Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
N-Acetylglucosamine Prevents IL-1β-Mediated Activation of Human Chondrocytes1

Glucosamine represents one of the most commonly used drugs to treat osteoarthritis. However, mechanisms of its antiarthritic activities are still poorly understood. The present study identifies a novel mechanism of glucosamine-mediated anti-inflammatory activity. It is shown that both glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine inhibit IL-1β- and TNF-α-induced NO production in normal human articular chondrocytes. The effect of the sugars on NO production is specific, since several other monosaccharides, including glucose, glucuronic acid, and N-acetylmannosamine, do not express this activity. Furthermore, N-acetylglucosamine polymers, including the dimer and the trimer, also do not affect NO production. The observed suppression of IL-1β-induced NO production is associated with inhibition of inducible NO synthase mRNA and protein expression. In addition, N-acetylglucosamine also suppresses the production of IL-1β-induced cyclooxygenase-2 and IL-6. The constitutively expressed cyclooxygenase-1, however, was not affected by the sugar. N-acetylglucosamine-mediated inhibition of the IL-1β response of human chondrocytes was not associated with the decreased inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinases c-Jun N-terminal kinase, extracellular signal-related kinase, and p38, nor with activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that N-acetylglucosamine expresses a unique range of activities and identifies a novel mechanism for the inhibition of inflammatory processes.
Altitudinal variation in sexual dimorphism: a new pattern and alternative hypotheses

The colder rKmatr and disjunct distribution of nesting and foraging habitats at high elevations increases the necessity of biparental care for successful breeding in birds. If differences in parental investment between the sexes correlate with intensity of sexual selection, the intensity of sexual selection should covary with ecological factors associated with elevation. I used sexual dimorphism as an indirect measure of intensity of sexual selection and examined variation in sexual dimorphism in 126 extant species of cardueline finches. I controlled for phytogeny and potential confounding factors and tested the prediction that the extent of sexual dimorphism negatively covaries with elevation of breeding. As predicted, interspecific variation in sexual dimorphism was more strongly associated with changes in elevation than with habitat, nest dispersion and placement, and migratory status. Species occupying lower elevations were more sexually dimorphic in plumage than species at higher elevations. This variation was largely due to increased brightness of male plumage at lower elevations. I address possible explanations of this trend, which may include increased opportunities for extrapair fertilizations at lower elevations, an increase in the cost of secondary sexual trait production (Le., molt) and maintenance at high elevations, and elevational variation in predation pressure. Kty words: cardueline finches, elevation, plumage brightness, sexual dimorphism, sexual selection. [Behav Ecol 8:675-690 (1997)]
AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF EXPLANATORY VARIABLES AFFECTING FUSARIUM HEAD BLIGHT INFECTION AND DEOXYNIVALENOL CONTENT IN WHEAT

Models for predicting Fusarium head blight (FHB) and deoxynivalenol (DON) content in wheat provide farmers with a tool for preventing yield loss and mycotoxin contamination. Due to the complex nature of FHB, these models typically take only a subset of explanatory variables as inputs, such as weather conditions during anthesis and, to a lesser extent, field-specific variables and crop characteristics. We present a thorough statistical analysis of a broad spectrum of variables that affect FHB and DON content, using an unique database of field observations covering nine years. This study unveils new variables that play an important role in FHB incidence and DON content. Evidence is brought forward demonstrating the effect of species interactions on DON content and the effect of weather conditions during the vegetative growth stage. Indeed, temperature from November till May was positively correlated with FHB and DON content, whereas relative humidity was negatively correlated with DON content in November and December. In a broader view of the divergent results obtained regarding FHB and DON content in wheat crops, this study underscores that the prediction of FHB and DON content should be seen as two distinct goals.
A Systematic Literature Review on Personalized Adaptive Gamification

The development of adaptive and personalized gamification according to its users is the focus of current research to maximize learning systems. The same games may have different consequences and responses in different users; therefore, gamification should be adaptive and personalized. A variety of approaches are used to investigate personalized adaptive gamification. For this reason, this study aims to develop a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) that summarizes current research and finds new gaps in personalized adaptive gamification. The development of SLR in this study discovers twenty-three papers taken from reputable sources from 2017 to 2022. This study identified user characteristics, game elements, and implementations of personalized adaptive gamification. Analysis shows that Hexad Player Type is famous for its user characteristics, while leaderboard is the gamification element that is frequently used. Moodle Learning Management System and Chi-Square Test are the most popular platform and analytics tools.
SC-CrackSeg: A Real-Time Shared Feature Pyramid Network for Crack Detection and Segmentation

Detecting cracks is an important in a number of civil engineering applications. Recent advances in computer vision has enabled automatic crack detection and fine-grained segmentation using deep learning. However, the models used in previous work are often large and are therefore mainly suitable for offline structure monitoring where images taken from a site are analysed later by a powerful computer. In this work, we address the segmentation problem in an online setting, which permits the use of mobile inspection devices such as drones with limited computing power to monitor structures independently in realtime. We propose SC-CrackSeg, which has a very small number of parameters and can provide very high segmentation accuracy. Our main contribution is a multi-branch information-sharing architecture that efficiently manages global perspective while maintaining the fine and high-resolution details key in crack detection. SC-CrackSegextends a previously proposed model but optimized specifically for this application: reduction to a singleinput, a more efficient context mining module, and a simpler feature fusion module. We evaluate SC-CrackSeg on large crack detection data sets and the results show that our proposed model is competitive against the existing methods.
Phylogenetic diversity of bacteria associated with toxic and non-toxic strains of Alexandrium minutum

Marine planktonic dinoflagellates are usually associated with bacteria, some of which seem to have a symbiotic relation with the dinoflagellate cells. The role of bacteria in dinoflagellate life cycles is not well known and their influence on toxin production is controversial. The potential relationship between dinoflagellate-associated bacteria and toxin production was experimentally investigated by identifying and comparing bacterial populations present in toxic (AL1V) and non-toxic (AL4V) strains of Alexandrium minutum. Part of the 16S rDNA of the bacteria associated with these clones was PCR amplified, cloned and sequenced, in order to identify the bacterial species present in each culture. Results indicated that most of the bacteria species were present in the cultures of both A. minutum clones, but some were specific to either the toxic or the non-toxic clone. Some, but not all bacteria identified were also isolated, and appropriate conditions for their culture were developed as a first step in assessing their role in the growth and toxin production by A. minutum.
The Integration of Industrial Design in the Fuzzy Front-End - FFE

Current Fuzzy Front-End (FFE) models do not adequately address the role of industrial design. These models do not make explicit the industrial design's integration role. This article studies five company cases in the packaging industry in order to clarify such role. This industry was chosen because it usually contracts out industrial design to professional Design Agencies. This creates a formal interface that facilitates the study of the Design's integration role. The results show that, in addition to marketing, production and technology, FFE models should explicitly include the industrial design function because it explicitly helps this pre-development phase to include esthetics, user friendliness, technology brokering and product integrity. This is named here as Design Brokering.
Genetic Relatedness among Iraqi, Jordanian and Iranian TYLCV Based on the Identity Analysis

To look for genetic relatedness among a new iraqi Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) and the Jordanian and Iranian ones, identity coefficient was calculated. Amplification Chain Reaction (PCR) technique was used for this purpose from degenerated primers of the begomoviruses coat protein gene. A identity from 94 to 95% was calculated, indicating that the Iraqi isolate is effectively a TYLCV. From the viewpoint of the phyletic relationships, the identity between Iraqi and Iranian TYLCV isolates was 95%, as against 85% for those from Iraq and Jordan. However, it was showed that DNA from Iraqi is not of recombinant origin, implying that these three isolates separately evolve. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA
Abstract 2021: ONO-WG-307, a novel, potent and selective inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk), results in sustained inhibition of the ERK, AKT and PKD signaling pathways

Purpose: Btk is a key regulator of B cell receptors (BCR) which play a central role in signal transduction pathways regulating survival, activation, proliferation, and differentiation of B-lineage lymphoid cells. BCR signaling is implicated in the survival of malignant B cells and recent studies indicate that targeting Btk may be effective in the treatment of B-cell lymphoma. Response between cell survival and BCR signaling is implicated in different types of B-cell lymphoma. Therefore, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of ONO-WG-307 on Btk-dependent signal transduction by large-scale and quantitative phosphoproteome analysis to a depth of more than 10,000 phosphorylation sites. Methods: Two tumor cell lines (sensitive and non-sensitive) were treated with ONO-WG-307. After 72h, cell viability was determined by the CellTiter-Glo Luminescent Cell Viability Assay. P-Btk was used as a marker for Btk activity determined by Western blot and Flow Cytometry. Quantitative phosphoproteomics were enabled by differential SILAC labeling of lymphoma cells. After 1 hr incubation with ONO-WG-307, the total cellular proteins were digested and phosphopeptides were enriched by a combination of strong cation exchange and immobilized metal affinity chromatography. Site-specific phosphorylations were identified and by LC-MS analysis on a LTQ-Orbitrap-Velos mass spectrometer followed by bioinformatic processing. Results: Btk is potently and selectively inhibited by ONO-WG-307 in an in vitro Btk kinase assay, with an IC50 in the subnanomolar range whereas IC50 values for other tyrosine kinases (Lck, Lyn and Fyn) were above 1 µM. The concentration required for growth inhibition for the sensitive cells was 3.59 nmol/L (IC50), whereas considerably higher concentrations were required to suppress growth of non-sensitive cells. Surprisingly, inhibition of cellular Btk and ERK phosphorylation by ONO-WG-307 levels of P-Btk and P-ERK were similar in both sensitive and non-sensitive cells. However, our quantitative phosphoproteome studies revealed selective suppression of Akt-mediated signaling and cellular protein kinase D activity in sensitive compared to non-sensitive cells.Conclusion: These results suggest that the selective ONO-WG-307 inhibition of “responder” cell growth might be due to a critical role of Btk-mediated signaling through Akt and protein kinase D. These data shed new light on the cellular mode-of-action of Btk inhibition and support the potential clinical utility of ONO-WG-307 in B cell malignancies. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2021. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2021
The ornamental fish trade and fish conservation

The global trade in ornamental fish and associated aquarium and pond accessories is in excess of U.S. $7 × 109 each year. Although the majority of freshwater fish involved in the trade are from captive-bred sources, significant numbers are still removed from the wild. In addition, almost all of the marine fish in the trade are wild-caught. Whilst habitat destruction, pollution and overfishing for food are the main threats facing fish populations in the wild, the ornamental fish trade may have adverse effects as a result of the introduction of nonnative organisms, and by the direct depletion of wild stocks. The ornamental fish trade is ideally placed to raise public awareness of, and actively support, fish conservation efforts, and must maintain a close liaison with legislative-forming organizations seeking to impose further trade restrictions.
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis from Structured Clinical Biomarkers with Deep Learning: Anonymous Authors

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most aggressive cancers that exist. Early detection of PC is indispensable for treatment. Biopsies are often carried out to determine the Gleason score of PC which helps to predict the aggressiveness of PC. As biopsies have considerable associated risk, especially for old people, machine learning can be used to predict the PC Gleason grade from clinical biomarkers. These biomarkers are typically structured in a table. In this paper, we propose to use advanced tabular deep neural network architectures, like TabNet and TabTransformer, to grade PC. We also perform a comparative study of various machine learning approaches, including traditional methods, tree-based classifiers, and shallow neural networks, for this purpose. Our experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the TabNet deep learning method.
Phylogenetic investigation and divergence dating of Poa (Poaceae, tribe Poeae) in the Australasian region

The Australasian region contains a significant proportion of worldwide Poa diversity, but the evolutionary relationships of taxa from this region are incompletely understood. Most Australasian species have been placed in a monophyletic Poa subgenus, Poa supersection Homalopoa section Brizoides clade, but with limited resolution of relationships. In this study, phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed for Australasian Poa, using three plastid (rbcL and matK genes and the rpl32-trnL intergenic spacer) and two nuclear [internal/external transcribed spacer (ITS/ETS)] markers. Seventy-five Poa spp. were represented (including 42 Australian, nine New Guinean, nine New Zealand and three Australian/New Zealand species). Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference criteria were applied for phylogenetic reconstruction. Divergence dates were estimated using Bayesian inference, with a relaxed clock applied and rates sampled from an uncorrelated log-normal distribution. Australasian Poa spp. are placed in three lineages (section Brizoides, section Parodiochloa and the ‘X clade’), each of which is closely related to non-Australasian taxa or clades. Section Brizoides subsection Australopoa is polyphyletic as currently circumscribed. In Australasia, Poa has diversified within the last 4.3 Mya, with divergence dating results broadly congruent with fossil data that record the appearance of vegetation with a prominent grassland understorey or shrubland/grassland mosaic vegetation dating from the mid-Pliocene. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 175, 523–552.
Relative impacts of two exotic brachyuran species on blue mussel populations in Long Island sound

Green crabs Carcinus maenas were introduced to North America in the early 1800s and breeding populations were subsequently established in southern New England. Green crabs became dominant predators in rocky intertidal habitats of the region and caused ecological and economic harm in the ensuing decades. During the mid-1990s, the rocky intertidal crab fauna of southern New England began to change once again. A reduction in green crab abundance was coincident with the introduction and spread of another exotic crab species, the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus san- guineus. Less than 10 yr after its appearance in Long Island Sound, H. sanguineus became the numerically dominant brachyuran at several rocky intertidal sites in the region (e.g. 90+% of the crabs were H. sanguineus; densities of H. sanguineus often exceeded 70 crabs m -2 ). This study exam- ined consequences of the invasion by H. sanguineus and the decline of C. maenas on a shared prey population in the rocky intertidal zone. Both crab species readily consumed native blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and rates of mussel loss (per predator, per species) were quantified during a series of field experiments. While C. maenas consumed more mussels than H. sanguineus on an individual basis, the greater densities of H. sanguineus made it an important predator of juvenile mussels from a population standpoint. In isolation, the decline of C. maenas (a voracious alien predator) would have benefited mussel populations. However, the replacement of C. maenas by H. sanguineus has apparently had a net negative influence on intertidal blue mussel populations.
Hb LIMASSOL [β8(A5)Lys → Asn]: A NEW HEMOGLOBIN VARIANT

Nearly 800 hemoglobin (Hb) variants have been reported worldwide (1). Although most cases were associated with hematological disorders, more recently, many non-pathological mutants were discovered by chance in the course of thalassemia carrier screening programs, or during diabetes control surveys. Four Hb variants have previously been reported at position 8(A5)Lys of the b-globin chain: Hb Rio Grande (! Thr) (2), Hb J-Luhe (! Gln) (3), Hb N-Timone (! Glu) (4), and Hb Nakano (! Met) (5). The present report describes a new nonpathological Hb variant, that we have named Hb Limassol [b8(A5) Lys ! Asn]. It was found in the course of a thalassemia screening program in a young Greek Cypriot male who originated from Limassol, a town on the south coast of Cyprus. Hematological studies were done using routine methods and the hematological parameters of the proband were in the normal range: Hb 15.3 g=dL, RBC 5.47 l0=L, PCV 0.450 L=L, MCV 82.3 fL, MCH 28.0 pg, MCHC 34.0 g=dL. The morphology of the RBCs was also normal. Routine Hb analysis was performed by cation exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using the routine VARIANT b-Thalassemia Program (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA). The HPL chromatogram HEMOGLOBIN, 25(4), 421–424 (2001)
High water‐loss rates and rapid dehydration in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus marginatus

Abstract. During the summer months, there is a high mortality of burying beetle (Coleoptera: Silphidae) species in pitfall traps containing dry soil. The present study investigated the possibility that the burying beetle Nicrophorus marginatus is highly susceptible to death from desiccation. In the laboratory, adult beetles lose 1–5% body mass per hour in low humidity conditions (25–30% relative humidity), depending on temperature. This rate of water‐loss results in a 50% mortality within 7–16 h at temperatures between 16 and 28 °C. Nicrophorus marginatus produces oral and anal defensive secretions when disturbed but these secretions do not significantly contribute to the high rate of water loss. Beetles readily drink and thus beetles with access to water or in high humidity conditions suffer near zero mortality. For comparison, the similarly sized mesic bess beetle (Coleoptera: Passalidae), Odontotaenius disjunctus, and a large nocturnal tiger beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), Amblychila cylindriformis, are exposed to dehydrating conditions. Nicrophorus marginatus have higher rates of water‐loss (by 26% and 79%, respectively). It is predicted that the diurnal N. marginatus uses behavioural mechanisms to avoid lethal water loss. In the field, N. marginatus displays a strong bimodal activity pattern, avoiding the hottest hours of the day. The significance of these findings is that N. marginatus defies normal predictions of association between water‐loss rates and habitat type, and has extended its range into apparently unfavourable habitats despite high water‐loss rates. In addition, the results suggest that researchers should provide moisture when studying burying beetles, including the endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus).
Plastid and nuclear DNA marker data support the recognition of four tetraploid marsh orchids (Dactylorhiza majalis s.l., Orchidaceae) in Britain and Ireland, but require their recircumscription

Relationships among allotetraploid marsh orchids collectively assignable to Dactylorhiza majalis s.l. are exceptionally complex because of multiple origins, secondary hybridization with each other, and with their parental lineages, local adaptation, and genomic reorganization processes, all extending through time and space. We sampled 34 populations from Britain and Ireland in an attempt to simultaneously interpret patterns of genetic differentiation within and between populations. The material analysed consisted of 250 individuals that were examined for variation at five nuclear microsatellite loci, internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and plastid DNA. Once integrated, patterns of differentiation in the three molecular data sets show that the British and Irish members of the D. majalis s.l. complex should be assigned to a minimum of four genetically differentiated subgroups of equal status (either species or subspecies), broadly corresponding to the traditional D. majalis ssp. praetermissa, ssp. purpurella, ssp. occidentalis, and ssp. traunsteinerioides. UK plants previously attributed to 'Dactylorhiza lapponica' and given high conservation status have been shown to be genetically identical to ssp. traunsteinerioides. The endemic Hebridean marsh orchid, D. majalis ssp. ebudensis, genetically resembles ssp. traunsteinerioides. Dactylorhiza majalis 'ssp. cambrensis' could readily be accommodated within ssp. purpurella. Together, these observations reinforce a recent assertion that anthocyanin content has been over-weighted in previous morphologically based classifications of Dactylorhiza. Several study populations showed signs of hybridization and introgression with other allotetraploids, or their parental lineages, especially with D. incarnata s.l. However, ssp. praetermissa and ssp. traunsteinerioides were better separated than anticipated: southern populations widely regarded as mixed populations of the two taxa are arguably better treated as containing an unusually narrow-leaved, ecologically specialized form of ssp. praetermissa. Accepting this recircumscription means that the southern margins of the distributions of ssp. purpurella and ssp. traunsteinerioides now coincide, stretching from mid-Wales to the Humber Estuary of Yorkshire, and together indicating a significant genetic transition zone. Plastid haplotype data confirm that ssp. traunsteinerioides and ssp. praetermissa are relatively old polyploids derived from the Continental D. majalis s.l. complex, whereas ssp. purpurella and ssp. occidentalis may have more recent (most likely postglacial) origins within their current distributions. (C) 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104, 107-128. (Less)