Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Shoot and Root Responses to Water Deficit in Young Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Plants

Water deficit may occur at any stage of plant growth, with any intensity and duration. Phenotypic acclimation and the mechanism of adaptation vary with the evolutionary background of germplasm accessions and their stage of growth. Faba bean is considered sensitive to various kinds of drought. Hence, we conducted a greenhouse experiment in rhizotrons under contrasting watering regimes to explore shoot and root traits and drought avoidance mechanisms in young faba bean plants. Eight accessions were investigated for shoot and root morphological and physiological responses in two watering conditions with four replications. Pre-germinated seedlings were transplanted into rhizotron boxes filled with either air-dried or moist peat. The water-limited plants received 50-ml water at transplanting and another 50-ml water 4 days later, then no water was given until the end of the experimental period, 24 days after transplanting. The well-watered plants received 100 ml of water every 12 h throughout the experimental period. Root, stem, and leaf dry mass, their mass fractions, their dry matter contents, apparent specific root length and density, stomatal conductance, SPAD value, and Fv/Fm were recorded. Water deficit resulted in 3–4-fold reductions in shoot biomass, root biomass, and stomatal conductance along with 1.2–1.4-fold increases in leaf and stem dry matter content and SPAD values. Total dry mass and apparent root length density showed accession by treatment interactions. Accessions DS70622, DS11320, and ILB938/2 shared relatively high values of total dry mass and low values of stomatal conductance under water deficit but differed in root distribution parameters. In both treatments, DS70622 was characterized by finer roots that were distributed in both depth and width, whereas DS11320 and ILB938/2 produced less densely growing, thicker roots. French accession Mélodie/2 was susceptible to drought in the vegetative phase, in contrast to previous results from the flowering phase, showing the importance of timing of drought stress on the measured response. Syrian accession DS70622 explored the maximum root volume and maintained its dry matter production, with the difference from the other accessions being particularly large in the water-limited treatment, so it is a valuable source of traits for avoiding transient drought.
Bioenergy Recovery from Cotton Stalk

Cotton stalk (CS) plant residue left in the field following harvest must be buried or burned to prevent it from serving as an overwintering site for insects such as the pink bollworm (PBW). This pest incurs economic costs and detrimental environmental effects. However, CS contains lignin and carbohydrates, like cellulose and hemicelluloses, which can be converted into a variety of usable forms of energy. Thermochemical or biochemical processes are considered technologically advanta-geous solutions. This chapter reviews potential energy generation from cotton stalks through combustion, hydrothermal carbonization, pyrolysis, fermentation, and anaerobic digestion technologies, focusing on the most relevant technologies and on the properties of the different products. The chapter is concluded with some comments on the future potential of these processes.
The impact of gut microbiota on depressive-like behaviors and adult hippocampal neurogenesis requires the endocannabinoid system

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Recent observations have revealed an association between mood disorders and alterations of the intestinal microbiota, but causality remains yet to be established. Here, using unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) as a mouse model of depression, we show that the UCMS mice display phenotypic alterations — characterized by an altered gut microbiota composition, a reduced adult hippocampal neurogenesis and a depressive-like behaviors — which could be transferred from UCMS donors to naïve recipient mice by fecal microbiota transplantation. The cellular and behavioral alterations observed in recipient mice were accompanied by a decrease in the endocannabinoid (eCB) signaling due to lower peripheral levels of fatty acid precursors of eCB ligands. The adverse effects of UCMS-transferred microbiota on adult neurogenesis and behavior in naïve recipient mice were alleviated by selectively enhancing the central eCB tone or by adding arachidonic acid, a fatty acid precursor of eCB ligands, to the diet. In the gut of both UCMS donors and recipients, the microbiota composition was characterized by a relative decrease in Lactobacilli abundance, and complementation of the UCMS recipient microbiota with a strain of the Lactobacilli genus was sufficient to restore normal eCB brain levels, hippocampal neurogenesis and to alleviate depressive-like behaviors. Our findings provide a mechanistic scenario for how chronic stress, diet and gut microbiota dysbiosis generate a pathological feed-forward loop that contributes to despair behavior via the central eCB system.
Efecto de la sobre-expresión de DNMT3B en la actividad transcripcional de genes relacionados con el cáncer

La metilacion anormal de promotores de genes supresores de tumor y reparadores de DNA es un proceso epigenetico que lleva a su silenciamiento transcripcional y es ademas un evento comun observado en cancer. DNMT3B es una DNA metiltransferasa que se encuentra sobre-expresado en varios tipos de cancer y tumores primarios y es responsable de la metilacion anormal de genes relacionados con cancer
Serum Exosomal MicroRNAs Predict Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Events in Patients with Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Background Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) requiring intensive care unit (ICU) treatment commonly causes acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with high mortality. This study was aimed at evaluating whether microRNAs (miRNAs) in circulating exosomes have the predictive values for patients at risk of developing ARDS due to SCAP. Methods ARDS/ALI-relevant miRNAs were obtained by literature search. Exosomes in serum were isolated by ultracentrifugation method and identified by Transmission Electron Microscopy. Then the miR profiling in the exosomes using real-time PCR was analyzed in SCAP patients with or without ARDS. Moreover, multivariate Cox proportional regression analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratio of miRNA for the occurrence of ARDS and prognosis. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were calculated to discriminate ARDS cases. Finally, the Kaplan-Meier curve using log-rank method was performed to test the equality for survival distributions with different miRNA classifiers. Results A total of 53 SCAP patients were finally recruited. Ten miRNAs were picked out. Further, a subset of exosomal miRNAs, including the miR-146a, miR-27a, miR-126, and miR-155 in ARDS group exhibited significantly elevated levels than those in non-ARDS group. The combined expression of miR-126, miR-27a, miR-146a, and miR-155 predicted ARDS with an area under the curve of 0.909 (95 % CI 0.815 –1). Only miR-126 was selected to have potential to predict the 28-day mortality (OR=1.002, P=0.024) with its median value classifier. Conclusions The altered levels of circulating exosomal microRNAs may be useful biologic confirmation of ARDS in patients with SCAP.
Strong population structure in Venezuelan populations of Coccidioides posadasii

Coccidioides posadasii is a pathogenic fungus that causes coccidioidomycosis in many arid regions of the Americas. One of these regions is bordered by the Caribbean Sea, and the surrounding landscape may play an important role in the dispersion of C. posadasii across South America through southeastern Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Venezuela. Comparative phylogenomic analyses of C. posadasii reveal that clinical strains from Venezuela are genetically distinct from the North American populations found in Arizona (AZ), Texas, Mexico, and the rest of South America (TX/MX/SA). We find evidence for admixture between the Venezuela and the North American populations of C. posadasii in Central America. As expected, the proportion of Venezuelan alleles in the admixed population decreases as latitude (and distance from Venezuela) increases. Our results indicate that the population in Venezuela may have been subjected to a recent bottleneck, and shows strong population structure. This analysis provides insight into potential for Coccidioides spp. to invade new regions.
Habitat productivity is a poor predictor of body size in rodents

Abstract The “resource availability hypothesis” predicts occurrence of larger rodents in more productive habitats. This prediction was tested in a dataset of 1,301 rodent species. We used adult body mass as a measure of body size and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a measure of habitat productivity. We utilized a cross-species approach to investigate the association between these variables. This was done at both the order level (Rodentia) and at narrower taxonomic scales. We applied phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) to correct for phylogenetic relationships. The relationship between body mas and NDVI was also investigated across rodent assemblages. We controlled for spatial autocorrelation using generalized least squares (GLS) analysis. The cross-species approach found extremely low support for the resource availability hypothesis. This was reflected by a weak positive association between body mass and NDVI at the order level. We find a positive association in only a minority of rodent subtaxa. The best fit GLS model detected no significant association between body mass and NDVI across assemblages. Thus, our results do not support the view that resource availability plays a major role in explaining geographic variation in rodent body size.
Diurnal feeding strategies of the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) in Lake Tonga (Northeastern Algeria)

Although the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) has thoroughly been studied, the foraging behaviour of this species is still not completely known. In the present paper we studied the diurnal feeding behaviour of ducks. We monitored the annual cycle of birds through two fieldtrips per month. The instantaneous behaviour of birds was recorded in regular 30-minute intervals from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. , amounting a total of 456 observation hours. Food searching activity corresponds to a quarter of the total diurnal time budget of the Ferruginous Duck. Foraging behaviour was classified into five categories dominated by the “diving”, which is almost 45.61% of the total search time. Foraging activities at the water surface considered to be secondary activities, including feeding by “bill”, “neck and head”, and “beak and head” in a rate of 19.86%, 14.53%, and 13.98%, respectively. The “toggle” remains a minor activity and represents only 5.99% of foraging time. The feeding behaviour of this species correlated to several environmental parameters (rainfall, temperature and wind velocity), and linked to the group size of ducks visiting the lake. Regarding the food intensity, our results show the highest values for “bill and head” behaviour. “Diving” has the longest feeding interval (16.16±14.1 minutes), while foraging by “bill” has the shortest (0.69 ± 0.48 minutes).
Microwave Photonics

Broadband and low loss capability of photonics has led to an ever-increasing interest in its use for the generation, processing, control and distribution of microwave and millimeter-wave signals for applications such as broadband wireless access networks, sensor networks, radar, satellite communitarians, instrumentation and warfare systems. In this tutorial, techniques developed in the last few years in microwave photonics are reviewed with an emphasis on the systems architectures for photonic generation and processing of microwave signals, photonic true-time delay beamforming, radio-over-fiber systems, and photonic analog-to-digital conversion. Challenges in system implementation for practical applications and new areas of research in microwave photonics are also discussed.
In vivo antioxidant activities of Curcuma longa and Curcuma xanthorrhiza: a review

Free radicals, reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been known to contribute several degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, neurodegenerative, and diabetes mellitus. In order to overcome the negative effects of these radicals, some scientist explores natural antioxidants from plants. Curcuma longa (Turmeric) and Curcuma xanthorrhiza (Javanese Turmeric) have been known as herbs and spices with antioxidant activities due to curcuminoid contained. Antioxidant can be defined as any substances or samples capable of inhibiting free radical reactions in the oxidation reaction. Several chemical and biological methods either in vitro or in vivo have been proposed, evaluated, and used for antioxidant evaluation of studied samples. Antioxidant activities in vivo can be measured by determining antioxidant enzymes which include catalase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione S-transferase. The antioxidant enzymes increased while the lipid peroxidation decreased for both Curcuma species when research using animal models. This present review highlights the potential use of C. longa and C. xanthorrhiza as natural antioxidants in vivo. Based on in vivo studies, Curcuma species are potential sources of natural antioxidants, which can be used as food supplements.
Modeling and CFD simulation of viscoelastic single and multiphase flows

In this work a new model for describing viscoelastic two-phase flows is developed and implemented in an open-source CFD software together with a non-isothermal model and a method for modeling the temperature rise in single-screw extruders. Underlying numerical algorithms are improved in terms of stability, accuracy and efficiency and the developed code is thoroughly validated and verified with existing analytical solutions, other numerical predictions and experimental measurements.
The Extract Obtained from Two Radish Cultivars (Raphanus sativus L. and Raphanus sativus L. var. radikula) Using Liquid Nitrogen Is Germination of Sterile Oats (Avena sterilis Subsp. sterilis) and Allelopathic Effect on Seedling Growth

The purpose of this study is to determine the allelopathic effects of extracts obtained by using liquid nitrogen from the plant of Antep radish (Raphanus sa-tivus L.) and little radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. radikula) on germination and seedling growth of sterile oats. The experiments were carried out in six groups with root, stem and root stem mixed extracts of radish plants (Antep and little radish). A novel method that we developed based on the principle of liquid nitrogen crushing was used for extraction. According to this method, Antep radish and little radish plant parts were frozen with liquid nitrogen aid and then crushed to powder. These powders obtained were stored at ？ 20？ C for nine months until the experiments were established. The aqueous solutions prepared at specific concentrations (0%, 1%, 2%, 4%, 8%, 16%) from the ob-tained radish powders were applied as 5 ml to per each petri dishes contain 10 seeds on Whatman No: 1 double layer filter paper. Experiments were carried out in six replicates for each concentration. The prepared petri dishes were kept in the incubator at 15？ C for 15 days. At the end of the experimental period, the number of germination of the seeds of sterile wild oat plant was evaluated by measuring the length of seedling root and stem. As a result, as the concentra-tion of allelopathic solutions increased in all experimental groups, the number of germination and root and stem lengths of sterile wild oats decreased. Alt-hough allelopathic effects in all three experimental groups were observed in terms of germination number and seedling lengths, the most significant effects were observed in the results of Antep radish root experiments. In this experi-ment group, the inhibition rate of root and stem length of weed seeds at a con-centration of 16% were 86% and 82%, respectively, when compared to the control. In addition, the germination number was reduced by 74.36% in the seeds at the highest concentration compared to the control. As a result of the study, it was determined that samples of radish plant crushed with liquid nitro-gen were stored for a long time and showed high allelopathic effect on sterile wild oats plant.
Amine-Functionalized and Hydroxyl-Functionalized Magnesium Ferrite Nanoparticles for Congo Red Adsorption

In this paper, the potential use of either amine-functionalized or hydroxyl-functionalized magnesium ferrite (MgFe2O4) nanoparticles (NPs) as Congo red nanoadsorbents is explored and compared. The amine-functionalized MgFe2O4 NPs (denoted as MgFe2O4–NH2 NPs) were synthesized by a one-pot coprecipitation method using ethanolamine as a surface modifier, while the hydroxyl-functionalized MgFe2O4 NPs (denoted as MgFe2O4–OH NPs) were prepared by a hydrothermal method. In general, both nanoadsorbents can be successfully produced without calcination and were found to possess superparamagnetic properties with high saturation magnetization (Ms). In particular, MgFe2O4–OH NPs exhibit a higher Ms value of ∼53 emu g–1, promoting the rapid separation ability of the NPs from the treated solution using an external permanent magnet. The Congo red removal performance of these nanoadsorbents was investigated as a function of the pH of the aqueous solution and contact time. The removal efficiency of Congo red by MgFe2O4–NH2.
Comparison of mycotoxin concentrations in grain versus grain-free dry and wet commercial dog foods

Abstract Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites that cause both acute and chronic disease in humans and animals. Grains are a common substrate for molds and the production of mycotoxins. This study compared mycotoxin concentrations between grain and grain-free commercial dog foods. In total, 60 samples of dry and wet dog foods produced by five major manufacturers within the US were purchased from pet food retailers in southern California. A standard mycotoxin panel was performed by a reference laboratory in Seattle using industry standard methodology for pet foods. Results of the study demonstrated measurable mycotoxin concentrations in dry dog foods containing grains but not in grain-free dry dog foods, or in wet foods either containing grains or grain-free. This study suggests that the risk of mycotoxin exposure is higher in dry dog foods containing grains. To mitigate this risk, dog food manufacturers could incorporate grains that are categorized as US No. 1 by the USDA and therefore less susceptible to mycotoxin formation.
Cell Cycle Regulation of the Stem Loop Binding Protein: A Key Regulator in Histone mRNA Metabolism

Mehmet Murat Koseoglu CELL CYCLE REGULATION OF THE STEM LOOP BINDING PROTEIN: A KEY REGULATOR IN HISTONE mRNA METABOLISM (Under the direction of Prof. Dr. William F. Marzluff) Metazoan replication-dependent histone mRNAs are unique among eukaryotic mRNAs since they lack polyadenylated tails, instead ending in a conserved stem-loop. Expression of these histone mRNAs is tightly cell cycle regulated mostly via posttranscriptional mechanisms which are mediated by the 3’ stem-loop. The stem loop binding protein (SLBP), which binds to 3’ end of histone mRNAs, plays a major role in histone mRNA metabolism by participating in multiple steps including histone mRNA processing, translation and stability. SLBP expression is limited to S phase, and cell-cycle regulation of SLBP is one of the major mechanisms that restrict histone mRNA biosynthesis and thus histone production to the S phase. The SLBP level is quite low during G1 and it dramatically increases towards S phase. It has been shown that the low level of SLBP at early G1 is due to the low translation efficiency of SLBP mRNA and the translation of SLBP is activated as cells approach S phase. At the end of S phase, SLBP is rapidly degraded depending on phosphorylations of two threonines in N-terminal SFTTP sequences.
A Novel Cognitive Radio enabled IoT System for Smart Irrigation

A novel architecture is proposed and analyzed that incorporates cognitive radio concept into Internet of Things (IoT) for smart irrigation system. The proposed system will optimize the use of natural resource i.e. water. Typically, the flow of water for irrigation of crop fields is not uniform due to many reasons including non-uniform terrain, availability of resources at different sites and etc.This un-even flow produces lesser product from the farms. The proposed system uses two data types to model the different conditions of crop filed. Based on these assumptions, the proposed system is analyzed. The simulation results for the proposed scenario are also presented.
Thermo-vacuum treatment of poplar (Populus spp.) plywood

Abstract Poplar cultivation is enduring a long-lasting crisis in Italy, but it is still playing a relevant role in the Italian and European wood sectors. To improve its prospects, the manufacturers of poplar plywood have recently activated various strategies to make it a distinguished panel with specific performances. In this frame, thermo-treatment could open new applications and markets. The present study investigates the physico-mechanical properties of thermo-treated poplar plywood. For this purpose, panels were manufactured with urea-melamine-formaldehyde adhesive, both in a standard mixture and added with resorcinol. They were then treated by the Termovuoto® process at 170, 190 and 210°C for 2 h. Changes in density, bonding quality, bending strength, modulus of elasticity, color and durability related to the aforementioned temperatures were investigated. Overall, the bonding quality of treated panels complied with the requirements of EN 314-1 and 2; bending strength and modulus of elasticity decreased, color darkened and durability increased. The latter is particularly important, because poplar wood is not durable and this process makes it suitable for use in humid conditions, offering new prospects for poplar plywood applications.
Introduction to Memristive HTM Circuits

Hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) is a cognitive learning algorithm intended to mimic the working principles of neocortex, part of the human brain said to be responsible for data classification, learning, and making predictions. Based on the combination of various concepts of neuroscience, it has already been shown that the software realization of HTM is effective on different recognition, detection, and prediction making tasks. However, its distinctive features, expressed in terms of hierarchy, modularity, and sparsity, suggest that hardware realization of HTM can be attractive in terms of providing faster processing speed as well as small memory requirements, on-chip area, and total power consumption. Despite there are few works done on hardware realization for HTM, there are promising results which illustrate effectiveness of incorporating an emerging memristor device technology to solve this open-research problem. Hence, this chapter reviews hardware designs for HTM with specific focus on memristive HTM circuits.