Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
338 EFFECT OF TRACE MINERAL NUTRITION ON FOLLICULAR RESPONSE, OVULATION, AND EMBRYO PRODUCTION IN SUPEROVULATED ANGUS HEIFERS

We determined whether trace mineral supplementation prior to embryo collection affected embryo production and quality. Twenty half-sibling, Angus heifers originating from a common herd were assigned to three treatment groups using a 3 × 3 latin square design and three rotations of the treatments: (1) heifers received no added mineral to their diet (Control;; n = 53); (2) heifers received a commercially available organic mineral supplement (Organic;; Albion Cattle Breeder Pak, Des Moines, IA, USA;; n = 52); and (3) heifers received an isomineral, all inorganic mineral supplement (Inorganic;; Inorganic Breeder Pak, Albion, Des Moines, IA, USA;; n = 55). All heifers had ad libitum access to hay and were fed a supplement containing corn and soybean meal. Heifers received a 25-mg injection of PGF on Day −23 at which point individual feeding of the corn/soybean/mineral supplement was initiated and fed at recommended levels until the day of embryo collection. All heifers were monitored for signs of estrus, but regardless, all heifers received a 1-mg injection of estradiol cypionate (ECP;; Pharmacia, Kalamazoo, MI, USA) and a CIDR (Pharmacia) on Day −16. From Day −12 to Day −8 heifers received 29 mg of follicle stimulating hormone (pFSH, batch 9109, Sioux Biochemical, Sioux Center, IA, USA) in a twice daily decreasing dose schedule. On Day −9 heifers received two 5-mg injections of PGF (AM and PM) and the CIDR was removed in the PM. All heifers were inseminated artificially at 36, 48, and 60 h after CIDR removal. On Day 0, embryos were recovered using a nonsurgical procedure and were evaluated under a stereomicroscope. Heifers were given a 45-day adaption period of no mineral supplementation before initiating a new treatment as above. On Days −12, −7, and 0, ovaries were scanned via transrectal ultrasound to determine the presence and number of follicles and CL in each ovary. There were no treatment differences in the number of heifers with a CL on Day −12, the total number of follicles on Day −7, or the total numbers of CL and unovulated follicles on Day 0. Although the total number of recovered ova/embryos were similar among groups (4.2 ± 0.6, 3.6 ± 0.6, and 3.3 ± 0.6 for Control, Inorganic, and Organic heifers, respectively), the number of unfertilized oocytes was greater (P < 0.05) in Inorganic (2.3 ± 0.4) than in Organic (0.8 ± 0.4) heifers, whereas Control heifers were intermediate (1.3 ± 0.4). In addition, Control heifers had a greater (P < 0.10) number of degenerate embryos (0.9 ± 0.2) than Organic (0.3 ± 0.2) or Inorganic (0.3 ± 0.2) heifers. Organic heifers produced a greater number (P < 0.10) of transferable embryos (2.2 ± 0.4) than Inorganic heifers (1.1 ± 0.4), with Control heifers intermediate (2.0 ± 0.4). We conclude that heifer and mineral rotation accounted for the greatest differences in embryo production and quality. However, feeding an Organic mineral tended to increase the production of transferable embryos in purebred Angus heifers.
Extended Interaction With a BCI Video Game Changes Resting-State Brain Activity

Video games are a widespread leisure activity and essential for a substantial field of research. In several kinds of research, video games show positive effects on cognition. Video games’ ability to change the brain in a way that improves cognition is already evident in the research world. The underlying brain dynamics assessed by coherence (Coh) and partial-directed coherence (PDC) can shed light on the effect of video game playing. Here, resting-state brain dynamics have been analyzed before and after four weeks of video game playing. Fifteen participants took part in this article, which ran for one consecutive month. Participants played a gem-swapping game with a brain–computer interface (BCI) paradigm for five days per week for approximately 90 min for four continuous weeks. Significant ( $p< 0.05$ ) changes in information flow and connectivity measures for Coh and PDC were found in the fronto-central, fronto-parietal, and centro-parietal networks due to extended interaction with BCI. The results suggest that BCI is a potential facilitator of such resting-state network changes and may help to develop new strategies for improving cognition, but we also cannot deny the possible effects of such an effort on the disruption of a player’s sense of engagement and increased mental fatigue.
How does the accuracy of fisher knowledge affect seahorse conservation status?

O’Donnell, Pajaro & Vincent (2010) provide an interesting contribution to the study of indigenous/traditional knowledge and its modern relevance to marine conservation in insular south-east Asia, particularly given the rapid pace of socioeconomic change and ecological degradation in the region. The article examines how accurately fishermen in the Philippines report declines of the seahorse Hippocampus comes over a period of several decades by comparing fishermen’s interviews of past and current declines with daily fishermen logbook data. Given the dissonance between the results of these two datasets (due to retrospective bias), the authors conclude that caution should be exercised when fishermen’s knowledge regarding the status of a fishery are incorporated into quantitative conservation assessments. The conclusions of this particular case study are reasonable and important to consider when reconstructing historical trends in small-scale data-less artisanal fisheries. I would suggest, however, that researchers also need to consider ethnoecological knowledge in the context of a peoples’ holistic understanding of the local environment, rather than on peoples’ understanding of single-species trends only, which may suffer from retrospective bias as suggested by this paper. For fishers, an in-depth and holistic assessment of the local ecosystem affords an adequate cognitive framework to exploit its productive potential. Therefore, a complete analysis of human use of a particular marine environment depends on the study of its ecological structure and processes, as well as on the appraisal of its human ecology more generally. Consequently, researchers need to analyze the productive practices exerted by local inhabitants on the marine environment including an analysis of spatio-temporal human resource exploitation patterns (e.g. seasonal changes in fishing gear), human responses to variability in inter- and intra-habitat relative productivity and the influence of this variability on subsistence and economic fishing strategies, and human threats to particular marine habitats. In sum, only a holistic approach to the biological and social nature of a people’s cognition and use of a given seascape will allows us to design managerial schemes that are more comprehensive. This, in turn, will enhance local participation in the management and conservation of single and/or multiple tropical inshore species.
THE EFFECT OF THE INFILL TYPE AND DENSITY ON HARDNESS OF 3D PRINTED PARTS

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the infill type and density on hardness of the manufactured components with rapid prototyping technique. Computer Aided Design (CAD) models of specimens were prepared using Autodesk Inventor Software. Then the models were exported as STL file format for rapid prototyping. Disc shape specimens were produced with the diameter of 20 mm and thickness of 5 mm using Prusa I3 desktop type 3D printer with 90-300 microns layer height manufacturing capacity. The printer settings were adjusted with Simplified3D software. The infill types were selected as rectilinear (linear), grid (diamond) and honeycomb (hexagonal). Layer heights were used as 200 microns for all of the samples. For each infill types; the specimens were produced with the infill density values of 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. The heated bed temperature was selected as 60 0 C to increase the bonding and surface quality. The extruder temperature was set to 195 0 C. Then the hardness of the manufactured specimens were measured with EMCO-TEST DuraScan micro hardness machine that has ability to perform Vickers and Knoop methods range between 10 gf and 10 kgf. In order to find the effects of the infill type and density on hardness of 3D printed specimens, the obtained results from Vickers micro hardness measurements were compared. The hexagonal infill with the density of 100% showed the highest hardness and also the hardness patterns could be presented from high to low as Hexagonal > Linear > Diamond.
The Interaction of β-Arrestin with the AP-2 Adaptor Is Required for the Clustering of β2-Adrenergic Receptor into Clathrin-coated Pits*

β-Arrestins are cytosolic proteins that regulate the signaling and the internalization of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Although termination of receptor coupling requires β-arrestin binding to agonist-activated receptors, GPCR endocytosis involves the coordinate interactions between receptor-β-arrestin complexes and other endocytic proteins such as adaptor protein 2 (AP-2) and clathrin. Clathrin interacts with a conserved motif in the β-arrestin C-terminal tail; however, the specific molecular determinants in β-arrestin that bind AP-2 have not been identified. Moreover, the respective contributions of the interactions of β-arrestin with AP-2 and clathrin toward the targeting of GPCRs to clathrin-coated vesicles have not been established. Here, we identify specific arginine residues (Arg394 and Arg396) in the β-arrestin 2 C terminus that mediate β-arrestin binding to AP-2 and show, in vitro, that these domains in β-arrestin 1 and 2 interact equally well with AP-2 independently of clathrin binding. We demonstrate in HEK 293 cells by fluorescence microscopy that β2-adrenergic receptor-β-arrestin complexes lacking the β-arrestin-clathrin binding motif are still targeted to clathrin-coated pits. In marked contrast, receptor-β-arrestin complexes lacking the β-arrestin/AP-2 interactions are not effectively compartmentalized in punctated areas of the plasma membrane. These results reveal that the binding of a receptor-β-arrestin complex to AP-2, not to clathrin, is necessary for the initial targeting of β2-adrenergic receptor to clathrin-coated pits.
Early Development of Mouse Anterior Pituitary: Role of Mesenchyme

Epithelial‐mesenchymal interaction in the early development of the anterior pituitary gland was examined by chronological observations on fetal pituitary epithelium grafted in vivo with and without its own mesenchyme. At 8.5 days of gestation, the RATHKE'S pouch began to evaginate toward the diencephalon. The mesenchymal tissue around the pouch was at first very sparsely scattered, but then condensed, on day 10 becoming visible under a dissecting microscope. When RATHKE'S pouch epithelia from 10‐ and 12‐day fetuses were transplanted alone under the kidney capsule, they proliferated slightly to form cysts, the cells of which differentiated into ACTH‐producing cells, but not into prolactin‐producing cells. Pituitary morphogenesis did not occur. When these epithelia were recombined with homotypic mesenchyme and transplanted, the epithelia proliferated remarkably on one side of the wall of the pouch, resulting in formation of a pars distalis that contained both ACTH‐producing cells and prolactin‐producing cells. Heterotypic mesenchyme, such as lung, dermis and mammary gland mesenchyme, could induce 12‐day epithelium, but not 10‐day epithelium to develop into pars distalis. Thus, fetal pituitary epithelium has the capacity of autodifferentiation into ACTH‐producing cells, not into prolactin‐producing cells, and requires mesenchymal support for development of the pars distalis.
Mining for Restriction Endonucleases in Nicaragua

The Molecular Biology Center at the University of Central America in Nicaragua (CBM-UCA) was founded in 1999 to strengthen biotechnology research capacity and education in Nicaragua and the Central American region. One of the first projects launched by the CBM-UCA was bio-prospecting for key industrial enzymes. This ongoing study seeks to discover and characterize restriction enzymes (RE) in bacteria, and to create a database of microorganisms isolated and identified by 16S rDNA sequencing methodology. In this paper we highlight the importance of studying the extreme environmental conditions for building knowledge of Nicaraguan biodiversity through modern molecular biology techniques such as metagenomics. The isolation of prototype enzymes such as EcoRV and ClaI is presented as an update and extension of previously undertaken work
IFN-γ-Dependent Delay of In Vivo Tumor Progression by Fas Overexpression on Murine Renal Cancer Cells1 2

The role of Fas in the regulation of solid tumor growth was investigated. Murine renal carcinoma (Renca) cells were constitutively resistant to Fas-mediated killing in vitro, but exhibited increased expression of Fas and sensitivity to Fas-mediated killing after exposure to IFN-γ and TNF. Transfected Renca cells overexpressing Fas were efficiently killed in vitro upon exposure to anti-Fas Ab (Jo2). When Fas-overexpressing Renca cells were injected into syngenic BALB/c mice, there was a consistent and significant delay in tumor progression, reduced metastasis, and prolonged survival that was not observed for Renca cells that overexpressed a truncated nonfunctional Fas receptor. The delay of in vivo tumor growth induced by Fas overexpression was not observed in IFN-γ−/− mice, indicating that IFN-γ is required for the delay of in vivo tumor growth. However, there was a significant increase of infiltrated T cells and in vivo apoptosis in Fas-overexpressing Renca tumors, and Fas-overexpressing Renca cells were also efficiently killed in vitro by T cells. In addition, a strong therapeutic effect was observed on Fas-overexpressing tumor cells by in vivo administration of anti-Fas Ab, confirming that overexpressed Fas provides a functional target in vivo for Fas-specific ligands. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that Fas overexpression on solid tumor cells can delay tumor growth and provides a rationale for therapeutic manipulation of Fas expression as a means of inducing tumor regression in vivo.
Economic growth and quality of institutions in 27 postsocialist economies

The relationship between institutional quality and economic growth is revisited. ,A panel cointegration methodology and causality analysis are applied to 27 postsocialist economies over the period from 1996 to 2016. ,Utilizing the Worldwide Governance Indicators as a means of assessing the quality of institutions, it is found that in the long run, economic growth is positively associated with the rule of law and voice and accountability. In the short run, regulatory quality retains a positive effect, but voice and accountability demonstrate a puzzling negative effect on economic growth that merits further analysis. In exploring the causal dimension of our variables, supporting evidence of the strong links between the quality of institutions and economic growth is provided, hence rendering robust results. ,To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that an ARDL methodological framework, which addresses potential endogeneity issues, is used to investigate the relationship between institutional quality and growth in the context of postsocialist economies.
The Contribution of One-carbon Metabolism to the Pathogenesis of Francisella tularensis

An emerging paradigm shift in bacterial pathogenesis has resulted in renewed interest in metabolism during infection. The acquisition and synthesis of metabolites by pathogens in the host represents a critical obstacle to successful colonization and infection. The value of bacterial metabolic pathways during infection remains poorly characterized for many pathogens and warrants further investigation. One aspect of this, the contribution of one-carbon metabolism to pathogenic fitness was assessed. This metabolic pathway primarily transfers single carbons and contributes to the synthesis of amino acids, DNA, and proteins. The donated carbon is typically derived from 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate, a central compound in one-carbon metabolism. Since the requirement of a metabolic pathway may vary among nutritionally diverse sites within a host, a systemic infection involving multiple niches would be an ideal model to assess the contribution of these pathways. Francisella tularensis is a gram-negative bacterium, a tier one bioterrorism agent, and the causative agent of a debilitating febrile illness known as tularemia. Since this organism is capable of establishing a systemic infection throughout the host, it provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate bacterial metabolism during infection. To evaluate this system in F. tularensis, mutagenesis of the two known sources of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate, the glycine cleavage system and the serine hydroxymethyltransferase, was performed. Loss of either of these pathways resulted in serine auxotrophy, identifying one-carbon metabolism as the exclusive serine biosynthetic pathway of F. tularensis. Under standard assay conditions, neither the glycine cleavage system nor the serine hydroxymethyltransferase proved to be essential for intracellular replication in the virulent F. tularensis subsp. tularensis. Despite this result, both 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate producing pathways contributed to pathogenesis in a murine model of pneumonic tularemia. Further, these pathways contributed to pathogenic fitness of Francisella to varying degrees throughout the host. Critically, a significant reduction in bacteremia was associated with the loss of either system. These studies highlight differing nutritional environments of distinct sites in the host and confirm that these sites exert variable metabolic stresses on this invasive pathogen. This work identifies one-carbon metabolism as a key bacterial metabolic pathway employed by F. tularensis to overcome nutritional limitation during infection.
Risk-taking and survival in the House Sparrow Passer domesticus: Are plumage ornaments costly?

An important cost of sexual and social colour signals may be increased conspicuousness of the animals to visual predators. Although such predation costs have repeatedly been proposed for various ornaments of birds, especially for melanised and depigmented signals with low presumed production costs, tests of this hypothesis are rare and inconclusive. In this study we investigated whether individual variation in plumage ornamentation was associated with predator-related risk-taking behaviour and short-term survival in free-living House Sparrows Passer domesticus. In a large sample of birds we measured three aspects of coloration used in sexual and social signalling: the size of the melanised black throat patch in males, and the area and conspicuousness of the depigmented wing-bar in both sexes. We measured risk-taking by manipulating the distance of feeders from shelters, and recorded individually ringed birds feeding close to and far from shelter. Sparrows seemed to perceive the farther feeders as more risky, as indicated by the shorter time spent and smaller groups feeding far from rather than close to shelter. However, the use of the more risky (farther) feeders was not related to any of the colour traits we measured, suggesting that Sparrows do not adjust their risk-taking behaviour to their ornamentation. Males (the more ornamented sex) did not take less risk than females. Furthermore, we found no evidence that larger throat patches or more ornamented wing-bars reduced the probability of survival. Our findings were robust and consistent across multiple approaches, even when we controlled for several potential confounding effects. These results do not support the suggestion that melanised and depigmented plumage ornaments have significant predation costs in House Sparrows.
Incidence and pathogenicity of Yersinia spp. isolates from poultry in Spain

Abstract Forty eviscerated and refrigerated chicken carcasses were collected from retail outlets in Leon (Spain) and investigated for the presence of Yersinia spp. Following a two-step enrichment procedure (phosphate buffer saline was used as primary enrichment and bile oxalate sorbose as secondary enrichment), yersiniae were isolated on cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin (CIN) and MacConkey agar. Yersinia spp. , Y. enterocolitica and Y. frederiksenii were detected in 26 (65%), 22 (55%) and six (15%) samples, respectively. The incidence of Yersinia and Y. enterocolitica was greater than that obtained in poultry meat by the majority of the consulted authors. Of the 68 Yersinia isolates, 52 were identified as Y. enterocolitica and 16 as Y. frederiksenii . Biotyping of Y. enterocolitica revealed that 45 (86·5%) strains corresponded to biotype 1A, and three (5·8%) to biotype 3. Four (7·7%) strains could not be classified. Two biotype 3 strains were found to be presumptively virulent according to the dye (Congo red and crystal violet) binding, low-calcium response, and pyrazinamidase activity techniques. It is suggested from results that the presence of Yersinia in poultry could represent a health risk for consumers in Spain. The education of people involved in production, processing and final preparation of poultry products are required in order to assure adequate cooking and to avoid cross-contamination.
Identifying Metasomatized Continental Lithospheric Mantle Involvement in Cenozoic Magmatism From Ta/Th Values, Southwestern North America

The accessory minerals rutile and apatite are rare or absent in the convecting upper mantle but occur in shallow, cooler, metasomatized continental lithospheric mantle (CLM) where they serve as carrier phases for the trace elements Ta (in rutile) and Th (in apatite). Because both minerals crystallize near‐solidus and are eliminated early during partial mantle melting, the relative abundances of rutile and apatite should control the Ta and Th abundances of mantle melts and provide a means of identifying the involvement of rutile‐ and/or apatite‐bearing metasomatized CLM in mafic continental magmatism. As a test, we investigated published Ta and Th abundances data from ~2,000 whole‐rock samples of mafic to intermediate composition, Cenozoic volcanic rocks in southwestern North America. Roughly half of the samples have Ta/Th values similar to those of island arc volcanic rocks (<0.2) or ocean island and mid‐ocean ridge basalts (>0.6). The remaining samples have intermediate and variable Ta/Th values between 0.2 and 0.6, independent of specific indices of crustal interaction (e.g., wt% P2O5/wt% K2O). We interpret the intermediate Ta/Th rocks as the products of direct melting of, or of extensive melt‐rock interaction with, rutile‐ and/or apatite‐bearing CLM. Intermediate Ta/Th rocks also have uniformly high 87Sr/86Sr (0.706 to 0.708) compared to oceanic basalts that, unlike their Nd isotopic compositions, do not covary with lithospheric age. These observations are consistent with widespread metasomatism of the CLM by Sr‐rich, Nd‐poor, aqueous fluids generated by dehydration of oceanic lithosphere, and its overlying tectonic mélange during early Cenozoic subduction beneath southwestern North America.