Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Caractérisation d'un nouveau mécanisme d'action de la E3 ubiquitine ligase WWP1 et régulation de son activité dans la cancérogenèse

La voie de signalisation TGF-β joue un role biphasique durant la cancerogenese. Mon laboratoire a identifie une nouvelle proteine inhibitrice de la voie TGF-β, WWP1. WWP1 est une E3 ubiquitine ligase qui induit la polyubiquitination et la degradation du recepteur de type I au TGF-β. De plus, le gene WWP1 est amplifie dans une large proportion de cancers mammaires et prostatiques, suggerant que WWP1 pourrait jouer un role cle dans les processus de cancerogenese lies au TGF-β. Mon projet de these etait donc de caracteriser la regulation de l’activite catalytique de WWP1 ainsi que son mecanisme d’action dans la cellule. Mes resultats montrent qu’a l’etat basal, WWP1 est monoubiquitinee, son activite de polyubiquitination etant reduite par l’effet inhibiteur qu’exercent les domaines C2 et/ou WW sur son domaine HECT. En presence de substrats, la proteine WWP1 « s’ouvre » et peut alors induire la polyubiquitination et la degradation de ses substrats. De plus, nous avons observe qu’un mutant de WWP1, detecte dans un cancer de la prostate, est incapable de s’autoreguler selon ce modele. Il presente une plus forte activite ligase envers lui-meme et ses substrats, ce qui entraine une attenuation de la reponse cytostatique du TGF-β pouvant conferer une activite oncogenique a WWP1. De plus, nous avons identifie STARD13 comme un nouveau partenaire de WWP1. STARD13 est une proteine a activite RhoGAP, consideree comme un suppresseur de tumeur. Nous avons montre que STARD13 permet l’association de WWP1 avec la GTPase RhoA, entrainant ainsi la polyubiquitination et la degradation de RhoA. De facon interessante, le complexe WWP1/STARD13 est implique dans le remodelage de l’architecture du cytosquelette en degradant preferentiellement la forme activee de RhoA. Ces resultats ont permis d’identifier un nouveau role de WWP1 qui pourrait jouer un role essentiel durant la migration des cellules cancereuses lors du processus metastatique. La caracterisation de nouveaux mecanismes de regulation et d’action de WWP1 devrait permettre a terme d’identifier si WWP1 est un marqueur diagnostique dans le cancer et/ou une nouvelle cible therapeutique pour le developpement de medicaments anticancereux.
A systematic review of the effectiveness of training in emergency obstetric care in low‐resource environments

Sir, We read with great interest the paper by van Lonkhuijzen et al. Whereas this study mostly concerned low-resource environments, there will be some resonance with Western Europe. In recent years, there has been a massive reduction in ‘flying hours’ that trainees must do in order to be considered adequately trained. Proponents of this reduction in hands-on experience explained that modern training would counter the loss of ‘flying hours’. By analysing 38 papers on the effectiveness of training in emergency obstetric care, van Lonkhuijzen et al. can only show that training programmes may improve quality of care. There is a lack of strong evidence that these programmes do improve quality of care. This may very well have implications for training and delivery of good-quality care in developed countries. Despite working in an era of evidence-based practice, we have seen a huge shift in how we hope competence will be gained, using training that has no strong evidence to prove its value – this provides more support to the concern that the senior doctors of the future will not have adequate training to fulfil the role for which they are required. j
Ecology of Migration: Is Magnetic Orientation a Reality?

THIS THOROUGH REVIEW consists of five chapters, one by the editor, all with a strong emphasis on ecological and evolutionary aspects of animal migration under natural conditions. Only Chapter 5 by Kenneth P. Able deals with orientation and navigation, but it does so with great thoroughness and balanced evaluations of puzzling data. Chapter 1, by Hugh Dingle, is titled Ecology and Evolution of Migration, and emphasizes "ultimate" causation and the adaptive advantages of migration to a wide variety of species. Migration is defined rather broadly as any consistent pattern of active movement that brings the animal into a significantly different environment, not necessarily a twoway trip as in the familiar migrations of birds. I found the section on vertical migrations of plankton especially fascinating, but was disappointed to read that very little has been learned in recent years about the famous catadromous migration of eels. Gauthreaux's chapter presents a refreshing new perspective by emphasizing climatic (primarily temperature) changes over time as an important factor influencing the migrations not only of individual animals within their lifetimes but zoogeographic migrations of species or larger taxonomic groups in response to large-scale changes in climate. In addition to the obvious externally driven periodicities of one day or one year, other environmental periodicities are discussed with reference to their possible biological effects. This is followed by a brief review of specific examples of range changes as well as seasonal migrations. In the third chapter Charles Blem reviews Energetics of Migration. This chapter has an almost telegraphic "annual review" character, but nevertheless provides a useful and voluminous series of references for those who wish to delve more deeply into the subject. Albert Meier and Albert Fivizzani devote a fourth chapter to the Physiology of Migration, with only minimal attention, doubtless in deference to the preceding chapter, to metabolism and energetics. The work of the authors as well as others on the white-throated sparrow, Zonotrichia lbicollis, is described in detail as a "regulatory model for an avian migrant. " Here the emphasis is on neuroendocrinology and the effects of various photoperiods. There is also a brief discussion of fish migration which analyzes the various orientation cues known or suspected to be used in underwater navigation. The final chapter by Able on Mechanisms of Orientation, Navigation, and Homing is the longest (approximately 80 pages) and it is fittingly dedicated to the memory of William T. Keeton. Readers wishing to be brought up to date in this active and challenging field will find an excellent, authoritative review and guide to the burgeoning original litera-
The ecosystem roles of parrotfishes on tropical reefs

Global reductions in biodiversity and the accelerating loss and degradation of many of the world's ecosystems have intensified research into the roles of species in ecosystem processes. Within coral-reef systems, the parrotfishes (Labridae) are widely viewed as a key functional group in facilitating the recovery of reefs from recurrent disturbances. Although parrotfishes are commonly viewed as herbivores, exerting top-down control of algal communities, their unique jaws allow them to feed on almost all coral- reef substratum types. Consequently, parrotfish are the primary agents responsible for a number of key ecological processes on coral reefs, namely, bioerosion, sediment production and transport, provision of space for coral settlement, and predation of live coral colonies. The parrotfishes, however, cannot be considered a uniform group. Their functional roles are highly dependent on species feeding mode (scrapers, excavators, and browsers) and body size, with larger individuals having a disproportionately greater effect on the dynamics of benthic communities than smaller conspecifics. Parrotfish are ubiquitous on tropical reefs worldwide, yet there is strong spatial structuring in the taxonomic and functional composition of the group. This spatial variation has been shaped by their biogeographic history, the productivity of their environment, and the habitat requirements of individual taxa. Over recent decades, increasing fishing pressure and habitat destruction have had a dramatic impact on the structure of parrotfish assemblages, and as a consequence, on many reefs, normal ecosystem processes have been disrupted. Indeed, reef systems with severely depleted parrotfish communities are less resilient to anthropogenic or natural environmental perturbations. Management strategies for the protection of this unique and critical functional group are urgently needed if we are to maintain the diversity, resilience, and structure of coral-reef ecosystems.
Facial port wine stains in childhood: prediction of the rate of improvement as a function of the age of the patient, size and location of the port wine stain and the number of treatments with the pulsed dye (585 nm) laser

In this study we examined the rate of decrease in size of facial port wine stains (PWS) as a function of number of treatments, lesion size, lesion location and patients' age. This study was performed at the University of Colorado Hospital Outpatient Dermatology Center, Denver, U.S.A. A consecutive sample of 91 patients 18 years of age or younger with facial PWS in which the entire lesion was treated at each visit were studied. Included were all patients who had a minimum of five treatments or complete clearance of their lesion in fewer than five treatments. Patients were evaluated following one, five and 10 treatments with the pulsed (450 s) dye (585 nm) laser. Improvement was defined as the percentage decrease in the size of the PWS. For all patients, the first five treatments resulted in a mean decrease in size of 55% while the second five treatments (38 patients) only improved the mean decrease in size by 18%. Grouped by location, the mean decreases in size from the first five and the second five treatments were as follows: central forehead = 100%, 0%; peripheral face = 58%, 28%; central face = 48%, 14%; and mixed (combination of peripheral and central face) = 21%, 9%. All central forehead PWS completely cleared within five treatments while none of the mixed PWS did so even with an average of 14 treatments. Grouped by size, mean decrease in size was highest for small lesions: < 20 cm2 = 67%, 21%; 20 to < 40 cm2 = 45%, 8%; and > 40 cm2 = 23%, 29%. Grouped by age, mean decrease in size was highest for young children: < 1‐year‐old = 63%, 33%; 1 to < 6 years = 48%, 15%; and older than 6 years = 54%, 10%. For all patients studied, maximal improvement was obtained in the first five treatments. Major determinants of treatment response in order of decreasing importance are PWS location, size and patients' age. The most successful responses are seen in young patients (less than 1 year old) with small PWS (under 20 cm2) that are located over bony areas of the face such as the central forehead. These three determinants may be useful tools to guide patient expectations and to predict the rate of improvement of PWS to pulsed dye laser treatment.
Fe-EDDHA Alleviates Chlorosis in `Concord' Grapevines Grown at High pH

Concord grapevines (Vitis labruscana Bailey) can readily develop iron deficiency-induced leaf chlorosis when grown on calcareous or high pH soils. Iron (Fe) chelates are often applied to the soil to remedy chlorosis but can vary in their stability and effectiveness at high pH. We transplanted own-rooted 1-year-old Concord grapevines into a peat-based medium adjusted to pH 7.5 and fertigated them with 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, or 4m gL -1 Fe from Fe-EDDHA (ferric ethylenediamine di (o-hydroxyphenylacetic) acid) to determine the effectiveness of this Fe chelate for alleviating Fe deficiency-induced chlorosis at high pH. Vines were sampled midseason for iron, chlorophyll, CO2 assimilation, and photosystem II quantum efficiency (PSII) and at the end of the season for leaf area, dry weight, and cane length. We found that leaf total Fe concentration was similar across all treatments, but active Fe (extracted with 0.1 N HCl) concentration increased as the rate of Fe-EDDHA increased. Chlorophyll concentration increased curvilinearly as applied Fe increased and was highly correlated with active Fe concentration. CO2 assimilation, stomatal conductance, and PSII were very low without any supplemental Fe and increased rapidly in response to Fe application. Total leaf area, foliar dry weight, and cane length all increased as Fe application increased to 1 mgL -1 Fe, but above this rate, a further increase in Fe did not significantly increase growth. Our results demonstrate that Fe-EDDHA is very effective in alleviating Fe deficiency-induced leaf chlorosis in Concord grapevines grown at high pH, which provides a foundation for continuing research related to the optimum rate and timing of application of Fe-EDDHA in Concord vineyards on calcareous soils. Compared with total Fe, leaf ''active Fe'' better indicates the actual Fe status of Concord vines. Concord grapevines (Vitis labruscana Bailey) are native to the northeastern United States (Schofield, 1988) and are tolerant of the acidic soils that characterize the region. As soil pH increases and iron (Fe) becomes less available, own-rooted Concord grape- vines can readily develop Fe deficiency- induced leaf chlorosis. In Concord vine- yards where calcareous or high pH soils predominate such as in Washington State, leaf chlorosis can be a limiting factor in production (Davenport and Stevens, 2006). Iron is a key nutrient in a number of metabolic pathways. The major symptom of Fe deficiency is chlorosis as a result of the requirement for Fe in protochlorophyllide synthesis (Tottey et al., 2003). Fe is essential in reactions that regulate CO2 assimilation and antioxidant protection, and we have shown that Fe-deficient source leaves have lower levels of nonstructural carbohydrates
Molecular biogeography and phylogeography of the freshwater fauna of the Indo-Australian Archipelago

Th e Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA ) houses one of the highest levels of species richness and endemism in the world, encompassing four of the world’s 25 biodiversity ‘hotspots’, which coalesce within this region in Southeast Asia (Myers et al. 2000 ). Southeast Asia covers only around 4% of the earth’s surface, but houses some 20–25% of global fauna and fl ora (Mittermeier et al. 1999 , 2005 , Myers et al. 2000 ). Freshwater biodiversity levels are also extremely high in Southeast Asia, although very understudied and undervalued (Dudgeon et al. 2006 , and references therein). Freshwater biodiversity within this species-rich region is often overlooked by conservationists; for example, only 0.6% of papers published in the conservation literature from 1992–2001 dealt with Asian freshwater biodiversity (Dudgeon 2003 ). Around 15% of global freshwater fauna are found in Indonesia
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION IN GASTEROSTEUS ACULEATUS L.

The complex of populations referred to as the Three-spined Stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, presents an exceptional challenge to the student of evolution. Two modes of morphological variability exist in this complex, each correlated with definite ecological characteristics, and e-ach occupying areas where the other one is rare or absent. These two morphological and ecological modes are, however, connected by a series of intermediate forms that are found in a' boundary zone in which the distributions of the two principal groups of populations come in contact. The puzzling aspect of the situation is that the morphological intermediates are not necessarily intermediate in their physiological properties and in their ecological requirements. The purpose of this paper is to report. observational and experimental evidence that appears to throw light on -the origin of the differentiation among the populations of Gasterosteus aculeatus. This differentiation seems to be . caused, by natural selection which favors different complexes of genes in the different ecological niches in which the species occurs.
FIRST REPORT OF ASPERGILLUS WELWITSCHIAE AS A POSTHARVEST PATHOGEN OF BRASSICA CAMPESTRIS SEEDS IN PAKISTAN

Mustard (Brassica compestris), one of the vegetables grown in Pakistan, is a highly valued crop also because of its edible oil-rich seeds, that have great medicinal potential. Mustard seeds stored in Lahore were found to be colonized by a previously undetected black powdery mold. Twenty infected seeds from three different wharehouses of Lahore were collected and spores present on the seeds were transferred aseptically to Czapek dox agar (CZA) and incubated at 25°C. A 7- day-old pure culture was used for the identification of the recovered fungus. Colonies were black, 4 cm in diameter and showed abundant radiatel heads bearing brown conidia 4-5.5 μm in diameter. Metulae were 13 x3.5 μm and phialides 10x3.5 μm in size. Identification of pathogen carried out by sequencing the ITS region of rDNA and part of the calmodulin gene (CAL) (White et al., 2000). BLAST results showed 99% similarity of the ITS sequence (GenBank accession No. KT277269) and 100% similarity of the calmodulin gene (LN890507) to strain DTO_178C2 and PW3050 of Aspergillus welwitschiae. To determine the pathogenicity of the fungus, 50 randomly selected seeds were surface-sterilized, soaked in a spore suspension (104 spores/ml) for 30 sec and, after drying, were transferred aseptically onto a layer of sterilized moist blotting papers. Control seeds were treated with sterilized water. All Petri dishes were incubated at 25oC. After 7 days of incubation, 75% of the seeds were colonized by the pathogen and failed to germinate while all control seeds germinated to produce healthy seedlings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. welwitschiae from Pakistan causing postharvest rot of mustard seeds.
Discovery of novel single nucleotide polymorphisms in the bovine growth hormone receptor gene and their association with performance traits in Holstein-Friesian cattle in Ireland

was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of genomic DNA extracted from unique blood samples from 22 cattle of 5 different breeds (4 Simmenthal, 4 Angus x Holstein, 4 Belgian Blue x Holstein, 6 Holstein and 4 Charolais). PCR amplicons were sequenced bi-directionally using the Sanger method. To identify novel SNPs, 22 forward and reverse sequences for 19 amplified ~1 kb bovine GHR gene regions were aligned using ClustalW version 2.0. Chromatograms were analysed using Chromas Lite to confirm identity of the SNPs and determine whether they were homozygous or heterozygous. Genotyping for 32 putative novel bovine GHR SNPs and 7 previously published bovine GHR SNPs was carried out on genomic DNA from 848 Holstein-Friesian sires using the with the iPLEX Gold assay (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). Predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs) and their associated reliabilities for traits that were evaluated by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation in the January 2009 domestic genetic evaluations, were available for inclusion in the analysis. PTAs were de-regressed and parental contribution to the reliability of each PTA was removed. Only sires with a reliability, less parental contribution, of >60% were retained for inclusion in the association analysis. The association between each SNP and performance trait was quantified using weighted mixed models in ASREML with individual included as a random effect, and average expected relationships among individuals accounted for through the numerator relationship matrix. Year of birth (divided into 5 yearly intervals) and percent Holstein of the individual sire were included as fixed effects in the model. The dependent variable was de-regressed PTA, weighted by respective reliability less the parental contribution. Genotype was included in the analysis as a continuous variable coded as the number of copies of a given allele. A multiple regression mixed model (MRMM) was developed by backward elimination of the non-significant (P > 0.05) segregating SNPs.
New combinations in Dendrobium (Orchidaceae)

Molecular phylogenetics of Subtribe Dendrobiinae (Orchidaceae – Epidendroideae) have revealed that Cadetia, Diplocaulobium, Flickingeria and Grastidium are nested within Dendrobium as traditionally circumscribed. We consider that there are compelling reasons, based on evidence and the desirability of nomenclatural stability, to recombine these genera as well as Euphlebium and Epigeneium (among others) within Dendrobium. New combinations are presented where species do not presently have valid Dendrobium
Vegetational Changes in Response to Alterations of Surface Roughness on M. Maiella, Italy

In earlier papers it was shown that on M. Maiella, Italy, there exists a relationship between various physiognomic characteristics of the vegetation and the roughness of the surface (Whitehead 1951, 1954). The roughness of the surface was expressed in terms of the aerodynamic parameter Z. This parameter expresses the effect of the surface on wind travelling over it. It was considered probable that the physiognomic differences observed are causally related to the differences in exposure to wind effects. Other hypotheses must, however, be considered, of which the most likely appeared to be that the greater height and growth of plants amongst the larger fragments may be due to the shading effects and lowered light intensities in the vicinity of the larger stones. There is considerable evidence that in the deeper crevices (1-1'1 m) shading effects occur but it appeared unlikely 'that any considerable effect of shading could be operating in the regions studied (areas A, B, G and H of Whitehead 1951).
Obstruction of Signal Transduction between Faba Bean and Rhizoctonia Solani during Pathogenesis and its Impact on Root Rot Disease

The fungus Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn is one of the most important soil borne plant pathogens. It infects many host plants causing very serious syndromes. In our previous study it was found that R. solani senses its host even when the host was away from the pathogen which reflected on its skeleton. It was postulated that the pathogen feels its host by different agent emitted from the host plant (faba bean). So, it was postulated if it could obstruct these signals, it could affect the pathogenecity of the pathogen. To accomplish this mission, seeds of faba bean were coated by gum Arabic then subjected to the pathogen either in vitro or under green house conditions. In vitro, the pathogen freely senses its host, infected it causing severe symptoms, in comparison to coated cotyledons by gum Arabic, where the pathogen difficulty reach the host and disease symptoms were very weak. Under plastic house conditions, coated seeds or not were planted in sand culture infested by the pathogen. Disease index was very low on root system of coated seeds in comparison to roots of non coated seeds. This action was reflected positively on plant morphology.