Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular mechanisms of spermine on its synergistic effect with beta-lactams against Staphylococcus aureus

Spermine (Spm), a potent bactericidal polyamine, exerts a strong synergistic effect with βlactams against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a pH-dependent manner. At high pH (>8) Spm is a potent nucleophile, and able to form Spm-β-lactam adduct. At physiological pH (or lower), Spm carries positive charges, and can bind to DNA through charge interactions. The potential of Spm interfering with cell wall was first investigated. A spontaneous mutant of MRSA Mu50 selected for Spm resistance conferred resistance to Spm/β-lactam synergy. This phenotype was due to the presence of a 7-bp deletion in pbpB as identified by genome resequencing and confirmed by complementation. Analysis of cell wall composition by HPLC revealed the combination of Spm and β-lactam can reduce the cross-linkage of peptidoglycan. These two lines of evidence suggest Spm may perturb cell wall integrity in favor of β-lactam efficacy with PBPs as a promising target. However, from the results of microarray analysis and fluorescent Bocillin labeling, Spm did not appear to suppress the PBPs expression or alter their interactions with β-lactams. Next, transcriptome analyses reveal the genes responsive to the synergy effect overlap extensively with those to high Spm challenge, implying the enhanced detrimental effect of Spm facilitated by β-lactams in inhibition on cell growth. In particular the induction of iron transport and reduction of energy production under synergy were depicted in this study, and high dose Spm was found to turn off the SigB regulon. Of interest, the tetM gene encoding a ribosomal protection protein for tetracycline (Tc) resistance exhibited the most significant fold change and high signals by both high and low dose Spm. Further analysis by qRT-PCR demonstrated the tetM expression was specifically induced by Tc and Spm to a comparable level but not by other polyamines, suggesting a similar mode of action by Spm and Tc in interactions with the ribosome to initiate tetM induction. Collectively, these data indicated the role of Spm could be multifarious with more than one target, and a combination of Spm and β-lactams may inhibit growth of MRSA in a more complicated manner than just potentiating β-lactam inhibition on PBPs. INDEX WORDS: Spermine, MRSA, Synergy, β-lactams MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF SPERMINE ON ITS SYNERGISTIC EFFECT WITH ΒETA-LACTAMS AGAINST STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS
Salmonella : A Postmodern Pathogen 1.

The reported incidence of Salmonella infections in the United States has increased substantially since reporting began in 1943. These infections cause important morbidity, mortality, and economic burden in this country and are particularly severe in the infant, elderly, or immunocompromised patient. Four recent trends suggest that salmonellosis will present an increasing challenge to public health in the future. Antimicrobial resistance is present in an increasing proportion of Salmonella isolates. Salmonella bacteremia has emerged as a serious complication of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Infections caused by the egg-associated serotype Salmonella enteritidis are steadily increasing in incidence and geographic scope, and these infections are now the most common form of salmonellosis in some parts of the country. Finally, contamination of food produced in centralized facilities has led to extremely large and widespread outbreaks. Better understanding of the biology of specific animal reservoirs and of the microbiologic aspects of food processing is needed to control salmonellosis in the future.
Phototransduction in Rods and Cones

Vertebrates rely on retinal rods and cones for the conventional, image-forming vision while non-image-forming vision is mediated by intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) (see chapter on Melanopsin Ganglion Cells). Rods are specialized for low-light vision. They are extremely sensitive and can signal the absorption of single photons. Cones mediate daylight vision (Figure 1). They are much less sensitive to light than rods, but have higher temporal resolution. They also mediate color vision by several cone types with different pigment spectra sensitivity.Great progress has been made in understanding rod phototransduction since the introduction of the suction-electrode recording technique in the late 1970s (1). Individual amphibian and mammalian (including primate) photoreceptors can be recorded with this method. Bovine retina, on the other hand, has been a favorite preparation for studying phototransduction by biochemists because of the abundance of tissue available. The mouse, however, has become an increasingly popular animal model for study in the past decade through the advent of gene-targeting techniques. When combined with electrophysiology, mouse genetics provides unmatched power in elucidating the in vivo functions of key phototransduction proteins, most of which have been knocked out, overexpressed or mutated in rods, yielding a rich body of information on the mechanisms underlying the amplification, recovery and adaptation of rod/cone photoresponses (Table 1, Figure 2, Figure 3). I shall first give a brief description of the structure and the development of mouse photoreceptors, followed by a summary of recent studies on rod phototransduction with emphasis on information gleaned from mouse models. Finally, a recent advance in studying mouse cones will be mentioned.
Développement et conservation de la nature: L’apport des sciences humaines

Depuis les années 80, les stratégies conservationnistes intègrent les populations locales dans le processus de gestion des aires protégées. Mais les réalisations dans ce domaine restent encore assez mitigées. Lorsqu’il est interprété à la lumière des «logiques sociales locales», ce problème semble trouver son origine dans une inadéquation entre le développement proposé sur un modèle occidental et les dynamiques de prestige en cours dans ces sociétés. Une autre raison est évoquée, à savoir l’occultation des effets induits par les restrictions d’accès aux espaces et aux ressources naturelles. Ces deux aspects fournissent des exemples militant en faveur d’une meilleure collaboration entre sciences humaines et sciences de la nature. Summary
Pengaruh Vitamin C terhadap Waktu Perdarahan Mencit yang Dipapar Asap Rokok

Asap rokok diketahui meningkatkan Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). ROS dapat merusak pembuluh darah dan mengubah reaktivitas trombosit sehingga mengganggu sistem hemostasis. Vitamin C sebagai antioksidan esensial bagi tubuh terbukti dapat mengurangi kerusakan oksidatif akibat ROS. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah membuktikan potensi vitamin C dalam menghambat gangguan hemostasis melalui pengamatan waktu perdarahan mencit yang dipapar asap rokok. Penelitian Randomized Pre Test-Post Test Control Group Design ini dilakukan pada 21 ekor mencit jantan yang dibagi menjadi tiga kelompok. Pemberian perlakuan pada hari ke-1 hingga ke-14, yaitu P1 (kontrol negatif), P2 (paparan asap rokok 10 menit perhari), dan P3 (vitamin C 0,4 mg/gBB/hari + paparan asap rokok 10 menit perhari). Pengukuran waktu perdarahan metode tail bleeding pada hari ke-0 dan ke-15. Analisis data menggunakan uji t-paired, one-way Anova, dan post-hoc LSD. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan rerata waktu perdarahan P1 mengalami perubahan yang tidak bermakna dari 60,16 ± 3,27 menjadi 57,61 ± 4,88 detik. P2 mengalami perubahan yang bermakna dari 59,34 ± 6,93 menjadi 38,85 ± 3,43 detik. P3 mengalami perubahan yang bermakna dari 59,36 ± 3,07 menjadi 51.85 ± 3,45 detik. Terdapat perbedaan rerata waktu perdarahan setelah perlakuan yang bermakna signifikan (p = 0,000) antara P2 dengan P3. Penelitian ini berhasil membuktikan potensi vitamin C dalam mencegah pemendekan waktu perdarahan lebih lanjut sebagai indikator gangguan hemostasis akibat paparan asap rokok.
Dominating species of Lactobacilli and Leuconostocs present among the lactic acid bacteria of milk of different cattles.

The presence of dominating Lactobacilli and Leuconostoc spp. in the different cattle milks was studied. Total viable counting and total coliform counting were also checked for all the samples. In samples of cow, buffalo, camel and goat’s milk, total 6 Lactobacilli spp. and 5 spp. of Leuconostoc were identified on the basis of their biochemical prosperities. Highest count of total bacterial population was found in the cow’s milk and lowest in the goat’s milk. Buffalo’s milk was found with a significant number of coliforms. Lactic acid bacteria, genus Lactobacilli and Leuconostocs were obsereved in all the milk samples at a little difference in number.
Centralization of Procurement - Essence and Current Trends

The aim of the article is to evaluation of the idea centralizing procurement, its advantages and disadvantages and to indicate practical examples of the application of this strategy in the conditions of development of modern ICT technologies. At the beginning of the article the basic definitions are given: purchasing, procurement and sourcing, to contrast them. Next, the characteristics of the centralization of procurement were indicated by comparing it with decentralization. This part of the work also defines the advantages and disadvantages of procurement centralization. The next part of the article presents practical examples of the application of this strategy both in enterprises and in public administration. The conclusions were formulated at the final part of the article. The paper uses the methods of literature review, analysis, synthesis and case study. Article refers to studies aimed at assessing the validity of the application of the centralization of procurement in enterprises with many departments using modern ICT. The use of this form of purchasing organization brings positive results, as the analyzed examples of Orlen Capital Group or Gaz-System shown.
Comparison of nekton utilization of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) marsh based on marsh size and degree of isolation from like habitat : do size and site location matter?

Influence of salt marsh size and proximity to like habitat on nekton use was examined. Comparisons were made among six naturally occurring isolated island marshes, three each of small (~400-1,000 m ) and large 2 (~3,000-10,000 m2) island size classes and six paired mainland marshes (at least 76,000 m2 in size). Two species representing opposites for dispersal ability and life history strategies, mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) and pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), were used as representative species to examine population patterns. Fundulus heteroclitus exclusively utilized marsh habitats and not adjacent shallow flats during high tide while L. rhomboides utilized both. At high tide island marshes acted as a refuge for F. heteroclitus among shallow water flat habitats. Densities of marsh dependent species, including F. heteroclitus, were an order of magnitude lower within the large island compared to the mainland marshes, and nonexistent within small island marshes. Similarities among mainland and large island marshes for larvae and disparity in juvenile F. heteroclitus abundances suggested a bottleneck constrained adult and juvenile F. heteroclitus populations at large island marshes. Differential predation rates among marsh types significantly contributed to disparities in young of year abundance. Patterns of abundance suggest two crucial time periods for F. heteroclitus population maintenance, one during late spring/early summer spawn-recruitment and the second during the dispersal/emigration during the late fall/winter time period when water temperatures are colder and predator levels are significantly reduced. In contrast, L. rhomboides recruitment and dispersal occurs simultaneously during the late fall/winter when low predator levels create an optimal time for recruitment to estuaries.
Immunology: The science of self-nonself discrimination

Well, someone can decide by themselves what they want to do and need to do but sometimes, that kind of person will need some immunology the science of self nonself discrimination references. People with open minded will always try to seek for the new things and information from many sources. On the contrary, people with closed mind will always think that they can do it by their principals. So, what kind of person are you?
Seabirds as Indicators of Marine Food Supplies

AbstractAn integrated approach to the use of seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies is developed, based on proposed relations between food availability and seabird population and behavior parameters. Adult survivorship, breeding success, chick growth, colony attendance, and activity budgets vary with prey availability, but response to food supply occurs at different temporal scales and at different levels of prey availability for each parameter. Seabird data most reliably indicate food availability when monophagous birds are used to monitor temporal variation in prey supplies. Seabird-based data on prey availability are cheaper to obtain than conventional fisheries abundance indices, and may be particularly useful for the many species and areas for which conventional fisheries data are sparse or absent.
Nuclear envelope transmembrane proteins in differentiation systems

Historically, our perception of the nuclear envelope has evolved from a simple barrier isolating the genome from the rest of a cell to a complex system that regulates functions including transcription, splicing, DNA replication and repair and development. Several recent proteomic studies uncovered a great variety of nuclear envelope transmembrane proteins (NETs). Diseases associated with several nuclear envelope proteins, mostly NETs, affect many tissues e.g. muscle, adipose tissue, skin, bones. Many NETs of the inner nuclear membrane have been shown to interact with chromatin, suggesting that their influencing gene expression might explain NET roles in disease. This work is focused on finding novel interactions of NETs with chromatin. First, SUN2 post-translational modifications were analysed and the effect of phosphomimetic and phospho-null mutants on heterochromatin and the cytoskeleton was tested by overexpression. However, no obvious changes were found. Second, several tissue-preferential NETs were tested in an adipocyte differentiation system. NET29 changed chromosome 6 position in pre-adipocytes. This matched changes in chromosome positioning that occur during adipocyte differentiation when NET29 is normally induced. Post-translational modifications of NET29 are likely to play a vital role in this process because a phospho-null mutant dominantly blocked chromosome repositioning. The effect of over-expression and down-regulation of NET29 on transcription was tested and results suggest that NET29 negatively regulates expression of myogenic genes during adipogenesis.
Investigating patterns of animal domestication using ancient DNA

Animal domestication is a continuous but nonlinear evolutionary process that follows different paths (trajectories) of human-animal relationships. These paths vary in structure and intensity over time and include processes like human intentionality (such as control and taming of wild animals), directed selection on behavioral and phenotypic traits and characters, human-mediated movement of domestic herds across space (migration), wild-domestic admixture, and adaptation. Because domestic animals are continuously shaped through complex interaction of these processes, gaining a better understanding of where, when and how these took place helps clarifying human prehistory and the practice and process of domestication. Studies of modern and ancient DNA (aDNA) have recently disentangled the history of several domestic species. These studies have often shown that domestication processes were far more complex than previously thought, often encompassing more than one independent domestication event, and continuously shaped by migration and admixture. Importantly, ancient DNA studies have convincingly demonstrated that inferring the past (for example, where, when and how domestication and selection took place) from the present (modern contemporary domesticates) is biased by comparatively recent events such as modern breed formation. Ancient DNA is therefore a key component in the reconstruction of where, when and how animal domestication took place. This thesis aims to shed new light on pig and chicken domestication by analysing ancient DNA extracted from archaeological specimens from Europe and the Near and Middle East. First, I find that pig domestication took place over a much wider temporal and geographical range than previously thought, and secondly that the current reference framework for inferring where and when pigs were domesticated (wild boar mitochondrial phylogeography) must be revised. In addition, I find that genetic variation in modern domestic chickens, to a great extent, is the result of recent rather than ancient events of admixture and strong human driven selection. Overall, these finds strengthen the presumption that genetic signatures in modern contemporary populations often provide misleading estimates of their ancient history. Across genes and species, therefore, this thesis demonstrates the effectiveness of using ancient DNA for resolving a range of different aspects of human prehistory and animal domestication.
HARNESSING NUTRIGENOMICS: DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED HARNESSING NUTRIGENOMICS: DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED HARNESSING NUTRIGENOMICS: DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED HARNESSING NUTRIGENOMICS: DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED HARNESSING NUTRIGENOMICS: DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED COMMUNICATION, DA

CT CT CT: :: : Nutrient – gene interactions are responsible for maintaining health and preventing or delaying disease. Unbalanced diets for a given genotype lead to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular, and are likely to contribute to increased severity and/or early-onset of many age-related diseases. Many nutrition and many genetic studies still fail to properly include both variables in the design, execution, and analyses of human, laboratory animal, or cell culture experiments. The complexity of nutrient – gene interactions has led to the realization that strategic international alliances are needed to improve the completeness of nutrigenomic studies – a task beyond the capabilities of a single laboratory team. Eighty-eight researchers from 22 countries recently outlined the issues and challenges for harnessing the nutritional genomics for public and personal health. The next step in the process of forming productive international alliances is the development of a virtual center for organizing collaborations and communications that foster resources sharing, best practices improvements, and creation of databases. We describe here plans and initial efforts of creating the Nutrigenomics Information Portal, a web-based resource for the international nutrigenomics society. This portal aims at becoming the prime source of information and interaction for nutrigenomics scientists through a collaborative effort.
Influencia del cultivo de "Lupinus luteus" en la podredumbre radical de las encinas en dehesas

SERRANO, M. S. , M. E. SÁNCHEZ, P. DE VITA, M. D. CARBONERO, A. TRAPERO, P. FERNÁNDEZ–REBOLLO. 2009. Influence of Lupinus luteus crops on the root rot affecting holm oak in dehesas. Bol. San. Veg. Plagas, 35: 481-490. Phytophthora cinnamomi is the causal agent of root rot affecting tree species in dehesa systems. This pathogen also affects Lupinus luteus, an herbaceous crop common in western Andalusia. In artificially infested soils planted with different cultivars of yellow lupine, a significant increase in the density of propagules of P. cinnamomi was detected, both in comparison with initial densities and control levels, in good agreement with data obtained in the field. In dehesas showing different situations in terms of tree defoliation and in which lupine was sown, isolation and counting of P. cinnamomi colonies from soil samples has shown the ability of this herbaceous crop to maintain or increase the inoculum density, favouring oak infections. The results obtained discourage the cultivation of this legume in dehesas with presence of the pathogen in the soil, whether the trees are suffering root disease or not.
Short chain fatty acid metabolites lower blood pressure via endothelial Gpr41

Short chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolites, which are produced by gut microbial metabolism, affect various aspects of host physiology. We previously reported that propionate (an SCFA) induces an acute hypotensive response via the G‐protein coupled receptor Gpr41, and that Gpr41 is expressed in the vasculature. However, the cellular localization of Gpr41 within blood vessels, and the chronic effect of Gpr41 on blood pressure (BP) was unknown. Therefore, we used RT‐PCR of murine vessels either with or without intact endothelium (endo) to show that although b‐actin is detected in both vessel types, Gpr41 (and eNOS) are only detected in vessels with intact endo. Because Gpr41 was found to mediate a hypotensive response to SCFAs, we hypothesized that Gpr41 knockout (KO) mice would be hypertensive at baseline. In accordance with our hypothesis, our data indicates that KO mice (n=5) have systolic hypertension compared to wild‐type (WT, n=3) mice (day 3 of baseline, dark cycle: WT 119±3, KO 130±1 mmHg, light cycle: WT 111±4, KO 120±2 mmHg; p<0.05) as well as elevated pulse pressures (dark cycle: WT 23±1, KO 37±3 mmHg, light cycle: WT 23±2, KO 34±3; p<0.01). We hypothesize that endothelial Gpr41 mediates a chronic hypotensive influence on BP, and are currently pursuing the hypothesis that this effect is mediated via eNOS.
Medição de esforços laterais gerados por pneus de fórmula SAE em um dispositivo móvel

The requirements of the SAE Formula competitions and the limited time available for testing, required students to develop dynamic models of complete vehicles to predict the behavior of their prototypes in the design phase. The difficulty in obtaining reliable tire data to feed the mathematical models of the teams motivated the creation of the TTC Consortium, which carried out measurements of efforts generated by Formula SAE tires on Flat-track equipment, but the laboratory tests did not represent the conditions of friction between the tire and the ground. Thus, a mobile device was developed at the Centro Universitário FEI to evaluate the dynamic behavior of tires under real conditions of application. The present work presented the development of a test method for measuring the efforts generated by FSAE tires using the existing device. The test parameters were defined based on the reference tests carried out in the laboratory, so it was necessary to install a data acquisition system, which enabled the monitoring of the test conditions, such as tire temperature and test speed. In order to obtain reliable and accurate data, the stress measurement system was calibrated, and a more robust data acquisition module was installed. Measurements of lateral force and self-alignment torque generated by the test tire were performed for different slip angle, inclination angle, and normal loads configurations. The experimental data were organized and processed, so that they could be adjusted to the equations of the "Magic Formula". To validate the methodology developed in this study, from the device instrumentation to the experimental data processing, the semiempirical tire model, resulted from the tests, was compared with the model obtained using the TTC reference data. To make this comparison possible, the friction factor of the model based on the Flat-track was corrected through scaling factors. After the comparisons between the two models, it was verified that the developed method was able to generate semi-empirical tire models considering real conditions of application, obtaining compatible results with the data used as reference.