Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distribución geográfica de Chacophrys pierottii (Vellard, 1948) (Leptodactylidae: ceratophryinae)

Localidad: Republica Argentina, Provincia de San Luis, Departamento Capital, Laguna Seca (33o 11 S 66o 59 W). Material de referencia: El material estudiado comprende 6 ejemplares actualmente depositados en el Museo de La Plata (MLP) y en el Instituto de Limnologia “Dr. Raul A. Ringuelet” (ILPLA): MLP A. 739 (LT 35.76 mm), MLP A. 1688 (LT 37.66 mm), MLP A. 1689 (LT 37.98 mm), MLP A. 1690 (LT 35.36 mm), ILPLA A. 349 (LT 37.98 mm) y ILPLA A. 350 (LT 38.04 mm). Coleccionista: Carlos Bruch, ano 1914. Comentarios: La asignacion especifica de los ejemplares hallados en las colecciones herpetologicas del Museo de La Plata y del Instituto de Limnologia “Dr. Raul A. Ringuelet” se realizo sobre la base de caracteristicas morfologicas externas y caracteristicas osteologicas (material diafanizado: ILPLA A. 350). Cabe senalar que Peri (1993, Tesis Doctoral. Fac. Cs. Nat. y Museo, Univ. Nac. La Plata, 223 pp) menciona haber estudiado material inedito perteneciente a Chacophrys pierottii de Laguna Seca, aunque tambien menciona no haber podido localizar con precision el lugar de colecta. Equivocamente, lo situa en el limite norte de la provincia de San Luis (ver fig. 3, Distribucion de C. pierottii, en Peri (op. cit.)). Por otra parte, el material que esta autora asigna a Chacophrys pierottii de Laguna Seca comprende tres ejemplares (MLP A. 720, 721 y 722), de los cuales, el A. 721 en realidad corresponde a un especimen transparentado de Ceratophrys cranwelli Barrio 1980, y los ejemplares A. 720 y A. 722 no han podido ser localizados; de manera que no ha sido posible confirmar los datos dados a conocer por esta autora. El material al que se hace referencia en el presente trabajo permite confirmar la presencia de Chacophrys pierottii en Laguna Seca, San Luis, y ampliar la distribucion geografica de esta especie, hacia el sur, en aproximadamente 350 km de la distribucion previamente descripta (Punta de los Llanos; Cei, J. M., 1955, Copeia 4: 291-293.). La localidad citada es una laguna temporaria que se encuentra al oeste de la provincia de San Luis, en la region de Alto Pencoso, aproximadamente 25 km al norte de Jarilla; un area caracterizada por la presencia de elementos tipicos de la batracofauna chaquena [Cei, 1955, op. Cit.; Cei, J. M. , 1980. Monitore zool. ital. (N. S.). Monogr. 2: XII + 609 pp]. Agradecimientos: A Gustavo R. Carrizo y a Nestor G. Basso por sus aportes, comentarios y por la lectura del manuscrito. Este trabajo fue parcialmente financiado por el subsidio PICT 01-03698 otorgado por la Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica a Nestor G. Basso.
New Strategies for Prevention and Therapy of Cytomegalovirus Infection and Disease in Solid-Organ Transplant Recipients

SUMMARY In the past three decades since the inception of human organ transplantation, cytomegalovirus (CMV) has gained increasing clinical import because it is a common pathogen in the immunocompromised transplant recipient. Patients may suffer from severe manifestations of this infection along with the threat of potential fatality. Additionally, the dynamic evolution of immunosuppressive and antiviral agents has brought forth changes in the natural history of CMV infection and disease. Transplant physicians now face the daunting task of recognizing and managing the changing spectrum of CMV infection and its consequences in the organ recipient. For the microbiology laboratory, the emphasis has been geared toward the development of more sophisticated detection assays, including methods to detect emerging antiviral resistance. The discovery of novel antiviral chemotherapy is an important theme of clinical research. Investigations have also focused on preventative measures for CMV disease in the solid-organ transplant population. In all, while much has been achieved in the overall management of CMV infection, the current understanding of CMV pathogenesis and therapy still leaves much to be learned before success can be claimed.
Epidemiology of and Diagnostic Strategies for Toxoplasmosis

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Epidemiology of and diagnostic strategies for toxoplasmosis. Florence Robert-Gangneux, Marie-Laure Dardé
Spatial and Temporal Cellular Responses to Single-Strand Breaks in Human Cells

ABSTRACT DNA single-strand breaks (SSB) are one of the most frequent DNA lesions produced by reactive oxygen species and during DNA metabolism, but the analysis of cellular responses to SSB remains difficult due to the lack of an experimental method to produce SSB alone in cells. By using human cells expressing a foreign UV damage endonuclease (UVDE) and irradiating the cells with UV through tiny pores in membrane filters, we created SSB in restricted areas in the nucleus by the immediate action of UVDE on UV-induced DNA lesions. Cellular responses to the SSB were characterized by using antibodies and fluorescence microscopy. Upon UV irradiation, poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis occurred immediately in the irradiated area. Simultaneously, but dependent on poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation, XRCC1 was translocated from throughout the nucleus, including nucleoli, to the SSB. The BRCT1 domain of XRCC1 protein was indispensable for its poly(ADP-ribose)-dependent recruitment to the SSB. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen and the p150 subunit of chromatin assembly factor 1 also accumulated at the SSB in a detergent-resistant form, which was significantly reduced by inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis. Our results show the importance of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation in sequential cellular responses to SSB.
Heat Shock Protein and Gliadin Peptide Promote Development of Peptidase Antibodies in Children with Autism and Patients with Autoimmune Disease

Laboratory of Comparative Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095; Section of Neuroimmunology, Immunosciences Lab. , Inc., Beverly Hills, California 90211; Department of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, California 90059; and Neuroscience Undergraduate Program, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94702
Amebiasis

Entamoeba histolytica, the causative agent of amebiasis, was first described in 1875. Although a large number of people throughout the world are infected with this organism, only a small percentage will develop clinical symptoms. Morbidity and mortality due to E. histolytica vary from area to area and person to person. Recent findings have suggested that there are pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains of E. histolytica that can be differentiated by isoenzyme (zymodeme) analysis, monoclonal antibodies, and DNA probes. Whether pathogenicity is a genotypic trait or can be changed by environmental influences has not been resolved. Exchange of genetic material between strains of amebae can influence zymodeme patterns. Currently, detection of E. histolytica infections depends on examinations for ova and parasites and on serologic tests; however, the development of monoclonal antibodies and DNA probes specific for pathogenic zymodemes may be beneficial for clinical laboratory testing and therapeutic decisions when approved tests become available. A better understanding of the mechanisms of pathogenicity at the molecular level is evolving and should promote the development of vaccines and better target selection for therapeutic agents.
Thermal Remote Sensing from UAVs: A Review on Methods in Coastal Cliffs Prone to Landslides

Coastal retreat is a non-recoverable phenomenon that—together with a relevant proneness to landslides—has economic, social and environmental impacts. Quantitative data on geological and geomorphologic features of such areas can help to predict and quantify the phenomena and to propose mitigation measures to reduce their impact. Coastal areas are often inaccessible for sampling and in situ surveys, in particular where steeply sloping cliffs are present. Uses and capability of infrared thermography (IRT) were reviewed, highlighting its suitability in geological and landslides hazard applications. Thanks to the high resolution of the cameras on the market, unmanned aerial vehicle-based IRT allows to acquire large amounts of data from inaccessible steep cliffs. Coupled structure-from-motion photogrammetry and coregistration of data can improve accuracy of IRT data. According to the strengths recognized in the reviewed literature, a three-step methodological approach to produce IRTs was proposed.
An association between a dendronotid nudibranch (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) and a soft coral (Octocorallia, Alcyonaria) from the Red Sea

The association between a dendronotid nudibranch and the soft coral Parerythropodium fulvum fulvum (Forskal, 1775) is described from the Red Sea. The nudibranch is a new species of the genus Marioniopsis Odhner, 1934 (Nudibranchia: Dendronotacea). This species feeds on the alcyonacean octocoral P. f. fulvum, and the slugs do not take zooxanthellae from their prey. The nudibranchs are randomly distributed on the soft coral host, usually one slug per colony, and 24.5% of the soft coral colonies found are occupied by slugs. The nudibranch matches the colour of its prey and the gill clusters have a shape similar to that of the soft coral polyps, and because of these they are very cryptic on its surface. Marioniopsis fulvicola sp. n. is characterized by a thin, elongated body with a smooth dorsal surface, a narrow foot, seven to nine clusters of gills, three to four velar processes per side, 22–32 stomach hard plates, and jaws with more than 100 denticles arranged in four to five rows. The radula presents a me.
DNA Damage-Dependent Nuclear Dynamics of the Mre11 Complex

The Mre11 complex has been implicated in diverse aspects of the cellular response to DNA damage. We used in situ fractionation of human ﬁbroblasts to carry out cytologic analysis of Mre11 complex proteins in the double-strand break (DSB) response. In situ fractionation removes most nucleoplasmic protein, permitting immunoﬂuorescent localization of proteins that become more avidly bound to nuclear structures after induction of DNA damage. We found that a fraction of the Mre11 complex was bound to promyelocyte leukemia protein bodies in undamaged cells. Within 10 min after gamma irradiation, nuclear retention of the Mre11 complex in small granular foci was observed and persisted until 2 h postirradiation. In light of the previous demonstration that the Mre11 complex associated with ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DSBs, we infer that the protein retained under these conditions was associated with DNA damage. We also observed increased retention of Rad51 following IR treatment, although IR induced Rad51 foci were distinct from Mre11 foci. The ATM kinase, which phosphorylates Nbs1 during activation of the S-phase checkpoint, was not required for the Mre11 complex to associate with DNA damage. These data suggest that the functions of the Mre11 complex in the DSB response are implicitly dependent upon its ability to detect DNA damage. The human Mre11 complex, consisting of Mre11, Rad50, and Nbs1, functions in diverse aspects of the cellular response to DNA damage (43). Previous cytologic analyses have pro-vided evidence that this complex
Babesiosis

SUMMARY Babesiosis is an emerging, tick-transmitted, zoonotic disease caused by hematotropic parasites of the genus Babesia. Babesial parasites (and those of the closely related genus Theileria) are some of the most ubiquitous and widespread blood parasites in the world, second only to the trypanosomes, and consequently have considerable worldwide economic, medical, and veterinary impact. The parasites are intraerythrocytic and are commonly called piroplasms due to the pear-shaped forms found within infected red blood cells. The piroplasms are transmitted by ixodid ticks and are capable of infecting a wide variety of vertebrate hosts which are competent in maintaining the transmission cycle. Studies involving animal hosts other than humans have contributed significantly to our understanding of the disease process, including possible pathogenic mechanisms of the parasite and immunological responses of the host. To date, there are several species of Babesia that can infect humans, Babesia microti being the most prevalent. Infections with Babesia species generally follow regional distributions; cases in the United States are caused primarily by B. microti, whereas cases in Europe are usually caused by Babesia divergens. The spectrum of disease manifestation is broad, ranging from a silent infection to a fulminant, malaria-like disease, resulting in severe hemolysis and occasionally in death. Recent advances have resulted in the development of several diagnostic tests which have increased the level of sensitivity in detection, thereby facilitating diagnosis, expediting appropriate patient management, and resulting in a more accurate epidemiological description.
Acute modulation of rat plasma glucose byan aqueous garlic extract

In this study, the putative antidiabetic effect of garlic was re-investigated. Aqueous crude garlic solution was prepared at high concentration (2 g/ml) and extracts were obtained by ethanol precipitation followed by chromatography on C18 Sep-Pak cartridge. Garlic or extracts were administered by single intraperitoneal injection to euglycaemic rats. Plasma glucose, insulin and nitric oxide (NO) were determined after 30 min, 1 and 2 h, respectively. Garlic induced hypoglycemia and hyperinsulinemia which is mimicked by an ethanol soluble and non polar extract. This active principle appeared different from S-allyl-cystein sulfoxide based on physico-chemical properties and mode of action. Data of thin layer chromatography experiments indicated the presence of at least four molecular species, indicating a more non polar nature, with Rf values higher than S-allyl-cystein sulfoxide. The mechanism of action seemed to involve nitric oxide as its glucose induced lowering activity is abolished by diphenyleneiodonium which is a selective constitutive nitric oxide synthase inhibitor.
Sexual selection, natural selection and quality advertisement

In Darwin's and Fisher's theory of sexual selection, females prefer ornamented males; the evolution of larger ornaments is limited by increased mortality, lor example through predation. An adornment of given size should often raise mortality more in low than in high quality phenotypes. Possible consequences for the evolution and optimal size of ornaments are here examined with mathematical models. Fisher suggested that an ormamem may evolve if it initially improves male survival. Female preference then spreads for adorned males. Their consequent mating advantage furthers propagation of the preferred trail. An alternative, the ‘handicap mechanism’, suggests that only those males best able to survive can do so with a large, handicapping ornament. Choosing adorned males, females might therefore bear offspring with high general survivorship, but sons also inherit the handicapping ornament. When it reduces survival more in low than in high quality phenotypes, the handicap mechanism (in conjunction with the Fisherian mating advantage) becomes powerful with lower heritability of fitness than previously supposed. It still requires that fitness has some heritability, for which there is indirect evidence, but field measurements are lacking. In Darwin's and Fisher's theory, both mating advantage and mortality disadvantage increase with ornament size, and balance at its optimal development. If a given adornment reduces survival most in low quality phenotypes, the optimum increases with phenotypic quality. Ornament size then may provide a measure of fitness, and can be used in mate choice. A male can usually not gain fitness by developing larger adornments than other males of the same quality. Ornaments can probably also evoke through direct competition between males, without female preferences for adorned males. Field experiments are needed to clarify this and other aspects of sexual selection. Sexual ornaments form part of the reproductive effort. Certain predictions from life-history theory should therefore apply. One is that ornaments will increase in size over the first few reproductive seasons; this is the case in many species.
Characterization of Major Surface Glycoprotein Genes of Human Pneumocystis carinii and High-Level Expression of a Conserved Region

ABSTRACT To facilitate studies of Pneumocystis cariniiinfection in humans, we undertook to better characterize and to express the major surface glycoprotein (MSG) of human P. carinii, an important protein in host-pathogen interactions. Seven MSG genes were cloned from a single isolate by PCR or genomic library screening and were sequenced. The predicted proteins, like rat MSGs, were closely related but unique variants, with a high level of conservation among cysteine residues. A conserved immunodominant region (of approximately 100 amino acids) near the carboxy terminus was expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli and used in Western blot studies. All 49 of the serum samples, which were taken from healthy controls as well as from patients with and withoutP. carinii pneumonia, were reactive with this peptide by Western blotting, supporting the hypothesis that most adult humans have been infected with P. carinii at some point. This recombinant MSG fragment, which is the first human P. carinii antigen available in large quantities, may be a useful reagent for investigating the epidemiology of P. cariniiinfection in humans.
Cryptosporidiosis

Before 1982, only eight case reports of human cryptosporidiosis and fewer than 30 papers on Cryptosporidium spp. appeared in the biomedical literature. At that time, cryptosporidiosis was thought to be an infrequent infection in animals and rarely an opportunistic infection in humans. The concept of Cryptosporidium spp. as pathogens has changed dramatically within the past 8 years because of improved diagnostic techniques, increased awareness within the biomedical community, and the development of basic research programs in numerous laboratories. Presently, greater than 1,000 publications including over 400 case reports in the biomedical literature address Cryptosporidium spp. and cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium parvum is now thought to be one of the three most common enteropathogens causing diarrheal illness in humans worldwide, especially in developing countries. It is likely that cryptosporidiosis was previously included in the 25 to 35% of diarrheal illness with unknown etiology. Because of the severity and length of diarrheal illness and because no effective therapy has been identified, cryptosporidiosis is one of the most ominous infections associated with AIDS. The role of C. parvum as an enteropathogen is well established; documentation of its role as a cause of hepatobiliary and respiratory diseases is now appearing in the literature. Our present understanding of the natural history, epidemiology, biology, and immunology of Cryptosporidium spp. as well as the clinical features, pathogenicity, and treatment of cryptosporidiosis are reviewed here.
HAEMATOLOGICAL AND BLOOD BIOCHEMISTRY VALUES OF CULTURED Heterobranchus longifilis IN UMUDIKE, ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

This study investigated the haematological and blood biochemistry profile of apparently healthy catfish (Heterobranchus longifilis) raised in concrete ponds in South East, Nigeria. A total of 20 fishes of two age ranges and equal sexes were used and determination of haematological and blood biochemical profile followed standard procedures. Results obtained for the parameters assessed for the young adults and adults respectively are summarized as follows: Packed cell volume - 29.67 ± 0.73% and 33.00 ± 0.87%, haemoglobin concentration - 10.26 ± 0.45 g/dl and 11.04 ± 0.32 g/dl, red blood cell count – 2.46 ± 0.04 x 10 6 /µl and 2.39 ± 0.04 x 10 6 /µl, mean corpuscular volume-120.68 ± 3.61 fl and 141.42 ± 2.83 fl, mean corpuscular haemoglobin – 41.97 ± 1.16 pg and 45.69 ± 1.15 pg, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration - 35.75 ± 1.63 g/dl and 32.93 ± 0.86 g/dl, white blood cell count - 17.94 ± 0.57 x 10 3 /µl and 22.51 ± 0.95 x 10 3 /µl, alanine amino transferase - 36.95 ± 0.09 IU and 38.86 ± 0.16 IU, aspartate amino transferase - 54.52 ± 0.10 IU and 49.55 ± 0.34 IU, alkaline phosphatase -5.04 ± 0.71 IU and 9.33 ± 0.55 IU, total proteins – 1.98 ± 0.09 g/dl and 3.86 ± 0.10 g/dl, albumin - 0.90 ± 0.01 g/dl and 1.53 ± 0.06 g/dl, globulin – 1.07 ± 0.09 g/dl and 2.40 ± 0.08 g/dl, plasma blood glucose – 136.25 ± 11.74 mg/dl and 171.67 ± 9.05 mg/dl, total cholesterol – 79.89 ± 2.72 mg/dl and 156.52 ± 5.69 mg/dl, calcium – 4.28 ± 0.32 mg/dl and 11.68 ± 0.71 mg/dl, blood urea nitrogen – 1.48 ± 0.24 mg/dl and 1.19 ± 0.12 mg/dl, body weight – 308.89 ± 22.26g and 666.67 ± 39.97g. Results obtained showed significant (p 0.05) between the sexes in all the haematological and blood biochemistry parameters assessed. Data generated from this study was considered important as deviations in the normal haematology and serum biochemistry have a predictive value for general pathological and specific organ changes in the body.
Refined UNet: UNet-Based Refinement Network for Cloud and Shadow Precise Segmentation

Formulated as a pixel-level labeling task, data-driven neural segmentation models for cloud and corresponding shadow detection have achieved a promising accomplishment in remote sensing imagery processing. The limited capability of these methods to delineate the boundaries of clouds and shadows, however, is still referred to as a central issue of precise cloud and shadow detection. In this paper, we focus on the issue of rough cloud and shadow location and fine-grained boundary refinement of clouds on the dataset of Landsat8 OLI and therefore propose the Refined UNet to achieve this goal. To this end, a data-driven UNet-based coarse prediction and a fully-connected conditional random field (Dense CRF) are concatenated to achieve precise detection. Specifically, the UNet network with adaptive weights of balancing categories is trained from scratch, which can locate the clouds and cloud shadows roughly, while correspondingly the Dense CRF is employed to refine the cloud boundaries. Eventually, Refined UNet can give cloud and shadow proposals sharper and more precisely. The experiments and results illustrate that our model can propose sharper and more precise cloud and shadow segmentation proposals than the ground truths do. Additionally, evaluations on the Landsat 8 OLI imagery dataset of Blue, Green, Red, and NIR bands illustrate that our model can be applied to feasibly segment clouds and shadows on the four-band imagery data.