Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Speed AFM and NanoInfrared Spectroscopy Investigation of Aβ1–42 Peptide Variants and Their Interaction With POPC/SM/Chol/GM1 Model Membranes

Due to an aging population, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have become a major health issue. In the case of AD, Aβ1–42 peptides have been identified as one of the markers of the disease with the formation of senile plaques via their aggregation, and could play a role in memory impairment and other tragic syndromes associated with the disease. Many studies have shown that not only the morphology and structure of Aβ1–42 peptide assembly are playing an important role in the formation of amyloid plaques, but also the interactions between Aβ1–42 and the cellular membrane are crucial regarding the aggregation processes and toxicity of the amyloid peptides. Despite the increasing amount of information on AD associated amyloids and their toxicity, the molecular mechanisms involved still remain unclear and require in-depth investigation at the local scale to clearly decipher the role of the sequence of the amyloid peptides, of their secondary structures, of their oligomeric states, and of their interactions with lipid membranes. In this original study, through the use of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) related-techniques, high-speed AFM and nanoInfrared AFM, we tried to unravel at the nanoscale the link between aggregation state, structure and interaction with membranes in the amyloid/membrane interaction. Using three mutants of Aβ peptides, L34T, oG37C, and WT Aβ1–42 peptides, with differences in morphology, structure and assembly process, as well as model lipidic membranes whose composition and structure allow interactions with the peptides, our AFM study coupling high spatial and temporal resolution and nanoscale structure information clearly evidences a local correlation between the secondary structure of the peptides, their fibrillization kinetics and their interactions with model membranes. Membrane disruption is associated to small transient oligomeric entities in the early stages of aggregation that strongly interact with the membrane, and present an antiparallel β-sheet secondary structure. The strong effect on membrane integrity that exists when these oligomeric Aβ1–42 peptides interact with membranes of a particular composition could be a lead for therapeutic studies.
Effects of Exogenous Putrescine on Delaying Senescence of Cut Foliage of Nephrolepis cordifolia

Senescence is the main limitation for cut foliage display in vase. Naturally occurring polyamines such as putrescine (Put) have been considered effective anti-senescence agents. However, effect of Put on cut foliage in vase in a realistic indoor environment has not yet been revealed. In the present study, effects of Put spraying on the postharvest performance of cut foliage of Nephrolepis cordifolia L. were investigated. Cut fronds sprayed with deionized water (Put0) showed visible injuries after 10 days in vase. Meanwhile, chlorophyll (Chl), soluble protein (Sp), and proline (Pro) content were decreased by 60.15, 57.93, and 73.09% respectively, photochemical activity reflected by Chl fluorescence parameters was inhibited, whereas electrolyte leakage (EL), contents of soluble sugar (Ss), malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were increased (+194.29, +44.83, +34.06, and +178.01%, respectively). Put spraying extended the vase life of the cut foliage and the 2.0 mM Put had a longer vase life (21 days) than 0.2 mM (15 days). Leaf spraying of 2.0 mM Put for 10 days significantly ameliorated the losses of Chl, Sp, and Pro content (−10.72, −26.29, and −42.64%, respectively), followed by 0.2 mM Put (−27.36, −36.24, and −60.55%, respectively). Put spraying also improved photochemical capability and prevented membrane impairment as well as visible injury in comparison with Put0. In addition, 2.0 mM Put had a better mitigating ability than that of 0.2 mM. Leaf spraying of 2.0 mM Put greatly reduced the decline of the effective quantum yield of photochemical energy conversion in PSII (ΦPSII), the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry measured in the dark-adapted state (Fv/Fm) and electron transport rate (ETR) (−7.89, −12.91, and −10.06%, respectively), and also inhibited the increases of EL, MDA, Ss, and H2O2 (+31.87, +6.43, +16.22, and +49.40%, respectively). Overall, Put played important roles in deterring the degradation of Chl, Ss, and Pro, detoxifying the H2O2, weakening the sugar signaling, mitigating the decline of photochemical activity, and eventually postponing the leaf senescence. The present study gives new insights into effects of Put on leaf senescence and provides a strategy for preserving post-harvest cut foliage.
Abundant extraterrestrial amino acids in the primitive CM carbonaceous chondrite Asuka 12236

The Asuka (A)‐12236 meteorite has recently been classified as a CM carbonaceous chondrite of petrologic type 3.0/2.9 and is among the most primitive CM meteorites studied to date. Here, we report the concentrations, relative distributions, and enantiomeric ratios of amino acids in water extracts of the A‐12236 meteorite and another primitive CM chondrite Elephant Moraine (EET) 96029 (CM2.7) determined by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. EET 96029 was highly depleted in amino acids and dominated by glycine, while a wide diversity of two‐ to six‐carbon aliphatic primary amino acids were identified in A‐12236, which had a total amino acid abundance of 360 ± 18 nmol g−1, with most amino acids present without hydrolysis (free). The amino acid concentrations of A‐12236 were double those previously measured in the CM2.7 Paris meteorite, consistent with A‐12236 being a highly primitive and unheated CM chondrite. The high relative abundance of α‐amino acids in A‐12236 is consistent with formation by a Strecker‐cyanohydrin dominated synthesis during a limited early aqueous alteration phase on the CM meteorite parent body. The presence of predominantly free glycine, a near racemic mixture of alanine (d/l ~0.93–0.96), and elevated abundances of several terrestrially rare non‐protein amino acids including α‐aminoisobutyric acid (α‐AIB) and racemic isovaline indicate that these amino acids in A‐12236 are extraterrestrial in origin. Given a lack of evidence for biological amino acid contamination in A‐12236, it is possible that some of the l‐enantiomeric excesses (lee ~34–64%) of the protein amino acids, aspartic and glutamic acids and serine, are indigenous to the meteorite; however, isotopic measurements are needed for confirmation. In contrast to more aqueously altered CMs of petrologic types ≤2.5, no l‐isovaline excesses were detected in A‐12236. This observation strengthens the hypothesis that extensive parent body aqueous activity is required to produce or amplify the large l‐isovaline excesses that cannot be explained solely by exposure to circularly polarized radiation or other chiral symmetry breaking mechanisms prior to incorporation into the asteroid parent body.
Ecological Interactions between Bats and Nocturnal Birds

Bats and about 230 species of birds are nocturnal and all rely to varying degrees on insects, insects and vertebrates, or fruit as principal food supplies. Bats appear effectively to dominate the aerial nocturnal adaptive zones of fruit and insect eating, although they are more effective as small rather than as large insectivores. In most tropical locations, either owls or bats are regular consumers of fish; bats which feed on terrestrial vertebrates and the bird families Podargidae, Aegothelidae, and Nyctibiidae seem to occupy the adaptive zone of small owls, but these bats and birds are limited anatomically from replacing larger owls. Bat hawks (Falco rufigularis and Macheiramphus alcinus) and some carnivorous bats may be the only regular aerial predators of bats. The use that many bats make of night roosts as locations for food consumption, and the nocturnal roosting habits of some diurnal birds may represent adaptations for avoid. ing nocturnal, volant predators. BATS AND BIRDS are the only groups of living vertebrates capable of true flight, and they occupy similar trophic roles (Lein 1972, Wilson 1973), with bats acting in many cases as the nocturnal counterparts of birds. Although most birds are diurnal, approximately 2.5 percent (230) of the living species are mainly nocturnal (Van Tyne and Berger 1959) and thus overlap temporally with the activities of bats. The question we are asking is: To what extent do bats and nocturnal birds interact ecologically (and hence, evolutionarily) either as competitors or as predators on one another? To answer this question, we will examine pantropical faunas of bats and nocturnal birds and consider reciprocal patterns which might reflect the effects of interactions. We selected pantropical faunas since both bats and birds reach their greatest diversities in the tropics, and we have specifically concentrated on Guyana (Neotropical), Cameroon (Ethiopian), Malaya (Oriental), and northeastern Australia (Australasian). Two major ways in which bats and nocturnal birds may interact are: 1) competition resulting from overlapping food niches; and 2) feeding on one another. The former situation could result in competitive exclusion or ecological divergence in food habits and/or feeding locations, while the latter would foster adaptations for reduced prey vulnerability and increased predator efficiency. Either of these situations may be reflected by distribution patterns and faunal structure. At present we have chosen not to consider other ways in which bats and nocturnal birds might overlap since they must be investigated in the field. For 104 BIOTROPICA 8(2): 104-11
Estimation of the Length‐at‐Age Relationship of Mississippi's Spotted Seatrout

AbstractSpotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus are a highly valued recreational inshore species in Mississippi coastal waters. The accurate description of the length-at-age relationship is critical for assessment efforts of the stock. Because Spotted Seatrout exhibit small-scale movements, the stocks in the Gulf of Mexico are managed as state-specific units. Therefore, local demographic estimates of length at age are needed for assessment. We estimated the length-at-age relationship of Spotted Seatrout in Mississippi by using tag recapture records and otolith-derived age estimates. Three nonlinear length-at-age models were fit to sex-aggregated, tag recapture data and four nonlinear length-at-age models were fit to sex-specific, otolith-derived age data. For each suite of models, model support was determined using Akaike information criteria. The Francis (1988a) GROTAG method had the greatest support of the three models fit to the tag recapture data, and the resulting parameter estimates from the model were.
Phenolic compounds from the aerial parts of Prangos ferulaceae, with antioxidant activity

Background: Prangos ferulaceae (Apiaceae) is a perennial herb indigenous to Iran where it is used as a medicinal plant. In folk medicine, extracts of the roots and fruits of the plant have been used for the treatment of digestive disorders, healing scars, and to stop bleeding. In the present work, we report the presence of some phenolic compounds from the aerial parts of the plant. Materials and Methods: The air-dried powder of Prangos ferulaceae leaves were Soxhlet extracted, successively, with n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol. A portion of concentrated residue of methanol extract was fractionated with an SPE-C18 cartridge using different mixtures of methanolwater. The 40% methanol fraction was analyzed by preparative HPLC using a methanol and water gradient to afford 4 compounds. Results: The purified compounds using preparative HPLC were: a glucosilated coumarin, celereoside and three flavonoids, quercetin 3-O-β-glucoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-β-glucoside, and isorhamnetin 3-O-glucorhamnoside. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by UV, IR, 1D, and 2 D NMR spectral data. Quercetin glucoside and isorhamnetin glucoside exhibited strong antioxidant activity in the DPPH test with an RC50 value of 36.2 and 64.4 μg/mL respectively. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the P. ferulaceae aerial parts contain antioxidant flavonoids and furanocoumarins and that the plants bioactivities and medicinal potential might be attributed to presence of these compounds.
Age and Growth Determination of the Bat Ray, Myliobatis californica Gill, in Central California

and reproductive condition of elasmobranch fishes in Elkhorn Slough, California. Calif. Fish Game 71(4):210-229. WOURMS,J. P. 1977. Reproduction and development in chondrichthyan fishes. Amer. Zool. 17:379-410. Moss LANDING MARINE LABORATORIES, PO Box 450, Moss LANDING, CALIFORNIA 95039. Present address: (LKM) MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM, 886 CANNERY Row, MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA 93940. Accepted 4 Dec. 1987.
Ja n 20 18 ζ-REGULARIZATION AND THE HEAT-TRACE ON SOME COMPACT QUANTUM SEMIGROUPS

Heat-invariants are a class of spectral invariants of Laplace-type operators on compact Riemannian manifolds that contain information about the geometry of the manifold, e.g., the metric and connection. Since Brownian motion solves the heat equation, these invariants can be obtained studying Brownian motion on manifolds. In this article, we consider Brownian motion on the Toeplitz algebra, discrete Heisenberg group algebras, and noncommutative tori to define Laplace-type operators and heat-semigroups on these C*-bialgebras. We show that their traces can be ζ-regularized and compute “heat-traces” on these algebras, giving us a notion of dimension and volume. Furthermore, we consider SUq(2) which does not have a Brownian motion but a class of driftless Gaussians which still recover the dimension of SUq(2).
One Hundred Years of Migration Discourse in The Times: A Discourse-Historical Word Vector Space Approach to the Construction of Meaning

This study proposes an experimental method to trace the historical evolution of media discourse as a means to investigate the construction of collective meaning. Based on distributional semantics theory (Harris, 1954; Firth, 1957) and critical discourse theory (Wodak and Fairclough, 1997), it explores the value of merging two techniques widely employed to investigate language and meaning in two separate fields: neural word embeddings (computational linguistics) and the discourse-historical approach (DHA; Reisigl and Wodak, 2001) (applied linguistics). As a use case, we investigate the historical changes in the semantic space of public discourse of migration in the United Kingdom, and we use the Times Digital Archive (TDA) from 1900 to 2000 as dataset. For the computational part, we use the publicly available TDA word2vec models1 (Kenter et al., 2015; Martinez-Ortiz et al., 2016); these models have been trained according to sliding time windows with the specific intention to map conceptual change. We then use DHA to triangulate the results generated by the word vector models with social and historical data to identify plausible explanations for the changes in the public debate. By bringing the focus of the analysis to the level of discourse, with this method, we aim to go beyond mapping different senses expressed by single words and to add the currently missing sociohistorical and sociolinguistic depth to the computational results. The study rests on the foundation that social changes will be reflected in changes in public discourse (Couldry, 2008). Although correlation does not prove direct causation, we argue that historical events, language, and meaning should be considered as a mutually reinforcing cycle in which the language used to describe events shapes explicit meanings, which in turn trigger other events, which again will be reflected in the public discourse.
One-Year Outcome of Multiple Blood–Brain Barrier Disruptions With Temozolomide for the Treatment of Glioblastoma

Introduction: To overcome the blood–brain barrier (BBB) which interferes with the effect of chemotherapeutic agents, we performed multiple disruptions of BBB (BBBD) with magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound on patients with glioblastoma (GBM) during standard adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy [clinical trial registration no.NCT03712293 (clinicaltrials.gov)]. We report a 1-year follow-up result of BBBD with TMZ for GBM. Methods: From September 2018 to January 2019, six patients were enrolled (four men and two women, median age: 53 years, range: 50–67 years). Of the six patients, five underwent a total of six cycles of BBBD during standard TMZ adjuvant therapy. One patient underwent three cycles of BBBD but continued with TMZ chemotherapy. The 1-year follow-up results of these six patients were reviewed. Results: The mean follow-up duration was 15.17 ± 1.72 months. Two patients showed a recurrence of tumor at 11 and 16 months, respectively. One underwent surgery, and the other patient was restarted with TMZ chemotherapy due to the tumor location with a highly possibility of surgical complications. The survival rate up to 1 year was 100%, and the other four patients are on observation without recurrence. None of the six patients had immediate or delayed BBBD-related complications. Conclusion: Multiple BBBDs can be regarded as a safe procedure without long-term complications, and it seems to have some survival benefits. However, since TMZ partially crosses the BBB, a further extended study with large numbers would be needed to evaluate the benefits of BBBD resulting in an increase of TMZ concentration. This study opened a new therapeutic strategy for GBM by combining BBBD with a larger molecular agent.
Definition of species of pouched four-eyed opossums (Didelphidae, philander)

We hypothesize phyletic relationships among taxa of the didelphid marsupial genus Philander , based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Data are available for six taxa recognized at either the specific or subspecific levels; P. opossum opossum Lin-neaus (eastern and northeastern Amazonia), P. opossum canus Osgood (western Amazonia), P, opossum fuscogriseus J. A. Allen (southeastern Central America), P. opossum frenata Olfers (southeastern Brazil), P, andersoni andersoni Osgood (northwestern Amazonia), and P. andersoni mcilhennyi Gardner and Patton (west-central Amazonia). Haplotype divergence is minimal to non-existent (<1% on average) between individuals within and among localities for each taxon. The taxon inhabiting the Atlantic forest of coastal Brazil ( P, o, frenata ) is highly divergent from all others, averaging nearly 14% in sequence divergence. Maximal divergence among haplotypes representative of the other taxa examined is <8%. The combination of phylogenetic relationships and local sympatry suggests a greater degree of species diversity for the genus than the two species P. opossum and P. andersoni. We recognize the Brazilian coastal P. frenata , as well as both P, andersoni and P. mcilhennyi , as valid species in addition to P. opossum . It is possible P. opossum is a composite, and that further studies will accord species status to the Middle American, western Amazonian, and eastern Amazonian-Guianan gray four-eyed opossums.
A five-year study on the effect of cluster thinning on yield and fruit composition of 'Chambourcin' grapevines

'Chambourcin' (Vltis sp.) is a French-American hybrid cultivar that has the propensity to overcrop, and its performance under cool climate and short growing season is not known. This study was conducted for five years (2000 to 2004) to evaluate the effect of three levels of cluster thinning (10, 20, and 30 clusters per vine) on yield and fruit composition of 'Chambourcin' grown in northeastern Ohio. Cluster thinning reduced yield per vine and crop load, but increased pruning, cluster and berry weights. Cluster thinning also improved juice composition by increasing soluble solids and pH but not acidity. It was concluded that under the climatic conditions of this study, thinning to 10 clusters per vine (or 8 clusters per meter of row) produced the lowest yield but the highest vine size with the most optimum fruit composition. Therefore, vines from the 10-cluster treatment were considered the most balanced in the 5-year study. Additionally, due to the repeated coincidence of harvest with the first fall frost, it was suggested that the site in continental Northeast Ohio is risky for commercial production and longer and warmer seasons are thus preferred.
Acoustic Scene Classification using Single Frequency Filtering Cepstral Coefficients and DNN

Various representations have been developed for acoustic scene classifications (ASC) task using spectral information. However, there is a wide gap in dealing with acoustic scene representations. In this paper, we propose to use a single frequency filtering (SFF) approach, which provides good temporal and spectral resolution at each instant. Single-frequency filtering cepstral coefficients (SFFCC) with deep neural network (DNN) model as the classifier is used for the experimentation on DCASE 2019 and DCASE 2018 Task 1, development data of subtasks A and B. From the conducted experiments on the development datasets, the usage of the SFFCC features significantly improved ASC performance. This approach has got 35th team rank out of 46 submissions to the corresponding DCASE 2019 Task 1A challenge with a 52.6% classification accuracy on the evaluation dataset. Also, the effect of raw waveforms taken as features for ASC using DNNs was observed.
Long-term Care Insurance, Annuities, and the Under-Insurance Puzzle

Recent research suggests that costly private long-term care introduces a strong precautionary saving motive for individuals late in life. This finding suggests significant demand for long-term care insurance (LTCI) that seems at odds with observed low holdings of private LTCI. This paper develops two different methods to measure demand for a type of LTCI that addresses many flaws of the products typically available in the market. The first uses a structural life-cycle model to estimate demand for each survey respondent as a function of individual-specific preferences and state variables. The second is derived from a survey-based measure of stated desire to purchase. Both imply demand higher than observed private LTCI holdings. The difference between model and stated demand is large, positive, and suggests missing motives in the model related to intergenerational transfers. Similar patterns hold in an analysis of annuity demand.
A Simulation and Stochastic Integer Programming Approach to Wildfire Initial Attack Planning

: Wildfires are a threat to public safety, property, and forests. Wildfire managers deploy fighting resources to fire bases before fires occur and dispatch them to fires during the initial attack to minimize the number of escaped fires that can cause unacceptable costs and losses. To address the deployment and dispatch problem, we combine fire behavior simulation and a two-stage stochastic integer programming model called the explicit fire growth response model (EFGRM) to make deployment decisions in the first stage before fires occur and make dispatch decisions regarding the optimal mix of resources to send to multiple fires in each fire day scenario in the second stage after fires occur. The objective is to minimize the number of escaped fires, cost of resource deployment, expected suppression cost, and net value change. We use our methodology to position dozers in Texas District 12 (TX12), a fire planning unit in East Texas managed by the Texas Forest Service (TFS). The results reveal that the initial distribution of dozers in TX12 at the time of this study was not consistent with the historical density of fires. The results of our methodology suggest a different distribution of dozers across TX12. F OR . S CI . 59(1):105–117.