Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fertilization Membrane Formation in Sea Urchin Eggs Induced by Drugs Known to Cause Ca2+Release from Isolated Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

Ryanodine, miconazole, clotrimazole, doxorubicin, quercetin, halothane, caffeine and chloroform, which activate Ca2+‐induced Ca2+release from Ca2+stores, induced Ca2+release from a particulate fraction isolated from sea urchin eggs, Ca2+influx into eggs and formation of a fertilization membrane in an appreciable number of eggs. Their minimum effective concentrations for inducing a fertilization membrane increased in the order of these drugs listed above, and this order was also the same as that of their minimum effective concentrations for inducing Ca2+release from the isolated particulate fraction. Their effect in inducing a fertilization membrane was blocked by ruthenium red and procaine, which inhibit Ca2+release from Ca2+stores. Thus these drugs probably induced sufficient Ca2+release to make the cytosolic Ca2+level high enough in many eggs for formation of a fertilization membrane. In the absence of external Ca2+, fewer eggs treated with these drugs formed a fertilization membrane and more eggs did so on further treatment with either A23187 or carbonylcyanide‐p‐trifluoromethoxy‐phenylhydrazone (FCCP). Thus, a high level of Ca2+is probably derived from Ca2+release through Ca2+releasing channels (by A23187), from mitochondria (by FCCP) and its transport from the external medium.
Role of Robo1 receptor in semaphorin signalling systemand cortical interneuron migration

En route to the cerebral cortex, interneurons encounter the developing striatum and avoid it. It has been shown that these cells express neuropilin (Nrp) as well as PlexinA receptors, which allow these cells to respond to Sema3A and Sema3F chemorepulsive cues expressed in the developing striatum and as consequence they migrate around it and into their proper tangential migratory paths. Robo proteins (receptors for the chemorepulsive family of ligands Slit) have also been observed in cortical interneurons, and they are thought to modulate the morphology of migrating interneurons as well as to play a role in their migration. In the present work, I found that Robo1, but not Robo2 or Slit1/Slit2, deficient (Robo1-/-) mice contain a significant number of cortical interneurons migrating aberrantly through their developing striatum. In vitro experiments showed that dissociated cells taken from the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE, major source of cortical interneurons) of Robo1-/- mice do not respond to either Sema3A or Sema3F induced chemorepulsion. Moreover, I observed significant down regulation of Nrp and PlexinA receptors, as well as reduced levels of Sema3F expression and of some intracellular effectors activated by Sema3A and Sema3F in Robo1-/- cortical interneurons. Using a cell line as an in vitro model, I confirmed that perturbation of Robo1 signalling results in loss of responsiveness to Sema3A and Sema3F, as well as down regulation of their receptors. Additionally, I found that Robo1 can bind directly to Nrp and PlexinA proteins. Taken together, the data presented here suggest a novel role for Robo1 receptor in controlling the expression of distinct components of the class 3 semaphorin signalling system and thus, the migration of cortical interneurons. They also suggest that the migration of cortical interneurons around the striatum might result from the collaborative effort of Robo1receptors and the class 3 semaphorin signalling system.
Small Mammals in the Mosaic Landscape of Eastern Lithuania: Species Composition, Distribution and Abundance

In August of 1994–1996, small mammals were investigated in the landscape of hilly morainic uplands (55°09'N 25°20'E) in eastern Lithuania. It has been established that the local community of small mammals is polydominant (c = 0.211, H = 2.558), with prevalence of Clethrionomys glareolus and Microtus arvalis. This community is characteristic of a quite stable trophic chain, consisting of the species from the Sorex, Clethrionomys, Microtus and Apodemus genera. The greatest abundance and diversity of species was registered in lowland meadows, whereas the lowest abundance was found in raised bogs and cultivated pastures. The commonest species were Sorex araneus, C. glareolus and M. arvalis, whereas the rarest ones were Sicista betulina, M. rossiaemeridionalis, Neomys fodiens and Micromys minutus. In addition, we managed to find out indices characterising the communities of these species and the annual and local dynamics of the abundance of their populations. Our studies revealed that fragmentation of a landsc.
Devices to aid downstream salmonid migration: Behavioral barriers

Deux barrieres comportementales, un ecran electrique et un ecran sonore, ont ete testees sur le canal d'amenee de la centrale hydroelectrique de Halsou sur la Nive (64 - France). Ces dispositifs d'aide a la devalaison sont destines a detourner les juveniles de saumon (Salmo salar) vers un exutoire, avant qu'ils ne soient entraines vers les turbines. Cette experimentation a ete menee sur une population naturelle, de 1995 a 1997. L'efficacite des ecrans a ete estimee par marquage, recapture et double piegeage. Le comportement des smolts a ete etudie par l'observation directe, l'enregistrement video et le radiopistage. L'influence des parametres electriques de l'ecran, de la vitesse du courant d'eau, de la forme et de l'eclairement de l'exutoire a ete testee. L'effet de guidage du courant electrique a ete mis en evidence mais il n'est souvent que partiel et ne s'exerce pas sur tous les devalants. La complementarite de l'ecran et de l'exutoire qui lui est associe ne s'est pas revelee satisfaisante: de nombreux smolts detournes ne se laissent pas entrainer dans l'exutoire. L'efficacite maximale de l'ecran electrique, obtenue avec le reglage 130 V - 10 impulsions, varie entre 5 et 28%. Aucune action de l'ecran sonore n'a ete constatee dans les memes conditions experimentales. L'eclairage noctume de l'entree de l'exutoire par une lampe a vapeur de mercure augmente de facon spectaculaire son efficacite de detournement. qui peut alors atteindre 70%.
Regulation of cellular signalling pathways by Adenovirus

It is well established that adenoviruses inactivate the host cell DNA damage response to enhance viral DNA replication. This is achieved, in part, by the ability of viral E1B55K and E4ORF6 proteins to hijack host cell cullin-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes and target key cellular proteins such as Mre11, p53 and DNA ligase IV for degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. To assess the generality of this viral response, studies were undertaken using a panel of representative serotypes from adenovirus species A to E to determine how they interact with the host cell DNA damage response. Notably, serotypes from species B and D were unable to promote the degradation and/or relocalization of Mre11 and p53, although DNA ligase IV degradation was fundamentally conserved. Furthermore, species B and D serotypes induced the sustained overexpression of transcriptionally inactive p53, and induced both ATM and ATR kinase activity. As these events would typically be viewed as detrimental to virus survival, these data suggest that different adenovirus serotypes have evolved novel strategies in order to subvert the cellular DNA damage response during infection. Adenoviruses have long been utilised as useful tools for identifying, and characterizing, the function of fundamental cellular proteins such as tumour suppressors and those involved in the DNA damage response. Therefore, studies were also carried out to identify novel Ad12E1B54K-interacting proteins through mass spectrometric analysis, and subsequently to examine the functional significance of these interactions. Several putative novel Ad12E1B54K-interacting proteins were identified using this approach, one being the transcriptional intermediary factor 1γ (TIF1γ), a transcriptional regulator that has recently been identified as a tumour suppressor. Further studies determined that TIF1γ was relocalized to nuclear tracks in an E4ORF3-dependent manner early during adenovirus infection, and was subsequently degraded in a ubiquitin-mediated proteasome-dependent manner. Uniquely, TIF1γ degradation was shown to be E1B55K/E4ORF6-independent and E4ORF3-dependent. Data presented in this thesis also suggest that E4ORF3 does not utilise host cell cullin-based E3 ubiquitin ligases in order to promote TIF1γ degradation. The ability of E4ORF3 to target cellular substrates for degradation represents a novel way in which adenoviruses are able to target cellular substrates. Significantly, TIF1γ degradation was conserved during infection with Ad serotypes from species A to C which may highlight its importance for productive viral infection. It also appears that TIF1γ may have an as yet unidentified role in the DNA damage response since it was also found to interact with components of the ATR kinase pathway.
Effect of different phosphorus levels on the performance and egg quality of laying hens fed wheat- and maize-based diets.

The effects of diet type (wheat- or maize-based) and concentration of available phosphorus (AP; about 4, 3 and 2 g/kg) on the parameters of hen performance and egg quality as well as shell calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) contents were examined. Two experiments were carried out in which 240 and 120, respectively, older ISA Brown hens were housed in enriched cages. The interaction of diet type and AP concentration was ascertained for all evaluated characteristics except the amount of Ca and P deposited in shells in the first experiment. In the second experiment, the interaction of diet type and AP concentration was found for feed intake, egg weight, shell thickness and weight as well as the albumen quality parameters. Furthermore, Ca deposition in shells increased ( P < 0.001) with the wheat diet. Hens fed a maize-based diet (P < 0.001) laid heavier eggs. The highest level of AP (4.1 g/kg) in the wheat-based diet significantly (P < 0.001) decreased albumen height, albumen index and Haugh units (HU). These trends were the same in both experiments. The results indicate that 0.27% AP in wheat-based diet and 0.30% AP in maize-based diet are adequate for hens with the intake 115 g of feed with 3.5% of Ca without a negative impact on per - formance or egg quality.
Inertia Effect on the Cavitation Phenomena of Textured Bearing

: For more than a century, with increasing the demand for energy-saving, there has been a growing application of surface texturing due to its good behaviour in enhancing the performances of tribological pairs. As is known, in textured surface the inertia as well as the cavitation has a major effect on the hydrodynamic pressure profile. The present paper examines the correlation between the cavitation and the inertia effects in textured lubricated contact using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach. The multiphase cavitation model is adopted to obtain more realistic characteristic of the bearing. A quantitative analysis of inertia influences on cavitation zone is made in this paper. The existence of slip at the bearing pad is also particular interest. Based on the simulation results, it is found that increasing the inertia effect will trigger the presence of the cavitation phenomena. It is also equally shown that the wall slip condition appears to contribute to the reduced hydrodynamic lift. The present results illustrate a superior performance of bearing with low inertia pattern in comparison to other bearing types.
BACTERIAL TANNASES: PRODUCTION, PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

Los taninos son compuestos polifenolicos presentes en las plantas, en las cuales desempenan un papel importante al evitar el ataque de virus, bacterias y hogos. A pesar de que los polifenoles inhiben el crecimiento microbiano, algunos microorganismos han desarrollado mecanismos para hidrolizarlos, uno de estos mecanismo es la produccion de la enzima tanasa, la cual se ha obtenido mayoritariamente de hongos. Por otro lado, en los ultimos anos se han aislado bacterias productoras de tanasa de diversas fuentes, principalmente del intestino y heces de animales y humanos, asi como de alimentos fermentados y de los desechos de algunos frutos. La obtencion de altos titulos de tanasas bacterianas dependera principalmente de la composicion del medio de cultivo, de la cepa bacteriana y de una efectiva optimizacion de las condiciones de cultivo. Este documento presenta una revision de las investigaciones recientes realizadas en torno a la produccion, a las caracteristicas fisicoquimicas y moleculares, a las aplicaciones y usos potenciales de las tanasas bacterianas
Some Basic Results on the Second Multiplication Atom-Bond Connectivity Index

As the atom-bond connectivity index kept expanding, the multiplicative atom-bond connectivity indices were introduced to measure the stability of alkanes and strain energy of cycloalkanes. Let ABCΠ(G) = ∏ uv∈E(G) √ nu+nv−2 nunv denote the first multiplicative atom-bond connectivity index (ABCΠ) of a graph G, in which nu represents the number of vertices which are closer to vertex u than vertex v. Similarly, nv is defined in this way. In this paper, we study the basic mathematical characters of the second multiplicative atom-bond connectivity index.
Making the Most of Crowdsourced Document Annotations: Confused Supervised LDA

Corpus labeling projects frequently use low-cost workers from microtask marketplaces; however, these workers are often inexperienced or have misaligned incentives. Crowdsourcing models must be robust to the resulting systematic and nonsystematic inaccuracies. We introduce a novel crowdsourcing model that adapts the discrete supervised topic model sLDA to handle multiple corrupt, usually conflicting (hence “confused”) supervision signals. Our model achieves significant gains over previous work in the accuracy of deduced ground truth.
Bone morphogenetic proteins and signaling pathway in inflammatory bowel disease

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a large group of structurally related proteins that belong to the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily. Along with their primarily osteogenic function their importance in development, proliferation and morphogenesis of a variety of cells and tissues has been shown. In addition, association of BMPs with healing processes of different non-skeletal tissues and organs was also described. Due to their wide-range of effects, they are commonly named “body morphogenetic proteins”. Perturbations in BMPs expression and BMP signaling pathway have been associated with the pathological conditions linked to several human diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The purpose of this review is to consider the importance of BMPs in gut development and hereditary diseases as well as their influence on cellular and molecular events that occur in IBD and fibrogenesis, the most common complication of IBD. Furthermore, we investigate the therapeutical potential of BMPs, especially BMP7 in treatment of IBD. We also explore the possibility of BMP pathway components as putative biomarkers of gut tumor development and progression.
Managerial Views on Corporate Financing Decision

This survey examines the extent financial executives use the assumptions and/or inputs of capital structure models generated by academicians in making corporate financing decisions. To gather the views, opinions and perceptions of financial managers regarding corporate capital structure practices a questionnaire survey was conducted. The primary data are used in this study, generated through field study based on questionnaire that obtained from the respondents. One hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed and eighty six of which were collected and analyzed. Nepalese executives believe that excessive use of debt will increase the cost of fund in its capital structure and they also believe that capital structure evolve as the cumulative outcome of past attempt to time the equity market. Similarly, eighty one per cent of the respondents believe that EFWAMB ratio is one of the important predictive variables of the capital structure choice.
Effect of water stress on imbibition, germination and seedling growth of maize cultivars.

A Laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of four level of water potential (ψ) viz., 0.00, -4.09, -8.18, and -12.28 bars on the imbibitions (water absorption), germination, and seedling growth of six cultivar of maize (Zea mays L.). Mannitol was used as an osmoticum. Results showed that water stress treatments significantly (P<0.05) influenced the root-shoot length, their fresh and dry weights (except root oven dry weight) of different cultivars of maize i.e., Agaithi-72, Azam, Composite-15, Ehsan, Synthetic-551 and Yousafwala E.V. 1081. Similarly, significant variations in seedling growth were obtained among cultivars. However, interactions between water stress and cultivars for root-shoot length, and shoot fresh & dry weights were also found as highly significant (P<0.01). Results also showed that increase in water stress level decreases imbibition, germination and seedling growth. Reduction in imbibition, germination and root-shoot fresh and dry weights were recorded in the highest water stress level (-12.28 bars). Results further exhibited that on the basis of total or cumulative drought tolerance index, maize cv. Azam could be ranked as drought tolerant and cv. Agaithi-72 as drought sensitive. While cultivars viz., Composite-15, Synthetic-551, Ehsan and Yousafwala E.V. 1081 were ranked as drought intermediate in response, respectively.
Spectrum of Pediatric Dermatoses in The Pediatric Outpatient Clinic of a Rural Teaching Hospital

Introduction: Skin diseases in the pediatric population are common all over the world including rural and urban areas. There is variation in the pattern and presentation of Dermatoses, with eczemas being the most common skin disorder in developountries and infections and infestations in the developing countries. Aims and Objectives: i) To study the spectrum of various dermatoses in infants and children attending pediatric outpatient clinic. ii) To study the pattern of common Dermatological conditions affecting the pediatric population of different age groups. Material & Methods: It was an observational retrospective database study of the spectrum of various dermatoses in infants and children attending pediatric outpatient clinic over past 6 months from July 2016 to December 2016. We included all patients coming with skin disorders to the pediatrics outpatient department. Results: The entire data was entered and cleaned in MS Excel before its statistical analysis. Among 2078 pediatric skin patients attending the Dermatology OPD, 597 cases were Infectious and 1481 cases were Non infectious. Males outnumbered the females. The distribution of diagnosis of dermatoses differs significantly between male and female cases studied (P-value<0.001). Three most common spectrums of dermatoses were pityriasisinfections (17.5%), Atopic dermatitis (11.4%) and Tinea infections (10.5%). Tinea infections were found to be highest (36.7%) and next common was scabies (24.5%) in Infectious variety followed by Chicken–pox / Varicella (7.7%). Conclusion: Over all fungal infections, Atopic Dermatitis and Pytiriasis were commonest which commonly occurred in adolescents and teen age groups which could be attributed to hormonal changes, excessive sweating, and bad hygiene.
Structure/function studies of the alpha-crystallin small heat-shock chaperone proteins

α -Crystallin is a member of the small heat shock protein (sHsp) family which exists as a multimer of α A- and α B-crystallin subunits in the ratio of 3:1 in the lens, where it was first identified. It is an intracellular molecular chaperone, capable of interacting with a multitude of target proteins to prevent their aggregation and precipitation. Initially considered to be solely a lens protein, individual α A- and α B-crystallin proteins have since been found in other organs with α B-crystallin in particular appearing to play a role in many neurodegenerative disorders (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases). Due to the dynamic nature of α -crystallin oligomers and the propensity for subunit exchange, crystallisation of the protein has been impossible. As a result, the mechanisms by which α -crystallin functions remain elusive, as does a complete picture of the chaperone’s quaternary structure. In this study, recombinant human α A- and α B-crystallin were expressed and purified using conventional methods (Horwitz, J., Huang, Q-L., Ding, L. and Bova, M. P. (1998) Methods in Enzymology 290:363-383). A series of mutants of α A- and α B-crystallin were also constructed, with mutation sites concentrated in the C-terminal region of the protein and in particular the solvent-exposed and flexible C-terminal extension. This extension, which comprises 10 and 12 amino acids in human α A- and α B-crystallin, respectively, behaves in a similar manner to an unstructured peptide in solution. Previous NMR spectroscopic studies have indicated that it serves a crucial role in binding target proteins. - and
Presence of the ABCB1 (MDR1) deletion mutation causing ivermectin hypersensitivity in certain dog breeds in Belgium

Hypersensitivity to ivermectin and certain other drugs in Collies and related breeds is caused by a 4-base pair deletion mutation in the ABCB1 gene, better known as the MDR1 gene, encoding P-glycoprotein. There is no information available, however, regarding the presence of this mutation in dogs in Belgium. In this study, the ABCB1 genotype was assessed in 92 dogs of breeds suspected to possess the deletion mutation. The results indicated that the mutation was present in the Australian Shepherd, Collie, Shetland Sheepdog and Swiss White Shepherd, but was not detected in the Bearded Collies, Border Collies and German Shepherds of this study, which is in accordance with the findings in similar breed populations of other countries. In Belgium it is therefore important to take the ABCB1 genotype of the breeds involved into account, in order to use drugs in a safe and efficient manner and to improve the selection procedure in dog breeding.
Pharmacogénétique en Pharmacocinétique de population : tests et sélection de modèles

L'existence de polymorphismes genetiques codants pour des proteines de transport ou de metabolisme peut expliquer en partie la variabilite pharmacocinetique de certains medicaments. Les modeles non lineaires a effets mixtes (MNLEM) permettent de caracteriser cette variabilite en analysant simultanement les donnees recueillies chez l'ensemble des patients et necessitent moins de prelevements que l'approche traditionnelle non-compartimentale. Du fait de la multiplicite des genotypes et de leur representation desequilibree dans la population generale, nous nous sommes interroges sur les proprietes des tests classiquement utilises pour detecter un effet gene sur un parametre pharmacocinetique dans le cadre des MNLEM. Dans ce contexte, nous avons evalue par simulation les proprietes de l'ANOVA, du test de Wald et du test du rapport de vraisemblance. L'impact de l'algorithme d'estimation a ete pris en compte grâce a l'utilisation de plusieurs methodes d'estimation. Nous avons ainsi mis en evidence une inflation de l'erreur de type I des tests asymptotiques, sur plusieurs protocoles experimentaux. Nous avons alors propose deux alternatives et montre que l'approche par permutation peut etre utilisee dans ce contexte ainsi qu'une approche reposant sur la ponderation de la variance d'estimation, moins couteuse en temps de calcul. Ces resultats ont ete appliques a l'analyse de trois etudes pharmacogenetiques, explorant l'influence de polymorphismes genetiques sur la pharmacocinetique de l'indinavir dans l'essai COPHAR2-ANRS 111, sur la pharmacocinetique d'un antipsychotique en developpement et sur la pharmacocinetique de la nevirapine dans l'essai PECAN-ANRS 12154.