Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metal Ion Uptake and Oxidative Stress

In several systems, it is now clear that oxidative stress responses are intimately and reciprocally connected with systems to transport and store metal ions. Regardless, it is clear that one has much to learn about metal ion uptake into and within cells and how these processes affect, and are affected by, oxidative stress. This chapter provides an overview of metalloregulation in Bacillus subtilis, identifies the links between metal ion homeostasis and oxidative stress responses, and draws comparisons with homologous or analogous systems in other organisms. Bacteria overcome iron limitation by secreting iron-chelating agents, called siderophores, into their environment and then transporting the ferri-siderophore complex to assimilate the captured iron. Per boxes are found near oxidative stress genes, including catalase in Listeria seeligeri and ahp operons from Enterococcusfaecalis and Clostridiumpasteurianum. Campylobacter jejuni has two Fur homologs, Fur and PerR, which regulate iron uptake and oxidative stress genes, respectively. A study on the identification of two metalloregulated lacZ fusions that responded differently to added metal ions was conducted and these regulators were identified by eventually engineering mutations of four candidate metalloregulators found by genome sequencing. This work led to the characterization of the Fur, PerR, Zur, and MntR systems. Homologs of each of these regulators have been found in several other bacteria. S. aureus, like B. subtilis, has three Fur homologs that appear to correspond to Fur, PerR, and Zur. Since Fur, PerR, and MntR respond to an overlapping set of metal ions in vivo, these regulons are intimately interconnected.
Effect of the Garlic on the Fermentation and Quality of Kimchi

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of garlic on the fermentation and organoleptic quality of kimchi. For this study, changes in pH, acidity, reducing sugar content and microbial count of kimchi during fermentation were tested and sensory test of fermented kimchi was also conducted. The acidity of kimchi with garlic was increased rapidly more than control kimchi at early stage of fermentation. Though the reducing sugar content was higher in kimchi with garlic than control kimchi, but that of all samples were almost same at mature stage of fermentation. Total bacteria and lactic acid bacterial counts were higher in kimchi with garlic than control kimchi at early stage of fermentation, but those were reversed at final stage of fermentation. By the result of sensory test, garlic was contributed to taste and aroma positively at level of garlic to 100g of kimchi.
Evidence of a Supershear Transition Across a Fault Stepover

Supershear earthquakes, propagating faster than the Earth's shear wave velocity, can generate strong ground motion at distances far from the ruptured fault. Despite the hazards associated with these earthquakes, the exact fault properties that govern their occurrence are not well constrained. Although early studies associated supershear ruptures with simple fault geometries, recent dynamic rupture models have revealed a supershear transition mechanism over complex fault geometries such as fault stepovers. Here we present the first observation of a supershear transition on a fault stepover system during the 2017 Mw 7.7 Komandorsky Islands earthquake. Using a high‐resolution back‐projection technique, we find that the earthquake's rupture velocity accelerates from 2.1 to 5.0 km/s between two offset faults, demonstrating the viability of a new supershear transition mechanism occurring in nature. Given the fault complexity of the Earth's transform plate boundaries, this result may improve our understanding of supershear rupture processes and their associated hazards.
Automatic Identification of Flying Bird Species Using Computer Vision Technique for Ecological Data Analysis

The aim of this study is to propose a bird detection algorithm. Bird detection is useful for the counting and dynamics of bird study. Neural networks are used for bird detection and the first step is to learn to classify bird species based on previous experiments. We further develop a proof of concept for the meta-data fusion which indicates that the fusion of elevation data can be used to increase the accuracy of the model, and to decrease its coverage error, in particular.
ASSESSMENT OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES TOXICITY AND THE POSSIBLE PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF ADMINISTRATION OF VITAMIN C ON FILIFORM AND CIRCUMVALLATE TONGUE PAPILLAE OF ALBINO RATS HISTOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICALLY STUDY

Introduction: Silver nanoparticles have been used in many fields as catalysts, textile engineering, electronics, optics, and most importantly in the medical field as a bactericidal and as a therapeutic agent. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the toxic effect of silver nanoparticles on filiform and circumvallate tongue papilla of albino rats. In addition to reveal the effect of administration of vitamin c as an antioxidant to overcome this toxicity. Materials and methods: Twenty-eight male Albino rats weighing 200-250 grams were divided into two groups; the control and the experimental groups. The experimental group which is divided into two subgroups, subgroup I receiving silver nanoparticles and subgroup II receiving silver nanoparticles and vitamin c. Animals were kept for 28 days, then rats tongue were dissected and processed to be stained by H & E and examined immunohistochemically for BCL-2. Results: Histological examination of the circumvallate and filiform papillae showed changes in the general outline with apparent thinning of the covering epithelium and overlying keratin layer. In the CVP there was degeneration of some taste cells while in the filiform papilla there were few epithelial cell vacuolations observed specially in the prickle cells layer. On the other hand, vitamin c group showed better histological picture and minimized apoptotic changes. Conclusion: Using of silver nanoparticles caused severe histological and apoptotic changes in the filiform and circumvallate papillae, while using of antioxidants as vitamin c reverse this toxic effect of silver nanoparticles by minimizing the severity of both histological and apoptotic changes.
Emotional eating, snacking behavior and nutritional status among adolescents

The tendency to eat in response to stress known as emotional eating (EmE). Individuals with EmE usually has been change their dietary pattern towards more unhealthy snacking which contribute to overweight. This study aims to examine the interrelationship between EmE, snacking behavior and nutritional status among adolescents. This was an analytic observational with a cross sectional design study. It was conducted in Surakarta, on August 2019. Total 140 adolescents aged 14-17 years were selected. The data ofEmE were measured by Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ), data of snacking behaviour measured by food frequencies questionnaire (FFQ),and BMI were measured using weight scale and microtoice. Data wereanalyzed by descriptive, bivariate and binary logistic using SPSS v.23. There was significantly difference of EmE and snacking behavior in underweight, normal, and overweight adolescents. We found that underweight (4.17±3.16) and normal individuals (4.97±4.19) were not an emotional eater, and less sweet snacks and sweet drinks consumption while overweight individuals were an emotional eater (14.26±6.04) and eat more sweet snacks, and sweet drinks (p<0.001) during negative emotional states. It was shown that emotional eating and snacking behavior were found higher in overweight than underweight and normal individuals.
The Firm Next Door: Using Satellite Data to Tease Out Information Acquisition Costs

We use novel satellite data that track the number of cars in the parking lots of 92,668 stores for 71 publicly listed U.S. retailers to study information acquisition costs of local and non-local investors. We establish car counts as a timely measure of the performance of individual stores and find that investors adjust their holdings more in response to the performance of local stores than to that of non-local stores, and these trades are profitable. These results suggest one explanation for the local information advantage documented in prior studies is that investors face lower costs to acquire local information. Lastly, we find evidence that investors sometimes overweight their local information. In an era when the common perception is that “the world is flat” and the costs to acquire information are decreasing, we find these results surprising and important to consider when deciding how or whether to close this gap. * Corresponding author: Lorien Stice-Lawrence, Leventhal School of Accounting, University of Southern California, 3660 Trousdale Pkwy, ACC 308B, Los Angeles, CA 90089, sticelaw@usc.edu. We thank Orbital Insight for graciously providing the satellite data used in this paper and Katherine Bruere for her research assistance. We also thank Eric Allen, Chad Ham, Jared Jennings, Xiumin Martin, Dawn Matsumoto, Darren Roulstone (discussant), Rencheng Wang, Andrew Wu (discussant), and workshop participants at the Conference on Emerging Technologies in Accounting and Financial Economics, the University of Illinois Young Scholars Research Symposium, the University of Melbourne, the University of Washington, and Washington University in St. Louis for their helpful comments and suggestions. A previous version of this paper was circulated under the title “Attention, Acquisition Costs, or Executive Information? Using Satellite Data to Uncover the Sources of Local Information. ”
Hidden diversity of Euscorpius (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) in Greece revealed by multilocus species-delimitation approaches

Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Euscorpius (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) across the Mediterranean region (86 specimens, 77 localities, four DNA markers: 16S rDNA, COI, COII, and ITS1), focusing on Greek fauna, revealed high variation, deep clade divergences, many cryptic lineages, paraphyly at subgenus level, and sympatry of several new and formerly known lineages. Numerous specimens from mainland and insular Greece, undoubtedly the least studied region of the genus' distribution, have been included. The reconstructed phylogeny covers representative taxa and populations across the entire genus of Euscorpius. The deepest clades detected within Euscorpius correspond (partially) to its current subgeneric division, outlining subgenera Tetratrichobothrius and Alpiscorpius. The rest of the genus falls into several clades, including subgenus Polytrichobothrius and a paraphyletic subgenus Euscorpius s.s. Several cryptic lineages are recovered, especially on the islands. The inadequacy of the morphological characters used in the taxonomy of the genus to delineate species is discussed. Finally, the time frame of differentiation of Euscorpius in the study region is estimated and the distributional patterns of the lineages are contrasted with those of other highly diversified invertebrate genera occurring in the study region. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110, 728–748.
The evolution of novel subgroups of feline leukaemia virus

Feline leukaemia virus is a significant pathogen of domestic cats which causes a range of proliferative and non-proliferative haematopoietic disorders. This virus has been extensively studied in the past, however advancements in molecular techniques now allow long-standing controversial topics to be revisited and reanalysed. Although FeLV-A is the only transmittable form of the virus, FeLV-B and –C may arise in infected cats if the initial virus escapes immune clearance and establishes a chronic infection. These studies aimed to investigate previously-unanswered questions regarding FeLV pathogenesis, specifically pertaining to the ability of FeLV-A to evolve into the novel subgroups B and C. These results indicate that strains of FeLV-A possessing residues D83 and D91 in their envelope glycoprotein display increased rates of viral replication, mediated by an enhanced interaction with their cognate receptor, THTR1. Evidence is provided that these viral proteins are also able to bind efficiently to the FeLV-C receptor, FLVCR1, and that these mutations represent the first in a step-wise accumulation of mutations which eventually result in a FeLV-C viral variant emerging within the host. Subsequent studies aimed to elucidate the respective roles of the acquired immune response (neutralising antibodies) and receptor availability in driving this evolutionary process; however a definitive conclusion regarding FeLV-C selection pressures was not reached due to limitations of the model. These studies also describe the first isolation of novel FeLV-B field isolates which present without a FeLV-A co-infection. Characterisation of these strains revealed they possessed recombinant genomes, composed of exogenous LTRs and mostly endogenously-derived env genes. Further investigations into the potential functionality of endogenous FeLV elements within the domestic cat genome revealed numerous intact env genes, the proviruses of which may be restricted from exogenous transmission by their inability to form homodimeric RNA genomes with functional secondary structures. Although this suggestion requires experimental validation, this represents a novel mechanism of endogenous retroviral restriction.
Seasonal trends in growth and biomass accumulation of selected nutrients and metals in six species of emergent aquatic macrophytes

Growth and biomass accumulation of selected nutrients and trace metals were monitored for six species of aquatic macrophytes during June, August and November, 1993. Plant species were cultivated in two polyculture treatments, each replicated three times. Polyculture I consisted of Scirpus acutus (hardstem bullrush), Phragmites communes (common reed), and Phalaris arundinacea (canary grass). Polyculture H consisted of Typha spp. (cattail), Scirpus atrovirens (green bullrush), and Scirpus cyperinus (wool grass). Each of the six cells (6 x 9 x 0.6 m), was operated as a gravel-substrate, subsurface-flow wetlands in a continuous recirculating mode. At six week intervals, macro, micro and trace elements were dissolved and added to the sump of the recirculating system. On each of three sampling dates, replicate shoot and root samples were collected, segregated by species and tissue type (roots, rhizomes, stems and leaves), and prepared for gravimetric biomass estimates and chemical analysis. Tissue specific concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu, were determined on each date for each species and tissue type. Results will be discussed with respect to species specific growth rates, biomass accumulation, and seasonal uptake and translocation of plant nutrients.
Effect of antimicrobial peptides and monoterpenes on control of fire blight

Aim of study: Antimicrobial peptides and monoterpenes are safe compounds that have been used for control of many plant diseases. Herein, the effects of two recombinant antibacterial peptides (AMPs) were compared with two monoterpenes for control of Erwinia amylovora directly or via induction of plant defense enzyme guaiacol peroxidase (GPOD). Area of study: The experiments were performed at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Iran). Material and methods: The central composite design (CCD) method was used to study the effect of mixing the compounds and copper compound (Nordox) in controlling the pathogen. The resistance level was studied on shoots of tolerant (‘Dargazi’) and semi-susceptible (‘Spadona’) pear cultivars treated with the antibacterial compounds.Main results: Thanatin and 1,8-cineole showed the highest and lowest antibacterial effects. All treatments reduced E. amylovora pathogenicity on blossom. The CCD analysis revealed that the best reduction in colony number obtained by mixing Lfc, thanatin, thymol, 1,8-cineole and Nordox at concentrations of 32, 16, 24, 250 and 250 μg/mL. Thymol and 1,8-cineole at 500 μg/mL decreased disease severity significantly compared to that of AMPs. The level of GPOD enzyme in ‘Dargazi’ was higher than in ‘Spadona’. All treatments increased the GPOD levels in both cultivars. Furthermore, resistance level and GPOD ratio were negatively correlated.Research highlights: Antimicrobial peptides showed better effect on growth inhibition of E. amylovora than monoterpenes. Mixing of these peptides and monoterpens at special dosage enhanced their antimicrobial efficacy against E. amylovora; that could represent a new method in control of fire blight disease.
Biodiversity on the marginal coral reefs of South Africa: What does the future hold?

Southern African coral communities form a continuum from the more typical, accretive reefs in the tropics of Mozambique to the marginal, southernmost African distribution of this fauna in KwaZulu- Natal. While the latter are limited in size, they are gaining increasing attention as they provide a model for the study of many of the stresses to which these valuable systems are globally being subjected. Soft coral cover, comprising relatively few species, exceeds that of scleractinians over much of the southern reefs, and the coral communities attain a high biodiversity at this latitude on the East African coast. A long-term monitoring programme has revealed small yet significant changes in community structure on the reefs in recent years, concurrent with consistent increases in mean and maximum temperature. Insignificant bleaching was encountered during the 1998 ENSO event, unlike elsewhere in East Africa, but quantifiable bleaching occurred during an extended period of warming in 2000. Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) have caused longer-term changes in isolated areas. A study of coral larval dispersal and recruitment has been initiated to establish the capacity of the reefs to recover from the latter form of disturbance. The marginal nature of the reefs is further manifested by corals that generate aseasonal and atypical natural products and have a reproductive pattern that conforms with the pattern found on marginal reefs in western Australia. Calcium deposition on the reefs is also low due to physico-chemical factors that are related to latitude. Published projections on the long-term effects of climate change indicate that more reefs will become marginal as a result of global warming. Current monitoring on the South African reefs is being expanded to investigate the extent to which they will elucidate the future of more typical reefs.
Cholesterol Metabolism in Huntington’s Disease

Cholesterol is present in all vertebrate cells where has several important functions. Being a structural element in plasma membranes it supports the structure and function of lipid bilayers and is regarded to be the most important “fluidity buffer” of the membrane. It is also a precursor of bile acids, steroid hormones and vitamin D. While cholesterol is involved in many cellular processes, a strong indicator of its importance is that it is the only major lipid in mammals not used in energy generation.
The Occurrence of High Frequencies of MBL2 polymorphisms in the Xhosa ethnic group of South Africa

Polymorphic changes in a given population give rise to genetic variations. These variations account for differences found within a population. One of the most abundant and common genetic variant that occur in the population is the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms which are point mutations in genes. The study assessed the frequency of single nucleotide polymorphisms in mannose binding lectin ( MBL2 ) gene namely rs8191996, rs1838065, rs8179079 and rs1800450 in 366 adult individuals drawn from Xhosa ethnic group of South Africa. The polymorphisms showed high frequencies in its occurrence which was 0.71, 0.42, 0.71 and 0.73 for rs8191996, rs1838065, rs1800450 and rs8179079 respectively. Additionally, the genotype distribution of these polymorphisms showed a predominance of homozygotes over heterozygotes and were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg principle. The high frequencies of the MBL2 polymorphisms under study in this population suggest that there is a high incidence of single gene mutations in Xhosa ethnic group which could make the population vulnerable to infection. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-6-04 Publication date: March 31 st 2020
Constraint-Based Control Design for Uncertain Underactuated Mechanical System: Leakage-Type Adaptation Mechanism

In this article, we are dedicated to coping with the control design for underactuated mechanical system (UMS) with system uncertainties, which is also subject to a set of servo constraints. For the nominal system without any initial condition deviations, this article provides a general model-based servo control with the idea of second-order constraints, which can be derived from both holonomic and nonholonomic ones. For the uncertain system, with the uncertainties being separated into matched portions and mismatched portions, this article provides an adaptive robust control scheme to guarantee the UMS to attain the deterministic performance on the basis of nominal control. The leakage-type adaptive law is to size up the unknown uncertainty bounds. The cart-pole system and the rotational-translational actuator system are used to verify the availability of the proposed adaptive robust control.
Fatores de isolamento social do idoso em meio rural

Background: with the demographic evolution, the urbanization of rural areas and the increase in the use of new technologies, there is an increase in complaints of social isolation in rural areas. The elderly, victim of stereotypes that generate situations in which standing on their side, disrespect and helplessness are aggravating factors of this isolation. Objective: to identify the factors that contribute to social isolation in rural areas. Methodology: for this purpose, we chose a qualitative, descriptive and transversal approach, with nine elderly participants from the parish of Castrelo do Val (Spain). A semi-structured interview was used as a data collection tool. Results: the factors that contribute to the social isolation of elderly people are: i) the presence of the disease, ii) the absence/removal of relatives and, iii) lack of awareness in the community. Conclusion: the aging process is a phase of the vital cycle, which calls for a permanent stimulus so that the elderly person develops a more active posture, inciting them to a relevant and socially useful role in the environment around them, familiar and social, minimizing feelings of abandonment and loneliness, often triggered by the presence of chronic diseases and comorbidity, removal of relatives and lack of awareness of the community.