Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peroxiredoxins in Redox Signaling and Aging

Peroxiredoxins have emerged as conserved modulators of the rate of aging in yeast and multicellular organisms and play a role in lifespan extension through the anti-aging intervention caloric restriction. Yet, it is not clear through what mechanism peroxiredoxins extend lifespan. First discovered as hydrogen peroxide scavengers, peroxiredoxins have been shown to have a genome protective function, to act as chaperones, to play a role in circadian rhythms and to be involved in redox signaling. In this thesis, I tried to identify the underlying mechanisms for peroxiredoxin mediated lifespan extension and its role in redox signaling. Using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism, we could show that the lifespan extension by the peroxiredoxin Tsa1 is not linked to increased genome stability. Our data indicate that Tsa1 recruits molecular chaperones to protein aggregates formed during oxidative stress and reduces the number of protein aggregates that accumulate during aging. Surprisingly, this contributes just to a limited extend to lifespan extension, as a mutant not able to form a chaperone still has a normal lifespan. Instead, redox-signaling that reduces protein kinase A (PKA) activity through Tsa1 mediated oxidation seems to be preeminently responsible for lifespan extension. Interestingly, the same signaling pathway is used in yeast to react to light stress. Hydrogen peroxide formed upon illumination by a conserved peroxisomal oxidase leads to increased redox cycling of Tsa1. Tsa1 then reduces PKA activity allowing the subsequent nuclear localization of the transcription factors Msn2 and Msn4 that induce transcription of stressrelated genes. Our data thus clarify an important aspect of the role of peroxiredoxins in circadian rhythms, namely they mediate an organismal light response.
Comparison of three different step-down feeding to weaning programmes on performance, body measurements and age at first breeding of Holstein heifers

Abstract Performance of female Holstein calves (n = 60) were evaluated in three step-down milk feeding programmes: step-down 1 (STP1: 7.5 litres/day milk from days 1 to 21, 6 litres/day milk from days 22 to 42, 4 litres/day milk from days 43 to 63 and 2 litres/day milk from days 64 to 84 of the study); step-down 2 (STP2; 7.5 litres/day milk from days 1 to 21, 6 litres/day milk from days 22 to 42 and 2 litres/day milk from days 43 to 63 of the study); and step-down 3 (STP3; 7.5 litres/day milk from days 1 to 21, 4 litres/day milk from days 22 to 42 and 2 litres/day milk from days 43 to 63 of the study). Intakes of starter were monitored daily and body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG) and wither height (WH) were measured monthly. Calves in STP3 had lower dry matter intake between 22 and 42 days than STP2 animals, but starter intake was greater in STP2 and STP3 calves than those in the STP1 treatment between 43–63 and 64–84 days. Total ADG was greater in STP2 and STP3 animals than in STP1 calves. No effect of treatment was observed on breeding age, BW, WH or service per conception. In addition, conception rate at first breeding was not influenced by treatment. It was concluded that the STP2 and STP3 milk feeding regimes improved performance in calves and there was no benefit in feeding milk for longer than 63 days in terms of breeding outcomes.
Effect of silver nitrate and carbon sources on callus induction and regeneration in maize (Zea mays L.)

To evaluate the efficacy of silver nitrate and various carbon sources on callus induction and regeneration, four maize varieties of Bangladesh viz., ‘Barnali’, ‘Mohar’, ‘Shuvra’ and ‘Khoi bhutta’ were evaluated. Four carbon sources either singly or in combination forming seven treatments were tested. The highest callusing (67.1%) was recorded in treatment wherein 2.0% sucrose was used for ‘Mohar’. Study on the impact of seven different doses of AgNO3 revealed approximately 1.5 fold higher callus induction in ‘Mohar’ when 9 mg L−1 AgNO3 was added to N6 medium. For regeneration, 3–4 weeks old calli were transferred to plant regeneration medium where IAA 0.5 mg L−1 + BAP 1.0 mg L−1 were used. Of the four genotypes, ‘Mohar’ showed highest regeneration (62.1%) in MS medium. Maximum shoot elongation and well-developed root formation were observed in ‘Mohar’ (15.75 cm) and ‘Khoi bhutta’ (82.2%), respectively. Higher doses of AgNO3 were found effective in callus induction. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in genotypes with respect to callusing and regeneration efficiency.
Title: Growth control through regulation of insulin-signaling by nutrition-activated steroid hormone

: Growth and maturation are coordinated processes in all animals. Integration of internal cues, such as signalling pathways, with external cues such as nutritional status is paramount for an orderly progression of development in function of growth. In Drosophila , this coordination involves insulin and steroid signalling, but the mechanisms by which this occurs and how they are coordinated are incompletely understood. We show that production of the bioactive 20-hydroxyecdysone by the enzyme Shade in the fat body is a nutrient-dependent process. We demonstrate that during fed conditions, Shade plays a role in growth regulation, as knockdown of shade in the fat body resulted in growth defects and perturbed expression and release of the Drosophila insulin-like peptides from the insulin-producing cells (IPCs). We identify the trachea and IPCs as direct targets through which 20-hydroxyecdysone regulates insulin-signaling. The identification of the trachea-dependent regulation of insulin-signaling exposes an important variable that may have been overlooked in other studies focusing on insulin-signaling in Drosophila . Finally, we show with IPC-specific manipulations that 20E may both be a growth-promoting and growth-inhibiting signal in the IPCs acting through different nuclear receptors. Our findings provide a potentially conserved, novel mechanism by which nutrition can modulate steroid hormone bioactivation, reveal an important caveat of a commonly used transgenic tool to study IPC function and yield further insights as to how steroid and insulin signalling are coordinated during development to regulate growth and developmental timing.
Eco-physiological characterization of early successional biological soil crusts in heavily human impacted areas n Implications for conservation and succession

Eco-physiological characterization of photoautotrophic communities is not only necessary to identify the response of carbon fixation related to different climatic factors, but also to evaluate risks connected to changing environments. In biological soil crusts (BSCs), the description of eco-physiological features is difficult, due to the high variability in taxonomic composition and variable methodologies applied. Especially for BSCs in early successional stages, the available datasets are rare or focused on individual constituents, although these crusts may represent the only photoautotrophic component in many heavily disturbed ruderal areas, like parking lots or building areas with increasing surface area worldwide. We analyzed the response of photosynthesis and respiration to changing BSC water contents, temperature and light in two early successional BSCs. One BSC was dominated by the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune , the other by the green alga Zygogonium ericetorum . Independent of species composition, both crust types had convergent features like high light acclimatization and low or no depression in carbon uptake at water suprasaturation. This particular setup of eco-physiological features may enable these communities to cope with a high variety of climatic stresses, and may therefore be a reason for their success in heavily disturbed areas with ongoing human impact. Nevertheless, a major divergence between the two BSCs was their absolute carbon fixation rate on a chlorophyll basis, which was significantly higher for the cyanobacterial crust. This study emphasizes the importance of measuring intact BSCs under natural conditions for collecting reliable data.
Polynucleotide probe based, taxon-specific detection and enrichment of fecal bacteria

Elucidating the composition and genetics of gut microbiota under various conditions is essential to understand how microbes function individually and as a community. The in-depth analysis of certain subpopulations could offer new perspectives, e.g. in therapeutic developments. Here, we established a new variant of fluorescence in situ hybridization combined with flow cytometry (FISH-FACS) which uses polynucleotide probes. The technique provides access to taxon-specific genomes, e.g. of Enterococcus spp. belonging to the complex community of the intestinal microbiota.
Functional rerouting via the structural connectome is associated with better recovery after mild TBI

Traumatic brain injury damages white matter pathways that connect brain regions, disrupting transmission of electrochemical signals and causing cognitive and emotional dysfunction. Recovery occurs within weeks or months in some individuals, while others suffer chronic and debilitating impairment. The mechanism for how the brain compensates for injury has not been fully characterized. Here, we collect global structural and functional connectome metrics (derived from diffusion and resting-state functional MRI, respectively) and neuropsychological scores in 26 mild traumatic brain injury subjects (29.4±8.0 years of age, 20 male) at 1 month and 6 months post-injury. In addition, we quantified the relationship between functional and structural connectomes using network diffusion model propagation time, a measure that can be interpreted as how much of the structural connectome is being utilized for the spread of functional activation, which is captured via the functional connectome. A measure of overall cognition showed significant improvement from 1 month to 6 months (t = −2.15, p < 0.05). None of the structural or functional global connectome metrics were significantly different between 1 month and 6 months, or when compared to a group of 34 age- and gender-matched controls (28.6±8.8 years, 25 male). We predicted longitudinal changes in overall cognitive function from changes in global connectome measures using a partial least squares regression model (cross-validated R2 = 0.21). We show that longitudinal increases in network diffusion model propagation time, decreases in structural and functional connectome efficiency, increases in structural connectome characteristic path length and decreases in functional connectome clustering coefficient were significant predictors of longitudinal improvement in cognitive function. We interpret these findings as support for the “functional rerouting” hypothesis of neuroplasticity after injury, wherein impaired structural connections are compensated for by rerouting of functional connections along alternate, possibly less efficient, structural pathways.
Recent Development on Importance of Heterocyclic Amides as Potential Bioactive Molecules: A Review

Heterocyclic compounds are an integral part of the chemical and life sciences and constitute a considerable quantum of the modern research that is being currently pursued throughout the world. This review was prepared by collecting the available literature reports on various databases and an extract was prepared for each report after thorough study and compiling the recent literature reports on heterocyclic amides from 2007 to 2018. This review summarizes the bio-potential of heterocyclic amides as antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-tubercular and antimalarial agents which would be very promising in the field of medicinal chemistry. A wide variety of heterocyclic amides have already been reported and some are currently being used as active medicaments for the treatment of disease. Still, the research groups are focusing on the development of newer heterocyclic amide derivatives with better efficacy, potency and lesser side effects. This area has got the tremendous potential to come up with new chemical entities of medicinal importance.
Uropygialectomy Effects on Chicken Prostaglandin and Growth Hormone

Copyright: © 2017 Jawad HSA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Due to the nature of the oily secretions of the bird uropygial gland (UG), it is not surprising that the section of these exudates is essential fatty acids, and according to a study was conducted by AI-Mahdawy [1] on broiler chickens, more than 45% of the total fatty acids entering in the UG secretion component were essential fatty acids. It is well recognized that the only known functions of essential fatty acids are being an evolutionary predecessor of prostaglandins and the rest of the Eicosanoids group, which includes Prostaglandins, Thromboxanes and Leukotrienes.
Effect of plant growth regulators on the performance of yard long bean ( Vigna unguiculata var. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcourt)

Four plant growth regulators namely NAA (15, 30 and 45 ppm), 2,4-D (2, 4 and 6 ppm), PCPA (25, 50 and 75 ppm) and CCC (300, 400 and 500 ppm) were sprayed on yard long bean (cv. ‘Lola’) at different stages of growth to evaluate its impact on flowering and fruit set. Foliar spray of NAA (15 ppm) at 15, 30 and 45 days after sowing increased fruit set and productivity, giving the highest yield of 7.49 t ha-1, followed by CCC at 300 ppm. 2,4-D and PCPA had a strong depressing effect on growth and productivity.
Antimicrobial activity of Vitis vinifera L. pomace extract

Grape pomace is a winery industry residue of skins, seeds and stems of grapes used in agriculture for animal feed and production of food with biological activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate antimicrobial activity of Vitis vinifera L. pomace extract on growth of microscopic fungi and bacteria. The four strains of bacteria (two Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus CCM 2461 , Bacillus cereus CCM 2010 ; two Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli CCM 3988, Pseudomonas aeruginosa CCM 1959 ) and four yeasts strains ( Candida albicans CCM 8186 , Candida glabrata CCM 8270, Candida krusei CCM 8271 and Candida tropicalis CCM 8223 ) were studies. For detection of antimicrobial activity, the grape pomace extracts of white variety Palava and red variety Dornfelder were used. Palava pomace extracts were less efficient against the microorganisms tested and Dornfelder extracts were more active against Gram-positive bacteria and yeasts.
Genetic and Geo-Epidemiological Analysis of the Zika Virus Pandemic; Learning Lessons from the Recent Ebola Outbreak

“Outbreak” is a term referring to a virus or a parasite that is transmitted very aggres - sively and therefore could potentially cause fatalities, as the recent Ebola and Zika epi demics did. Nevertheless, looking back through history, quite a few outbreaks have been reported, which turned out so deadly that essentially changed, molded and liter ally re-shaped the society as it is today. In the present chapter, differences and similari - ties between the two most recent outbreaks have been studied, in order to pinpoint and design a trace model that will allow us to draw some conclusions for the connection of those two epidemics. Due to the high dimensionality of the problem, modern and state of the art geo-epidemiological methods have been used in an effort to provide the means necessary to establish the abovementioned model. It is only through geo-epidemiologi cal analysis that it is possible to analyze concurrently a multitude of variables, such as genetic, environmental, behavioral, socioeconomic and a series of related infection risk factors. occur? What is the rate of transmission by blood transfusions? Is ZIKV capable of establish ing a chronic infection? Is there the generation of a long-lived protective immune response? Is there the possibility of re-infection? These questions must be urgently answered to allow the effective design of strategies to prevent and/or treat ZIKV transmission and infection and will demand a collective and coordinate basic research initiative to address these issues.
Activity of Serono-AS703569, a Dual Inhibitor of Bcr-Abl and Aurora Kinases in Bcr-Abl Transformed Cells, Is Dependent On Aurora B Inhibition, and Is Not Affected by the Presence of the Highly Imatinib Resistant Bcr-Abl Mutation T315I.

Abstract 3247 Poster Board III-1 The tyrosine kinase inhibitor Imatinib is the gold standard in conventional treatment of CML. However, the emergence of resistance to IM remains a major problem. Alternative therapeutic strategies of IM-resistant BCR-ABL positive leukemias are urgently needed. One promising target for anticancer therapeutics is represented by the Aurora kinase family. These serine/threonine kinases are involved in regulating multiple steps of mitosis, including formation of bipolar spindle, chromosome alignment, spindle checkpoint function and cytokinesis. We report on studies accomplished with a small molecule inhibitor AS703569 (Merck Serono), which targets Bcr-Abl and Aurora kinases A-C. We could show that AS703569 exhibited strong anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity against murine BaF3- cells ectopically expressing wild type (wt) or IM-resistant BCR-ABL mutants, including those harbouring the strongly resistant T315I mutation. This effect was observed already at rather low-AS703569 concentrations, at which Aurora- but not the Bcr-Abl kinase was inhibited. Furthermore, in cell cycle analysis we observed cells with a large 4N peak and DNA content more than 4N, indicating extensive polyploidisation, a consequence of continued cell cycle progression in the absence of cell division. Recent studies have revealed that this phenotype is based on suppression of Aurora B kinase activity, indicating that Aurora B inhibition is the major effect of AS703569 in Bcr-Abl positive cells. To confirm this assumption we designed MSCV based retroviruses encoding different point mutations in the Aurora B ATP binding site, which should lead to resistance against AS703569. By this strategy we were able to identify an AS703569 resistant mutant (Aurora B G216V). This mutant shows significant resistance in vitro and is able to augment the antiproliferative capacity of AS703569 in Bcr-Abl positive cells. Taken together, our data demonstrate that anti-proliferative effects of AS703569 in Bcr-Abl positive cells are primarily mediated by functional inhibition of Aurora kinases, especially of Aurora kinase B. Since Aurora kinases are clearly implicated in tumorgenesis, they will become a high potential therapeutic target for anticancer therapy. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
An evaluation of supplemental methionine sources for lactating dairy cows

The most effective method for increasing supplies of MP-Met to dairy cows to increase milk protein production is to feed rumen-protected Met ( RP-Met) products; however, not all RP-Met products are absorbed by the dairy cow in the same manner. Universally acceptable methods must be developed to determine the efficacy of different RP-Met products. The first study was designed to compare the feeding of two sources of supplementary Met beginning 21 d prepartum and continuing for 140 d postpartum. The results indicated that feeding both sources of RPMet to periparturient dairy cows is effective in increasing milk protein production; however, clarification of their relative contributions to metabolizable Met is still needed. The second study was designed to compare the effects of providing supplemental RP-Met in the form of Met analogs (MetaSmart) or DL-Met (Smartamine M) to lactating dairy cows fed Met-deficient or Met-adequate diets on plasma sulfur AA and milk protein concentrations. Results demonstrated that using changes in milk protein determine the amount of absorbable Met provided by MetaSmart relative to that of Smartamine M is not as precise as using changes in plasma sulfur AA concentrations. This study also demonstrated that Met analogs are metabolized differently than DL-Met sources and that more research is needed to determine the best response criteria for determining the efficacy of Met analogs. The third study was designed to determine the benefit of increasing MP-Met and MP-Lys concentrations on increasing milk and milk protein yields. Published studies in the Journal of Dairy Science were entered into the NRC (2001) model to generate predicted flows of MP, MP-Met, and MP-Lys (g/d). Plots were developed by regressing measured milk and milk protein yields on predicted supplies of MP, MP-Met, and MP-Lys (g/ d). Results indicated that prediction equations based on NRC (2001) predicted flows of the first or colimiting AA may be more accurate at predicting milk and milk protein yield than MP flows and predicting milk protein yield from flows of MP, Met and Lys is more accurate than predicting milk yield.
Human biology: an introduction to human evolution variation growth and adaptability 3rd edition.

This textbook deals with the nature origins development and causes of human variety and with the biological organization of past and present human populations. It is divided into 4 sections. These cover some general principles of evolutionary theory the principle of the Primates the fossil evidence for human evolution aspects of Primate behavior the principles of human genetics as applied to population studies systematic descriptions of human variation the nature of human growth and the factors which determine it varieties of human physique and other constitutional traits and the ecology of human populations considered especially in terms of adaptation processes. The book is intended primarily for students of human biology biological anthropology human sciences and medicine but it should continue to be of value also to everyone interested in the population biology of man.
Normative Brain Size Variation and the Remodeling of Brain Shape in Humans

Evolutionary and developmental increases in primate brain size have been accompanied by systematic shifts in the proportionality of different primate brain systems. However, it remains unknown if and how brain patterning varies across the more than 2-fold inter-individual variation in brain size that occurs amongst typically-developing humans. Using in vivo neuroimaging data from 2 independent cohorts totaling nearly 3000 individuals, we find that larger-brained humans show preferential areal expansion within specific fronto-parietal cortical networks (default mode, dorsal attentional) and related subcortical regions, at the expense of primary sensory/motor systems. This targeted areal expansion recapitulates cortical remodeling across evolution, manifests by early childhood and is linked to molecular signatures of heightened metabolic cost. Our results define a new organizing principle in human brain patterning which governs the highly-coordinated remodeling of human brain shape as a function of naturally-occurring variations in brain size. One Sentence Summary A hodologically and metabolically expensive brain network is preferentially expanded in larger-brained humans.