Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The distribution of aand y-tubulin in fresh and aged human and mouse oocytes exposed to cryoprotectant

The distribution of aand y-tubulin in human and mouse oocytes has been investigated immunocytochemically. Comparisons have been made between freshly recovered and aged oocytes (both human and mouse), and also between human oocytes before and after exposure to cryoprotectant. Control fresh human oocytes had compact anastral spindles oriented orthogonal to the oolemma, with the pole adjacent to the oolemma being smaller than that directed towards the centre of the oocyte. Each pole was associated with a ring of particulate y-tubulin staining that extended a short distance into the body of the spindle. No aand y-tubulin staining was found elsewhere in the ooplasm. Human oocytes which had failed to fertilize after an 18 h incubation with spermatozoa and had spent a further 6-8 h in culture showed an increased incidence of spindle abnormalities and of the proliferation of ooplasmic microtubules, which became more pronounced with age post-ovulation. The y-tubulin staining pattern of these aged human oocytes revealed greater staining over the whole of the spindle than in fresh oocytes. Examination of mouse oocytes aged in vitro or in vivo showed similar evidence of microtubule proliferation and disorganization, and the y-tubulin staining pattern was a sensitive indicator of ageing. The spindles of most fresh human oocytes exposed to 1.5 M dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) at 4°C differed from controls in being slightly reduced in size or in having more pointed spindle poles with smaller diameters, both indications that some dismantling of the microtubules had occurred. The distribution of y-tubulin in these oocytes extended over more of the spindle. Restoration of DMSO-exposed oocytes to control medium at 37°C for an extended period restored spindle structure to a state closely resembling that in controls. However, recovery of an exclusively polar y-tubulin staining did not occur. In both controls and DMSO-exposed human oocytes, chromosomes were arranged on the metaphase equatorial plate. In contrast, exposure of oocytes to 4°C in the absence of DMSO caused dismantling of the spindle. It is concluded that (i) changes in microtubule organization with ageing of oocytes makes them unsuitable for use therapeutically after re-insemination or intracytoplasmic sperm injection, (ii) conditions of cryoprotectant addition previously found optimal for the stabilization of the spindle in the mouse oocyte also appear to be effective in stabilizing the spindle of the human oocyte, and (iii) the distribution of y-tubulin in relation to the spindle of the human oocyte appears to be sensitive to age and conditions.
Formation and evolution mechanism of regional haze: a case study in the megacity Beijing, China

Abstract. The main objective of this study is to investigate the formation and evolution mechanism of the regional haze in megacity Beijing by analyzing the process of a severe haze that occurred 20–27 September 2011. Mass concentration and size distribution of aerosol particles as well as aerosol optical properties were concurrently measured at the Beijing urban atmospheric environment monitoring station. Gaseous pollutants (SO2, NO-NO2-NOx, O3, CO) and meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity) were simultaneously monitored. Meanwhile, aerosol spatial distribution and the height of planetary boundary layer (PBL) were retrieved from the signal of satellite and LIDAR (light detection and ranging). Concentrations of NO, NO2, SO2, O3, and CO observed during 23–27 September had exceeded the national ambient air quality standards for residents. The mass concentration of PM2.5 gradually accumulated during the measurement and reached at 220 μg m−3 on 26 September, and the corresponding atmospheric visibility was only 1.1 km. The daily averaged AOD in Beijing increased from ~ 0.16 at λ = 500 nm on 22 September and reached ~ 3.5 on 26 September. The key factors that affected the formation and evolution of this haze episode were stable anti-cyclone synoptic conditions at the surface, decreasing of the height of PBL, heavy pollution emissions from urban area, number and size evolution of aerosols, and hygroscopic growth for aerosol scattering. This case study may provide valuable information for the public to recognize the formation mechanism of the regional haze event over the megacity, which is also useful for the government to adopt scientific approach to forecast and eliminate the occurrence of regional haze in China.
Herbivory may modify functional responses to shade in seedlings of a light‐demanding tree species

Summary 1. The ability to display functional responses to shading, i.e. phenotypic changes that enhance plant performance in low light, is fundamental for plant success in forest communities. Herbivory may constrain plant functional responses to shading and this could explain the often observed lower plant tolerance of herbivore damage in the shade. 2. We carried out a field trial and a greenhouse experiment to evaluate whether simulated herbivory (i) causes greater fitness losses in the shade, and (ii) modifies plant functional responses to shading. Changes in functional traits were measured at the biochemical, leaf, shoot and whole-plant levels, in seedlings of the light-demanding evergreen tree Aristotelia chilensis (Elaeocarpaceae), which is endemic to South American austral forests. 3. We hypothesized that plant responses to shade would be constrained by herbivory due to within-plant limitations in resource availability and/or antagonistic interactions between responses to shade and herbivory. We further expected that this limitation would result in a greater field mortality of damaged plants in forest understory as compared to open sites. 4. Simulated herbivory (50% defoliation) on field seedlings decreased 8-month plant survival in the shade (forest understory) but not in the sun (canopy gaps) in a temperate rainforest. Likewise, simulated herbivory in the greenhouse decreased plant growth rate and final biomass in the shade treatment but not in the sun treatment. 5. The phenotypic responses to shading of seven traits were constrained by simulated herbivory: chlorophyll, leaf shape, leaf blade angle, petiole angle, SLA (specific leaf area), internodes length and total leaf area. A path-analysis showed that most of these constrained responses were uncorrelated to each other. Some of these results might be explained by antagonistic interactions between molecules or pathways involved in plant responses to shading and herbivory. Four functional traits exhibited greater responses to shading in damaged plants: Amax (Photosynthetic rate), foliar carbon, shoot : root ratio and LMR (leaf mass ratio); but most of them resulted from correlated changes in SLA. 6. The present study undertook a mechanistic approach to the often observed pattern of greater impact of herbivore damage on plant performance in low light environments. The central finding of this study is that the unraveling of herbivory-constrained plant functional responses to shading may explain the often observed greater fitness losses due to herbivory in the shade. It is also suggested that herbivory pressure is an underestimated factor in pioneer species distribution along the light gradient.
Tin Nanoparticles Formed in the Presence of Cellulose Fibers Exhibit Excellent Electrochemical Performance as Anode Materials in Lithium-Ion Batteries

A one-step chemical reduction procedure affords the effective preparation of highly crystalline and disperse tin nanoparticles by virtue of the presence of cellulose fibers. These fibers play a crucial role as particles grow on their surface, which prevents agglomeration. The Li/Sn-cellulose cell exhibits very good electrochemical performance which makes the composite an excellent electrode material for lithium cells. © 2005 The Electrochemical Society. DOI: 10.1149/1.1993388 All rights reserved.
Dietary linseed oil and selenate affect the concentration of fatty acids in selected tissues of sheep

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of the addition of 5% linseed oil (LO) and 2 µg Se as selenate (SeVI) per g of diet on body mass gain (BMG), feed conversion efficiency (FCE), and concentrations of fatty acids (FA), especially conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers, in the liver, heart, m. longissimus dorsi (MLD), m. biceps femoris (MBF), subcutaneous fat (SF), perirenal fat (PF), and inter - muscular fat (IF) of sheep. Each group comprised 5 lambs with an average initial body weight of 25 ± 2 kg. For 35 days the sheep were fed the control or experimental diets enriched with 5% LO, SeVI, or LO and SeVI combined. The diets with LO, regardless of the presence of SeVI, increased BMG, FCE, and the mass of MBF, MLD, and the liver. The LO treatment increased the concentration of total CLA isomers in the liver, SF, PF, and MLD in comparison with the control. Dietary LO with or without SeVI resulted in negligible changes in the concentration of total CLA isomers in MBF. The diet enriched with LO, irrespective of the presence of SeVI, increased the concentrations of cis- monounsaturated fatty acids (cis-MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), as well as unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) in the liver, heart, and especially in SF and PF (i.e. energy storage tissues) compared with the control group and SeVI-fed sheep. Dietary SeVI more effectively increased the capacity of ∆9-desaturation in all adipose tissues as the concentration of cis9,trans11CLA increased in these tissues. The addition of SeVI to the diet decreased the yield of the catabolism of fatty acids in these adipose tissues and both muscles compared with the control sheep or other experimental groups. The diets enriched with LO with or without SeVI increased the nutritional value of MBF, MLD, and adipose tissues as the ratio of unsaturated FA/saturated FA increased. Our results of a short-term study provide useful information for nutritionists carrying out further investigations to improve the nutritional quality of feed for ruminants as well as humans.
The Built Environment Yorkshire Health ( BEYH ) Study : a protocol for a multi-level cross-sectional study

The Built Environment Yorkshire Health (BEYH) study will be a multi-level cross-sectional study that examines associations between the built environment (both physical activity and nutritional) and body weight in n=27,806 adults. Measures of the built physical activity and nutritional environment will be objectively measured using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Multi-level models will explore how both individualand neighbourhood-level factors contribute to body weight. Original aspects of this study include the exploration of the mediating effects of both individual and area-level socio-economic status and interaction effects between the food and physical activity built environment. Following completion of the project results will be offered to key stakeholders such as local authorities. Research findings will be disseminated to the scientific community in the form of conference presentations and peer reviewed journals.
Evaluation of Some Natural Feed Additive in Growing Chicks Diets

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect adding of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniform, black seed oil versus, virginamycin and zinc bacitracin to growing chick's diets at level of 0.1%, for each. Growth performance, digestibility, carcass treats, meat composition, serum blood constituents and economical efficiency of growing chicks were studied. A total of 180 unsexed one-day old chicks, were divided into 6 treatments of 30 chicks each in three replicates. The experiment was terminated when chicks were 12 weeks of age. The results showed that, addition of black seed oil, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniform in the experimental diets increased body weight, body weight gain. Chicks fed diets supplemented with black seed oil and virginamycin were significantly lower in their feed consumption. While, Chicks fed diet supplemented with saccharomyces cerevisiae consumed the highest amount of feed. The best feed conversion ratio was recorded with chicks fed diets contained black seed oil or virginamycin. All the treatments insignificantly affected dressing, giblets percentages, composition of breast Meats and blood serum constituents as compared with those of the control. Chicks fed diets supplemented with either black seed oil, virginamycin or Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniform had significantly decreased abdominal fat percentages. The Addition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, black seed oil and Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniform significantly improved digestibility coefficient of dray matter and crude protein. The best relative economical efficiency was recorded by black seed oil flowed by virginamycin addition. It was concluded that black seed oil, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniform and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, could serve in growing chicks diets. However, further research is required to better understand the role of natural feed additives in poultry nutrition and their implications in human health.
Influence of Shape Anisotropy on Magnetization Dynamics Driven by Spin Hall Effect

As the lateral dimension of spin Hall effect based magnetic random-access memory (SHE-RAM) devices is scaled down, shape anisotropy has varied influence on both the magnetic field and the current-driven switching characteristics. In this paper, we study such influences on elliptic film nanomagnets and theoretically investigate the switching characteristics for SHE-RAM element with in-plane magnetization. The analytical expressions for critical current density are presented and the results are compared with those obtained from macrospin and micromagnetic simulation. It is found that the key performance indicators for in-plane SHE-RAM, including thermal stability and spin torque efficiency, are highly geometry dependent and can be effectively improved by geometric design.
South Pacific origin of the decadal ENSO‐like variation as simulated by a coupled GCM

The hypothesis of the South Pacific origin of the decadal (7–35 years) ENSO‐like variation is investigated based on 200‐year outputs of the ECHAM4/OPA/OASIS coupled GCM. Associated with the decadal warm (cold) SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific, an anomalous cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation, which is tilted in a southeast‐northwest direction, appears in the South Pacific. This results in anomalous upward (downward) Ekman pumping along the northeastern edge of the anomalous circulation and, hence, shallowing (deepening) the oceanic thermocline there. Such an external source of heat content tends to slowly discharge/recharge the tropical ocean on the decadal timescale. The above result is consistent with the observational study of Luo and Yamagata [2001] . Besides, the model reproduces amazingly a high lagged‐correlation between the global land surface temperature and the decadal Nino3 SST. Despite the model biases, this suggests a potential prediction skill of the global warming based on the ENSO‐like decadal variation.
Price Competition or Tacit Collusion 1

Every now and then, we observe a erce price war in a real world market, through which competing rms end up with a Bertrand-like price competition equilibrium. Despite this, very little has been known in the existing literature as to why a price competition market is formed. We address this question in the context of a choice between engaging in price competition and holding a price leader. Focusing on a duopoly market, we demonstrate that if supply is tight relative to demand, and if the cost di¤erential between rms is reasonably large, a price competition market is formed non-cooperatively. Keywords: price competition, price leader, market organization game JEL Classi cation Numbers: D21, D43, L11, L13.
Factor Mobility, Regional Development, and the Distribution of Income

A three-factor model of a small country or region is used to analyze the general equilibrium consequences of three frequently advocated regional development policies--investment subsidies, migration incentives, and educational expenditures. The analysis focuses on policy-induced changes in absolute and relative factor earnings. The results link changes in the distribution of income to the degree of complementarity and substitutability among factors of production and to the pricing scheme adopted by educational institutions. Programs intended to aid lagging regions may produce perverse results, particularly if the cost of education is the same to all individuals regardless of ability.
Review Bt corn and impact on mycotoxins

This review summarizes the literature linking Bt corn and the reduction of the mycotoxins fumonisin, aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone. Mycotoxins in field corn cause hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses annually in the USA, and substantially greater losses in other regions of the world. Most of the losses are from aflatoxin contamination, while significant but smaller losses are due to Fusarium mycotoxins, fumonisins and DON. The insecticidal proteins in genetically modified hybrid Bt corn (Zea mays spp.) reduce insect damage from certain Lepidopteran larvae, which in turn can reduce infection of the grain by mycotoxigenic fungi. Where such insect damage is a major factor in mycotoxin contamination, Bt corn can lower mycotoxin levels. Since such damage is not always the most important factor, experimental results have been mixed, especially with aflatoxin levels. Bt corn appears to have a greater impact on the Fusarium mycotoxins than on aflatoxin levels. Studies on economic impacts of Bt corn’s mycotoxin reduction are briefly summarized. The benefits in developing countries from mycotoxin reduction could be more significant, particularly in regions where unprocessed corn is a staple in the human diet.
Evolution of multiple mating in the genus Apis

Multiple mating by social insect queens is a widespread phenomenon. Because of the appar- ent inclusive fitness benefits of monandry, and the potential costs of polyandry, explanations for the evolution of multiple mating have been frequently sought. Current leading explanations are col- lectively known as 'genetic variance' hypotheses which posit that both queen and colony fitness are increased by an increase in the intracolonial genetic diversity that accrues from multiple mating. However, the precise way in which genetic diversity acts to increase colony fitness is not clear. Fur- thermore, some of these hypotheses are probably insufficient to explain extreme levels of polyandry observed in the genus Apis. Apis / genetic variance / polyandry / task specialization / parasite
Detection of Named Branch Origin for Git Commits

The named branch on which a change is committed in a Git repository provides valuable insight into the evolution of a software project, including a natural and logical ordering of commits categorized by the developer at the time of the change. In addition, the name of the branch provides semantic context as to the nature of the changes along that branch. However, this branch name is unrecorded in the historical archive of Git repositories. In this thesis, a heuristics-based algorithm is presented to detect the named branch origin of commits based on the merge commit messages. An empirical evaluation shows precision levels reaching an average of 87% as seen when applied to generated test repositories and an average recall of over 97% when applied to generated test repositories and forty-four open source systems. This is shown to constitute an enormous increase in recall when compared to the only existing algorithm for branch name detection. Additionally, a detailed explanation of common merge commit messages, merge types, and branch names as found in over forty open-source projects is discussed.
Sources and properties of Amazonian aerosol particles

This review provides a comprehensive account of what is known presently about Amazonian aerosol particles and concludes by formulating outlook and priorities for further research. The review is organized to follow the life cycle of Amazonian aerosol particles. It begins with a discussion of the primary and secondary sources relevant to the Amazonian particle burden, followed by a presentation of the particle properties that characterize the mixed populations present over the Amazon Basin at different times and places. These properties include number and mass concentrations and distributions, chemical composition, hygroscopicity, and cloud nucleation ability. The review presents Amazonian aerosol particles in the context of natural compared to anthropogenic sources as well as variability with season and meteorology. This review is intended to facilitate an understanding of the current state of knowledge on Amazonian aerosol particles specifically and tropical continental aerosol particles in general and thereby to enhance future research in this area.
The Acute Care for Elders Unit Model of Care

Older patients are at risk for loss of self-care abilities during the course of an acute medical illness that results in hospitalization. The Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit is a continuous quality improvement model of care designed to prevent the patient’s loss of independence from admission to discharge in the performance of activities of daily living (hospital-associated disability). The ACE unit intervention includes principles of a prepared environment that encourages safe patient self-care, a set of clinical guidelines for bedside care by nurses and other health professionals to prevent patient disability and restore self-care lost by the acute illness, and planning for transitions of care and medical care. By applying a structured process, an interdisciplinary team completes a geriatric assessment, follows clinical guidelines, and initiates plans for care transitions in concert with the patient and family. Three randomized clinical trials and systematic reviews of ACE or related interventions demonstrate reduced functional disability among patients, reduced risk of nursing home admission, and lower costs of hospitalization. ACE principles could improve elderly care in any acute setting. The aim of this commentary is to describe the ACE model and the basis of its effectiveness.
PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES IN LAPALALA WILDERNESS OLD AGRICULTURAL FIELDS , LIMPOPO PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Natural recovery of abandoned agricultural fields take decades due to biotic and abiotic constraints. A key question is how does soil physico-chemical properties prevent the transition from degraded to restored state. This study examined changes in soil physico-chemical properties between old field sites that were abandoned 35 year ago and adjacent natural sites in Lapalala Wilderness, located in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Top soils were collected from three paired sites (old field and natural sites) in five different locations, over three months and were quantified for soil moisture, total soil macro elements (N, C and P), pH, exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg, Na), resistivity, penetration resistance, cumulative infiltration and hydraulic conductivity. Results show that soils in old field sites had lower pH, total N and C, K, Mg, gravimetric soil moisture and were compact compared to soils in adjacent natural sites. Soil resistivity, total P, Na, Ca, cumulative infiltration and hydraulic conductivity showed no significant (p > 0.05) differences between the two sites. It appears that the soils in old field sites have poor properties, and indication that soil manipulation techniques e.g. fertilizer addition, top soil removal and soil transfer must be considered for vegetation recovery to take place.