Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Secondary structures in β-casein peptide 1–42: a two dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance study

Summary Two dimensional NMR spectroscopy was used to study the structure of a peptide composed of the N-terminal 42 amino acid residues of β-casein. The peptide was obtained by enzymic cleavage using endoproteinase Asp-N. Complete sequence-specific 1H NMR assignment was performed for the peptide at three Ca2+ concentrations (0, 22 and 37 mM). The NMR results show that the peptide was highly flexible and adopted multiple conformations. No stable secondary structures were present; however, the peptide had some regions with non-random structure. The region between residues Leu16 and Asn27 adopted conformations with an increased contribution of α-helical structure, a so-called nascent helix. Two regions, Glu11-SerP15 and Lys29-Phe33 showed an increased population of conformations with extended structures. Addition of Ca2+ induced chemical shift changes for the backbone amide protons, especially around the phosphoserine region and around the suggested α-helical structure, indicating that the addition of Ca2+ stabilized the structure already present in the apo form of the peptide.
Influence of storage conditions on viability of quiescent copepod eggs (Acartia tonsa Dana): effects of temperature, salinity and anoxia

Copepods have proven to be an ideal source of live food for the production of marine fish larvae in aquaculture. Therefore, there is a need to develop new methods for production and storage of copepod eggs that can be hatched and used at fish farms. In the present study quiescent eggs of Acartia tonsa were stored for periods up to 35 weeks at different temperatures, salinities and oxygen conditions in a full factorial experiment. None of these storage conditions seemed to induce diapause in eggs even though this has been reported by other authors. The most promising storage conditions were those involving low temperature (<5°C), medium salinity (10-20 ppt) and anoxia. The practical aspects of these results for aquaculture are discussed.
The Effect Of The Intratracheal Exposure Of RatsTo Secondary Metabolites Isolated FromMicrofungi On Lungs

The lung is a major target organ for insults induced by environmental pollutants. Following the effect of microfungal exposure relating to less studied topics, health complaints, particularly in mouldy houses, may be associated with microfungal exposure. The pulmonary health problems can be evoked both by inhalation of spores or their secondary metabolites. The fungal secondary metabolites represent a mixture of different active compounds and the mycotoxins may be a common part of them. Our study was focused on the effect of secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus versicolor, a frequent indoor colonizer. The Wistar rats were intratracheally exposed to isolated metabolites produced by A. versicolor and after 3 days exposure the animals were sacrificed and the antioxidant status was estimated in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Alveolar macrophages and alveolar epithelial type II cells – from toxicological point of view the most important cells – were isolated and their antioxidant status and DNA damage were evaluated. The results did not show statistically significant changes of antioxidant status either in lungs or in the BALF, but the DNA damage was enhanced in both types of studied cells.
Sentiment Cognition From Words Shortlisted by Fuzzy Entropy

Sentiment analysis (SA) is the process of evaluating human emotions, opinions, and reviews expressed in text to detect the writer’s mental outlook toward a particular event, topic, product, service, etc., and assign a relevant sentiment. In SA, to highlight the correct words which contribute toward sentiment cognition is very difficult. Simulating this task of shortlisting of words by human observers is challenging due to complexity of human mind’s processing. The use of fuzzy entropy is proposed in this article as an innovative step to tap sentiment quotients of online movie reviews. We have proposed a novel approach of shortlisting of words that help in sentiment cognition using a combination of fuzzy entropy, $k$ -means clustering, and sentiment lexicon SentiWordNet. We have addressed this challenging task of simulating the human cognition of words by developing a model that recognizes sentiment based on fuzzy scores derived from SentiWordNet in an automatic manner. Experiments on two benchmark movie review data sets—IMDB and polarity data sets by Pang and Lee—with training by long short-term memory neural networks, yields high accuracy for our approach as compared to other state-of-the-art-methods of SA.
Diversification in insular plants: inferring the phylogenetic relationship in Aeonium (Crassulaceae) using ITS sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA

The ITS regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA were sequenced in 37 species of the genus Aeonium. A phylogeny obtained through the use of parsimony agrees to some extent with the sectional division of the genus and confirms the position of two newly described species. It also suggests the potential importance of reticulate evolution in the genus. Based on the geographic distribution of this particular island group and the growth forms of its species, dispersal across similar ecological zones of different islands followed by adaptive radiation and isolation are suggested to be the prominent routes in speciation. As is typical of island genera, large polytomies at the distal nodes in the phylogeny indicate a recent rapid radiation.
Convergent responses of fish belonging to different feeding guilds to sewage pollution

This study aimed to evaluate if the presence of pollutants promotes changes in feeding habits of fish species from different trophic guilds: the detritivorous species, Hypostomus francisci, and the piscivorous, Hoplias intermedius. Both species were sampled at 12 sites (with different degrees of pollution) in the Rio das Velhas basin, which is heavily polluted by domestic and industrial sewage from the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH). Stable isotope analyses of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) of fish tissue and the main food resources were performed. Fishes from both trophic guilds altered their diets in degraded environments, but the detritivorous species showed greater trophic plasticity. The isotopic niche of both trophic guilds was broadest in unpolluted sites and more δ15N enriched in polluted regions. The detritivorous species presented high niche-breadth in unpolluted sites, probably due to the greater variety of resources consumed. In addition, the δ15N of the detritivorous was more enriched than the piscivorous species in polluted sites. In conclusion, fishes from both trophic guilds presented similar isotopic responses to environmental pollution. However, the detritivorous species was more sensitive to these alterations and therefore, is likely a better indicator of environmental condition than the piscivorous.
Cell microarray platform for anticancer drug development

Pharmacodynamic assessment of whether a drug has interacted with and modified its target is an essential component of molecularly targeted clinical trials. Although many trials are written with the intent to assess tumor biopsies, if available, thus far the great majority of early drug trials have used peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) as a tumor surrogate. Typically, PBMC are studied by low‐throughput techniques such as Western blot. We present the use of a cell‐based tissue microarray for assessment of anticancer drug activity in vivo. We demonstrate the utility of this technique for analysis of protein hyperacetylation in response to treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor, SNDX‐275 in PBMC treated in vitro and in PBMC and bone marrow aspirates from patients in Phase I clinical trials with SNDX‐275. We demonstrate that the cell microarray can be used to measure drug response in a high‐throughput manner, allowing analysis of an entire trial on one or two glass slides. The cell microarray technique brings the advantages of the tissue microarray platform to the pharmacodynamic assessment of single cells, such as those isolated from bone marrow aspirates, fine needle aspirates, or malignant effusions, and to analysis of PBMC, the most commonly studied surrogate in oncology trials. Drug Dev Res 68:226–234, 2007. Published 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Temperature and light requirements for the germination of Cleome gynandra seeds

Seeds of Cleome (Cleome gynandra L.) are characterised by low germination and may require after-ripening. The dormancy characteristics and optimum conditions for seed germination of this species have not been explained. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of temperature, light and pre-germination treatments (chilling, scarification, hydration and germination in the presence of KNO3 or GA3) on the germination of Cleome seeds. Seeds were germinated for 10 days and the final count of germination was used to determine seed performance. The highest germination percentage (60% and 80%, for a 2-year old and a 1-year old seed lot, respectively) of untreated seeds was achieved when alternating temperatures of 20–30°C (16 h—8 h) in the dark or constant 30°C in the dark were used. Among the pre-germination treatments, only scarification (puncturing of seeds at the radicle end) improved germination. Seeds were found to be negatively photoblastic, and the phenomenon was more pronounced when the germination test was undertaken at 20°C and at light exposures of 12 h day−1 or longer. Germination of photo-inhibited seeds was, however, improved by treatment with GA3. It is recommended that the germination of Cleome should be performed under conditions of darkness and either alternating 20–30°C or continuous 30°C.
Assessment of Agricultural Water Productivity in Arid China

The water crisis has become increasingly serious, particularly in arid and semiarid areas. Agricultural water productivity (AWP) is an important indicator for evaluating water use efficiency and agricultural water management. This study uses water consumption derived from satellite data, combined with statistical survey information, to analyze the spatiotemporal variations and driving factors of AWP at the region and county scales over the past 15 years (2002–2015) in the Turpan region (China). The results showed the increasing change trends of AWP throughout Turpan and its three counties. A multiple regression analysis was applied to evaluate AWP, agricultural production and water consumption with driving factors. The contribution of agricultural factors (fertilizer amount, pesticide use and irrigation area) was 86.3% for change of production and 93.3% for change of water consumption in Turpan. The synchronous changes associated with the similar factor contributions resulted in a nonsignificant change in AWP for the whole region. However, the significant increase in AWP in Toksun County was caused by a weakened effect of synchronous changes due to the difference between the largest contributing factors (irrigation area for production at 29.3% and temperature for water consumption at 35.4%). The different change trends of the AWP at regional and county levels indicated that agricultural planting structure adjustment could be an effective way to improve water productivity. This paper provides objective and new information to understand the effects of AWP changes at regional and county scales, which is beneficial for irrigation agriculture development in Turpan.
Bearing failure in bolted sleeve connections with circular hollow sections under compression

This article analyzes sleeve connections between circular hollow sections. This type of connection is composed of two tubes connected by bolts to an inner tube with a smaller diameter, and explores the efficiency, aesthetics and resistance of hollow sections subjected to tension and compression. In previous researches, sleeve connections with aligned and crossed bolt dispositions and under axial tension were studied. Herein, the behavior of sleeve connections with aligned bolts and under compression was analyzed. A model to represent the connection using the finite element method was developed, which allowed a numerical analysis with geometric property variations. In the numerical/parametric results, bearing failure was observed in all cases, either in the outer or inner tube. Limiting the number of bolts to 6 and considering that connections have a lower outer thickness than the inner tube, a formulation was proposed to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of sleeve connections under compression and with bearing failure.
Management of product development projects in the wood industry

Abstract This study used data on project management from 70 recent product development projects in the wood industry. The objective was to test the influence of some project management factors, known from cross-industry research to be keys to product development project success, on product development project success in the context of the wood industry. Through the use of hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it was found that both the sharpness of the product concept definition and the strength of the project leader had significant positive influences on the success of product development projects. Conversely, product advantage, team cross-functionality and customer involvement did not have a significant positive influence on the success of these projects. The latter even indicated a negative influence on product development project success. Project uncertainty, as manifested in the degree of newness of the technology and the marketing strategies of the product to the innovating strategic business unit, did not influence the relationship between project management factors and product development project success. Some of the findings were unexpected and may be explained by the industry's unaccustomedness to customer co-operation and the fact that product development in the wood industry takes place within conventional technology and market bounds.
Correlations of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations from feedlot cattle as a predictor of methane emissions

Accurate measurements of methane (CH4) emissions from feedlot cattle are required for verifying greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and mitigation strategies. We investigate a new method for estimating CH4 emissions by examining the correlation between CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations from two beef cattle feedlots in Australia representing southern temperate and northern subtropical locations. Concentrations of CH4 and CO2 were measured at the two feedlots during summer and winter, using open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. There was a strong correlation for the concentrations above background of CH4 and CO2 with concentration ratios of 0.008 to 0.044 ppm/ppm (R2 >0.90). The CH4/CO2 concentration ratio varied with animal diet and ambient temperature. The CH4/CO2 concentration ratio provides an alternative method to estimate CH4 emissions from feedlots when combined with CO2 production derived from metabolisable energy or heat production.
Predicting the Health Degree of Hard Disk Drives With Asymmetric and Ordinal Deep Neural Models

Predicting failures in Hard Disk Drives (HDD) is a major challenge that has been faced by both industry and academy in recent years. Being able to predict failure events may incur in avoiding data losses and also improve service availability. Among all failure prediction strategies, the health degree prediction is one of the most popular. The task of health degree prediction consists of, given a finite set of health states that are related to the degradation of the equipment, estimate which state reflects the actual degradation of the equipment. This problem is usually modeled as a classification task. Although many health degree prediction methods have been proposed, some practical details regarding this prediction task have been neglected in previous works. In this work we tackle two of these aspects: the ordinal nature of the problem and the different costs associated with miss-classifications. The problem can be considered as ordinal since classifying a HDD in a health level that is far from is true health level shall be more penalized than classifying in a near health level, thus a classical classification framework is not recommended. The different costs associated with mis-classifications are related to the fact that early predictions are preferred than late prediction since the later can result in failures. Such aspects are considered in a framework based on Deep Recurrent Neural Networks (DRNN). The choice of DRNN is given its remarkable performances in many applications including HDDs failure prediction. The resulting methods outperformed state-of-the-art approaches in a metric that consider the new aspects that motivated our proposal.
Physiological stress in fish during toxicological procedures: a potentially confounding factor

An increasing body of evidence suggests that stress may modulate the response of an animal to toxicological challenge. The degree of stress inherent in the procedures comprising a fish LC50 study (OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals, “Fish, Acute Toxicity Test” No. 203, adopted May 12, 1981) was assessed by measuring plasma cortisol levels (rainbow trout) and whole-body levels of immunoreactive corticosteroids (zebra fish). Aspects of the 96 h LC50 protocol which were found to evoke corticosteroidogenic activity in the test fish included transfer from holding tanks to test tanks, tank transfer during semistatic procedures, and disturbance associated with water quality measurement. There was evidence for acclimation of the fish to repetitive stimuli such as tank transfer, but, overall, the data suggest that the 96 h test protocols evoke a state of chronic stress in the test population. The removal of fish from test vessels during longer term studies was also found to evoke a stress response in fish remaining within the vessel, suggesting that these conditions may expose test fish to a regime of intermittent periods of acute stress. The possibility that physiological stress may interfere with the accurate estimation of toxicological end points was examined. In three independent LC50 tests the toxicity of the arylmethane dye, malachite green, to rainbow trout was found to be markedly and consistently reduced when the degree of disturbance and handling during the test period was minimized. © by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Factors Influencing Consumers’ Preference for Imported Rice in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

This study has examined the determinants of consumption of imported rice in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Data was collected from households that were selected in the various sub-metros within the metropolis. In all 327 rice consumers were sampled and interviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistics involving the use of frequency, mean and standard deviation as well as the Probit regression model were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that age, gender, household size, income, education, and price were statistically significant. Education, gender and income influenced consumption of imported rice positively, while household size, age and price had a negative influence on consumption of imported rice. In conclusion, key factors which influence consumers’ preference for imported rice are education, income and household size. It is recommended that government enact law and develop policies to regulate importation of rice into the country and also improve upon the production of rice locally. Original Research Article Hagan and Awunyo-Vitor; AJEBA, 15(1): 1-11, 2020; Article no.AJEBA. 54979 2
The Ecology of Spanish Moss (Tillandsia Usneoides): Its Growth and Distribution

The growth pattern of Spanish moss is one of alternately dominant dichotomous forking (scorpioid dichotomy). The non—dominant branch at each fork is a leaflike branch. The flowers, which are terminal on the pendant plants, are produced in South Georgia from the middle of April to the first of June. The subsequently formed capsule remains closed for 6 months and its remnants remain in the same position for a year. Spanish moss has a positive geotropic response when oriented in a horizontal position. The formation of several vertical plants on old horizontal stems is a means of vegetative reproduction. An almost direct relationship is evident between terminal growth and the percentage of solar radiation. Atmospheric moisture alone will not support growth; experimental plants die in 3—4 months with natural humidity but no rain. Rate of growth could not be correlated with moisture or temperature, but it was adversely affected by shade. Although Spanish moss does not appear to favor any one host, it is not often found on pines. Possible explanations for this scarcity are that pines are self—pruning, the dense leaves are a formidable barrier to wind—blown entry, and the proportion of intercepted rainfall is greater in pines than in broad—leaved species. The distribution of Spanish moss in the United States, limited to the Coastal Plain of the southeastern states, ranging from Texas to Virginia, may be related to major storm paths which arise to Mexico or cross other storm paths which arise there and move laterally over the Coastal Plain. Some of the plants may have been carried into Florida by storms from the islands in the Caribbean Sea. Spanish moss is able to survive and produce viable seeds outside the Coastal Plain, and ability of the species to survive in habitats completely dissimilar to those of the Coastal Plain areas is shown by its distribution in various physiographic regions of South America. The close relationship between Spanish moss and ponds in Georgia appears to be the result of unfavorable conditions elsewhere (such as fire and lumbering which remove suitable substrates), rather than conditions provided by the ponds.
Phytoplankton carbon biomass and specific growth rates determined with the labeled chlorophyll a technique

The labeled chlorophyll a technique, based on the incorporation of H14C0; into chlorophyll a (chl a) gives accurate determinations of both phytoplankton carbon biomass (Cp) and specific growth rate (p). Cp and p, derived from the labeled chl a method, exhibited a diel periodicity and the mean p over 24 h compared well with the dilution rate for an oceanic miaoflagellate in NHi- limited continuous culture. The specific activity of carbon in C (R&) and in chl a (R& a) were equal after only 2 h and remained the same through 24 h. This supports the main assumption of the technique that within a useful time scale, the specific activities are equal. Values of Cp and phytoplankton POC measured with a CHN analyser were the same for the microflagellate in continuous culture. Estimates of phytoplankton carbon derived from several indirect methods were either greater than (methods based on measurement of adenosine triphosphate and microscopic examination of cell counts and volumes) or less than (methods based on measurement of particulate organic carbon and chlorophyll a concentrations) values determined with the labeled chl a technique. Time course 14C incubations indicate that both Cp and p exhibit diel variability through 24 h in the fluorescence maximum layer and overlying water column in the Southern California Bight. Phytoplankton populations in the fluores- cence maximum layer grew with generation times of 2 to 3 d, while generation times in the water column above averaged less than 1 d.