Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management and nutrition of the replacement gilt.

Replacement gilts and early parity sows constitute a large, and increasing, proportion of modern breeding herds. Breeding herd profitability is therefore increasingly dependant on the efficiency of gilt management strategies as well as litter size at first farrowing; however, incidences of reproductive failures and small first litter sizes are common within cohorts of replacement gilts. Hence, this thesis had two primary aims which were addressed in four experiments; one, to identify whether the puberty stimulation and mating strategies developed for genotypes of 20 to 30 years ago are suitable for today’s heavier yet leaner genotypes; and two, to better understand the influence of pre-pubertal growth rate and metabolic status on reproductive maturation, puberty attainment and potential litter size. In experiment 1, 192 Large White/Landrace crossbred gilts were used to compare the effects on puberty attainment of commencing boar exposure at 161, 182 or 203 days of age, and the effect of first mating gilts at either the pubertal or second oestrus on ovulation rate and early embryo survival. Gilts were artificially inseminated at the allocated oestrus, with the reproductive tracts collected at 22.8 ± 0.4 days after first mating (mean ± S.E.M), and the numbers of corpora lutea and viable embryos recorded. Delaying first boar contact until 182 or 203 days of age significantly (P < 0.01) reduced days-to puberty and increased the proportion of gilts attaining puberty within 10 days of start of boar exposure. Gilt age at mating had no effect on potential litter size; however, there was a tendency for gilts mated at their second oestrus to shed 0.6 more ova, and possess one more embryo at day 20 of pregnancy. Experiment 2 determined the effects of long- (chronic) and short- (acute) term moderate dietary restriction on ovarian development and oocyte developmental competence in 161- and 175- day old, pre-pubertal gilts. Both chronic and acute periods of moderate feed restriction reduced the number of medium follicles present on the ovaries of 161- and 175-day old gilts, as well as the proportion of oocytes reaching Metaphase II in vitro. However, feeding level during the 14 days prior to ovary collection had the greatest effect on follicular growth and oocyte quality. Experiments 3 and 4 investigated the effects of the same dietary treatments on the timing of puberty attainment in response to boar exposure and potential litter size following mating at the pubertal oestrus. Chronic dietary restriction during the pre-pubertal period delayed puberty attainment, but the timing of the pubertal response was unaffected by acute, moderate dietary restriction of previously well-fed gilts during the period immediately prior to, and coincident with, boar exposure. Acute dietary restriction or repletion stimulated an increase or decrease, respectively, in pubertal ovulation rates; however, neither the number of viable embryo present on day 22 of gestation nor embryo survival were affected by the…
Unraveling intrinsic mechanisms of Nerve Regeneration

IX RESUMO XI LIST OF FIGURES XV LIST OF TABLES XVII ABBREVIATIONS XIX PROLOGUE 1 CHAPTER 0 INTRODUCTION 3 1. ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 7 2. THE NERVOUS TISSUE 9 2.1 Neurons 9 2.1.1 Intrinsic mechanisms 11 2.1.1.1 Protein synthesis 11 2.1.1.2 Axonal transport 11 2.2 Glial cells 12 3. INJURY TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 15 3.1 Injury Models to study Axonal Regeneration 16 3.2 Extrinsic Mechanisms that modulate Axonal Regeneration 18 3.2.1 Wallerian degeneration in PNS 18 3.2.2 Wallerian degeneration in CNS 19 3.3 Intrinsic Mechanisms that modulate Axonal Regeneration 21 3.3.1 Local response to injury 22 3.3.1.1 Growth cone assembling 22 3.3.1.2 Injury signaling mechanisms 25 3.3.1.2.1 Depolarization 25 3.3.1.2.2 Negative Injury signals 27 3.3.1.2. 3 Positive injury signals 27 3.3.2 Somatic response to injury 29 3.3.3 Axonal elongation 31 CHAPTER 1 – INTRINSIC CHANGES FOLLOWING DORSAL ROOT INJURY – WHY DOES AXONAL REGENERATION FAIL? 33 PRELIMINARY RESULTS 37 Local activation of positive injury signals following DRI 38 Local activation of a specific protein profile following DRI 40 RESEARCH GOALS 43 MATERIALS AND METHODS 45 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 49 Local activation of positive injury signals following DRI 49
Hypoprion bigelowi, a Synonym of Carcharhinus signatus (Pisces: Carcharhinidae), with a Description of Ontogenetic Heterodonty in this Species and Notes on its Natural History

The upper jaw tooth morphology of the night shark, Carcharhinus signatus, undergoes marked ontogenetic change, with symphyseal serrations increasing in both size and number relative to the commissural edge of each tooth. Similarly, placoid scale keel number increases with increasing total length. Since the eastern Atlantic Hypoprion bigelowi is differentiated from C. signatus on the basis of these two characters, H. bigelowi represents an ontogenetic stage, and therefore is a synonym of C. signatus. In the western North Atlantic, this species occurs commonly in the Florida Current and in the Gulf Stream off the east coast of the United States and may range as far north as the middle Atlantic Bight on the outer continental shelf during the warmer months. Fresh specimens for this study were caught near the surface at dawn and contained fish and cephalopod remains. Animal associates included Remora remora, Pandarus smithii and Aega sp. Anomalous dentition is noted in two of the specimens.
Utilization of Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus L.) Meal as Dietary Supplement by African Catfish(Clarias gariepinus Burchell, 1822)

Two hundred and fifty five Clarias gariepinus fingerlings with average body weight of 5.0 A®Â€Â¶ 1.0 g were allotted to five isoproteic diets (CP 5 40%) in which tigernut replaced maize at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% respectively. The catfish fingerlings were divided into five groups of 45 fish per treatment and fed at 3% biomass for 20 weeks. Result showed significant (p , 0.05) differences in feed intake and specific growth rate but no significant ( p . 0.05) differences in feed conversion ratio (FCR) and body weight changes among the dietary treatments. This indicates that tigernut meal can be tolerated as replacement for whole maize in African catfish diets without compromising production/yield.
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DILI patients. ” The data presented do not robustly justify such a strong statement. Indeed, studies of acetaminophen-DILI report the opposite finding. The conclusion from Church et al. is derived from GLDH having a stronger correlation with ALT than miR-122. This should be expected given that miR122 has different circulating kinetics to ALT and GLDH, being released before the serum ALT is increased and normalizing before ALT. Prospective studies, with samples collected serially, are necessary to conclusively determine the utility of miR-122 or GLDH in identifying DILI. Church et al. express surprise at the variability in miR-122 within and across healthy subjects. There are questions regarding their miR-122 analysis, the answers to which will help readers interpret the significance of this variability. The investigators state that multiple samples from healthy subjects had undetectable miR-122. This is surprising because miR-122 is one of the highest abundance circulating microRNAs. Our MAPP/BIOPAR study included 1,187 patients. All these patients had miR-122 concentrations measurable by PCR, including those without DILI. A failure to detect miR-122 may reflect sample degradation, especially given that some of the samples used by Church et al. were stored for multiple years. In an attempt to mitigate any effect of degradation, in MAPP/BIOPAR, we measured an internal “normalizer” microRNA (let-7d). By contrast, in the study by Church et al., only an exogenous spike-in control was used. This strategy can only correct for differences in microRNA extraction and cannot correct for sample degradation. It would be informative to know the range of PCR Cq values from the healthy subjects and whether they correlated with sample age, sample storage, or the site of sample processing and measurement. Finally, it would be reassuring if the reported variability in miR-122 persisted when normalized by let-7d. MicroRNAs are a new reservoir for the discovery of circulating biomarkers. They behave differently to proteins. More information regarding important methodological issues would alleviate concerns that the variability in miR122 is a result of its analytical complexity.
Molecular Characteristics of Cytochrome B for Mackerel Barcoding

Cytochrome b (cyt b) is one of the genes in mitochondrial DNA that is often used as a molecular marker to identify species through DNA Barcoding. The aim of the present study was to investigate the bioinformatic of cyt b that isolated from mackerel fish. PCR amplification showed the length of DNA cyt b from king mackerel was 803 bp within purine 312 bp and pyrimidine 491 bp while Korean mackerel 791 bp within purine 316 bp and pyrimidine 475 bp. Phylogenetic analysis showed all sample join in mackerel groups (Scomberomorus commerson and Scomberomorus koreanus). The Isoelectric point value of cyt b from king mackerel is 6.38 and molecular weight is 29826.23; Korean mackerel are 8.67 and molecular weight is 29372.77. Hydrophaty plot showed cyt b of mackerel more hydrophobic. Based on 3D modelling both of them have eight different sections showing by different colors. Keywords: characteristic molecular, cytochrome b, Mackerel
Does wing shape of andromorph females of Calopteryx splendens (Harris, 1780) resemble that of males?

Female limited polymorphism consists in the coexistence of two or more female morphs in the same population and is widespread among odonates. Generally, one female morph, the andromorph, resembles males in colour or, sometimes, also in morphology and behaviour, while one or more other morphs, gynomorphs, differ from males. This phenomenon is probably promoted by advantages to females which arise from reduced sexual harassment. Andromorph females of Calopteryx splendens keep wing spots, like males (although these ornaments do not match exactly male wing spot colour), while gynomorphs have hyaline wings. Males and gynomorphs show a marked sexual dimorphism in wing shape, and this determines flight patterns which differ between sexes. If andromorphs mimic male wing spots to avoid harassment, they may also benefit from mimicking the male flight morphology, and consequently the male flight pattern. In this case wing shape of andromorph and gynomorph females would differ, as the wing shape of andromorphs resembles that of males. In this study we compared the wing morphology of males and of the two female morphs of C. splendens using geometric morphometrics. Our results revealed that andromorphs and gynomorphs of this species share the same wing shape, size, and static allometry, and this suggests that flight patterns should also be shared by the two morphs. Thus, females might avoid male harassment by mimicking exclusively male wing pigmentation (male mimicry hypothesis), or confound males through an uncommon appearance (learned mate recognition hypothesis).
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We read with great interest the recent study by Bajaj et al. and the accompanying editorial, suggesting that salivary dysbiosis in liver cirrhosis is linked to an oral proinflammatory environment, systemic inflammation, and a risk for subsequent liver-related hospitalization. Systemic endotoxemia, typically originating from the gut, is associated with liver damage, progression of liver disease, and cirrhosis decompensation. Bajaj et al. suggest an additional role of oral microbiota toward the overall endotoxemia and systemic inflammation in cirrhosis. In their study, 9% of patients (15 of 167) in the initial cohort screened were excluded owing to present periodontitis/gingival disease or ongoing dental treatment. However, detailed criteria for periodontitis/ gingival disease are not stated. As concluded by the researchers, patients with periodontitis may have greater salivary dysbiosis. We have shown that, after careful oral examination, on average, one to two teeth needed extraction because of severe periodontitis in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis under evaluation for liver transplantation (LT); this demonstrates high prevalence of periodontitis in advanced liver cirrhosis. In periodontitis, inflamed gingival tissues can release periodontal bacteria, their toxins, and locally produced cytokines into the bloodstream, resulting in systemic inflammation. Extensively inflamed periodontal tissues are comparable to an open wound the size of a human palm. Periodontitis-associated endotoxemia has been shown to induce liver injury in rats. Moreover, among patients with cirrhosis under evaluation for LT, we recently reported a correlation between dental infections and accelerated progression of liver disease. This was evident as a shorter time from liver disease diagnosis to need for transplantation and a faster progression of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score over a 1-year follow-up. These findings extend the emerging evidence of an oro-hepatic link, and periodontitis might be a more powerful driver of endotoxemia, systemic inflammation, and liver damage than salivary dysbiosis alone. If these suggested adverse effects of periodontitis on liver disease are confirmed in appropriate prospective studies, dental care may assume a role in the management of patients with liver disease. The study by Bajaj et al. show exciting promise in that salivary-microbiota testing may become a prognostic marker in liver cirrhosis; however, in interpreting such tests, close attention to oral health status is important.
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362 2) Tseng CH. Metformin and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with type 2 diabetes. Liver Int 2018;38:2018-2027. 3) Cheuk-Fung Yip T, Wai-Sun Wong V, Lik-Yuen Chan H, Tse YK, Pik-Shan Kong A, Long-Yan Lam K, et al. Effects of diabetes and glycemic control on risk of hepatocellular carcinoma after seroclearance of hepatitis B surface antigen. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2018;16:765-773.e2. 4) Kim GA, Lim YS, Han S, Choi J, Shim JH, Kim KM, et al. High risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and death in patients with immune-tolerant-phase chronic hepatitis B. Gut 2018;67:945-952.
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We appreciate the interest of Dr. Jaeschke and colleagues in our previous work reporting that following acetaminophen (APAP) overdose, cell death products attract neutrophils to the liver, where they act as key protagonists of liver injury amplification. We expanded previous findings by demonstrating that necrosisderived products and inflammatory mediators, in particular mitochondrial DNA (mitDNA) and CXCR2-chemokines, reached systemic circulation following acute liver necrosis and could be responsible for the remote lung injury observed in mice treated with APAP. Corroborating this finding, blood samples from acute liver failure (ALF) patients presented increased circulating levels of mitDNA and CXCL8 compared with healthy volunteers.
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increased vascular beds are observed in NMLs draining cancer is further supported by the presence of vascular sinus transformation in these lymph nodes in the absence of lymphovascular obstruction. One should cast doubts on these arguments by the demonstration of low vessel counts in the adjacent uninvolved mucosa, but care must be taken not to forget that the angiogenic receptors of high endothelial venules and lymph node sinuses are different from those usually found in the capillaries and venules of mucosa and dermis.
Study of the influence of environmental factors on the occurrence of Balantidium coli cysts in an urban aquatic system in Cameroon

Balantidium coli is an enteropathogenic cosmopolitan ciliate which causes balantidiasis in humans. There is a high interest in studying it’s occurrence in developing countries because of the vulnerability of the population to infectious diseases. The present study was carried out in order to characterise the cysts of the parasite and to evaluate the influence of environmental variables on their dispersal in an urban stream which is being exploited by the population to accomplish urban agriculture, industrial and domestic activities. The presence of round (825 ± 610 cysts/L) and oval shaped cysts (246 ± 300 cysts/L), whose size varies between 30 and 75 μm was noted. A canonical correspondence analysis shows that the lowest density of the cysts and a relatively low concentration of the ecological indicators of organic pollution are observed upstream (E1) and down stream (E5). High abundance of cyst of Balantidium coli was observed in stations located along a piggery effluent associated with a major market. The similitude index of Bray-Curtis shows an 84% of resemblance between E2, E4 which are located midstream and very close to a populated urban area. Higher densities of cyst are registered during the short rainy season (207±213 cysts/L).
In-silico analysis of Salmonella typhimurium and E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase at primary, secondary, tertiary level with protein disorder and functional association of differences

The identification changes in amino acid for same protein in closely related species are necessary in order to identify its effect at various structural and functional levels. Salmonella typhimurium and E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase taken in current study as these bacteria are closely related to each other and have fewer differences in amino acid sequences for MetG. This study helps to identify various structural and functional differences at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, with functional differences by Docking study with Methionine. Study involves analysis of differences based on observation of differences in modeled 3D protein for sequences available at NCBI and its comparison with Known 3D structure. As sequences difference are in functional protein from non-mutant species, the differences are analysed in context of Primary, secondary, tertiary structure differences, Disorder differences, and docking differences.
Excitable Epithelial Cells in the Bioluminescent Scales of a Polynoid Worm; Effects of Various Ions on the Action Potentials and on the Excitation-Luminescence Coupling

The bioluminescent scales of the polynoid worm Acholoe astericola are covered with photogenic and non-photogenic excitable epithelial cells which are electrically coupled. The luminescent activity is intracellular and occurs in brief flashes. All the epithelial cells produce non-overshooting action potentials which have been shown to be Na-dependent. In the photogenic epithelial cells (photocytes) the increase of the stimulus strength elicits another action potential specifically correlated with a flash. This membrane response begins by a fast overshooting Ca-dependent spike potential followed by a Na-dependent secondary depolarization. The excitation-luminescence coupling is dependent on Ca entry into the photocytes.
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1. Stefan N, Kantartzis K, Haring HU. Causes and metabolic consequences of fatty liver. Endocr Rev 2008;29:939-960. 2. Yang L, Roh YS, Song J, Zhang B, Liu C, Loomba R, Seki E. Transforming growth factor beta signaling in hepatocytes participates in steatohepatitis through regulation of cell death and lipid metabolism. HEPATOLOGY 2014;59:483-495. 3. Miura K, Kodama Y, Inokuchi S, Schnabl B, Aoyama T, Ohnishi H, et al. Toll-like receptor 9 promotes steatohepatitis by induction of interleukin-1beta in mice. Gastroenterology 2010;139:323-334. 4. Cai D, Yuan M, Frantz DF, Melendez PA, Hansen L, Lee J, et al. Local and systemic insulin resistance resulting from hepatic activation of IKKbeta and NF-kappaB. Nat Med 2005;11:183-190. 5. Misu H, Takamura T, Takayama H, Hayashi H, Matsuzawa-Nagata N, Kurita S, et al. A liver-derived secretory protein, selenoprotein P, causes insulin resistance. Cell Metab 2010;12:483-495.
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We appreciate Drs. Safiri and Ayubi’s interest in our work. However, the concerns that seem based on a partial view of this study may need to be addressed here. In this proof-of-concept study, we explored use of a dual-photon microscopy–based methodology to quantitate histological hepatic fibrosis in progressive nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The hypothesis was based on prior research publications about this technology and its applications for measuring fibrosis in other chronic liver diseases. The research strategy was to identify the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis highly related quantitation of fibrosisrelated parameters (q-FPs) among the q-FP set detected by dual-photon technology and then use them to build a new function model with a desirability function to predict the fibrosis stages on a continuous scale with reference to the standard nonalcoholic steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network histology. To rigorously test the performance of the selected q-FPs and the new desirability function model, an independent cohort was finally used for an additional validation. The proposed confidence interval issues are related to the first part of q-FP selection. Based on preliminary correlation data between q-FPs and standard histology, the sample size used for establishment was 50 subjects. Therefore, as anticipated, there was a wide confidence interval for the individual q-FPs. However, emphasizing the importance of a narrow confidence interval but overlooking the other meaningful statistical variables in the context of a medical test study can be inappropriate. The numeric values of odds ratio and P value for all selected q-FPs can together help to validate the power of related conclusions. Moreover, various modeling approaches and the sequential parts of this systematic study all verified the validities of the selected four q-FPs for use in building a new desirability function model. In addition, we appreciate the recommendation of other sophisticated statistical approaches to testing the diagnostic performance. Addressing the purpose of this study, we only included the routine but wellregarded approaches. We will consider the proposed ones in the future. As we discussed in the article, this study is about an initial step for the development of a new quantitative method, but it surely warrants further refinement including larger data sets and a longitudinal testing cohort.
Automated splicing mutation analysis by information theory

Communicated by A. Jaime Cutticchia Information theory–based software tools have been useful in interpreting noncoding sequence variation within functional sequence elements such as splice sites. Individual information analysis detects activated cryptic splice sites and associated splicing regulatory sites and is capable of distinguishing null from partially functional alleles. We present a server (https://splice.cmh.edu) designed to analyze splicing mutations in binding sites in either human genes, genome-mapped mRNAs, user-defined sequences, or dbSNP entries. Standard HUGO-approved gene symbols and HGVS-approved systematic mutation nomenclature (or dbSNP format) are entered via a web portal. After verifying the accuracy of input variant(s), the surrounding interval is retrieved from the human genome or user-supplied reference sequence. The server then computes the information contents (Ri) of all potential constitutive and/or regulatory splice sites in both the reference and variant sequences. Changes in information content are color-coded, tabulated, and visualized as sequence walkers, which display the binding sites with the reference sequence. The software was validated by analyzing B1,300 mutations from Human Mutation as well as eight mapped SNPs from dbSNP designated as splice site variants. All of the splicing mutations and variants affected splice site strength or activated cryptic splice sites. The server also detected several missense mutations that were unexpectedly predicted to have concomitant effects on splicing or appeared to activate cryptic splicing. Hum Mutat 25:000–000, 2005. r 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.