enhanced plant growth and resistance against BBTV whereas, the same treatments after virus inoculation did not induce resistance. This study has proved that the time of application of consortia of bio-inoculants determines their effect of induced resistance to BBTV in micropropagated plants.
Roles of Semaphorins in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Semaphorins are secreted and transmembrane proteins that bind plexin/ neuropilin or integrin receptors, providing paracrine axonal guidance signals and ultimately leading to a functional and developed neuronal network. Following semaphorin’s initial discovery, their relevance in the central nervous system (CNS) soon intrigued researchers about the possible links between semaphorins, their receptors and signaling mechanisms and different neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we explore the current knowledge of semaphorin’s function and signaling in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), and Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). We focus on the effects of the most known semaphorin subclasses 3A and 4D, yet extending our discussion to other semaphorins that have been found involved in specific neuropathologies and the potential effect of semaphorins modulating the immune system in disorders with inflammatory components. Molecular, cellular, and genetic evidences are reviewed, highlighting the relevance of semaphorins on each disease etiology, pathophysiology, and progression. The newly discovered semaphorin functions in neurological disorders even suggest alternative therapies that may be highly valuable in diseases that have no current cure.
Intensive oyster aquaculture can reduce disease impacts on sympatric wild oysters

Risks associated with disease spread from fish and shellfish farming have plagued the growth and public perception of aquaculture worldwide. However, by processing nutrients and organic material from the water column, the culture of many suspension-feeding bivalves has been proposed as a novel solution toward mitigating problems facing coastal water quality, including the removal of disease-causing parasites. Here we developed and simulated an epidemiological model describing sympatric oyster Crassostrea virginica populations in aqua culture and the wild impacted by the protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus. Our model captured the indirect interaction between wild and cultured populations that occurs through sharing water-borne P. marinus transmission stages, and we hypothesized that oyster aquaculture can enhance wild oyster populations through reduced parasitism as long as cultured oysters are harvested prior to spreading disease. We found that the density of oysters in aquaculture, which is commonly thought to lead to the spread of disease through farms and out to nearby populations in the wild, has only indirect effects on P. marinus transmission through its interaction with the rate of aquaculture harvests. Sufficient aquaculture harvest, which varies with the susceptibility of farmed oysters to P. marinus infection and their lifespan once infected, reduces disease by diluting parasites in the environment. Our modeling results offer new insights toward the broader epidemiological implications of oyster aquaculture and effective disease management.
Approximate Multipliers With Dynamic Truncation for Energy Reduction via Graceful Quality Degradation

In approximate operators, dynamic truncation allows trading off energy and quality of computation at runtime. Although it exploits the specificity of the data being processed, its significant energy overhead over simple static truncation fundamentally limits its energy benefits. This brief describes a simple and efficient design methodology that reduces the energy consumption of dynamically truncated multipliers, based on a smart mapping of the partial products. A configurable hardware correction strategy is also proposed to enable graceful quality degradation, as well as more aggressive energy reduction at a given quality. When applied to Wallace multipliers, the proposed approach achieves quality, in terms of Mean Error Distance, up to $11\times $ higher than the conventional dynamic truncation, at the same energy. In the case study of Discrete Cosine Transform compression, the proposed approximate multiplier reaches image qualities by 15–35% better, compared to prior art.
Consensus Algorithms and Deep Reinforcement Learning in Energy Market: A Review

Blockchain (BC) and artificial intelligence (AI) are often utilized separately in energy trading systems (ETSs). However, these technologies can complement each other and reinforce their capabilities when integrated. This article provides a comprehensive review of consensus algorithms (CAs) of BC and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in ETS. While the distributed consensus underpins the immutability of transaction records of prosumers, the deluge of data generated paves the way to use AI algorithms for forecasting and address other data analytic-related issues. Hence, the motivation to combine BC with AI to realize secure and intelligent ETS. This study explores the principles, potentials, models, active research efforts and unresolved challenges in the CA and DRL. The review shows that despite the current interest in each of these technologies, little effort has been made at jointly exploiting them in ETS due to some open issues. Therefore, new insights are actively required to harness the full potentials of CA and DRL in ETS. We propose a framework and offer some perspectives on effective BC-AI integration in ETS.
Fractionation of carbohydrates and proteins in Tifton 85 bermudagrass hay at different cutting levels and storage time

: This study aimed to evaluate the fractionation of carbohydrates and protein of grass hay Tifton 85 bermudagrass under two cutting heights in relation to ground level (0.04 and 0.08 m) during 120 days of storage. Samples were collected in the baling and hay stored in shed at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days of storage, after, it was subjected to laboratory procedures, in which the levels of soluble carbohydrates were determined, carbohydrate fractionation and protein fractionation. The results were studied in a randomized complete block design with split plot with two treatments allocated the plots: cutting height of 0.04 to 0.08 m from the ground and five times in the subplots : baling, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days of storage hay, with five repetitions. The soluble carbohydrate concentration hay responded in a quadratic manner to the storage time for cutting heights of 0.04 and 0.08 m above soil level; minimum values of 11.53 and 10.70 g kg -1 of DM were estimated for 93.44 and 91.16 storage days, respectively. The carbohydrate fraction A + B1 responded negatively linear to periods of storage evaluated in both cutting heights. The contents of the carbohydrate fraction B2 and proteins A and C exhibited a positive linear response to storage time for a cutting height of 0.04 m and a quadratic effect for hay cutting height at 0.08 m above soil level, with an opposite behavior for both cutting heights for the B1 protein levels and C carbohydrate fraction. The B2 fraction showed a negative linear response as a function of storage time, with a reduction in the fraction of 0.09 and 0.11 percentage units for each day of storage, for hay cutting height of 0.04 and 0.08 m, respectively . The B3 fraction responded quadratically to the storage time, the two studied cutting heights. The storage of Tifton 85 hay cut at 0.04 m above soil level for 120 days leads to a decrease in fractions of rapid ruminal degradation and increase of the indigestible fraction in carbohydrate and protein fractions. Based on the results obtained it is recommended the cutting of the Tifton 85 bermuda grass forage to produce hay at 0.08 m and its storage up to 30 days provided that under ideal conditions.
Evaluation of golden needle mushroom ( Flammulina velutipes ) stem waste on pullet performance and immune response

The driving force behind the interest in using natural herbs in poultry production is to eliminate the use of low-dose antibiotics. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of Flammulina velutipes mushroom waste (FVW) on performance parameters, relative organ weight, apparent nutrient retention, excreta composition, immune response and serum immunity in pullets. A total of 360 x 10-week-old ISA Brown pullets were randomly assigned to five equal treatment groups, with nine replications of eight birds for each treatment. The dietary treatments included a standard basal diet as control; antibiotic (0.05% flavomycin); 2% FVW; 4% FVW; and 6% FVW. The total experimental duration was 42 days, from 10 weeks to 16 weeks old. Final live weight was higher in FVW groups than in the control and antibiotic groups. No differences were found for average daily feed intake, average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio during the entire study period. Proventriculus weight and bursa weight were higher in FVW groups. No differences were observed for other inner relative organ weights (liver weight, gizzard weight spleen and abdominal fat weight) compared with the control and antibiotic groups. Dietary inclusion of FVW increased dry matter, crude protein and ether extract retention compared with control and antibiotic groups. Excreta dry matter content was higher and pH lower, in the FVW groups than in the control and antibiotic groups. Antibody titres against Newcastle disease, Infectious bronchitis and Avian influenza virus vaccines were higher in FVW groups. Serum immunoglobulin parameters (IgA, IgG, IgM) were higher in FVW than in the control and antibiotic groups. Flammulina velutipes mushroom waste can be used at inclusion levels up to 6% in pullet rations for better immune response and nutrient retention without hampering normal growth performance. Keywords : Antibody titres, apparent nutrient retention, excreta dry matter, serum immunity
Relationship between serum Asymmetrical Dimethylarginine level and urolithiasis

*Corresponding Author: Akif Erbin, Department of Urology, Haseki Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey E-mail: akiferbin@hotmail.com Telephone: +90 (506) 543 1062, Fax: +90 (212) 529 44 00 ORCID ID: Ozgur Yazici: 0000-0003-3625-6190, Kadriye Aydin: 0000-0003-0928-6191, Sule Temizkan: 0000-0002-0450-755X, Fehmi Narter: 0000-0003-2057-0142, Akif Erbin: 0000-0001-7147-8288, Alper Kafkasli: 0000-0002-0362-8165, Alkan Cubuk: 0000-0001-93229717, Rahmi Aslan: 0000-0002-4563-0386, Kemal Sarica: 0000-0002-2473-1313 Received: 13.12. 2019, Accepted: 21.04. 2020 ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Updated species list of the bat ectoparasitic flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) in the state of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil

Bat ectoparasitic flies are highly specialized hematophagous insects exclusive to Chiroptera. Between November 2014 and August 2016, we surveyed these ectoparasites in urban and protected areas in the state of Paraiba, northeastern Brazil. We recorded 15 fly species in 10 genera in the families Streblidae (13) and Nycteribiidae (2). Twelve species and 5 genera represent first records for the state. Basilia anceps and Noctiliostrebla sp. , are new records for the northeastern region of Brazil. Fly specimens were collected on 8 species of bats, mainly phyllostomids, and ~87% were monoxenous. Our survey increased the number of known bat ectoparasitic flies in the state from 10 to 22 species, from 5 to 10 genera, and from 31 to 34 known species in the northeastern portion of the Atlantic Forest.
Rule based Semantic Reasoning for Personalized Recommendation in Indoor O2O e-commerce

O2O, as abbreviation for Online 2 Offline or Offline 2 Online, is a newly developed e-commerce mode that has been successfully drawn much attention in practice for its ability to bring opportunity for business. Offline 2 online 2 offline (O2O2O) is an extension to offline 2 online, it means that offline customer, especially for customer inside a shopping mall, is enticed by offline marketing and therefore purchase digital goods or services online via mobile application, eventually finish consumption in physical stores. However, two issues remain as obstacles that impede the implementation of O2O2O for real application. One is recognized as personalized recommendation problem that concerns what content is appropriate or interest enough to be recommended to the customer to prompt the purchase action. The other is the lack of effective communication way for information exchange between customers with stores nearby. A novel method that adopts rule based semantic reasoning is present in this paper. Examples demonstrate that the proposed method can easily and rapidly generate a practical solution for personalized recommendation problem. A recommendation system is subsequently constructed to create a linkage between customers and stores for providing seamless information exchange.
Evaluation of Different Task Distributions for Edge Cloud-based Collaborative Visual SLAM

In recent years, a variety of visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems have been proposed. These systems allow camera-equipped agents to create a map of the environment and determine their position within this map, even without an available GNSS signal. Visual SLAM algorithms differ mainly in the way the image information is processed and whether the resulting map is represented as a dense point cloud or with sparse feature points. However, most systems have in common that a high computational effort is necessary to create an accurate, correct and up-to-date pose and map. This is a challenge for smaller mobile agents with limited power and computing resources.In this paper, we investigate how the processing steps of a state-of-the-art feature-based visual SLAM system can be distributed among a mobile agent and an edge-cloud server. Depending on the specification of the agent, it can run the complete system locally, offload only the tracking and optimization part, or run nearly all processing steps on the server. For this purpose, the individual processing steps and their resulting data formats are examined and methods are presented how the data can be efficiently transmitted to the server. Our experimental evaluation shows that the CPU load can be reduced for all task distributions which offload part of the pipeline to the server. For agents with low computing power, the processing time for the pose estimation can even be reduced. In addition, the higher computing power of the server allows to increase the frame rate and accuracy for pose estimation.
Cover crop potential of winter oilseed crops in the Northern U.S. Corn Belt

ABSTRACT Winter camelina [WC, Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] and field pennycress (FP, Thlaspi arvense L.) are emerging oilseed crops in corn–soybean rotations, but little is known about their cover crop potential. A 2-year study was conducted in Minnesota, USA to evaluate the effect of winter oilseed crops on nitrogen (N) use, growth and yield of corn and soybean. Treatments included WC, FP, winter rye (WR, Secale cereale L.), and a no cover crop (NC) control. Oilseed crops produced 40–50% less spring biomass and accumulated less N compared to WR. The tissue-N of WC and FP was 39.0% and 6.6% higher than WR, respectively. The C:N ratio of cover crops was lower than 20:1, suggesting rapid decomposition. Compared with NC, cover crops lowered soil nitrate before major crops planting, but the post-harvest N profile following corn and soybean was not affected. Compared with NC, cover crops significantly decreased corn yield, with 8.7%, 9.5% and 9.8% reduction following WC, FP and WR, respectively. Cover crops did not affect growth, yield and N uptake of soybean. Oilseed crops showed potential to improve N cycling in the rotation, but more research of their impact on major crops is needed.