Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Etude des protéines d'Arabidopsis thaliana impliquées dans la nucléation des microtubules

L’une des particularites des cellules de plantes superieures est l’assemblage de differents reseaux microtubulaires au cours du cycle cellulaire. Cette specificite pourrait resulter d’un recrutement regule des complexes de nucleation des microtubules a l’enveloppe nucleaire et au cortex, sites de nucleation caracterises. Les complexes de nucleation ou complexes a g-tubuline contiennent, en plus de la g-tubuline, cinq autres proteines : les “Gamma-tubulin Complex Proteins” (GCP2 a GCP6). Les orthologues de toutes les GCPs ont ete identifies dans le genome d’Arabidopsis, suggerant que les mecanismes de nucleation microtubulaire sont conserves chez les cellules acentrosomales de plantes. Nous avons montre qu’AtGCP3 interagit avec la g-tubuline et AtGCP2 in vitro et que ces trois proteines font partie d’un meme complexe in vivo. Ces resultats suggerent que la g-tubuline, AtGCP2 et AtGCP3 pourraient s’associer pour former l’unite de base du complexe de nucleation, similaire a celle caracterisee chez la levure et la drosophile. Un complexe de 250 kDa, contenant la g-tubuline, est recrute a la surface de noyaux isoles de tabac suggerant un recrutement du complexe de nucleation a l’enveloppe nucleaire. Ces proteines pourraient jouer un role dans le recrutement des complexes de nucleation a la surface des noyaux. AtGCP3 est egalement localisee a l’interieur du noyau en phase G2. Elle possede un NLS bipartite actif, qui contient un site potentiel de phosphorylation. Des etudes structurales ont montre que l’interaction entre AtGCP3 et l’importine-a est structurellement possible et que la phosphorylation du NLS pourrait moduler cette interaction, et donc reguler l’activite de la proteine. La localisation intranucleaire d’AtGCP3 pourrait reveler un nouveau site de nucleation, qui serait implique dans la formation du fuseau mitotique.
An assessment of the risks posed by human pharmaceuticals in the environment to wild birds

When a pharmaceutical is ingested, a proportion of it is excreted unchanged, ending up in sewage. Birds foraging at sewage treatment works can take up these pharmaceuticals by ingesting invertebrates living in the sewage. There is concern that low concentrations of human pharmaceuticals can alter behaviour and physiology in wildlife species because of the evolutionary conservation of drug targets. In this thesis I focus on a heavily prescribed and environmentally persistent antidepressant, fluoxetine, which is used by humans to treat anxiety, but also causes side effects e.g. changes in appetite, libido and activity. To assess the risks posed by fluoxetine in contaminated invertebrates to foraging birds, wild-caught starlings (12 fluoxetine-treated and 12 controls) were fed with an environmentally relevant dose (928 ng/day) over winter and into the breeding season. After 22 weeks of treatment, liquid chromatography coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer revealed that fluoxetine accumulation in the starling brain (3.1 ng/g) was approximately 30 times lower than in humans (corrected for differences in dose and body mass) and elimination from starling tissues was 2.2 to 31 times faster than is found in human plasma. After 16-weeks of fluoxetine treatment, relative to controls, the fluoxetine-treated birds fed 24% less, and at times of nutritional stress, they fed 41% less. In mate choice experiments, fluoxetine-treated females showed less interest in males, spending 49% more time in the ‘no-choice’ zone than the control females did. However, no effects on anxiety related behaviour or activity levels were found. In a separate in-vitro experiment, the bioaccessibility of fluoxetine in invertebrate prey only varied by 13% between humans and birds and so could not explain all the inter-species variability in tissue accumulation. The observed changes to behaviour and physiology in starlings may have been caused by neuro-adaptations occurring over time, as are observed in humans possibly due to greater receptor sensitivity than humans. It is now important to assess how the effects of fluoxetine on captive individuals could translate to free living individuals; how these impacts interact with other stressors and whether there could be consequences for population dynamics and ecosystem functioning.
Testing Hypotheses About Recent Human Evolution From Skulls: Integrating Morphology, Function, Development, and Phylogeny

A multi-conductor electrical connector means for use in an adverse hostile environment such as a subsea installation, the connector means including a plurality of connector members and connector elements providing electrical connections for a plurality of circuits. Each connector member carried in a plug means is individually, separately adjustable to provide an effective electrical contact with its associated connector element to compensate for metal deformations in contacting surfaces under constant high pressures required in such hostile environment and to provide for the making and breaking of repeated electrical connections as may be required during installation and maintenance. A plug means for an electrical connector means in which an elongated contact member is non-rotatably advanced by a rotatable driven follower member.
Animal Models of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pathogenesis and Vaccine Development: Opportunities and Future Directions

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the leading cause of respiratory failure and viral death in infants (Thompson et al., 2003). In HRSV bronchiolitis, plugs of mucus, epithelial cell debris, and innate inflammatory cells obstruct the airways leading to pulmonary obstruction (Aherne et al., 1970; Lugo and Nahata, 1993). In autopsy lung tissues from fatal HRSV disease cases, epithelial damage and mechanical airway obstruction are implicated as key features of HRSV pathogenesis (Johnson et al., 2007; Welliver et al., 2007). Although laboratory animal models of HRSV pathogenesis have been widely used to determine pathogenic mechanisms of HRSV infection, the commonly used lab strains of HRSV do not cause airway epithelial cell desquamation, airway mucus production, or lung dysfunction in mice (Moore et al., 2009a; Peebles et al., 2001). However, some strains of HRSV (e.g. line 19 and clinical isolate A2001/2-20) were shown to cause airway mucus expression and lung dysfunction in mice, and clinical isolates can cause airway epithelial cell desquamation in mice (Moore et al., 2009a; Stokes et al., 2011). The fusion (F) glycoprotein of HRSV strain line 19 was implicated in the mechanism of line 19-induced airway mucus (Moore et al., 2009a). Variation in HRSV glycoprotein sequence may contribute to disease variation observed clinically. The pathogenesis of HRSV is likely due to a combination of host and viral genetic determinants. HRSV strainspecific virulence in mice facilitates mechanistic studies of HRSV pathogenesis and may provide more robust challenge models to test whether vaccines have potential to prevent HRSV disease.
Addiction of Selfies and Social Networking Sites: An Epidemic plaguing the Human Race across the Globe

Internet Addiction Disorder refers to the problematic use of internet and though it has not made its place in DSMV, but it is formally recognized by the American Psychological Association as a disorder. While time spent on the internet can be hugely productive, compulsive Internet use can interfere with daily life, work, relationships and productivity. Though internet surfing can provide a vast amount of information at a click but the compulsive overuse is often in pursuit of pleasure rather than knowledge. The authenticity of the information offered is also not questioned by the naïve users. Internet Addiction, otherwise known as computer addiction, online addiction, or Internet addiction disorder (IAD), covers a variety of impulsecontrol problems, including Cybersex Addiction, Net Compulsions, Information Overload, CyberRelationship Addiction etc. Cybercrimes are increasing day by day and many innocent youngsters become a prey to cyber scavengers. Another major concern for researchers is the mobile mania especially in youth. A number of researches suggest that most of the mobile users are turning slaves to the gadget which appears so harmless. It absorbs too much of a person‟s time causing them to neglect their relationships, work, college, sleep and other important tasks. A gadget which has made life so convenient represents a real problem for 4 out of 10 adults in Spain for whom cell phones has turned into addiction that can lead them into consequences as dangerous as those caused by alcohol and drugs (Torrecilas, F.L. 2007) Experiments have shown that resisting internet and mobiles is resulting in withdrawal symptoms like irritation, headache, stress and even palpitations in more severe cases. These symptoms were somewhat similar to withdrawal symptoms of certain drugs. The youngsters using mobiles for many hours a day may develop psychological disorders (Francisca, 2007) Most young adults in U.K said that they would give up alcohol, chocolate, sex, tea or coffee than live without their mobiles (Williams, 2007) If internet use and mobile mania is becoming a compulsive urge despite the negative consequences, then it‟s high time to become cautious and strike a new balance. This paper suggests the preliminary measures which can be taken at individual level to protect oneself against the addiction before it becomes pathological and compulsive and also throws light upon the symptoms of technology addiction.
Evolutionary Cell Computing: From Protocells to Self-Organized Computing

On the path from inanimate to animate matter, a key step was the self-organization of molecules into protocells - the earliest ancestors of contemporary cells. Studies of the properties of protocells and the mechanisms by which they maintained themselves and reproduced are an important part of astrobiology. These studies also have the potential to greatly impact research in nanotechnology and computer science. Previous studies of protocells have focussed on self-replication. In these systems, Darwinian evolution occurs through a series of small alterations to functional molecules whose identities are stored. Protocells, however, may have been incapable of such storage. We hypothesize that under such conditions, the replication of functions and their interrelationships, rather than the precise identities of the functional molecules, is sufficient for survival and evolution. This process is called non-genomic evolution. Recent breakthroughs in experimental protein chemistry have opened the gates for experimental tests of non-genomic evolution. On the basis of these achievements, we have developed a stochastic model for examining the evolutionary potential of non-genomic systems. In this model, the formation and destruction (hydrolysis) of bonds joining amino acids in proteins occur through catalyzed, albeit possibly inefficient, pathways. Each protein can act as a substrate for polymerization or hydrolysis, or as a catalyst of these chemical reactions. When a protein is hydrolyzed to form two new proteins, or two proteins are joined into a single protein, the catalytic abilities of the product proteins are related to the catalytic abilities of the reactants. We will demonstrate that the catalytic capabilities of such a system can increase. Its evolutionary potential is dependent upon the competition between the formation of bond-forming and bond-cutting catalysts. The degree to which hydrolysis preferentially affects bonds in less efficient, and therefore less well-ordered, peptides is also critical to evolution of a non-genomic system. Based on these results, a new computational object called a "molnet" is defined. Like a neural network, it is formed of interconnected units that send "signals" to each other. Like molecules, neural networks have a specific function once their structure is defined. The difference between a molnet and traditional neural networks, is that input to molnets is not simply passed along and processed from input to output units, but rather it is utilized to form and break connections(bonds), and thus to form new structures. Molnets represent a powerful tool that can be used to understand the conditions under which chemical systems can form large molecules, such as proteins, and display ever more complex functions. This has direct applications, for example to the design of smart,synthetic fabrics. Additional information is contained in the original.
dSarm/Sarm1 Governs a Conserved Axon Death Program: A Dissertation

Axonal and synaptic degeneration is a hallmark of peripheral neuropathy, brain injury, and neurodegenerative disease. Axonal degeneration has been proposed to be mediated by an active autodestruction program, akin to apoptotic cell death; however, loss-of-function mutations capable of potently blocking axon self-destruction have not been described. Using a forward genetic screen in Drosophila , we identified that loss of the Toll receptor adaptor dSarm (sterile a/Armadillo/Toll-Interleukin receptor homology domain protein) cell-autonomously suppresses Wallerian degeneration for weeks after axotomy. Severed mouse Sarm1 null axons exhibit remarkable long-term survival both in vivo and in vitro , indicating that Sarm1 prodegenerative signaling is conserved in mammals. Our results provide direct evidence that axons actively promote their own destruction after injury and identify dSarm/Sarm1 as a member of an ancient axon death signaling pathway. This death signaling pathway can be activated without injury by loss of the N-terminal self-inhibitory domain, resulting in spontaneous neurodegeneration. To investigate the role of axon self-destruction in disease, we assessed the effects of Sarm1 loss on neurodegeneration in the SOD1-G93A model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a lethal condition resulting in progressive motor neuron death and paralysis. Loss of Sarm1 potently protects motor axons and synapses from degeneration, but only extends animal survival by 10%. Thus, there appears to be at least two driving forces in place during ALS disease progression: (1) Sarm1 mediated axon death, and (2) cell body destruction via some unknown mechanism.
Exotic Plants of Halimun Salak Corridor: Micro-Environment, Detection and Risk Analysis of Invasive Plants

The research of exotic plant species detection and invasive plant risk analysis conducted in Halimun Salak corridor area. This study aims to do inventory of exotic plant species in this area and perform invasive plant risk analysis to the exotic plants found. T he invasion risk assessment of detected exotic plants analyzed using Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method. Moreover, analysis of multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) based on inequality performed on relative humidity, light intensity, and soil pH. There are eleven exotic plant species which consist of three tree species and eight species of herbs / shrubs. Lantana camara and Camellia sinensis are the exotic species with biggest and smallest WRA score respectively. MDS analysis shows that exotic tree species have similar environmental variables. Moreover, environmental variables of Clidemia hirta are relatively different from other exotic species found in the Halimun Salak corridor. Recommendations for the management of invasive exotic plant species in the area are: immediate management implementation , priority of eradication to exotics that have not been abundant but have a high risk score, two management options (gradual eradication or containment) should be considered for exotic s with very high WRA score such as Ageratina riparina, Chromolaena odorata and Lantana camara .
Mechanisms of TAL1 Induced Leukemia in Mice: A Dissertation

Activation of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene TALI is the most common genetic event seen in both childhood and adult T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T -ALL). Despite recent success in treating T -ALL patients, TALI patients do not respond well to current therapies. In hopes of leading the way to better therapies for se patients, we have sought to determine the mechanism(s) of Tall induced leukemia in mice. By generating a DNA-binding mutant Tall transgenic mouse we have determined that the DNA binding activity of Tall is not required to induce leukemia. have also shown that Tall expression in the thymus affects thymocyte development and survival. We demonstrate that Tall heterodimerizes with the class I bHLH proteins E47 and HEB in our mouse models of TALI induced leukemia. Severe thymocyte differentiation arrest and disease acceleration in Tall/E2A+/and Tall/HEB+/mice provides genetic evidence that Tall causes leukemia by inhibiting the function of the transcriptional activators E47 and HEB which have been previously shown to be important in T cell development. In preleukemic Tall thymocytes, we find the corepressor mSin3A/HACI bound to the CD4 enhancer, whereas an E47/HEB/p300 complex is detected in wild type thymocytes. Furthermore, mouse Tall tumors are sensitive to pharmacologic inhibition of HDAC and undergo apoptosis. These data demonstrate that Tall induces T cell leukemia by repressing the transcriptional activity of E47/HB and suggests that HDAC inhibitors may prove efficacious in T-ALL patients that express TALI.
Two Catechol 1, 2-Dioxygenases from an Aniline-assimilating Bacterium, Frateuria species ANA-18

When Frateuria species ANA-18was grown on aniline, two catechol 1, 2-dioxygenases (CD I and CDII, EC 1.13.11.1) were found in a cell-free extract of the strain. CDI and CDII were separated from each other by DE-52 chromatography and purified to homogeneity by successive column chromatography. The molecular weights of CDI and CD II were 38, 000 and 36, 000, respectively, by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. CD I contained 2 mol of sulfhydryl groups per mol of protein, but CDII did not have cysteine or cystine residues. CDI was more stable on the acidic side and against heating than CDII. The activity of CDI was inhibited by AgNO3, HgCl2, iodoacetic acid and p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, but that of CDII was not inhibited or was less affected by them because of the lack of sulfhydryl groups. CD I exhibited a high activity for the extradiol cleavage of 3-methylcatechol, and the ratio of intradiol to extradiol activity was 100:120.
Defining eradication units to control invasive pests

Summary 1 Pest eradication is an important facet of conservation and ecological restoration and has been applied successfully to invasive rat species on offshore and oceanic islands. Successful eradication requires the definition of a target population that is of manageable size, with low recolonization risk. We applied a molecular genetic approach to the identification of populations suitable for eradication (eradication units) to provide a new tool to assist the management of brown rats Rattus norvegicus on South Georgia (Southern Ocean). 2 A single eradication attempt on South Georgia (4000 km2) would be an order of magnitude larger than any previously successful rat eradication programme (110 km2). However, rats are demarcated into glacially isolated populations, which could allow sequential eradication. We examined genetic variation at 18 nuclear microsatellite loci to identify gene flow between two glacially isolated rat populations. One population, Greene Peninsula (30 km2), was earmarked for an eradication trial. 3 Genetic diversity in 40 rats sampled from each population showed a pronounced level of genetic population differentiation, allowing individuals to be assigned to the correct population of origin. 4 Our study suggests limited or negligible gene flow between the populations and that glaciers, permanent ice and icy waters restrict rat dispersal on South Georgia. Such barriers define eradication units that, with due care, could be eradicated with low risk of recolonization, hence facilitating the removal of brown rats from South Georgia. 5 Synthesis and applications. We propose that the molecular definition of eradication units is a valuable approach to management as it (i) provides a temporal perspective to gene flow, which is important if dispersal events are rare; (ii) allows an eradication failure (i.e. surviving individuals) to be distinguished from a recolonization event, opening the way for adaptive management in the face of failure; and (iii) can aid the management of pest species in habitat continua by resolving meta-population dynamics, so guiding pest eradication/control strategies. This study further illustrates the developing array of applied ecological issues in which molecular techniques can help guide management.
Estudo de base populacional em um assentamento agrícola da Amazônia brasileira: Influência genética do antígeno Duffy/ receptor de quimiocinas (DARC) na resposta imune específica contra o Plasmodium vivax

The P. vivaxDuffy binding protein (PvDBP) and its erythrocytic receptor, the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC), are involved in the major P. vivax erythrocyte invasion pathway. Here, in an agricultural settlement of the Brazilian Amazon area, we carried-out an open cohort study to analyzed DARC genotypes and its relationship to vivax susceptibility and the PvDBP immune response. To answer this question, DARC genotypes were determined by real-time PCR. Antibodies responses were analyzed by conventional serology (ELISA) using recombinant proteins, and byan in vitro functional assay that detect binding inhibitory antibodies (BIAbs) targeting PvDBP . Among 690 individuals enrolled in the study, the distribution of DARC genotypes was consistent with the heterogeneous ethnic origin of the Amazon population, with a predominance of genotype FY*A/FY*B.In the study area, DARC genotypes were not associated with P. vivax susceptibility. Also, there was no association between DARC and anti-PvDBP IgG, as detected by ELISA. However, the follow-up study demonstrated that BIAbs towards to be more frequent in heterozygous carrying a DARC-silent allele (genotypes FY*A/FY*BES and FY*B/FY*BES). In addition, antibodies to PvMSP119, another P. vivaxprotein,were not associated with DARC expression. Moreover, the BIAbs response remained constant during the 12 monthsof the follow up. Together, these results provide the first evidence that DARCexpression may influence the anti-PvDBP inhibitory immune response.