Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resource Abundance and Insect Herbivore Diversity on Woody Fabaceous Desert Plants

Abstract This study addresses four hypotheses that may account for differences in the number of insect herbivore species among plant species. These hypotheses are based on the assumption that insect diversity is a function of the number, quantity, and distribution of plant resources used by herbivores. The study investigated predictions that herbivore species richness will increase as a function of increasing the following: (1) host plant distribution over the landscape (host plant geographical distribution hypothesis), (2) host plant density within a habitat (resource concentration hypothesis), (3) size of individual plants (plant size hypothesis), or (4) abundance of resources (resource abundance hypothesis). We tested predictions from these hypotheses by examining the species richness of insect herbivores on five sympatric species of fabaceous plants that varied in their local dispersion of individual plants and plant architecture. Among these five species, plant geographical distribution varied threefold, density varied 38-fold, plant size and food resources available to insect herbivores varied ≈100-fold. Plant geographical distribution, plant size, and the resource concentration hypotheses were not corroborated in this study. Resource abundance, measured as plant dry weight, accounted for the differences in number and abundance of insect species between host plant species. Leaf biomass accounted for 44.15% of the variation in number of insect herbivore species and 51.76% of the variation in abundance of insect herbivores using leaves as resources. Flower biomass accounted for 32.86% of the variation in the number of insect herbivore species using flowers. Therefore, plants that offered a greater quantity of resources, especially leaves and flowers, had greater species richness and abundance in insect herbivores.
Some properties of a D-alanine carboxypeptidase in envelope fractions of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Envelope preparations of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain GC1 (a stable, piliated strain of intermediate colony morphology) and type T1 possess a D-alanine carboxypeptidase which releases the terminal alanine residue from the uridine 5'-diphosphate-N-acetyl muramylpentapeptide substrate (isolated from Bacillus cereus T). The D-alanine carboxypeptidase of the GC1 envelopes has a broad pH optimum between pH 8.0 to 10.0. When the molarity of the tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer was varied, the activity showed an optimum over the range 0.2 to 0.4 M. Activity was higher (135% of control level) when 20 to 80 mM Mg2+ was present. The Km for the enzyme was 0.25 mM. The D-alanine carboxypeptidase was inhibited by several beta-lactam antibiotics and the 50% inhibitory levels were 10(-8) M penicillin G, 10(-8) M ampicillin, 10(-5) M cloxacillin, and 5 x 10(-7) M methicillin.
Carbon nanotube composites for broadband microwave absorbing materials

In this paper, we present a new shielding and absorbing composite based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed inside a polymer dielectric material. The extremely high aspect ratio of CNTs and their remarkable conductive properties lead to good absorbing properties with very low concentrations. A broadband characterization technique is used to measure the microwave electrical properties of CNT composites. It is shown that a conduction level of 1 S/m is reached for only 0.35 wt % of a CNT, while, for a classical absorbing composite based on carbon black, 20% concentration is mandatory. The conductive properties are explained by a phenomenological electrical model and successfully correlated with rheological data aiming at monitoring the dispersion of conductive inclusions in polymer matrices
An Inexpensive and Novel Model for Perimortem Cesarean Section

Introduction Perimortem cesarean section is a rare, time-critical, and potentially life-saving procedure for both the fetus and mother. This makes perimortem cesarean section an ideal and recommended subject for simulation learning and practice. Methods Various attempts have been made to produce models to simulate emergency caesarian sections. We designed a cost-effective and easy to assemble model that can be used with any high fidelity simulator. The model was used as part of a simulation education module that is part of resident educational conferences. After the simulation day, residents were asked to fill out an anonymous online survey using a 5-point Likert scale. Results Thirty-four emergency medicine residents took part in a perimortem caesarian section case. Nine (26%) completed the online survey. Eight respondents agreed or strongly agreed [4.33 (0.71)] that the model helped to familiarize them with a perimortem cesarean section. Eight residents also agreed or strongly agreed [4 (0.87)] that they were better prepared to perform this procedure, and 9 residents felt that knowledge from this session would help with their emergency department rotations [4.11 (0.33)]. Six residents agreed or strongly agreed that this model was a good replication of human anatomy [3.78 (0.97)]. All respondents agreed or strongly agreed [4.56 (0.53)] that this session enhanced learning more than traditional lectures and reading alone. Conclusion We present here an inexpensive, easy to make, and portable model, which can be used to simulate an emergency caesarian section.
Secretion and Matrix Assembly of Recombinant Type VI Collagen (*)

A monomer of type VI collagen is composed of three different chains of 140 (α1), 130 (α2), and 250-350 kDa (α3). Monomers assemble into dimers (6 chains) and tetramers (12 chains) that are stabilized by disulfide bonds and, once associated one to another, give rise to a microfilamentous network in close apposition with cell surfaces and banded collagen fibers. We have derived murine NIH/3T3 cell lines that were transfected with the cDNAs for the three chains and that constitutively expressed chicken type VI collagen. Cotransfection was efficient because, in three out of six isolated cell lines, all chicken chains were expressed. Southern blotting demonstrated that several copies of each cDNA were integrated approximately in equal number. Expression of the three polypeptide chains was consistent with the levels of the respective mRNAs. The three chicken chains assembled by disulfide bonding to form correctly folded triple helical aggregated composites with sizes corresponding to type VI collagen monomers, dimers, and tetramers. These functional recombinant assemblies were secreted and became incorporated into the extracellular matrix, where they formed an extensive fibrillar network.
α–E-catenin binds to dynamitin and regulates dynactin-mediated intracellular traffic

α–Epithelial catenin (E-catenin) is an important cell–cell adhesion protein. In this study, we show that α–E-catenin also regulates intracellular traffic by binding to the dynactin complex component dynamitin. Dynactin-mediated organelle trafficking is increased in α–E-catenin−/− keratinocytes, an effect that is reversed by expression of exogenous α–E-catenin. Disruption of adherens junctions in low-calcium media does not affect dynactin-mediated traffic, indicating that α–E-catenin regulates traffic independently from its function in cell–cell adhesion. Although neither the integrity of dynactin–dynein complexes nor their association with vesicles is affected by α–E-catenin, α–E-catenin is necessary for the attenuation of microtubule-dependent trafficking by the actin cytoskeleton. Because the actin-binding domain of α–E-catenin is necessary for this regulation, we hypothesize that α–E-catenin functions as a dynamic link between the dynactin complex and actin and, thus, integrates the microtubule and actin cytoskeleton during intracellular trafficking.
Experimental Insights From Animal Models

Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) syndrome is the most common monogenic inherited form of small vessel disease, characterized by frequent migraine attacks with aura, recurrent strokes and progressive white matter degeneration. Early vascular cognitive impairment progresses into frank dementia of subcortical type later in life. Linked to mutations in the NOTCH3 gene, CADASIL vasculopathy is associated with accumulation of granular osmiophilic material and NOTCH3 extracellular domain around small caliber arteries and arterioles, and eventual loss of vascular smooth muscle cells. Cerebral blood flow dysregulation has been hypothesized as a major mechanism, largely based on evidence from hemodynamic studies in CADASIL patients. Although animal models expressing CADASIL mutations reproduced the pathology and cerebrovascular dysfunction, the phenotypic spectrum has been quite heterogeneous, possibly due to the choice of genetic constructs and obvious species differences between mouse and man. Nevertheless, these experimental models provide new opportunities to explore the molecular and physiological mechanisms of CADASIL, and address the fundamental question of whether CADASIL phenotype represents loss of NOTCH3 function or gain of a novel and pathological function. Here, I provide an overview of existing animal models of CADASIL and the pathophysiological insights gained from these models. (Stroke. 2010;41[suppl 1]:S129-S134.)
Growth and Predictors of Parental Knowledge of Youth Behavior During Early Adolescence

The current study examines latent growth models of parental knowledge of boys’ behavior from ages 10 to 15, and whether earlier child or family characteristics are related to intercept and growth in parental knowledge. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study on the precursors of antisocial behavior, 288 boys completed interviews at ages 10, 11, 12, and 15 years. Boys’ reports started low, increased and plateaued at age 12. High levels of maternal responsivity in early childhood were associated with a high initial status in knowledge. Growth was predicted only by high levels of boys’ prior externalizing problems. Results are discussed with respect to differences in factors that predict initial status versus growth in parental knowledge during the transition to adolescence.
Markov random field image prior models for map reconstruction of magnetoencephalogram images

In this paper the maximum a posteriori (MAP) reconstruction of magnetoencephalograms (MEG) is investigated. The solution is cast as a classical inverse imaging problem, which for MEG is notoriously ill posed and requires strong regularization. Two different Markov random vector field (MRF) models suitable for MEG regularization are developed. The first model uses a potential function which encourages solution sparseness on a rectilinear sample grid. The second model permits simulating an MRF over the non-uniform grid required for hemispherical sampling of the brain. Both methods utilize a new Markov vector field structure where neuron current dipole orientations are explicitly included in the model. MAP reconstructions are presented using simulated and real MEG data.
Binding of Estrogenic Compounds to Recombinant Estrogen Receptor-α: Application to Environmental Analysis

Estrogenic activity in environmental samples could be mediated through a wide variety of compounds and by various mechanisms. High-affinity compounds for estrogen receptors (ERs), such as natural or synthetic estrogens, as well as low-affinity compounds such as alkylphenols, phthalates, and polychlorinated biphenyls are present in water and sediment samples. Furthermore, compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which do not bind ERs, modulate estrogen activity by means of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). In order to characterize compounds that mediate estrogenic activity in river water and sediment samples, we developed a tool based on the ER-αligand-binding domain, which permitted us to estimate contaminating estrogenic compound affinities. We designed a simple transactivation assay in which compounds of high affinity were captured by limited amounts of recombinant ER-αand whose capture led to a selective inhibition of transactivation. This approach allowed us to bring to light that water samples contain estrogenic compounds that display a high affinity for ERs but are present at low concentrations. In sediment samples, on the contrary, we showed that estrogenic compounds possess a low affinity and are present at high concentration. Finally, we used immobilized recombinant ER-αto separate ligands for ER and AhR that are present in river sediments. Immobilized ER-α, which does not retain dioxin-like compounds, enabled us to isolate and concentrate ER ligands to facilitate their further analysis.
Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) in Wistar rats reduces sperm quality with disruption of ERK signal pathway

Abstract Bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogenic environmental toxin widely used in the production of plastics and ubiquitous human exposure to this chemical has been proposed to be a potential risk to human health. Exposure to BPA can negatively impact sperm quality. However, the mechanism remains largely unknown. The objectives of this study were to assess the role of BPA on sperm quality and explore the possible mechanisms. The Wistar male rats (aged 28 days) were administered BPA by oral gavage for 28 days at dose of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day; meanwhile, the negative control with corn oil (0 mg/kg/day BPA) and positive control with E2 at the dose of 100 μg/kg/day. The sperm density, sperm activity and sperm survival rate were analyzed byCASA system, and the sperm abnormality rate was analyzed by improved Papanicolaou stained. The protein expression levels of Src/p-Src, ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2 and CREB/p-CREB were detected by Western bolt. The results showed that the body weight gain, testes weight, testis coefficient, sperm density, sperm activity, sperm survival rate and protein expression levels of p-ERK1, p-ERK2 and p-CREB decreased, but the sperm abnormality rate increased with increasing BPA concentrations. There were positive correlations between sperm density, sperm activity and sperm survival rate with protein expression levels of p-ERK1, p-ERK2 and p-CREB, and negative correlations between sperm abnormality rate with the protein expression levels of p-ERK1, p-ERK2 and p-CREB. Results from the structural equation model demonstrated that BPA retained a significant negative effect to p-ERK, whereas p-ERK retained a significant positive effect to sperm quality and acted as the mediate variable. This study provides a novel insight regarding the potential role of p-ERK1 and p-ERK2 protein kinase on reproductive toxicity of BPA. The adverse effects of BPA on adult male sperm quality may be through the induction of the disruption of ERK signal pathway. However, additional research is needed to confirm our findings and to further test the suggested potential mechanisms.
Conservative management of mechanical neck pain: systematic overview and meta-analysis

Abstract Objective: To review the efficacy of conservative management of mechanical neck disorders. Methods: Published and unpublished reports were identified through computerised and manual searches of bibliographical databases, reference lists from primary articles, and letters to authors, agencies, foundations, and content experts. Selection criteria were applied to blinded articles, and selected articles were scored for methodological quality. Effect sizes were calculated from raw pain scores and combined by using meta-analytic techniques when appropriate. Results: Twenty four randomised clinical trials met the selection criteria and were categorised by type of intervention: nine used manual treatments; 12 physical medicine methods; four drug treatment; and three education of patients (four trials investigated more than one form of intervention). The intervention strategies were summarised separately. Pooling of studies was considered only within each category. Five of the nine trials that used manual treatment in combination with other treatments were combined. One to four weeks after treatment the pooled effect size was −0.6 (95% confidence interval −0.9 to −0.4), equivalent to an improvement of 16 (6.9 to 23.1) points on a 100 point scale. Sensitivity analyses on study quality, chronicity, and data imputation did not alter this estimate. For other interventions, studies could not be combined to arrive at pooled estimates of effect. Conclusions: There is little information available from clinical trials to support many of the treatments for mechanical neck pain. In general, conservative interventions have not been studied in enough detail to assess efficacy or effectiveness adequately. Key messages Many treatments are available and accepted as standard forms of practice Systematic literature searching finds a limited number of clinical trials There is early evidence to support the use of manual treatments in combination with other treatments for short term pain relief, but in general, conservative interventions have not been studied in enough detail to assess efficacy or effec- tiveness adequately Further clinical trials are needed to determine optimal treatment approaches
{Im}materiality

“{Im}materiality: Designing for More Sense/s” is an edited compilation of articles that explore the complexity of embodied human experience within the built environment. A particular aim of these collected works is to look toward how deepening one’s understandings of the experiences of bodies in space and place can contribute to future built environments. The contributors to this special issue are trained in practice-based disciplines such as architecture, product development, and ergonomics. At the same time, they bring in particular theoretical backgrounds of research experience in anthropology, design history and theory, and sociology. They come together through a focus on heterogeneous experiences of disability to articulate themes and issues that illustrate immaterial connections to the material world.
Approbation of the methodology for web monitoring of terrorism- and extremism-related content

This article focuses on the ongoing challenge of countering the use of the Internet by terrorist and extremist organizations. The article considers, in particular, the methodology of the Web content monitoring that aims to address the above issue as well as the first results obtained during its approbation at the Chair of Financial Monitoring of the NRNU MEPHI. The prospects for the utilization of the results are also provided.
GPCRdb: the G protein‐coupled receptor database – an introduction

GPCRs make up the largest family of human membrane proteins and of drug targets. Recent advances in GPCR pharmacology and crystallography have shed new light on signal transduction, allosteric modulation and biased signalling, translating into new mechanisms and principles for drug design. The GPCR database, GPCRdb, has served the community for over 20 years and has recently been extended to include a more multidisciplinary audience. This review is intended to introduce new users to the services in GPCRdb, which meets three overall purposes: firstly, to provide reference data in an integrated, annotated and structured fashion, with a focus on sequences, structures, single‐point mutations and ligand interactions. Secondly, to equip the community with a suite of web tools for swift analysis of structures, sequence similarities, receptor relationships, and ligand target profiles. Thirdly, to facilitate dissemination through interactive diagrams of, for example, receptor residue topologies, phylogenetic relationships and crystal structure statistics. Herein, these services are described for the first time; visitors and guides are provided with good practices for their utilization. Finally, we describe complementary databases cross‐referenced by GPCRdb and web servers with corresponding functionality.
THE EFFECT OF COPING THERAPY ON HOPELESSNESS OF INFERTILE WOMEN

Introduction: The aim of this research was to determine the effect of coping therapy on hopelessness in infertile women in Kermanshah. Method: Among women who visited infertility clinic, 40 voluntarily enrolled in the study and were divided equally in 2 experimental and control groups randomly. In the pre test phase, infertile women (both groups) simultaneously filled out Beck’s hopelessness scale and Beck’s Depression Inventory (short form). In the next phase, only the experimental groups were treated for 8 (120 minutes) sessions in order to correct coping ways that they used in the past week. After treatment sessions finished, both experimental and control groups (simultaneously) took the post test and follow up (after 3 weeks) phase using only the hopelessness scale. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed coping therapy decreases hopelessness, negative perspective of future, pessimism, not having a plan for future and expecting defeat in infertile women. However, it did not significantly affected instability of thinking. Conclusion: Infertility is not the only problem of infertile women and their future fertility cannot solve their psychological disturbances. Furthermore, these disturbances may have their own negative effects on fertility. So, it is suggested to embody mental health and quality of life in their therapeutic programs.
FT-Net Traveler : Fault-Tolerant and Scalable Web Service Broker Architecture

Web services are becoming the ultimate response for organizations and companies offering their core business services over the Internet. In fact, those business services are being offered through Web services which act like APIs providing the logic to handle a business service. Although, some Web services do not require other Web services to accomplish their tasks, the most interesting ones do the opposite. In that sense, Web services are orchestrated to create new complex business services that can reach Web services of several companies. For the purpose to handle it we proposed Net Traveler that is an autonomic Framework for collaboration, orchestration and choreography of Web services. Some design requirements are critical in the composition of Web services. Reliability and scalability among others must be done in order to offer a minimum of quality of service for composite Web services. In this paper we present the architecture of FT-Net Traveler which provides reliability through fault tolerance and scalability through load balancing to composite Web services without requiring modifications on them.
Comparison of DSR vs DYMO multipath

Multipath routing is a technique that allows tra c dispersion and so, through the use of load-balancing, nodes energy consumption minimization or analysis for tra c prevention, it is capable to improve performance in mobile ad hoc networks. In this work we compare multipath version for two reactive protocols: DYMO and DSR. We study the impact of tra c dispersion on both UDP and TCP tra c. Moreover we observe the real tra c dispersion due to the di erent route discovery process used in each protocol and the impact of this parameter on performance results.