Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Localization of the voltage-gated Kv10.2 potassium channel in the mouse organism

Already 100 years ago, the importance of ion channels for nerve cell conduction was described. Subsequently, an expression und function of ion channels outside of the nervous system was discovered. Approximately 20 years ago, ion channels were found to be involved in diseases, termed channelopathies. Within the Kv10 family of voltage-gated potassium channels, a functional role of Kv10.1 in cancer and cell proliferation has been demonstrated. Up to date, not much is known about Kv10.2, the second member of the Kv10 family. Therefore, the aim of this PhD thesis was to characterize the distribution of Kv10.2 in mouse tissues and specifically in the brain. We generated and evaluated a novel anti-Kv10.2 antibody, which recognized both human and murine Kv10.2 and did not cross-react with Kv10.1. Using this antibody, we found a broad expression of the Kv10.2 protein in various mouse tissues and an enrichment of Kv10.2 in certain brain areas, such as the olfactory bulb, thalamus, amygdala and globus pallidus. Within the central nervous system, Kv10.2 was shown to be mainly localized to neurons. We found Kv10.2 expressed during early brain development as well as in other embryonic tissues. While knockout of Kv10.1 resulted only in a mild phenotype, genetic ablation of Kv10.2 effected embryonic survival. This may indicate a function of the channel during embryonic development. With our newly generated antibody we provide a valuable tool for further investigations to unravel the biological role of Kv10.2 in human physiology and disease.
Euphorbia seshachalamensis (Euphorbiaceae), a New Species from Andhra Pradesh, India

Euphorbia seshachalamensis K. Prasad & Prasanna sp. nova is described from the Seshachalam Hills of Andhra Pradesh, India. It belongs to the subgenus Euphorbia and the section Euphorbia, and is distinct from all the described tuberous species by its synanthous flowering, oblong-obovate, acuminate bracts, rectangular involucral lobes with five glands more than 2 mm long, and hairy seeds.
MICROPROPAGAÇÃO E ENDORREDUPLICAÇÃO EM PITAYA VERMELHA, Hylocereus undatus HAW MICROPROPAGATION AND ENDOREDUPLICATION IN RED PITAYA, Hylocereus undatus HAW

Micropropagation makes the obtaining of seedlings of red pitaya easier, but, it can cause genetic mutations such as polysomaty, endopolyploidy or endoreduplication. In this work, it was aimed to develop a protocol for micropropagation and check the endoreduplication in red pitaya. Pitaya cladodes were micropropagated im MS culture medium with 0.1 mg L of ANA added of BAP and kinetin at the dosages of 0, 1, 5 and 10 mg L, the MS medium without any growth regulators being used as the control treatment. The experimental design utilized was the completely randomized in factorial 2 x 8 (absence and presence of light and 8 different culture media), amounting to 16 treatments, namely, 4 replications of 3 explants. The experiment was conducted in the presence and absence of light in a growth room at 25 ± 2 oC, average irradiance of 42W m and photoperiod of 16 hours for 120 days. The flow cytometry analysis was utilized on three explants per treatment. Cladode samples, along with the internal pattern (pea) were ground with 1 ml of extraction buffer LB 01 and 25 mL of propide iodide, analyzed in flow cytometer. The explants submitted to the absence of light did not respond to the treatments. The culture medium which brings about the best in vitro growth and development is the MS added of 0.1 mg L of ANA and BAP or kinetin at the concentrations of 1 or 0.5 mg L. The culture medium which provides to the explants greatest variation in the amount of DNA is MS with 10 mg L of BAP and 0.1 mg L of ANA. The phenomenon of endoreduplication is found in all the treatments investigated.
Ameliorative Effect of Humic Acid and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) on Hungarian Vetch Plants under Salinity Stress

ABSTRACT Salinity is one of the major abiotic stress factors for cultivated plants, limiting their growth and productivity in many areas of the world. This study aims to determine the ameliorative effects of humic acid (HA) and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPR) on amino acids, enzymes, minerals, organic acids and hormones in Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica) plants under salinity stress conditions. Salinity stress was established by adding 0, 10, 30 and 60 mM of sodium chloride (NaCl) to growing media. HA and PGPR treatments had positive ameliorative effects on the minerals, organic acids, hormones and enzyme activity of Hungarian vetch plants under salinity stress conditions. PGPR treatments showed better ameliorative effects than HA. This study suggests that PGPR treatments have the potential to be used as alleviator fertilizer in salinity stress conditions and may have ameliorated the deleterious effects of salt stress on Hungarian vetch plants.
Self-Incompatibility in Japanese Plum - S-Allele Genotyping of Cultivars

Japanese plum exhibits gametophytic self-incompatibility and thus many cultivars are inter-incompatible. In this work, two methods were used to determine the compatibility among 54 Japanese plum cultivars. S-alleles of each cultivar were determined by PCR amplification of the S-RNase and cross-pollinations experiments, followed by microscope observation of pollen tube growth in the style, were done to test cross-compatibility among some of the cultivars. The results allowed grouping the cultivars in their corresponding Incompatibility Groups.
Effects of dietary lysine and methionine supplementation on Ross 708 male broilers from 21 to 42 d of age (I): growth performance, meat yield, and cost effectiveness

SUMMARY The effects of dietary lysine (Lys) and methionine (Met) supplementation on the growth performance and meat yield of male Ross × Ross 708 broilers were determined. A completely randomized block design with 2 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was applied. The diets, including 2 Lys levels [100 and 120% of NRC recommended levels (RL)] and 4 Met levels (80, 100, 120, and 140% of RL), were fed from 21 to 42 d of age. A 100% Lys and 100% Met RL diet corresponded respectively to 1.01% and 0.38% calculated levels in the diet. When the broilers were fed Lys at 100% RL, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was lowest when diets contained Met at 120% RL. However, when broilers were fed Lys at 120% RL, FCR was linearly reduced as the inclusion of dietary Met increased. Similarly, BW on d 41 increased and then plateaued when Lys was maintained at 100% RL and as dietary Met increased. However, BW increased linearly as Met level increased and while Lys was maintained at 120% RL. Relative pectoralis major, wing, and front half (pectoralis major, minor, and wings) to carcass yields were increased as dietary Met increased. However, relative leg to carcass yield was decreased by an increase in Met supplementation. Although the cost of the 80% RL Met in the diets was lowest at either Lys level, the amount necessary to produce 1 kg of live body or carcass weight cost the most. Similarly, the use of supplementary Met lowered the ratio of feed cost:cut-up part yield. In conclusion, the improvement in meat yield in response to Met supplementation was mainly due to improvements in relative front half yield rather than in leg yields. In addition, although feed with higher amino acid levels is more expensive, the realized improvements in growth performance and meat yield in response to supplemental Lys and Met in the diets of male broilers from d 21 to 41 made their use cost effective.
The Red Maple Paradox What explains the widespread expansion of red maple in eastern forests

O ne of the most dramatic changes that has occurred in forests of eastern North America during the twentieth century is the increase in the dominance of red maple (Acer rubrum L.; Lorimer 1984, Abrams 1992). Red maple has become nearly ubiquitous across sites of widely varying light, moisture, and nutrient availability. This distribution is in stark contrast to the limited distribution of red maple reported in pre-European settlement forests, where it occurred mainly in poorly drained areas. Red maple has increased after a wide range of disturbances and as a late successional species in many forest types. It now dominates the understory and mid-canopy of many oak (Quercus), pine (Pinus), and northern hardwood forests; moreover, it will probably continue to increase in dominance in the overstory during the next century, causing widespread replacement of the historically dominant trees of the forests of the eastern United States. Surprisingly, red maple exhibits rather modest levels of leaf physiological responses (e.g., gas exchange and osmotic adjustment) to various environmental conditions and has leaf structural characteristics and nitrogen levels that are not particularly conducive to a robust leaf physi-
Patterns of biomass allocation between foliage and woody structure: the effects of tree size and specific functional traits

Biomass allocation is closely related to species traits, resources availability and competitive abilities, and therefore it is often used to capture resource utilisation within plants. In this study, we searched for patterns in biomass allocation between foliage and wood (stem plus branch), and how they changed with tree size (diameter), species identity and functional traits (leaf area and specific wood density). Using data on the aboveground biomass of 89 trees from six species in a Mistbelt forest (South Africa), we evaluated the leaf to wood mass ratio (LWR). The effects of tree size, species identity and specific traits on LWR were tested using Generalised Linear Models. Tree size (diameter) was the main driver of biomass allocation, with 44.43 % of variance explained. As expected, LWR declined significantly with increasing tree diameter. Leaf area (30.17% explained variance) and wood density (12.61% explained variance) also showed significant effects, after size effect was accounted for. Results also showed clear differences among species and between groups of species. Per unit of wood mass, more biomass is allocated to the foliage in the species with the larger leaf area. Inversely, less biomass is allocated to the foliage in species with higher wood density. Moreover, with increasing diameter, lower wood density species tended to allocate more biomass to foliage and less biomass to stems and branches. Overall, our results emphasise the influence of plant size and functional traits on biomass allocation, but showed that neither tree diameter and species identity nor leaf area and wood density are the only important variables.
Le projet Nomage Description des noms déverbaux du français

2 Positionnement théorique 3 2.1 Identification des lexèmes à traiter . 3 2.1. 1 Types de nominalisations . 4 2.1. 2 Source morphologique . 5 2.2 Définition des classes aspectuelles nominales . 6 2.2.1 Classes aspectuelles verbales s’appliquant également aux noms . 6 2.2.2 Classes aspectuelles propres aux noms . 7 2.2. 3 Hiérarchies (verbale et nominale) des classes aspectuelles simples . 8
Mercury recovery from aqueous solutions by polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration using a sulfate derivative of chitosan

The sulfatation of chitosan, by reaction with chlorosulfonic acid under controlled conditions, allowed increasing the pH range of chitosan solubility. The biopolymer was characterized using FTIR and -NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and titration analysis and it was tested for mercury recovery by polymer enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF). In slightly alkaline conditions (i.e., pH 8) mercury recovery was possible and at saturation of the polymer the molar ratio /Hg(II) tended to 2.6. Polymer recycling was possible changing the pH to 2 and the polymer was reused for 3 cycles maintaining high metal recovery. The presence of chloride ions influences metal speciation and affinity for the polymer and "playing" with metal speciation allowed using the PEUF process for mercury separation from cadmium; at pH 11 the formation of hydroxo-complexes of Hg(II) limits it retention. Cake formation reveals the predominant controlling step for permeation flux.
Significance of mate selection and adult sex ratio in tiger reintroduction/reinforcement programs

Translocations of large carnivores like tiger to restore extirpated populations are increasingly becoming important conservation tools in the face of persistent anthropogenic pressures and relentless habitat loss. Reintroduction success in Panna Tiger Reserve, India was variously attributed to high genetic diversity, less anthropogenic disturbance and stress, efficient execution and technological integrations. Here, we establish parentage relationships and explore the potential of mate choice and appropriate adult sex ratio to explain the successful reintroduction in Panna. We used a combination of radio-telemetry and genetic analyses to understand mating interactions of translocated tigers and their outcomes. Surprisingly, relatedness and parentage analyses of nine cubs born in 2010–2012 suggested that five cubs (55.5%) were not sired by the single translocated male tiger, emphasizing the difficulty of assessing the persistence of tiger presence over a large geographic area. Genotype data of tigers originally from Panna prior to the present reintroduced population revealed that four cubs were sired by an original Panna tiger which possibly ranged transiently within the released tigers’ home ranges. Presence of additional male for mate choice can be a strong factor for successful reintroduction of tigers in Panna. Although number of females released is a good indicator of reintroduction success, the number of males released is also a very important factor for success. We hypothesize that while tigers live in female-dominated population structure within male territories, mate selection strategies operate strongly between sexes. Translocation programs should therefore deliberate on this aspect of mate selection and accordingly consider founder compositions to achieve desirable results. This also reinforces the need for post-release monitoring and thorough investigations into intraspecific interactions and behavior which will facilitate proper management and revival of tiger populations.
Different fat depots are distinct mini-organs

Fat tissue distribution varies widely, even among patients with the same body fat content. Visceral obesity is associated with increased risk of diabetes and atherosclerosis. Recent advances in understanding of mechanisms responsible for fat distribution patterns are reviewed. Although factors extrinsic to fat depots, including hormones, innervation, and nutrient supply, affect regional distribution, it is now evident that innate characteristics of adipose cells make an important contribution. Different fat depots are essentially distinct mini-organs. Visceral cells transfer and release fatty acids more extensively, have increased glucocorticoid and reduced thiazolidinedione responses, produce more angiotensinogen, and secrete less leptin than subcutaneous cells. Together with venous drainage through the liver and elevated intra-abdominal pressure, these features contribute to the morbidity associated with increased visceral fat mass. Once more fully understood, it may be possible to exploit regional differences in intrinsic properties of adipose cells in order to develop treatments that target specific fat depots.
Integrative approach revealed contrasting pattern of spatial structuring within urban and rural biotypes of Culex pipiens

Population structure of pests is an important issue when designing management strategies to optimize control measures. In this study, we investigated a spatial pattern of genetic and phenotypic variation within seven urban and within six rural populations of Culex pipiens from Vojvodina Province (Serbia) incorporating landscape genetic methods (using allozyme data) and wing size and shape (using geometric morphometric approach). Comparing rural samples, no strong genetic groupings of individuals were detected. Nevertheless, traditional approaches where individuals are pre‐assigned to populations, including F statistics and amova (analysis of molecular variance), revealed low, but significant genetic differentiation among samples. Similarly, phenotypic data (wing size and shape) indicated some level of heterogeneity among rural samples. Contrary to genetic homogeneity found within rural biotype, the individual‐based structuring characterized urban biotype. Geneland revealed the presence of two genetic clusters within urban group which is in concordance with FST and amova results. These results showed that sample from Novi Sad (NS) is a distinct genetic unit, which has been likely resulted in intensive insecticide use over several decades. Furthermore, phenotypic differentiation supported the existence of spatial structuring. Therefore, complementary use of molecular markers and phenotypic traits may be a powerful tool for revealing hidden spatial diversity within Cx. pipiens.
β1 and β2 integrins activate different signalling pathways in monocytes

Integrin-mediated signals play an important but poorly understood role in regulating many leucocyte functions. In monocytes and macrophages, integrins of the β2 subfamily are involved in cell—cell interactions that are important for migration of the cells through the endothelium and also for phagocytosis. On the other hand, in the same cells, β1 integrin-mediated adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins results in a strong induction of immediate early genes that are important in inflammation. To investigate the signalling pathways from these two types of integrin in monocytic cells, THP-1 cells were selectively stimulated via β1 or β2 integrins by cross-linking each type of receptor with specific monoclonal antibodies or their natural ligands. The involvement of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Syk and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI-3K) was then analysed. Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation was also detected in THP-1 cells transiently transfected with an NF-κB-driven luciferase reporter gene. We found that binding of both types of integrin to their natural ligands activated ERK in a Syk- and PI-3K-dependent manner. Yet, cross-linking of integrins by anti-β1 antibodies caused activation of ERK while that by anti-β2 antibodies did not. Also both types of integrin activated NF-κB. However, PI-3K was required for β1 integrin-, but not β2 integrin-, mediated NF-κB activation. In addition, inhibition of PI-3K with wortmannin and LY294002 blocked β1 integrin-mediated NF-κB activation, but did not affect that mediated by β2 integrin. These data suggest that distinct integrins activate different signalling pathways in monocytic cells.
Physiology and ecology of Idriella bolleyi, a biological control agent of cereal root and stem base pathogens

Ic/ne/la bolleyi strains, T560, Ji 0 and AB 1, differed considerably in their tolerance to water-stress, this was apparent in both osmotic and matric potentials and in all aspects of their growth cycle. The level of tolerance for one strain, T560, was comparable to the take-all pathogen Gaeumannomyces graminis var. trilici, which is associated with low water-stress tolerance, and another strain, AB 1, was comparable to the foot-rot pathogen Fusarium culmorum, known to be highly tolerant of drought conditions. Variation in response to osmotic potential was also observed in root and stem base field isolates off. bolleyi. The field isolates differed in the level of mycelial growth and sporulation at potentials of-l.5 MPa (control) and -5.0 MPa. Isolates from the same plant were found to have different levels of sporulation, this may have been related to the degree of microcycle conidiation they exhibited. Idriella bolleyi isolates, T560 and AB1, were able to colonise straw in soil at differentmatric potentials down to -7.0 MPa. Straw colonisation was found to increase from 2 to 8 weeks indicating that both strains were actively growing at all water potentials during this period. A number of other fungal species were isolated from the straw along with I. bolleyi, suggesting that a high degree of competition was associated with colonisation. Water potential appeared to be the most influencing factor with regard to the activity of each species. Idniella bolleyi could increase its population on unsterilised wheat seeds buried in soil. Idriella bolleyi was inoculated onto the seeds as either an alginate or water suspension. For both seed treatments the detectable level of conidia increased exponentially on the seeds over five days, this increase coinciding with the production of young wheat roots. As the seed aged the detectable level of conidia decreased. A bank of nitrate non-utilising (nit) mutants were produced from I. bo//eyi, their production being influenced by the I. bolleyi strain used and the nitrogen source present in the chlorate growth medium used to induce mutation. Nit mutant pairings of different
Disruption of glucose homeostasis and induction of insulin resistance by elevated free fatty acids in human L02 hepatocytes

Free fatty acids (FFA) have been implicated as an important causative link between obesity, insulin resistance, and Type 2 diabetes. However, the underlying mechanisms especially for FFA-mediated hepatic insulin resistance are not fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the impaired sites in in- sulin signaling pathways and mechanisms of insulin resistance induced by elevated FFA in L02 hepatocytes. L02 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified eagle medium containing var- ious concentrations of palmitic acid (PA) for 24 h followed by 10-7 mol/l insulin stimulation. In some experiments, cells were pre-treated with enzymatic inhibitor Wortmannin (10-6 mol/l). Glucose levels in medium, cytosolic glycogen contents, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activity were measured. Protein level of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-2 and phosphorylated Akt were detected by Western blot anal- ysis. L02 cells treated with high levels of PA exhibited in- creased glucose levels, whereas hepatic glycogen contents were decreased in a dose-dependent manner as compared to the control cells. There was a significant attenuation of IRS- 2 protein expression in the cells cultured with PA, and Wort- mannin intervention exhibited different IRS-2 protein level with or without PA treatment. In accordance with the reduced IRS-2 level, the insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt was diminished in the PA-treated cells. Basal PEPCK activity and in- sulin-regulated PEPCK activity were overstimulated in the cells incubated with PA. These data indicate high levels of FFA can disrupt glucose homeostasis, inflict some defects in insulin signaling, and induce insulin resistance in L02 cells.
ECG based Heart Disease Classification and Validation using 2D CNN

Using deep, two-dimensional CNNs, which have recently shown excellent performance in the field of pattern recognition, we provide in this study a potent approach for identifying arrhythmias on ECGs. Every ECG beat was converted into a two-dimensional grayscale image and utilized as the CNN classifier’s input. The suggested CNN classifier is optimized using a wide range of deep learning techniques, including as batch normalization, data augmentation, Xavier initialization, and dropout. Along with comparing our proposed classifier to well-known machine learning methods like ID-CNN, SVM, RNN, FFNN, and others, we also looked at alternative classifiers. The MIT BIH arrhythmia database’s ECG records were used for the classifier assessment. Our classifier had an average accuracy of 98.10% on the test set as a consequence. Each ECG recording served as test data for 10-fold cross-validation, which was used at the assessment to precisely verify our CNN classifier. Our experimental findings utilising the updated ECG images and the recommended CNN classifier have successfully confirmed the claim that high classification accuracy may be obtained without manually preprocessing the ECG signals with noise filtering, feature extraction, or feature reduction.