Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does ‘Space’ Have a Say on Agricultural Households Income Choices?

In line with the first law of geography, employment diversification take place in clusters – as ‘hot spots’ and ‘cold spots’. Farm households organise themselves on economic activities in part based on their neighbourhoods’ preferences. In other words, neighbourhoods tend to be clusters of households with similar preferences. Part-time-farming approach, which is being felt across states in recent times, is no exception. In a farm-non-farm policy perspective, these ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ spots attract significant attention as specific agricultural/industrial policies can be brought out at these clusters than any aggregate levels. The study, of its first kind for the country, attempts to locate potential ‘rural hot spots’ where this ‘priority shift’ of farmers takes place, especially of the vulnerable small holder households who lack capital assets to sustain their farm based livelihood. Spatial econometric approaches are adopted and Global and Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) are used in filtering out these ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ spots. Results reveal that high income households live in general at south Indian and selected parts of north and west Indian regions. Income clusters extend beyond states’ boundaries, and not all the districts within a state fall in any given income group. The ‘hot spots’ of income diversification lie in southern and western regions and the central Indian region is characterised with ‘cold spots’ rather than ‘hot spots’. The scenario holds true when marginal and small farmers alone are considered, but varies with exposure to vulnerability factors. In presence of vulnerability, the ‘cold spot’ clusters turn to be random, not confined to any given region. The results suggest for ‘cluster approach’ rather than ‘state approach’ in devising farm and non-farm policies for the farmers.
DEVELOPMENT OF ECOTOXICITY TESTS USING LABORATORY REARED LARVAE OF THE RIVERINE CADDISFLIES HYDROPSYCHE ANGUSTIPENNIS AND CYRNUS TRIMACULATUS

Summary The diversity of aquatic insect species in large rivers in the Netherlands has been strongly reduced during the past century. Therefore, aquatic insects can be used as indicators for ecological recovery in large rivers. However, there is a lack of ecological and ecotoxicological knowledge of riverine insect species. To provide this basic knowledge, laboratory cultures with two caddisfly species, Hydropsyche angustipennis and Cyrnus trimaculatus, were started, and standardized ecotoxicity tests were developed. A rearing method for both species is described, as well as a reliable short term ecotoxicity test with first instars of H. angustipennis.
Estudio morfométrico de una zona híbrida entre Armeria beirana y A. pubigera (Plumbaginaceae) en el noroeste de la Península Ibérica.

Se han estudiado varias poblaciones de híbridos entre Armeria beirana Franco y A. pubigera (Desf.) Boiss. localizadas en el término municipal de Carnota (A Coruña, España) a lo largo de un tramo litoral de unos 3 km de longitud en lo que puede ser considerada una zona híbrida. Un análisis morfométrico multivariante basado en 17 caracteres muestra que estos híbridos se diferencian nítidamente de sus progenitores y sugiere que en la zona híbrida coexisten individuos de otras generaciones híbridas además de la F1.
Hepatotoxin Biosynthesis and Regulation in Cyanobacteria - the Putative Involvement of Nitrogen and Iron Homeostasis Mechanisms

Cyanobacteria are recognised globally as a human health threat due to their proliferation into toxic blooms. Of particular concern are strains that produce the hepatotoxins, microcystin and nodularin. Research over the past decade has revealed the biochemical and molecular mechanisms behind hepatotoxin production. However, there is still much to learn regarding the regulation of these biologically active metabolites. This review provides an overview of cyanobacterial hepatotoxin research to date and additionally, elaborates on the putative involvement of nitrogen and iron homeostatic mechanisms in cyanotoxin regulation.
Biosynthesis and structure of cell associated glucans in the slow growing Rhizobium loti strain NZP 2309.

Slow growing Rhizobium loti strain NZP 2309 synthesizes cellular neutral cyclic β(1-6), β(1-3) glucans closely related with the previously described cyclic β(1-6), β(1-3) glucans of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110. This glucan consists of ten (three-1,3 and six-1,6 β-linked glucose units) with a single 6 branched glucose unit with a β-1 linked terminal glucose. The ratio of β(1-6) to β(1-3) linked glucose units is 2:1. Incubation of inner membranes derived from strain NZP 2309 with UDP-[ 14 C]glucose led to the incorporation of radioactivity into soluble and TCA-insoluble compounds. A soluble compound was characterized by gel filtration, TLC, mild acid hydrolysis, paper chromatography and Smith degradation as a β(1-3) linked ring of 10 glucose units with a β(1-6) linked branch of two glucoses, similar to that formed in vitro by the slow growing strain B. japonicum USDA 110 and identical to the glucan synthesized by the ndvC mutant of B. japonicum AB-1 (Bhagwat et al., 1999). A TCA-insoluble compound labeled after incubation with UDP-[ 14 C]glucose was characterized as an insoluble protein having an apparent molecular mass of 85 kDa and an associated insoluble laminarin-like glucan. Pulse chase experiments suggest that this protein may be an intermediate or precursor during the synthesis of insoluble laminarin-like glucans, soluble β(1-3), β(1-6) glucans, or both. REP-PCR analysis showed that R. loti NZP 2309 and B. japonicum USDA 110 are different strains; but according to PCR-RFLPs of the 16SrDNA gene they are closely phylogenetically related. The strains have different host specificity for nodulation.
Genome-scale metabolic modelling of Arabidopsis and tomato

The biomass composition represented in constraint-based metabolic models is a key component for predicting cellular metabolism using flux balance analysis (FBA). Despite major advances in analytical technologies, it is often challenging to obtain a detailed composition of all major biomass components experimentally. Studies examining the influence of the biomass composition on the predictions of metabolic models have so far mostly been done on models of microorganisms. Little is known about the impact of varying biomass composition on flux prediction in FBA models of plants, whose metabolism is very versatile and complex because of the presence of multiple subcellular compartments. Also, the published metabolic models of plants differ in size and complexity. In this chapter, we examined the sensitivity of the predicted fluxes of plant metabolic models to biomass composition and model structure. These questions were addressed by evaluating the sensitivity of predictions of growth rates and central carbon metabolic fluxes to varying biomass compositions in three different genome-/large-scale metabolic models of Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results showed that fluxes through the central carbon metabolism were robust to changes in biomass composition. Nevertheless, comparisons between the predictions from three models using identical modelling constraints and objective function showed that model predictions were sensitive to the structure of the models, highlighting large discrepancies between the published models. Sensitivity in plant metabolic models
NICHE PARTITIONING AND THE COEXISTENCE OF TWO CRYPTIC DICTYOTA (DICTYOTALES, PHAEOPHYCEAE) SPECIES FROM THE CANARY ISLANDS 1

Coexistence in a homogeneous environment requires species to specialize in distinct niches. Sympatry of cryptic species is of special interest to both ecologists and evolutionary biologists because the mechanisms that facilitate their persistent coexistence are obscure. In this study, we report on two sympatric Dictyota species, D. dichotoma (Huds.) J. V. Lamour. and the newly described species D. cymatophila sp. nov., from the Canary Islands. Gene sequence data (rbcL, psbA, nad1, cox1, cox3, and LSU rDNA) demonstrate that D. dichotoma and D. cymatophila do not represent sister species. Rather, D. cymatophila and D. dichotoma have converged on a nearly identical morphology, only to be distinguished with detailed morphometric observations. Both species co‐occur in eulittoral pools and the shallow subtidal in Tenerife. Even though D. cymatophila was more dominant in wave‐exposed places and D. dichotoma in less exposed areas, the spatial distribution of both species overlapped in intermediate habitats. The species display radically different phenologies. D. dichotoma reached its highest density in winter and early spring and disappeared nearly completely in autumn, while D. cymatophila dominated the study site from July until November. The timing of gamete release also differs between both species, D. dichotoma releasing gametes twice every lunar cycle, while the release of gametes in D. cymatophila occurred roughly every other day.
Tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) induced structural and functional alterations in isolated rat hepatocytes and rat liver mitochondria and protection accorded by antioxidants

Tert-butyl hydroperoxide caused high amplitude mitochondrial swelling in a dose dependent and time dependent manner in isolated rat liver mitochondria. Synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene and natural thiol reducing agent Dithiothreitol accorded maximum protection, whereas reduced glutathione led to partial protection against t-BHP induced swelling. Both butylated hydroxytoluene and α-tocopherol protected the mitochondria from t-BHP induced impairment of mitochondrial electron flow. Reduced glutathione accorded more protection against t-BHP induced increase in intracellular free calcium concentration in contrast to vitamin E and butylated hydroxytoluene. Our results indicate that high amplitude mitochondrial swelling, impairment of mitochondrial electron flow along with increase in intracellular free calcium concentration may be involved in the hepatotoxic action of t-BHP.
Molecular basis of antagonist action at the P2X1 receptor

El-Ajouz, S, Allsopp, RC & Evans, RJ. Cysteine scanning mutagenesis of the region Glu52 to Gly96 of the human P2X1 receptor refines a model of the ATP binding site and identifies residues that contribute to channel gating. Poster presentation at the Purines 2010 conference, Tarragona, Spain and at the UK Purine Club 2010 conference, Nottingham. El-Ajouz, S, Allsopp, RC & Evans, RJ. Molecular basis of agonist action at the P2X1 receptor. Oral presentation at the Young Physiology Symposium 2009, University of Leicester.
Radiation leukaemogenesis at low doses DE-FG02-05

There is ample epidemiological evidence indicating that ionising radiation is carcinogenic in the higher dose range. This evidence, however, weakens and carries increasing uncertainties at doses below 100-200 mSv. At these low dose levels the form of the dose-response curve for radiation-induced cancer cannot be determined reliably or directly from studies of human populations. Therefore animal, cellular and other experimental systems must be employed to provide supporting evidence on which to base judgements of risk at low doses. Currently in radiological protection a linear non-threshold (LNT) extrapolation of risk estimates derived from human epidemiological studies is used to estimate risks in the dose range of interest for protection purposes.
Sumoylation of Nuclear Transport Receptors and the small GTPase Ran

Sumoylation has been linked to nucleocytoplasmic transport since the discovery of SUMO as a modifier of vertebrate RanGAP1, which is targeted to the nuclear pore complex (NPC) after sumoylation. The link between sumoylation and nucleocytoplasmic transport has been strengthened even more with the discovery that the major component of NPC cytoplasmic filaments, RanBP2, acts as a SUMO E3 ligase. RanBP2 is in stable complex with Ubc9 and sumoylated RanGAP1, and it was recently discovered that it is the RanBP2 complex which acts as a multisubunit E3 ligase in cells. One fascinating feature of the RanBP2 complex is the very close proximity of the E3 ligase region and the binding site for sumoylated RanGAP1, both of which are embedded between binding sites for nuclear transport receptors and RanGTP. Consequently, nuclear transport receptors and the small GTPase Ran are candidates for RanBP2 dependent sumoylation. In line with this idea, in recent mass spectrometry based screens several nuclear transport receptors and Ran were found to be potential candidates for sumoylation. In this work, I aimed to test whether nuclear transport receptors and/or Ran are subjected to RanBP2-dependent sumoylation and to further investigate the mechanistics and the functional consequences of this modification. Indeed, upon enrichment of endogenously sumoylated proteins from HeLa cells by IP/peptide elution, in vivo sumoylation of Crm1, Impβ, and Imp5 could be confirmed. Although Ran sumoylation could not be detected by IPs, I could demonstrate that it is sumoylated in the context of semi-permeabilized cells. Subsequent in vitro sumoylation experiments revealed that an 80kDa RanBP2 fragment as well as the reconstituted RanBP2/Ubc9/RanGAP1-SUMO1 complex could stimulate the sumoylation of Ran, whereas PIAS E3 ligases could not. Large scale in vitro sumoylation of Ran by RanBP2 fragment followed by mass spectrometric analysis identified K130, 132, and 134 as SUMO acceptor sites. Mutation of these three lysines into arginines allowed to investigate functional consequences. While Ran triple mutant was predominantly nuclear and behaved identical to wild type in the canonical Imp α/β-dependent import, it showed a striking stimulation in Imp13-dependent import. Intriguingly, the sumoylation deficient Ran mutant lost dependency on its import receptor NTF2, suggesting that it may enrich in the nucleus by other means. In a side project, I could show that the import of the SUMO E1 enzyme subunit, Aos1, is not supported by transportin or Imp13 and demonstrate that Imp α/β interacts with the E1 heterodimer mainly via the Uba2 NLS. These findings complemented the study published as “Imp α/β mediates nuclear import of individual SUMO E1 subunits and of the holo-enzyme” (Moutty M.C., Sakin V., Melchior F., 2011 MBoC).
Density measurements of liquefied natural gases (LNG) and methane-rich binary mixtures over the temperature range from (100 to 180) K at pressures up to 10 MPa

Mithilfe einer speziellen (Tieftemperatur-) Ein-Senkkorper Dichtemessanlage wurden Dichtemessungen von sechs synthetischen LNG-Gemischen und sieben binaren Gemischen mit der Hauptkomponente Methan gemessen. Dabei konnte erstmalig das thermische Zustandsverhalten von LNG im homogenen Flussigkeitsgebiet, im uberkritischen Gebiet und auf der Siedelinie in einem Temperaturbereich von \(\it T\) = (90 bis 300) K und bei Drucken bis zu \(\it p\) = 12 MPa genau untersucht werden. Durch den Einsatz des Ein-Senkkorper-Dichtemessverfahrens in Verbindung mit einer Magnetschwebekupplung und einer neuartigen VLE-Zelle konnten die speziellen Probleme bei der genauen Messung von Flussigkeitsdichten bei kryogenen Temperaturen gezielt gelost werden. Die komplexen experimentellen Schwierigkeiten konnten durch die besondere Vorgehensweise beim Fullen der Messapparatur sowie der Durchfuhrung der Messungen gelost werden. Die relative, kombinierte, erweitere Messunsicherheit (\(\it k\) = 2) wurde mit 0.044% und 0.02% abgeschatzt.
Regulation of hepatic ER stress by the E3 ubiquitin ligase gp78 in zebrafish

Title of Document: REGULATION OF HEPATIC ER STRESS BY THE E3 UBIQUITIN LIGASE GP78 IN ZEBRAFISH Zhiliang Chen, Ph.D., 2012 Directed By: Associate Professor Shengyun Fang, Department of Physiology, University of Maryland Baltimore Mammalian gp78 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is anchored at the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It regulates protein homeostasis by polyubiquitinating and targeting proteins for proteasomal degradation under both physiologic and stress conditions. To further test its role in vivo, we analyzed the gross embryonic morphology of zebrafish embryos in which gp78 was knocked down using morpholinos and in transgenic fish overexpressing wild-type gp78 or dominantnegative gp78. We show that gp78 is highly conserved among vertebrates. Zebrafish gp78, similar to human gp78, can colocalize with mouse MmUBC7 in HeLa cells. In vitro ubiquitination assays confirmed that zebrafish gp78 is indeed an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Although gp78 was maternally and constitutively expressed during embryonic development, with relatively high expression levels in several tissues, such as liver and brain, the knockdown of endogenous gp78 or overexpression of wild-type or dominant-negative gp78 did not result in developmental defects, suggesting compensation by other E3 ubiquitin ligases during embryonic development. ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) activity by the unfolded protein response (UPR) represents one of the mechanisms for restoring ER homeostasis. However, the significance of gp78 in the regulation of hepatic ER stress in vivo remains elusive. Here we report that zebrafish gp78 plays a key role in the regulation of hepatic ER stress under tunicamycin-induced stress, but not under physiologic conditions. Tunicamycin treatment induced ER stress and upregulated the expression of several key components of the gp78-mediated ERAD complex in the liver. Moreover, hepatic-specific overexpression of the dominant-negative form of gp78 (gp78-R2M) rendered livers more sensitive to tunicamycin-induced ER stress, suggesting a role for gp78-mediated ERAD in the regulation of hepatic protein homeostasis. Moreover, the overexpression of gp78-R2M enhanced the expression of sterol response element binding protein (Srebp) target genes in response to ER stress, while this was not observed in fish overexpressing wild-type gp78. Together, these data indicate that gp78 plays a critical role in the regulation of hepatic ER stress and lipid metabolism. REGULATION OF HEPATIC ER STRESS BY THE E3 UBIQUITIN LIGASE GP78 IN ZEBRAFISH
Relationship between Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) and Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) Production in the Acid-Phase Anaerobic Digestion Process

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) measurement and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production in the acid-phase anaerobic digestion process under different conditions of temperature and residence time. Two identical anaerobic digesters were operated while VFAs, SCOD, VSS, alkalinity, ORP and pH were measured. In digester 1, VFA production of 5,556 mg/L was generated with an ORP of -315 mv at a 10 day SRT; while 5,400 mg/L of VFA with an ORP of -389 mv was recorded in digester 2. The SRT was adjusted at 5, 8, 10, 12 and 15 days and the optimum SRT was 10 days in both digesters. The results of this study indicate there were no tight relationship between VFA production and ORP values, thus ORP by itself is not a good predictor of the amount of VFAs generated. However, ORP combined with temperature had good linear relationship with VFA production. An ORP range of -315 to -390 mv was desirable for maximizing VFA production in both anaerobic digesters. Different temperatures (14, 29 and 37 °C) were trialed and the results indicate that the conditions at 29 °C and 37 °C were not significantly different in terms of VFA production, however, less VFAs were generated at the lowest temperature of 14 °C.
Optical observations of NGC 1156 galaxy in narrowband [SII] and Hα filters

We present observations of a Magellanic-type dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1156 in narrow band [SII] and H α ﬁlters, carried out in November 2015, with the 2 m RCC telescope at Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory in Bulgaria. Although our observations were with the intention to ﬁnd new extragalactic supernova remnant candidates, we were successful in the detection of 59 HII regions. We give luminosity function and size distribution for the detected HII regions. Also, we found that relation between H α luminosity and radius of HII regions in NGC 1156 has the slope of 2 . 7 ± 0 . 2 in logarithmic presentation, which is in good agreement with theoretical prediction for ionization-bounded HII regions.
A classification of Australian ant communities, based on functional groups which parallel plant life

A system is proposed whereby ant functional groups are used as structural attributes to classify ninety-four Australian ant communities in a manner analogous to the classification of vegetation according to predominant lifeforms. In terms of their responses to stress and disturbance, Dominant Dolichoderinae (DD) are considered analogous to trees, functionally subdominant Generalized Myrmicinae (GM) to shrubs and ruderal Opportunists (OPP) to grasses. Community types DDO (twenty-two sites), DD1 (twenty-two sites), DD2 (eight sites), DD3 (thirty-nine sites) and DD4 (three sites), respectively, are defined as having the relative abundance of Dominant Dolichoderinae 90%. They are structurally analogous to treeless plant communities, open woodlands, woodlands, forests and plantations, respectively. DDO communities are classified as DDOGM (analogous to shrublands) when Generalized Myrmicinae predominate, DDOOPP (analogous to grasslands) when Opportunists predominate and DDOCS (analogous to cold-adapted heathlands) when neither functional group is abundant. Similarly, the relative abundances of Generalized Myrmicinae and Opportunists are used to classify DD1-3 communities in a manner analogous to the classification of woodlands and open forests according to understorey type. DD30PP communities, for example, where the relative abundance of Dominant Dolichoderinae is 30-70% and Opportunists are predominant among remaining ants, are structurally analogous to grassy forests. The distribution of ant functional groups is considered in relation to stress and disturbance by adopting Grime's (1979) triangular ordination concepts and nomenclature, with ant community structural types being analysed in terms of the relative importance of competition, stress and disturbance as factors regulating community structure. DD0 and DD1 structural types are stress-tolerant, or ruderal, communities; DD2 and DD3 types are competitive communities when Generalized Myrmicinae are abundant, and competitive ruderal or competitive stress-tolerant ruderal when Opportunists are predominant among non-dolichoderines; and DD4 communities are competitive ruderal. In temperate regions, seasonal changes in ant community structure parallel those occurring along biogeographical gradients spanning comparable temperature regimes. A positive relationship was found between the abundance of functionally dominant ants (DD + GM) and species richness. Plant and ant communities often differ from each other in their responses to the same stress or disturbance, such that there is often a poor correspondence between ant and plant community structural type at any particular site.