Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LAYING PRODUCTIVITY WITH CONSTANT RENEWAL IN WATER FOUNTAINS DURING HEATWAVE

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the water renewal system of drinking fountains in laying hens and its relationship with productivity. For this, 5,000 laying hens of the Dekalb White line were used in each shed, which received food and water ad libitum. The warehouses had a conventional typology, Californian type. For this, a digital water renewal system was installed in three nipple drinking fountains in one of the warehouses (treatment 2 - T2) and the other remained without the water renewal system (treatment 1 - T1). Using Thermo hygrometers, the average air temperature (° C) and the average relative humidity of the air (%) were measured. For the water temperature (° C), a water renewal system (Flushing Control® - Lubing model) was used, which carried out the renewal of the birds' drinking water six times a day. Feed consumption (g / bird / day), water consumption (ml), egg production (%) and mortality (%) were evaluated. During the study period, using data from the weather station, the occurrence or not of heatwaves was defined. A completely randomized design (DIC) was performed in a 2 × 2 factorial scheme (two sheds: conventional system and with water renewal; with and without heatwave) and the data were subjected to analysis of variance (5%). It concludes the efficiency of the use of the water renewal system for zootechnical performance, during the heatwave, but the use of air conditioning systems and measures to reduce the direct radiation in the birds and installation is still necessary. There was a positive influence (p <0.05) in the use of the water renewal system for water temperature (° C), water consumption (ml) and egg production (%). In the presence of a heatwave, the feed and water consumption variables were lower (p <0.05). There was no interaction between the systems and the presence of heatwaves. It is concluded that the use of a water renewal system has benefits in zootechnical indexes, however, it does not interact with the presence of heatwaves.
A sampling strategy to assess banana crops for damage by Radopholus similis and Pratylenchus goodeyi

The economic threshold of burrowing (Radopholus similis) and lesion nematode (Pratylenchus goodeyi) on banana may be used to determine whether it is economic to apply nematicide. However, to use such a threshold, a sampling strategy is essential to determine the severity of root damage caused by the nematode. Ten banana crops in south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales and 10 in northern Queensland were sampled several times over several years to determine the disease index (percentage cortical root damage caused by R. similis and P. goodeyi) and nematode populations in roots. The negative binomial distribution and Taylor’s power law analysis were used to determine the relationship between the mean and variance of the disease index and nematode populations. Taylor’s power law gave the better fit, and was therefore used to determine fixed-precision stop lines for sequential sampling for precision at 20–30% for disease index and 20–40% for nematode populations. Twenty samples per crop were sufficient to achieve 25% precision when assessing nematode infestations using disease index but only 40% precision when using nematode populations.
Central bank tone and the dispersion of views within monetary policy committees

Does policymakers’ choice of words matter? We explore empirically whether central bank tone conveyed in FOMC statements contains useful information for financial market participants. We quantify central bank tone using computational linguistics and identify exogenous shocks to central bank tone orthogonal to the state of the economy. Using an ARCH model and a high-frequency approach, we find that positive central bank tone increases interest rates at the 1-year maturity. We therefore investigate which potential pieces of information could be revealed by central bank tone. Our tests suggest that it relates to the dispersion of views among FOMC members. This information may be useful to financial markets to understand current and future policy decisions. Finally, we show that central bank tone helps predicting future policy decisions.
Synthesis and application of coumarin fluorescence probes

In recent years, the research on fluorescent probes has developed rapidly. Coumarin fluorescent probes have also been one of the hot topics in recent years. For the synthesis and application of coumarin fluorescent probes, great progress has been made. Coumarin fluorescent probes have become more and more widely used in biochemistry, environmental protection, and disease prevention, and have broad prospects. This review introduces the three main light emitting mechanisms (PET, ICT, FRET) of fluorescent probes, and enumerates some probes based on this light emitting mechanism. In terms of the synthesis of coumarin fluorescent probes, the existing substituents on the core of coumarin compounds were modified. Based on the positions of the modified substituents, some of the fluorescent probes reported in the past ten years are listed. Most of the fluorescent probes are formed by modifying the 3 and 7 position substituents on the mother nucleus, and the 4 and 8 position substituents are relatively less modified. In terms of probe applications, the detection and application of coumarin fluorescent probes for Cu2+, Hg2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, pH, environmental polarity, and active oxygen and sulfide in the past ten years are mainly introduced.
Achieving Fully-Digital Performance by Hybrid Analog/Digital Beamforming in Wide-Band Massive-Mimo Systems

In this paper, we study the realization of any given fullydigital precoder (FDP) by hybrid analog/digital precoding (HADP) in wide-band mmWave systems. We first formulate the massive-MIMO OFDM-based HADP system design and then, introduce the notion of perfect reconstruction at sampling point (PRSP) for FDP realization. Furthermore, the minimum number of required RF chains and its trade-off with the bandwidth of the transmitted signal is discussed. Next, we present a novel FDP realization with two RF chains. Finally, simulation results are presented showing the superiority of the proposed hybrid design to recently published works.
Nestedness and turnover unveil inverse spatial patterns of compositional and functional β‐diversity at varying depth in marine benthos

The two additive components of β‐diversity, namely turnover and nestedness, reflect the two basic mechanisms underlying the overall change in species identities across the landscape, the replacement of species or their loss, respectively. Analogously, functional turnover and nestedness express the replacement or loss of functional traits associated with variations in community composition. However, the extent to which patterns of compositional and functional nestedness and turnover may overlap, or diverge, is still uncertain in marine environments. Here, patterns of turnover and nestedness were quantified in marine benthic assemblages in order to assess their relative contribution to spatial patterns of compositional and functional β‐diversity.
Is Climate Change Driving People to the Ice? A Case Study from Montenvers Mer de Glace, French Alps

Glaciers are an important resource for tourism but they are retreating quickly. This fact can be a threat for glacier touristic sites while it also stimulated a motivation known as “Last Chance Tourism” (LCT). In that context, this working research paper provides the first results from our work at the Montenvers-Mer-de-Glace, the most visited glacier touristic sites in the French Alps. It points out that LCT is well present at this glacier touristic site and that it is closely related to the visitor’s awareness of climate change. We discuss the fact that the trend towards the development of glacier museums is consistent with the high score of the learning-motivation. We suggest to be cautious in the development of new infrastructures due to the importance for visitors of the “naturalness” of the site. Finally, we introduce the follow-up of the research: further investigation of motivational issues, approach to landscape perception and comparisons with other glacier touristic sites in the western Alps.
The role of PtdIns(4,5)P2 and its regulatory proteins in the development of insulin resistance in cell culture models

Insulin resistance, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes, can be defined as when cells fail to respond effectively to insulin. In striated muscle and fat, this manifests as impaired insulin-stimulated glucose uptake due to reduced plasma membrane insertion of the glucose transporter GLUT4. In cell culture models, insulin resistance induced by chronic exposure to insulin, endothelin-1 or glucosamine, is correlated with reduced immunoreactivity of the lipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) in plasma membrane sheets. However, the reason for this decrease, and whether other factors that induce insulin resistance affect PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels, is unknown. Using L6 skeletal muscle myotubes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes, this project has investigated whether PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels are perturbed in insulin resistance induced by several factors, including exposure to insulin, oxidative stress, and treatment with tumour necrosis factor ? , endothelin-1 or angiotensin II (Ang II). All these pre-treatments were found to abolish insulin-stimulated 3H 2-deoxy-glucose uptake, and significantly decrease PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels, measured in cell extracts by quantitative blotting using a PtdIns(4,5)P2-specific probe, developed from the PH domain of phospholipase C (PLC) ? Importantly the ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake can be restored by replenishing PtdIns(4,5)P2 in L6 myotubes treated with insulin and Ang II. PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels are regulated by three families of proteins; PIP kinases, which synthesise it, phosphatases, which remove phosphate groups from the inositol headgroup, and PLCs, which hydrolyse it. Membrane preparations from Ang II- and insulin-induced insulin resistant L6 myotubes showed no differences in PtdIns(4,5)P2 production or dephosphorylation. However a significant increase in PLC activity was detected in membranes from insulin resistant cells and membrane localisation of PLC? family members was increased in insulin resistant cells. Furthermore, studies using PLC inhibitors show a restoration of PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels in insulin resistant cells, leading to partial reversal of insulin resistance.This study therefore shows a causal link between decreased PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels and insulin resistance in L6 myotubes, and that PLCs are the reason for the PtdIns(4,5)P2 decrease in Ang II- and insulin-induced insulin resistance. PLCs, or their activation pathways, may thus be a novel target for combating insulin resistance, and preventing type 2 diabetes.
Protein fibrillization: preparation, mechanism and application

The development of new functional ingredients is important for future food products. This PhD research aimed at the development of protein based structuring agents. Structuring agents are ingredrients that can be used to tailor the texture (and the mouth-feel) of products. Proteins were transferred into protein fibres (fibrils) that are long (1 micrometer) and very thin (few nanometers). Due to their special properties, protein fibrils offer unique possibilities to mimick meat structures and make products like yoghurt more creamy. This research shows that protein fibrils can be made from different protein sources (whey protein of milk, soy protein, potato protein) by heating an acidic protein solution. Furthermore, the mechanism of fibril formation was clarified. As a result, it was possible to optimize the fibril production and control the fibril properties. Finally, an important step was made towards the application of these fibrils in food products by studying the behaviour of fibrils in a model system for food products.
A survey on distributed filtering, estimation and fusion for nonlinear systems with communication constraints: new advances and prospects

In this paper, some recent results on the distributed filtering, estimation and fusion algorithms for nonlinear systems with communication constraints are reviewed. First, some network-induced phenomena and communication protocols in the networked environment are recalled. Second, the recent advances of distributed fusion algorithms for nonlinear systems are discussed, which include distributed fusion extended Kalman filtering, distributed fusion unscented Kalman filtering, distributed fusion cubature Kalman filtering, distributed fusion particle filtering. Subsequently, some new distributed filtering, estimation and fusion algorithms for nonlinear systems subject to communication constraints are summarized and discussed. Finally, conclusion is given and several possible research topics on distributed filtering, estimation and fusion for nonlinear networked systems are pointed out.
Étude de la toxicité du peptide amyloïde beta Aß42 dans la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae

La maladie d’Alzheimer est la maladie neurodegenerative la plus frequente chez l’Homme et constitue un enjeu economique et de sante publique majeur. Les cerveaux de patients atteints presentent une atrophie corticale associee a deux types de lesions : les degenerescences neurofibrillaires, constituees de proteines Tau agregees, et les plaques amyloides, composees majoritairement de peptides amyloide beta As agreges. Les peptides As et leur agregation seraient a l’origine de la pathogenese. Afin d’eclaircir les mecanismes moleculaires a la base de la toxicite d’As, nous avons construit un modele de toxicite d’As dans la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ce modele a permis d’etablir que la toxicite d’As dans la levure est intimement liee a sa secretion et au trafic vesiculaire. Ce modele nous a egalement permis de realiser une etude structure-toxicite du peptide et de mettre en evidence des elements en cis importants pour la toxicite d’As. Une nouvelle voie d’agregation des peptides toxiques en structure riche en feuillet s anti-parallele a pu ainsi etre mise en evidence. Le modele de toxicite d’As et l’existence de variants tres toxiques d’As dans la levure nous a permis de realiser des cribles genetiques afin de rechercher les elements modulant la toxicite d’As in vivo. Le trafic vesiculaire, en particulier l’endocytose via le remodelage du cytosquelette d’actine, un complexe responsable de la formation de vesicules intraluminales appele ESCRT, forment autant de pistes a etudier pour ameliorer notre comprehension de la toxicite d’As.
Exploring Replay

Exploration is vital for animals and artificial agents who face uncertainty about their environments due to initial ignorance or subsequent changes. Their choices need to balance exploitation of the knowledge already acquired, with exploration to resolve uncertainty [1, 2]. However, the exact algorithmic structure of exploratory choices in the brain still remains largely elusive. A venerable idea in reinforcement learning is that agents can plan appropriate exploratory choices offline, during the equivalent of quiet wakefulness or sleep. Although offline processing in humans and other animals, in the form of hippocampal replay and preplay, has recently been the subject of highly successful modelling [3–5], existing methods only apply to known environments. Thus, they cannot predict exploratory replay choices during learning and/or behaviour in dynamic environments. Here, we extend the theory of Mattar & Daw [3] to examine the potential role of replay in approximately optimal exploration, deriving testable predictions for the patterns of exploratory replay choices in a paradigmatic spatial navigation task. Our modelling provides a normative interpretation of the available experimental data suggestive of exploratory replay. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of sequence replay, and license a range of new experimental paradigms that should further our understanding of offline processing.
A basic region in the Elp1 subunit of the budding yeast Elongator complex is essential for wobble uridine tRNA modification

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Regulation of Mammalian Poly(A) Polymerase Activity

Poly(A) polymerase (PAP) is the enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of the adenine tail to the 3’-end of mRNA. This A-tail is present on the majority of the primary RNA transcripts of protein-coding genes, and is important for mRNA stability, export to the cytoplasm and translation. Therefore, PAP is a key regulator of eukaryotic gene expression. This thesis describes the heterogeneity of PAP and the functional significance of multiple isoforms of PAP.PAP exists in many different isoforms generated by three different mechanisms, gene duplication, alternative mRNA processing and post-translational modification. In HeLa cell extracts three different forms of PAP being 90, 100 and 106 kDa in size have been detected, where the 106 kDa isoform is a phosphorylated version of the 100 kDa species. It is shown that the N-terminal region of PAP contains a region required for catalysis, while the C-terminal end is important for the interaction with the cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF). Interestingly, it was found that also the extreme N-terminal end is important for the interaction with CPSF. This region is post-translationally modified by phosphorylation. Five alternatively spliced forms of PAP mRNAs are encoded by the PAPOLA gene while one unique species is encoded by the PAPOLG gene. The analysis showed that the exact structure of the alternatively spliced C-terminal end of PAP played an important role for catalytic efficiency. Thus, the C-terminal end contains a region important for modulating the catalytic efficiency of PAP.Aminoglycoside antibiotics inhibit PAP activity, most likely by displacement of catalytically important divalent metal ions. Data shows that different aminoglycosides inhibit PAP activity by different mechanisms suggesting that the binding sites for the different aminoglycosides do not completely overlap. It is concluded that aminoglycosides interfere with enzymes important for housekeeping functions in mammalian cell, which may explain some of the toxic side effects caused by aminoglycoside antibiotics in clinical practice.
Differentiating the Effect of Medication and Illness on Brain Volume Reductions in First-Episode Psychosis: A Longitudinal, Randomized, Triple-blind, Placebo-controlled MRI Study

Changes in brain volume are a common finding in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies of people with psychosis and numerous longitudinal studies suggest that volume deficits progress with illness duration. However, a major unresolved question concerns whether these changes are driven by the underlying illness or represent iatrogenic effects of antipsychotic medication. Here, we report MRI findings from a triple-blind randomised placebo-controlled study where 62 antipsychotic-naïve patients with first episode psychosis (FEP) received either an atypical antipsychotic or a placebo pill over a treatment period of 6 months. Both FEP groups received intensive psychosocial therapy. A healthy control group (n=27) was also recruited. Structural MRI scans were obtained at baseline, 3-months and 12- months. Our primary aim was to differentiate illness-related brain volume changes from medication-related changes within the first 3 months of treatment. We secondarily investigated long-term effects at the 12-month timepoint. From baseline to 3 months, we observed a significant group x time interaction in the pallidum (p < 0.05 FWE-corrected), such that patients receiving antipsychotic medication showed increased volume, patients on placebo showed decreased volume, and healthy controls showed no change. In patients, a greater increase in pallidal grey matter volume over 3 months was associated with a greater reduction in symptom severity. We additionally found preliminary evidence for illness- related volume reductions in prefrontal cortices at 12 months and medication-related volume reductions in cerebellum at both 3-months and 12-months. Our findings indicate that psychotic illness and antipsychotic exposure exert distinct and spatially distributed effects on brain volume. Our results align with prior work in suggesting that the therapeutic efficacy of antipsychotic medications may be primarily mediated through their effects on the basal ganglia.
Semi-Regular Geometric Kernel Encoding & Reconstruction for Video Compression

Conventional video coding schemes employ a hybrid motion prediction / residual transform coding paradigm, which only exploits redundancy in individual pairs of video frames for compression gain. However, rigid geometric structures in 3D space—e.g., a building in a scene’s background—persist across time in a large frame group. Thus if one can extract and encode the geometric structure, then redundancy across the entire frame group can be removed in one shot. In this paper, we extract a best-fitting "semi-regular" geometric structure from a target spatial region in a frame group, which is encoded separately as a unified signal predictor for these frames. By semi-regular, we mean its geometry is simple enough that its shape parameters can be encoded cheaply. This semi-regular structure kernel approximates the 3D shape of an object in the video, on which we project pixels from the frame group to a carefully spaced 2D grid overlaid on the kernel. We encode the projected pixels as an intra-frame using HEVC. The decoded pixels are then back-projected to each frame as the predictor, and the resulting prediction residuals are transform-coded. Experimental results show that employing a semi-regular geometric kernel—a folded 2D plane in our realization—improves coding performance over native HEVC implementation and our previous regular kernel based scheme.
Gravitropism in plants: Hydraulics and wall growth properties of responding cells

Gravitropism is the asymmetrical alteration of plant growth in response to a change in the gravity vector, with the typical result that stems grow up and roots grow down. The gravity response is important for plants because it enables them to grow their aerial parts in a mechanically stable (upright) position and to develop their roots and leaves to make efficient use of soil nutrients and sunlight. The elucidation of gravitropic responses will tell much about how gravity exerts its morphogenetic effects on plants and how plants regulate their growth at the cellular and molecular levels.