Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of dietary addition of cellulase and a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product on nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation and enteric methane emissions in growing goats

ABSTRACT This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of dietary cellulase (243 U/g, derived from Neocallimastix patriciarum) and a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (yeast product) on ruminal fermentation characteristics, enteric methane (CH4) emissions and methanogenic community in growing goats. The experiment was conducted in a 5 × 5 Latin square design using five Xiangdong black wether goats. The treatments included a Control and two levels of cellulase (0.8 g and 1.6 g/kg dry matter intake (DMI), i.e. 194 U/kg and 389 U/kg DMI, respectively) crossed over with two levels (6 g or 12 g/kg DMI) of the yeast product. There were no significant differences regarding feed intake, apparent digestibility of organic matter, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre among all the treatments. In comparison with the Control, the ruminal ammonia N concentration was decreased (p = 0.001) by cellulase and yeast product addition. The activities of carboxymethylcellulase and xylanase were decreased after cellulase addition. Moreover, dietary cellulase and yeast product addition led to a significant reduction (p < 0.05) of enteric CH4 emissions although the diversity and copy numbers of methanogens among treatments were not dissimilar. The present results indicate that the combination of cellulase and yeast fermentation product can reduce the production of CH4 energy and mitigate the enteric CH4 emissions to a certain degree.
Litomosoides carinii: macrofilariae‐derived glycolipids—chromatography, serology and potential in the evaluation of anthelminthic efficacy

A preliminary characterization of the glycolipids of Litomosoides carinii macrofilariae, resolved according to their chromatographic, chemical and serological properties, has been performed. Emphasis has been placed on the neutral fraction glycolipids. These are separable on thinlayer chromatography into two groups of fast and slow migrating band components, that differ in their migration, differential chemical staining and serological traits, respectively. Serological analyses have been accomplished by thin‐layer chromatography immunostaining and ELISA. Only components of the slow migrating band group react with infection serum from Litomosoides carinii‐infected Mastomys coucha. Cross‐reactivity experiments with homologous and heterologous infection sera of various helminthiases indicate that, epitopes bound to the neutral glycolipid fraction show structural similarity within the Nematoda, but not to the Cestoda or Trematoda. The dynamic development of specific Ig‐, IgG‐ and IgM‐anti‐neutral glycolipid fraction antibody levels were correlated with the different progression of L. carinii and Brugia malayi infections in the multimammate rat, Mastomys coucha. The reduction in the dynamics of IgG‐ and IgM‐antibody levels on chemotherapeutic treatment with the filaricides flubendazole and CGP 20376 has been related to their macrofilaricide‐activity.
Expanding multiple antibiotic resistance among clinical strains of Vibrio cholerae isolated from 1992–7 in Calcutta, India

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Vibrio cholerae strains isolated from cholera patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta, India for 6 years were analysed to determine the changing trends; 840 V. cholerae strains isolated in 1992–1997 were included in this study. Among V. cholerae serogoup O1 and O139, ampicillin resistance increased from 1992 (35 and 70%, respectively) to 1997 (both serogroups 100%). Resistance to furazolidone and streptomycin was constantly high among V. cholerae O1 strains with gradual increase in resistance to other drugs such as ciprofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, neomycin and nalidixic acid. V. cholerae O139 strains exhibited susceptibilities to furazolidone and streptomycin comparable with those of O1 strains. However, after initial increase in resistance to chloramphenicol and co-trimoxazole, all the V. cholerae O139 strains became susceptible to these two drugs from 1995 onwards. Both V. cholerae O1 and O139 remained largely susceptible to gentamicin and tetracycline. V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139 strains, in contrast, exhibited high levels of resistance to virtually every class of antimicrobial agents tested in this study especially from 1995. Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis showed that V. cholerae O1 Ogawa serogroup exhibited significant yearly increase in resistance to nine antibiotics followed by non-O1 non-O139 and O139 strains to six antibiotics and two antibiotics respectively. Interesting observation encountered in this study was the dissipation of some of the resistant patterns commonly found among V. cholerae non-O1 non-O139 or O1 serogroups to the O139 serogroup and vice versa during the succeeding years.
Green apparel buying behaviour: A study on Indian youth

Changes in demographics and availability of global clothing brands have brought several changes in Indian apparel industry. Green or organic clothing brands are becoming popular among Indians and likely to contribute to the revenues of apparel sector. Global and national apparel manufacturers have introduced organic clothing lines to cater to ecological conscious consumers. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII), past green behaviour, green peer influence and green apparel knowledge on Indian youth's green apparel buying behaviour. A mix of convenience and random sampling was used for data collection. The sample (n = 981) comprised of youth of age group 18–24 years. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings suggest that past green behaviour influenced green apparel buying behaviour. Green peer influence and green apparel knowledge had no impact on green apparel buying behaviour. Moreover, CSII had no influence on green apparel buying behaviour. The findings differ from earlier studies that suggest influence of social norms and peer group had an effect on green buying behaviour. Practical implications of the present study are discussed.
Ideological influences on governance and regulation: The comparative case of supreme courts

A key influence on governance and regulation is the ideology of individual decisionmakers. Still, certain branches of government — such as courts — while wielding wide ranging regulatory powers, are expected to do so with no attitudinal influence. We posit a dynamic response model to investigate attitudinal behavior in different national courts. Our ideological scores are estimated based on probability models that formalize the assumption that judicial decisions consist of ideological, strategic and jurisprudential components. The Dynamic Comparative Attitudinal Measure (DCAM) estimates the attitudinal decision-making on the institution as a whole. Additionally, we estimate Ideological Ideal Point Preference (IIPP) for individual justices. Empirical results with original data for political and religious rights rulings in the Supreme Courts of the U.S, Canada, India, the Philippines and Israel corroborate the measures’ validity. Future studies can utilize IIPP and DCAM to cover additional courts, legal spheres and time frames, and to estimate government deference.
N‐glycosylation proteomic characterization and cross‐species comparison of milk whey proteins from dairy animals

Glycosylated proteins in milk have been implicated in multiple biological roles. However, the N‐glycoprotein components and their complexity in milk whey from dairy animals are not well characterized. Here, a modified proteomics approach consisting of N‐glycopeptide enrichment and identification was used to map the N‐glycoproteome profile of milk whey from Holstein and Jersey cows, buffaloes, yaks, goats, camels, and horses. A total of 233 N‐glycosylation sites, corresponding to 147 N‐glycoproteins, were detected in the studied animals. Most of the identified N‐glycosylation sites were not characterized in the database and were considered as unknown. Functional analysis of the identified glycoproteins demonstrated that response to stimulus was the most abundant GO category shared in the studied animals according to their annotation. Lysosome, glycosaminoglycan degradation, and extracellular matrix‐receptor interaction pathways were shared between Holstein and Jersey cows, and yaks. N‐glycoprotein components of milk whey from Holstein and Jersey cows, buffaloes, yaks, and goats were more similar to each other than to those of camels and horses. These results significantly extend the number of known N‐glycosylation sites and reveal in‐depth composition and potential functions of N‐glycoproteins in milk whey, which in turn provides insights to further explore N‐glycoprotein biosynthesis in the studied animals.
Examining the Current Legal Environment Facing the Public Accounting Profession: Recommendations for a Consistent U.S. Policy

We examine the recent history and trends of U.S. auditor liability to third parties to help regulators and legislators develop policies to protect and maintain audit quality while limiting auditor liability exposure. Although the United States has yet developed a formal policy to address auditor liability, some European Union member countries and Australia, in varying degrees, support such limitation. Thus, we also explore current EU and Australian policies as examples of potential recommendations to U.S. policy makers. In light of a litigious environment, U.S. Certified Public Accounting firms generally accept potential clients only after analyzing potential risks, dismiss many risky clients, raise their total or hourly fees, spend more time examining attestation evidence, and perform other procedures to reduce their litigation risk. This risk arises largely from the federal and state legal systems, assuming that auditors can better absorb and control losses from misleading financial statements than can financial statement users. While culpable, this litigious environment led to the demise of two large international Certified Public Accounting firms—Arthur Andersen and Laventhol & Horwath. Is the global economy better off having fewer accounting firms with the capacity to perform international audits? A Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s recent Exposure Draft would require auditors of issuers to expand significantly their audit reports beyond current Pass/Fail standards, which could increase audit firms’ disclosures and resultant liabilities. After examining U.S. federal and state statutes plus court decisions regarding auditor liability, we suggest methods to protect the public while allowing audit firms to thrive in these environments.
Managing service-level agreements in metro Ethernet networks using backpressure

Ethernet, which has long been used for local area networks (LANs), is increasingly being employed for metropolitan area networks (MANs). Because it is familiar, simple, and cost-effective, it is becoming popular as a means of transporting data in a MAN. A prerequisite for providing different levels of service in a MAN is the ability to support and maintain service-level agreements (SLAs). Proper management of SLAs ensures that users do not violate their contracts and makes it possible to guarantee quality of service (QoS). Such management requires support for traffic flow control, monitoring, and policing. This paper presents a novel Ethernet traffic-policing mechanism based on backpressure and able to provide feedback to an end user or access network when SLAs are violated, instead of simply dropping packets. The performance of this mechanism is analyzed by means of tests. The tests focus on the effects of the mechanism on throughput and fairness for transmission control protocol (TCP) traffic and on jitter and packet drops for user datagram protocol (UDP) multimedia traffic. © 2003 Lucent Technologies Inc.
Hemiparetic Optimal Practice and Evaluation (H.O.P.E.) for the Stroke Survivor with Very Low Hand Function

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe an approach that may benefit persons with severe hemiparesis following stroke. Method: The subjects were 3 stroke survivors who had experienced a stroke that left their dominant right extremity severely disabled (mean age 43 years, mean time since stroke 26.6 months, mean Fugl-Meyer UE motor score 14.3/66). A multiple baseline, preintervention-postintervention case series design was used. The intervention consisted of structured whole body, increased intensity, activity-dependent practice strategy, with 3 to 5 sessions lasting for more than 3 hours per day, for 1–5 weeks for an average of 170 hours of therapy over 2.5 years. Subjects completed therapies such as body weight—supported treadmill training, overground multidirectional gait training, balance retraining, upper extremity functional activity, and trunk and extremity mobility. Results: The subjects experienced decreased fall risk (mean Timed Up and Go [TUG] scores decreased from 14.9 s to 6.8 s) and improved community safety (mean speed of gait in 10 m improved from 18.3 s to 8.3 s) and decreased impairment level as measured by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA: mean UE motor score from 14.3/66 to 53/66). Finally, subjects demonstrated an increase in their hemiparetic UE functional ability (mean amount of tasks completed in the Wolf Motor Function Test [WMFT] from 3.6/15 tasks to 15/15 tasks) following the intervention. Conclusion: The findings indicate that hemiparetic optimal practice and evaluation (H.O.P.E) rehabilitation led to a decrease in the level of impairment along with a corresponding increase in function of the severely hemiparetic arm. The outcomes are significant: few treatment approaches have demonstrated an increase in the function of the severely affected arm in this population.
Obesity Hypertension: Pathophysiological Role of Leptin in Neuroendocrine Dysregulation

Abstract:Leptin is a 16-kDa peptide hormone that is primarily synthesized and secreted by adipose tissue. One of the major actions of this hormone is the control of energy balance by binding to receptors in the hypothalamus, leading to reduction in food intake, elevation in temperature and energy expenditure. In addition, increasing evidence suggests that leptin, through both direct and indirect mechanisms, may play an important role in cardiovascular and renal regulation. Although the relevance of endogenous leptin needs further clarification, it appears to function as a pressure- and volume-regulating factor under conditions of health. However, in abnormal situations characterized by chronic hyperleptinemia such as obesity, it may function pathophysiologically for the development of hypertension and possibly also for direct renal, vascular and cardiac damage.
Improving Microcirculation is More Effective Than Substitution of Red Blood Cells to Correct Metabolic Disorder in Experimental Hemorrhagic Shock

Microcirculatory perfusion deficits and impaired tissue oxygenation in nonvital organs frequently occur after hemorrhage and they contribute to potentially lethal complications. The aim of this study was to test the influence of colloid osmotic pressure, viscosity, and red blood cell (RBC) content of the resuscitative fluid on metabolic disorder, perfusion, and oxygenation in peripheral tissues. Awake hamsters were subjected to hemorrhage of 50% and were resuscitated with 25% of blood volume with solutions containing 6% pegylated bovine albumin only (PEG-BSA 0) and 6% PEG-BSA mixed with autologous RBCs to reach 4 g/dL (PEG-BSA 4) and 8 g/dL (PEG-BSA 8) of hemoglobin. PEG-BSA had a viscosity of 4.2 cP and a COP of 116 mmHg. Microhemodynamics and tissue pO2 were assessed in the hamster chamber window preparation with intravital microscopy. Arterial base excess tended to be lower than baseline for PEG-BSA 0 and PEG-BSA 4 (ns), whereas base deficit remained significantly decreased for PEG-BSA 8 (P < 0.05 vs. baseline). Oxygen extraction was 91% ± 2% of the oxygen delivery for PEG-BSA 0 compared with 85% ± 2% for PEG-BSA 8 (P < 0.05). Functional capillary density was 61%, 47%, and 45% for PEG-BSA 0 (P < 0.05 vs. other groups), PEG-BSA 4 and PEG-BSA 8, respectively. We conclude that arterial base excess and oxygen extraction ratio in the tissue was better restored if a higher fraction of PEG-BSA and less RBCs were infused. This was attributed to a more homogeneous distribution of oxygen, as reflected by functional capillary density. Our results suggest that the transfusion trigger in hemorrhagic shock may be shifted toward lower hemoglobin concentrations if highly viscous and oncotic solutions are used.
Role of the inward rectifier IK1 in the myocardial response to hypoxia.

STUDY OBJECTIVE The aim was to assess the contribution of the inward rectifier IK1 to the electrical responses of the myocardium to hypoxia: action potential shortening, maintenance of resting potential, and myocardial K loss. DESIGN Hypoxia induced changes of gK1 were inferred from the effects of 40 microns Ba2+ on action potential duration, resting potential, and cellular K content of normoxic and hypoxic rabbit hearts paced at 2.5 Hz and perfused at 33 degrees C and constant coronary flow of 20 ml.min-1. The components (diffusion generated and Na pump related) of the resting potential (Vr) were separated by exposure to 10(-4) M ouabain. The effects of varying the extracellular K concentration (Ko) were also examined. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIAL New Zealand rabbits were heparinised and anaesthetised and the hearts rapidly excised and perfused in the Langendorff manner. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The membrane potential was measured with standard glass microelectrodes and the cellular content of K and Na estimated from determinations of total electrolyte and water content and volume of the inulin space of the tissue. In normoxia, Ba2+ caused a slight depolarisation at Ko below 10 mM and lengthened the action potential duration at 95% repolarisation (APD95) without altering the plateau duration. In hypoxia, Ba2+ caused further depolarisation and markedly reduced the APD95 shortening at normal Ko. The Vr v Ko relationship was considerably flattened and the diffusion component of Vr became insensitive to changes in Ko between 1.5 and 10 mM. Concomitantly, the Na pump related fraction of Vr increased under Ba2+. Barium also attenuated myocardial K loss induced by hypoxia. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that an increase in the IK1 current underlies the maintenance of Vr in hypoxia despite the decrease in the transmembrane K gradient and contributes to the action potential shortening, speeding up the late repolarisation. The inwardly rectifying K channels would also be involved in the increased efflux of K+. In contrast, the decrease in plateau duration is probably caused by another K current system, less sensitive to Ba2+. Finally, the contribution of electrogenic Na pumping to Vr becomes critical for the maintenance of the resting potential under conditions of decreased resting permeability.
The Large Hsp70 Grp170 Binds to Unfolded Protein Substrates in Vivo with a Regulation Distinct from Conventional Hsp70s*

Background: Large Hsp70s are structurally similar to conventional Hsp70s but functionally less well understood. Results: The endoplasmic reticulum cognate Grp170 binds directly to substrates in vivo, which is modulated by structural elements characteristic for large Hsp70s. Conclusion: Grp170 serves as a nucleotide exchange factor and a chaperone. Significance: In addition to BiP another Hsp70 superfamily member fulfills ER chaperone functions. The Hsp70 superfamily is a ubiquitous chaperone class that includes conventional and large Hsp70s. BiP is the only conventional Hsp70 in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) whose functions include: assisting protein folding, targeting misfolded proteins for degradation, and regulating the transducers of the unfolded protein response. The ER also possesses a single large Hsp70, the glucose-regulated protein of 170 kDa (Grp170). Like BiP it is an essential protein, but its cellular functions are not well understood. Here we show that Grp170 can bind directly to a variety of incompletely folded protein substrates in the ER, and as expected for a bona fide chaperone, it does not interact with folded secretory proteins. Our data demonstrate that Grp170 and BiP associate with similar molecular forms of two substrate proteins, but while BiP is released from unfolded substrates in the presence of ATP, Grp170 remains bound. In comparison to conventional Hsp70s, the large Hsp70s possess two unique structural features: an extended C-terminal α-helical domain and an unstructured loop in the putative substrate binding domain with an unknown function. We find that in the absence of the α-helical domain the interaction of Grp170 with substrates is reduced. In striking contrast, deletion of the unstructured loop results in increased binding to substrates, suggesting the presence of unique intramolecular mechanisms of control for the chaperone functions of large Hsp70s.
S-Nitrosation of Mitochondrial Complex I Depends on Its Structural Conformation*

Nitric oxide is known to cause persistent inhibition of mitochondrial respiration as a result of S-nitrosation of NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) (Clementi, E., Brown, G. C., Feelisch, M., and Moncada, S. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 95, 7631–7636). Little is known about whether such nitrosation occurs in physiological conditions and, if so, what are the possible cellular mechanisms. We have now found that the conformational state (active/deactive transition (Vinogradov, A. D. (1998) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1364, 169–185)) of mitochondrial complex I is an important factor for the interaction of the enzyme with nitrosothiols and peroxynitrite. Only the deactivated, idle form of complex I was susceptible to inhibition by nitrosothiols and peroxynitrite. In contrast, the active form of the enzyme was insensitive to such treatment. Neither form of complex I was inhibited by nitric oxide itself. Our data suggest that the process of active/deactive transition plays an important role in the regulation of complex I activity and cellular respiration by nitric oxide. The implications of this finding for hypoxic or pathophysiological conditions in vivo are discussed.
Optimal multiperiod dispatch for hybrid VSC-MTDC and AC grids by coordination of offshore wind farm and battery energy storage

This paper proposes a multiperiod optimal dispatch model for hybrid voltage source converter based multi-terminal DC (VSC-MTDC) system and AC grids with consideration of optimal coordination of offshore wind farm (OWF) and battery energy storage (BES). The OWF is connected to onshore AC grid by VSC-MTDC. The VSC capacity limits and Grid Code for OWF connection to AC grid are taken into consideration. Scenario method is employed to model the wind energy output uncertainty. Simulation on the modified IEEE 118-bus system with three OWFs integration via seven terminal VSC-MTDC network is used to validate the availability and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Developing transmission fault ride-through criteria for New Zealand wind farms

Wind energy currently constitutes about 8% of the total energy generation in New Zealand. The penetration of wind generation into high voltage transmission systems necessitates development of grid integration standards. One of the requirements is the development of a voltage envelope as part of a generator Fault Ride-Through (FRT) criteria. The specialized development of FRT criteria for a country requires taking into account load and transmission network characteristics, selection of appropriate contingencies, and consideration of protective relay settings. This paper outlines the experience of the New Zealand (NZ) Transmission System Operator (TSO) development of the proposed FRT criteria through dynamic system studies. Wind turbine technology is also reviewed in context of development of FRT criteria for large wind farms connected to the NZ Grid. The final proposed FRT criteria for the New Zealand transmission system is also presented.