Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
River-backwater pond interactions in the lower basin of the Salado River (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

The relationships between two sectors of the Salado River, in its lower basin, and a backwater pond were investigated during different phases of the hydrological cycle from May 1995 to June 1997. Samples were analysed for physical and chemical parameters and plankton from three sampling stations. Three main hydrological conditions were identified in relation to the discharge regime and degree of connectivity: 1) flood events characterized by low conductivity values, phosphorus influx to the system and decreased plankton density, with similar composition at all three sites; 2) a steady state condition with declining conductivity values, SRP concentrations, and phytoplankton densities, with peaks of zooplankton in the backwater pond; 3) dry periods characterized by high conductivity values, the isolation of the backwater pond, the river with lentic conditions plus peaks of phytoplankton and minimum zooplankton density in the backwater pond. Internal biological processes prevailed in the backwater pond when the connectivity was low or absent. Combinations of geomorphological features (flush and backwater ponds), the hydrological regime and conductivity had different degrees of control on the plankton, according to their incidence in the community as determined by their transport from the upper basin, the exchange with storage zones and the importance of autogenic processes.
In vitro mTORC1 Kinase Assay for Mammalian Cells Protocol

[Abstract] Historically, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) was purified from mammalian cells using mild nonionic detergents such as NP-40 and or Triton-X100 that resulted in dissociation of core regulatory components essential for its native kinase activity. Consequently, these older kinase assays required MnCl2 to artificially enhance the weak phosphotransfer activity observed (Bai et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2002). With the use of the zwitterionic detergent 3-[(3-Cholamidopropyl) dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS), the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) containing Regulatory-associated protein of mTOR (Raptor) and Lst8 (also known as GbetaL) can be successfully purified as a complex. This in vitro kinase assay allows for purification of mTORC1 that resembles its physiological state and retains kinase activity under physiological MgCl2 concentrations (Sancak et al., 2007). The activity of mTORC1 can be further enhanced through the use of hyperactive mutations within the kinase domain of mTOR or inclusion of GTP-bound RAS enriched in brain (Rheb) that is supplemented into the in vitro kinase assays. Rheb is a small-G-protein that binds to and activates mTORC1 to phosphorylate downstream substrates, such as eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-BP1 (4E-BP1) (Burnett et al., 1998), ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) (Kim et al., 2002), Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) (Dodd et al., 2015), and proline-rich Akt substrate of 40 kDa (PRAS40) (Dunlop et al., 2009).
Improving quality and safety of fresh fruits and vegetables after harvest by the use of biocontrol agents and natural materials

World trends are moving towards reduced pesticide use in fresh fruit and vegetables. Along with this trend, several physical and biological means have been evaluated as safer alternatives for the use of chemical fungicides. The use of microbial antagonists for the control of postharvest diseases received special attention, and has been extensively investigated. Most of the reported yeast and bacteria antagonists were naturally occurring on fruit surfaces. Microbial biocontrol agents of postharvest diseases have been criticized mainly for not providing as consistent or broad-spectrum control as synthetic fungicides. The first generation of biological controls for postharvest spoilage relied on the use of single antagonists. Perhaps it is unrealistic for us to expect disease control comparable to synthetic fungicides by the use of single antagonists. It can be expected that enhancing efficacy of biocontrol agents of postharvest diseases to an acceptable level will utilize a combination of different biological and physical means. As we learn more about the fundamental basis underlying the protective effect of microbial antagonists, bioactive compounds, and induced resistance, more effective methods of formulating, applying and combining complementary biological approaches for additive and/or synergistic effects will emerge. So far the results obtained with the different combinations of biological chemical and physical means demonstrate the potential of this multifaceted approach as a viable alternative to synthetic fungicides.
Inheritance of Resistance to Phytophthora Root Rot in Highbush Blueberry

Young highbush blueberry seedlings (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) from 26 crosses of a partial diallel were inoculated with Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands by dipping the roots into a mycelial slurry. The seedlings were grown 90 days in sand in the greenhouse and rated for resistance to root rot damage. Of the 2412 inoculated seedlings, 214 (8.9%) were resistant. The 2 parental clones that produced the largest percentage of resistant seedlings were US 141 and G-164; within their progenies, each produced an average of 18% resistant seedlings. Mean squares for general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were significant at the 1% and 5% levels, respectively. The mean square estimate for GCA was about 5 times higher than that for SCA, While both additive and nonadditive effects are important, rapid improvement can be made by phenotypic selection. Resistance to P. cinnamomi in blueberry progenies studied appears to be partially recessive and quantitatively inherited. Inoculation of young seedlings by root dipping in a mycelial slurry of P. cinnamomi and growing the seedlings in sand provided rapid identification of resistant plants.
The effect of heating on the storage stability of unhomogenized cream (30

Effet de differentes conditions de chauffage (2,5 a 20s et 85 a 145 o C) sur la destabilisation des membranes des globules lipidiques et leur instabilite ulterieure a l'entreposage. Il apparait que la temperature de pasteurisation ne devrait pas depasser 105 o C
The ¤influence of seed vigour on field performance and the evaluation of the applicability of the controlled deterioration vigour test in oil seed rape (Brassica napus) and pea (Pisum sativum)

12 rape seed lots (3 cultivars each of 4 lots) and 9 pea seed lots (3 cultivars each of 3 lots) of various ages were used in laboratory tests and field trials. Plants of older rape seed lots performed poorly throughout the growing season, and final seed yield was significantly lower compared to that of young seed lots. Germination percentage of rape seeds in a standard test correlated poorly with field performance, whereas germination after controlled deterioration for 24 hours correlated significantly with plant growth in both sowings and with final yield in one sowing. Mean germination time in the standard test and after controlled deterioration had highly significant correlations with field performance and seed yield for rape seed in both sowings ; the applicability of a vigour test for Brassica species based on germination rate is discussed. Seedlings produced by the older pea seed lots emerged more slowly than plants from the young seed lots, but differences in growth characteristics diminished throughout the growing season. Differences in seed yield were only slightly significant in one sowing. Controlled deterioration improved the correlation of germination percentage and the mean germination time for pea seeds with field performance, but overall the correlation with plant growth and yield was poor. The significance of these findings is discussed.
Joint effects of rising temperature and the presence of introduced predatory fish on montane amphibian populations

Amphibian populations in montane habitats are often subjected to high thermal variability, which may exacerbate anthropogenic impacts such as the introduction of exotic species. Here, we present data from two experiments exploring the joint effects of rising temperatures and the presence of waterborne cues from an exotic predatory fish on the short‐ and long‐term antipredatory responses (i.e. activity and time to metamorphosis respectively) of Rana iberica and Salamandra salamandra larvae from two montane amphibian populations. We found some evidence of a cumulative effect of an increase in temperature and the presence of predators. Although predator recognition was not precluded at rising temperatures, we observed an increase in larval activity in warmer water, which might negatively affect survival by favoring prey detectability by predators. We also observed a strong quadratic effect of temperature and a joint effect of temperature and predators on larval development: at intermediate temperatures, larvae exposed to exotic trout cues had greatly accelerated metamorphosis. These results suggest that warmer conditions might be particularly harmful for larvae in montane wetlands enduring the presence of exotic predators.
Mouth Cleaning of Lemon Sharks, Negaprion brevirostris, by Sharksuckers, Echeneis naucrates

The coexistence between sharksuckers and sharks is poorly understood. Here, we studied the symbiotic client-cleaner relationship between Lemon Sharks, Negaprion brevirostris, and sharksuckers, Echeneis naucrates, with a focus on cleaning inside the sharks' mouths. Where observable, cleaning bouts were either initiated by a sharksucker moving along a shark's snout while maintaining body contact or by swimming in a “dance like” manner in front of the shark's eye without contact, until the shark gaped to allow entry. Sharksuckers interacting with sharks were typically in their first year of their life. While being cleaned by sharksuckers, Lemon Sharks were always seen in one of two positions: either lying flat on the sea floor, or propped on their pectoral fins. Cleaning bouts lasted significantly longer when the shark was propped. In bouts where the location of sharksucker activity within the mouth could be determined, cleaning activity exclusively occurred around the teeth of the upper jaws. In more than half of the bouts, the shark terminated the cleaning by spitting out the sharksucker. Overall, Lemon Sharks and sharksuckers show a highly evolved client-cleaner relationship with both able to influence and trigger the other's behavior.
Analysis of molecular mechanisms of response and resistance to vemurafenib (vem) in BRAFV600E melanoma.

8503^ Background: Vem induces frequent clinical responses (RR >50%) and improved survival in patients (pts) with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. Multiple mechanisms of escape from vem have been proposed. We performed a centralized analysis of pretreatment, cycle 1, day 15 (D15), and progression (DP) tumor samples collected during the phase II BRIM-2 trial (Sosman et al, NEJM 2012). Methods: Of 132 pts enrolled, archival tumor samples, biopsies taken at baseline (BL), D15, and DP were obtained from 84, 38, 26, and 22 pts, respectively, and analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for signaling molecules in the MAPK, PI3K/AKT, and cell cycle pathways. Genetic analyses of signaling genes were performed using Sequenom MASSarray and direct DNA sequencing. Results: High levels of ERK phosphorylation were seen at BL indicating constitutive MAPK signaling due to the BRAF mutation. In 19/22 paired samples, pERK levels were reduced following vem (BL vs D15). Mean absolute pERK reduction in pts with clinical respons.
The Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Inhibitor Entinostat (SNDX-275) Targets Hodgkin Lymphoma through a Dual Mechanism of Immune Modulation and Apoptosis Induction.

Abstract 1562 Poster Board I-585 Purpose SNDX-275 is an oral, class 1 isoform selective HDACi. Phase 1 studies in leukemia demonstrated the agent has a long half-life and that weekly or every other week dosing is sufficient for antitumor activity. Based on recent favorable in vitro and in vivo activity of several HDAC inhibitors in HL, we investigated the in vitro activity of SNDX275 in HL-derived cell lines. Methods For apoptosis and gene expression analysis 05 × 106 cells were incubated with 0.1-2 μM of SNDX-275 for 24-72 hours before they were examined for proliferation and cell death by the MTS assay and the annexin-PI and FACS analysis. For combination studies, cells were incubated with 0.1-2 uM of SNDX-275 and 1-20 nM of either gemcitabine or bortezomib for 48-72 hours. Gene and protein expression were measured by RT-PCR, western blot, and immunohistochemistry. SNDX-275 effects on a panel of 30 cytokines and chemokines was assayed on 05 × 106 cells after incubation of 48 hrs using a multiplex assay. Results SNDX-275 induced cell death in a dose and time dependent manner with an IC50 of 0.4 μM. At the molecular level, SNDX-275 increased H3 acetylation, up-regulated p21 protein expression, and activated the intrinsic apoptosis pathway by down-regulating the anti-apoptotic X-linked inhibitor or apoptosis (XIAP) protein, which was associated with activation of caspase 9 and 3. Combination studies demonstrated that SNDX-275 had synergistic effects when combined with gemcitabine and bortezomib. To further investigate the potential for SNDX-275 activity in HL we measured the effect of SNDX-275 on pathways that may contribute to an anti-tumor immune response. Dysregulated cytokine/chemokine production has been shown to contribute to HL pathology, including immune tolerance of the cancer cells. SNDX-275 increased IL12 p40-70, IP10, and RANTES, and decreased the level of IL13 and IL4, thus favoring Th1-type cytokines/chemokines. In addition, recent data has demonstrated that a variety of epigenetic-modulating drugs may up-regulate the expression of cancer testis tumor associated antigens, leading to a favorable immune response. None of the lines expressed the CTAs without induction. SNDX275 was able to induce CTA expression of SSX2 in L428 but not HDLM2 whereas MAGE-A was induced in both HL cell lines. NY-ESO expression was not induced. Conclusions Our studies demonstrate that SNDS-275 has dual effect on apoptotic and immunomodulatory pathways in HL. Furthermore, this data demonstrates that SNDX-275 may upregulate CTAs suggesting that this treatment may render the tumor more immunogeneic and susceptible to immune mediated killing with tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The selectivity profile of SNDX-275 also suggests that HDAC1 and 2 are the primary targets for HDAC inhibition in these cells. Phase 2 studies with SNDX-275 in HL are ongoing. Disclosures Younes:MethylGene: Honoraria, Research Funding.
A New, Model-Independent, Spectrum-Based Gene Prediction Technique

A NEW, MODEL-INDEPENDENT, SPECTRUM-BASED GENE PREDICTION TECHNIQUE Sajid A. Marhon Advisor: University of Guelph, 2015 Dr. Stefan C. Kremer Detecting protein-coding regions is a fundamental step in genome analysis. This step is a precursor to analyzing protein sequences. Different techniques have been proposed for detecting protein-coding regions in DNA sequences. Popular techniques use probabilistic models such as Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) that depend on homology information (a learning model) in the analysis of DNA sequences, and this makes the application of these techniques restricted to species that have homologs. This approach is classified as a modeldependent method. Digital Signal Processing (DSP)-based techniques, which rely on the spectral analysis of DNA sequences, extract the period-3 spectrum of DNA sequences to detect protein-coding regions. DSP-based techniques are classified as model-independent techniques. In this research, I propose a new, DSP-based technique that overcomes the limitation in the prediction accuracy of the current DSP-based techniques and the problem of application specificity of learning-based techniques. In my technique, I propose four improvements in different stages of the gene prediction process: (1) a dynamic representation scheme, (2) an efficient method for computing nucleotide distribution variance, (3) post-processing to attenuate background noise and detect spectrum peaks without requiring an experimental threshold, and (4) a new wide-range wavelet window. My experimental results show that my technique outperforms all other popular DSP-based techniques. In addition, the comparison of the results of the proposed technique with the popular HMMgene technique shows that my technique performs better on the novel gene detection problem. I believe that this is an area of research that has been underemphasized and deserves additional attention.
Natural and human impact in Mediterranean landscapes: An intriguing puzzle or only a question of time?

Abstract Time is a key factor to understand the effects of disturbance on natural communities or ecosystems. In Mediterranean landscapes, where nature and humans have been strongly intermingling since mid-Holocene, the relationships between plant ecology and palaeoecology and their role for the interpretation of natural and anthropogenic changes still needs to be clearly understood. Ecology and palaeoecology are both investigating such problems, but each of them cannot disentangle the specific role played by nature and by humans in shaping the present plant communities and landscapes. A new age of cooperation among researchers in ecology and palaeoecology is needed, and the integration of these closely related but separated research fields is necessary to explain the resulting dynamic puzzle. Plant ecologists should avoid the oversimplification of the actual causes as the exclusive drivers of plant communities and landscapes and force the exploitation of the available data to generate and test new hypotheses for past, present and future environmental reconstructions and management. Even when planning for the future biodiversity conservation, we need to properly use the existing information about millennia of human effects on the natural biotas, to properly set landscape management and conservation priorities.
INTERACCION DE LA NALOXONA CON LA PROGESTERONA Y EL ESTRADIOL, DURANTE EL ANESTRO POSPARTO EN LAS VACAS CEBU

EI objetivo lue determinar el eleeto de aplicaciones repetidas de naloxona (N), precedidas 0 no de hormonas esleroides exogenas, sobre la liberacion de la hormona luleinizante (LH) y sobre la presencia del primer cuerpo illleo, en vacas cebu (n=26) durante el anestro posparto, sujetas a control del amamantamiento, Los tratamientos lueron: tres inyecciones de N (SN); progesterona (P) seguida de N como en el tratamiento anlerior (SPN): estradiol (El seguido de N como en los ante rio res (SEN): combinaci6n de los tratamientos anteriores (PEN); como en PEN, pero solucion salina (S) sustituyo a N (PES) Y I'll testigo, donde S suslituy6 a P, E YN (SS), Solamente la primera aplieaci6n de N, cuando no Iue precedida por la administraci6n de hormonas esteroides ovaricas, increment61a concentracion media de la LH. Los tratamientos SPN y PEN disminuyeron I'll intervalo del tratamiento a la formaci6n del primer cuerpo luteo posparto, No se encontraron evidencias de una inhibici6n opioide sobre la Iiberaci6n de la LH inducida por la administraci6n de hormonas esteroides ovaricas,
Identification et regroupement de QTL influençant la pression artérielle en modules épistatiques et analyse de deux gènes candidats chez la souche Dahl Salt-Sensitive

Essential hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Understanding the etiology of this pathology is of the outmost importance. Thus, unraveling novel genetic components and mechanisms regulating blood pressure (BP) via QTL identification and QTLQTL interaction analysis is a promising strategy. Congenic strains establishment is a common and fruitful means for achieving such goal. A quantitative trait, such as BP, has long been thought to result from the accumulation of infinitesimal effects exerted by multiple QTL. Nevertheless, BP is controlled by an epistasis-based architecture. Pair-wise comparisons of individual QTL based on the existence or lack-of epistatic interaction between them allowed us to establish a modularized organization of BP QTL in the Dahl Salt-sensitive model. Hence, two epistatic modules, namely EM1 and EM2 were constituted. In this fashion, any member of the EM1 is epistatic to all the other members of the same module and is additive to those of EM2. Regulatory hierarchies among BP with paradoxical effects can be revealed within each EM. The molecular identification of EM1 members, C18QTL4/Hdhd2 and C18QTL3/Tcof1, as well as the revelation of the molecular basis for their epistatic interaction enabled us to suggest a sequential regulation within this EM. Hdhd2 could act upstream of Tcof1 and regulate it by post-transcriptional modification. This interaction is the first experimental evidence derived from the predictive model of QTL modularization. The elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the genetic architecture of BP, as well as the identification of the causal genes for QTL will lay the grounds for expanding therapeutic targets and for developing more efficient antihypertensive treatments.
Assessing methods for the density of Ttriatoma dimidiata, the principal vector of Chagas' disease in Guatemala

We found a close relation between the number of Ilriatoma dimidiata collected by the man-hour method and the number of excrement spots of the vector on white paper placed on the wall for a week or more. The sticky trap, hiding box or animal trap was not effective for detecting Z dimidiata because of their dull and slow behavior. The flushing-out method is not effective either in estimating the density in the case of T dimidiata, because T dimidiata were not easily flushed-out from their hiding-places by spraying pyrethroid insecticides, We recommend use of the manhour collection or the white paper method for assessing the density of T dimidiata in Guatemala.