Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of metronidazole on the histology of the cerebellum and pituitary gland in female wistar rats

Metronidazole (MTZ) has been reported to cause neurotoxicity and this has great public health importance. This is an experimental study designed to evaluate the effects of metronidazole on the histology of the cerebellum and pituitary gland in female wistar rats. Twenty (20) adult female wistar rats weighing between 170-260g were divided into four groups (A-D) comprising of five (5) rats each. Group A (the control), was given normal rat feed with water, while group B, C, and D received 50mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg body weight of MTZ orally on daily basis using intubation method for a period of twenty eight (28) days respectively. Thereafter, the experimental animals were sacrificed and their respective cerebellum and pituitary gland harvested for histological examination using haematoxylin and eosin (H and E) method. The histological examination of the cerebellum of the experimental animals in group A (control) revealed a normal histological limits, showing the cortex, prominent purkinje cells and granular layer. However, the rats in group B showed mild congestion of cerebellar blood vessels; group C showed mild displacement of the purkinje cells and the granular layer while group D revealed the displacement of the purkinje cells and the granular layer. Furthermore, the pituitary gland of the control rats (group A) showed normal histological limits. There was no significant change in the histology of the pituitary gland of the rats in group B (50mg/kg body weight of MTZ) but in the group C animals, the pars nervosa displayed the pituicytes with mild necrosis while those in group D showed that there was a reduction in the presence of pituicytes and mild congestion of the blood vessels. Thus, metreonidazole has an adverse effect on the cerebellum and pituitary gland. Keywords: Metronidazole (MTZ), Weight, Cerebellum, Pituitary gland, Neurotoxicity.
Mosca-dos-chifres, Haematobia irritans: comportamento e danos em vacas e bezerros Nelore antes da desmama

The hornfly and losses caused by it in Nellore cows and pre-weaning calves where studied, using two groups of 60 animals each, one group with a natural infestation and the other without hornfly, during four consecutive years. It was seen that the number of flies on the cows did not exceed an average of 80 flies/animal in all years of observation. The majority of the cows (83%) had few flies, whereas 17% had larger numbers. The calves were infested with few flies. Rainfall in excess of 100 mm during short periods diminished fly infestation. Weight gain in the cows without flies (treated with insecticides) as well as their calves was greater than in the control cows, but not statistically significant (P>0.05). Mean percentage pregnancy during the four years was 15% more in treated cows than the non-treated animals, and this difference was probably due to the infestation of the bulls.
The impact of income diversification on liquidity creation and financial performance of Vietnamese Commercial Banks

Article history: Received March 2 2020 Received in revised format March 29 2020 Accepted April 8 2020 Available online April 9 2020 This research is conducted to investigate the impact of income diversification on bank liquidity creation and the financial performance of Vietnamese commercial banks from 2007 to 2017. Data were collected from 21 Vietnamese commercial banks. Panel OLS with fixed effects and GMM estimations were employed to process data. The results show that diversification had a negative impact on both bank liquidity creation and bank profitability, and thus support the view that Vietnamese commercial banks should remain focusing on their traditional lines of business rather than diversifying towards nontraditional activities since this may lead to both a lower level of liquidity creation and profitability. The findings of this study could draw broad inferences for researchers, policy makers, and bank managers towards more focusing strategies to ensure the health of the banking system. by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada 20 © 20
The development of pandanus tool manufacture in wild New Caledonian crows

New Caledonian crows have remarkably complex tool manufacturing abilities. Here we document the ontogeny of pandanus tool manufacture in wild NC crows. Our results show that the development of wide pandanus tool manufacture is a lengthy process comparable to the development of tool use in primates. Juveniles pass through four main stages of tool manufacture before they acquire adult-like proficiency. By 10 to 12 months of age most juveniles can manufacture tools with adult-like competency, but adult-like speed in manufacture and tool use is only reached in their second year. Whilst individual trial and error learning appears to play a major role in juveniles' development of pandanus tool skills, this development takes place in an environment scaffolded by parental birds. Juveniles stay close to their parents for their first year and have ample opportunity to observe parental tool manufacture and use. Parents influence the juveniles' early learning by leading them to Pandanus sp. trees where they provide discarded tools for early tool use. Exposure to parental tools might help juveniles form a mental template of functional tool design and, thus, facilitate the faithful transmission of local design traditions.
Exogenously foliage applied micronutrients efficacious impact on achene yield of sunflower under temperate conditions

Climate change, rapidly increasing population and decreasing fertile lands demand boosting the productivity of oil seed crops. In hilly areas, micronutrients losses are high owing to leaching and runoff which negatively effects crops yield. A field trial was executed to evaluate the impact of foliage applied micronutrients (zinc 0.5%, boron 0.7% and manganese 0.7%) solely and in co-application, on agro-morphological traits and achene yield of sunflower. The relationship among yield attributes and achene yield of sunflower was also determined through correlation analysis. Solo applied boron (0.7%) remained unmatched by recording the maximum yield attributes such as plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, head diameter and weight, number of achene per head and 100-achene weight which led to the highest achene yield (0.96 t ha). The co-application of zinc and boron followed solely applied boron, while manganese applied solely or in conjunction with zinc and boron remained inferior to rest of the micronutrients. The correlation analysis revealed direct interrelationships among yield attributes (plant height, stem girth, head diameter and weight) and achene yield of sunflower and thus indicating the need to exogenously supply micronutrients especially boron for improving the agro-botanical traits and economic yield of sunflower under temperate conditions of rainfed regions. However, there is a dire need to conduct further studies to comparatively evaluate and optimize the doses of micronutrients including silicon and copper which may impart drought tolerance to rainfed sunflower under varying pedo-climatic conditions.
Temporal and spatial genetic variation in a metapopulation of the annual Erysimum cheiranthoides on stony river banks

1 Metapopulation dynamics – the recurrent extinction and colonization in spatially discrete habitats – is expected to strongly affect within and between population genetic diversity. So far, however, accounts of true plant metapopulations are extremely scarce. 2 We monitored the colonization and extinction dynamics of an assemblage of populations of the annual Erysimum cheiranthoides on stony river banks during three consecutive years. Each year, winter flooding drives some populations to extinction, while vacant banks may become colonized. We describe the dynamics of these ephemeral populations using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to quantify changes in the metapopulation genetic structure over time, and assessing the direction and relative amount of migration and colonization events. 3 Average extinction and colonization rates were high (0.39 and 0.34, respectively). While population genetic differentiation (FST) tripled from 0.06 in 2005 to 0.17 in 2007, total metapopulation genetic diversity remained fairly constant through the years. Genetic assignment analyses allowed assigning more than 50% of the genotyped individuals to populations extant the year before. Colonizing individuals originated from different source populations (ϕ << 1) and there was considerable evidence of upstream seed dispersal. 4 The degree and pattern of spatial genetic structure varied between years and was related to variation in the flooding intensity of the Meuse River through the years. Possibly, activation of the soil seed bank also played a role in structuring the genetic make‐up of the populations. 5 Because migration and colonization events were qualitatively equal, and colonizing individuals originated from different sources, the increase in FST was in agreement with previous theoretical work. Very high migration and colonization rates, and the short monitoring period, may explain why there was no loss of genetic diversity from the metapopulation through recurrent extinction and colonization events. 6 Synthesis. This study gives one of the first accounts of the dynamics of a true plant metapopulation. Temporal monitoring of genetic variation gave evidence of extensive and bidirectional seed dispersal, highly variable and increasing genetic differentiation, and rather constant within population genetic diversity. An important suggestion from this research is to include a dormant seed stage in further theoretical work on (meta) population genetics.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, tris(4‐chlorophenyl)methane, and tris(4‐chlorophenyl)methanol in livers of small cetaceans stranded along Florida coastal waters, USA

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides were determined in the livers of bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, and pygmy sperm whales found stranded along the coastal waters of Florida, USA, during 1989 to 1994. The PCBs were the most predominant contaminants followed in order by DDTs, chlordanes, tris(4‐chlorophenyl)methane (TCPMe), tris(4‐chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPMOH), hexachlorobenzene, and hexachlorocyclohexane isomers. Among the cetaceans analyzed, organochlorine concentrations were greatest in bottlenose dolphins followed by Atlantic spotted dolphins and pygmy sperm whales. Hexa‐ and heptachlorobiphenyls were the predominant PCB congeners found in the livers of dolphins. Patterns of relative concentrations of PCB congeners varied among individual bottlenose dolphins. A few individuals contained predominant concentrations of octa‐ (CB‐199, 196/201) and nonachlorobiphenyl (CB‐206, 208) congeners, which suggested exposure to the highly chlorinated PCB formulation, Aroclor® 1268, a contaminant at a coastal site in Georgia bordering northern Florida. The estimated 2,3,7,8‐tetrachlorodibenzo‐p‐dioxin toxic equivalents (TEQs) of coplanar PCBs in bottlenose dolphins were 170 to 18,000 pg/g, lipid weight (mean: 5,400 pg/g) with mono‐ortho congeners 118, 105, and 156 contributing more than 80% of the TEQs. The ratios of CB‐169 to CB‐126 in cetacean livers were linearly related to total PCB concentrations, which suggested a strong induction of microsomal monooxygenase enzymes in the liver. The hepatic concentrations of TCPMe and TCPMOH in bottlenose dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins were greater than those in the blubber of marine mammals of various regions, which suggested the presence of sources for these chemicals along the Atlantic coast of Florida.
Social Networks and Migration

The frictions that restrict migration are among the largest sources of inefficiency in the global economy. The first step in designing policies to address these frictions is to understand the fundamental forces that drive migration. However, the Roy model—the workhorse model of migration in economics—does a poor job of explaining many important features of this phenomenon. This limitation can be rectified by adding migrant networks to the Roy model. A rich qualitative literature in the social sciences has documented the role played by social networks in supporting migrants in their new locations. Economists have advanced this literature by identifying and quantifying the contribution of these networks to migration. Although much progress has been made over the past two decades, important gaps in the literature remain: Migrant assimilation has received little theoretical or empirical attention, and a richer characterization of the social interactions that support these networks is needed to tie research on migration to the economic literature on networks.
A novel cell-free single-molecule unique primer extension resequencing (cf-SUPER) technology for bladder cancer non-invasive detection in urine

Background The clinical diagnostic method for bladder cancer is cystoscopy, an invasive, expensive and inconvenient clinical test. Using urinary cell-free DNA (cfDNA) to develop non-invasive test for bladder cancer was a promising liquid biopsy. Methods To improve the using rate of cfDNA template and decrease the PCR bias for liquid biopsy using urinary cfDNA, we developed a cell-free single-molecule unique primer extension resequencing (cf-SUPER) technology which was done for 29 matched urinary cfDNA and tumor DNA samples of bladder cancer patients to evaluate consistency of mutation profiles. Then, a 22 high mutational frequence genes was selected to form an uriprier panel, which was analyzed in 100 patients (47 bladder cancer cases and 53 controls) using cf-SUPER technology. This performance of the technology was evaluated using bioinformatic tools and clinical samples. Results The study showed that cf-SUPER technology can accurately detect mutations with allele fractions even low as 0.01% and the DNA input as low as 1 ng. The consistency of mutation profiles and clinical pathological diagnose between 29 matched urinary cfDNA and tumor DNA samples was respectively 82.76% and 89.66% by using cf-SUPER technology. Using cf-SUPER technology, the sensitivity and specificity were 98%, 94% respectively for uriprier panel in non-invasive test. Conclusions The preliminary work shows that cf-SUPER technology will be a promising method for liquid biopsy. Focusing urinary cfDNA, the non-invasive diagnose and monitoring of bladder cancer can come true by using cf-SUPER technology.
An Autonomous Low-Power LoRa-Based Flood-Monitoring System

The development of Internet of Things (IoT) systems is a rapidly evolving scenario, thanks also to newly available low-power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies that are utilized for environmental monitoring purposes and to prevent potentially dangerous situations with smaller and less expensive physical structures. This paper presents the design, implementation and test results of a flood-monitoring system based on LoRa technology, tested in a real-world scenario. The entire system is designed in a modular perspective, in order to have the capability to interface different types of sensors without the need for making significant hardware changes to the proposed node architecture. The information is stored through a device equipped with sensors and a microcontroller, connected to a LoRa wireless module for sending data, which are then processed and stored through a web structure where the alarm function is implemented in case of flooding.
Segregational Instability in E. Coli of Expression Plasmids Carrying Human Interferon Gamma Gene and its 3’-End Truncated Variants

ABSTRACT Segregation of the expression plasmids under non-selective conditions is due to the irregular distribution of the plasmid molecules between the daughter cells during cell division. Thus a heterogeneous population of cells appears in which the non-productive plasmid-free cells overgrow the plasmid-bearing once. The main factors that influence plasmid segregational instability are: plasmid structure, plasmid copy number, host cell genotype, level of protein expression, fermentation conditions, etc. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of recombinant gene structure and level of expression on the segregation of expression plasmids based on pBR322. To this end the wild type human interferon gamma (hIFNγ) gene and a series of seven derivative genes obtained by systemic 3′-end deletion were inserted into an expression plasmid under a strong constitutive promoter. The segregational instability was studied under batch fermentation conditions in non-selective Luria Bertani medium, where the cell cultures were maintained at an exponential growth phase. To describe the population dynamics, a mathematical model proposed by Stewart & Levin was used and the parameters Δ (difference in specific growth rate between plasmid-free and plasmid-harbouring cells) and θ (relative plasmid loss rate) were determined for each plasmid. The obtained results showed that any variation in the 3′-end of the hIFNγ-gene strongly affected plasmid instability. We also found that the relative plasmid loss rate θ was proportional to the hIFNγ-mRNA content in the cell. Based on these results, we conclude that the structure of the constitutively expressed gene is of great importance for the segregational plasmid instability.
Characterization of NADPH oxidase genes NoxA and NoxB in Fusarium graminearum

Abstract The multicomponent NADPH oxidase enzyme complex (Nox) converts molecular oxygen in a stepwise reduction to superoxides leading to the production of H2O2. This study characterized the role of the catalytic subunit (gp91phox) of Nox, NoxA and NoxB in F. graminearum. Targeted deletion of the genes NoxA and NoxB show that they differentially regulate the production of superoxides during mycelial development. The nitro blue tetrazolium staining method revealed that both the single noxA mutant and the double noxA/B mutant strains are restricted in the production of superoxides. This limitation, however, did not affect their ability to synthesize 15-ADON in culture. Deletion analyses also revealed that NoxA, but not NoxB, is involved in perithecia development and ascospore production. An in-vitro based cellophane breach assay indicated that both NoxA and NoxB contribute to virulence. The pathogenicity tests performed on a susceptible variety of wheat, ‘Roblin’, confirmed that these two genes act synergistically to promote virulence. Cumulatively, we provide evidence that the Nox homologues have non-redundant functions in F. graminearum.
Embodied intersectionality and the intersectional management of hotel labour: The everyday experiences of social differentiation in customer‐oriented work

This paper contributes to debates on critical diversity and intersectionality by focusing on hotel labour in a global tourist destination, the city of Venice. Through a qualitative study it explores how social differences are experienced by workers and valued by hotel management. We find that while management tends to allocate workers to different jobs according to the perceived ‘desirability’ of their embodied attributes by customers, the gendered and racialised divisions among workers do not simply conform with traditional patterns of ‘back’ and ‘front‐ of‐ house’ occupational positions. Rather they reflect variable compositions along the gender, migration and racial stereotypes reproduced by employers’ attempt to fulfil perceived changing expectations of customers. We develop the notion of ‘intersectional management’ to capture these fluid forms of valorisation of social difference, which appear influenced by workers’ practices of embodied intersectionality through the selective performance of entrenched stereotypes, and their everyday encounters with an internationalising clientele.
In Vitro Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme Inhibition of Casein Hydrolysate Responsible for Plastein Reaction in Ethanol-Water Medium, Solvent Fractionation, and Protease Digestion

A casein hydrolysate generated by Alcalase had in vitro ACE-inhibitory activity of 44.4%, and was treated by Alcalase-catalyzed plastein reaction in ethanol-water medium. Alcalase addition, ethanol, substrate concentration, and reaction temperature optimized from experimental design were 8.36 kU/g peptides, 56.8 (v/v), 56.8% (w/v), and 37.5°C, respectively, when reaction time was fixed at 6 h. Two treated casein hydrolysates, namely TCH4 and TCH8, were obtained with reaction time of 4 and 8 h, and exhibited the highest ACE-inhibitory activity of 62.5% or the greatest reaction extent but an activity of 35.6%, respectively. Fractionation of TCH4 and TCH8 by applying ethanol-water of 7:3 (v/v) conferred the obtained supernatant (precipitate) fractionates higher (lower) activity than the parent substrate, while applying ethanol-water of 3:7 (v/v) or water led to an opposite result in activity for the fractionates. In vitro digestion of TCH4, TCH8, and their fractionates revealed that they had resistance in activity towards the investigated four proteases, as the resulted 47 out of 48 digests had higher activities than casein hydrolysate. TCH8 exhibited better protease resistance than TCH4. It is concluded that the applied plastein reaction can enhance ACE inhibition and protease resistance of casein hydrolysate.
Reinforcement Learning based Node Sleep or Wake-up Time Scheduling Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network

A wireless sensor network is a collection of small sensor nodes that have limited energy and are usually not rechargeable. Because of this, the lifetime of wireless sensor networks has always been a challenging area. One of the basic problems of the network has been the ability of the nodes to effectively schedule the sleep and wake-up time to overcome this problem. The motivation behind node sleep or wake-up time scheduling is to take care of nodes in sleep mode for as long as possible (without losing data packet transfer efficiency) and thus extend their useful life. This research going to propose scheduling of nodes sleeps and wake-up time through reinforcement learning. This research is not based on the nodes' duty cycle strategy (which creates a compromise between data packet delivery and nodes energy saving delay) like other existing researches. It is based on the research of reinforcement learning which gives independence to each node to choose its own activity from the transmission of packets, tuning or sleep node in each time band which works in a decentralized way. The simulation results show the qualified performance of the proposed algorithm under different conditions.
Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of isolated fractions from Apium graveolens seeds in mice

The antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the aqueous and hexane extracts obtained from Apium graveolens L. (Apiaceae) seeds were evaluated. Formalin and xylene-induced ear edema tests were used in mice. The fractions were administered intraperitoneally at doses of 100-500 mg/kg body weight (BW). Both extracts with the xylene-induced ear edema test showed significant anti-inflammatory activity at all doses as compared with control. Only the hexane fraction reduced the nociception produced by formalin solution in the first phase (0-5 min) at 300, 400, and 500 mg/kg BW, and in the second phase (20-30 min) at 500 mg/kg BW. It is concluded that the hexane fraction has major contribution to the overall antinociceptive activity. Both fractions showed remarkable anti-inflammatory effect which supported the traditional use of Apium graveolens in diseases associated with inflammation.