Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Dietary Insoluble and Soluble Fibre on Growth Performance, Digestibility, and Nitrogen, Energy, and Mineral Retention Efficiency in Growing Rabbits

Simple Summary Rabbits, like other herbivores, require a minimal level of insoluble fibre in the diet to warrant an adequate digestive function. Epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) is the main digestive trouble in growing rabbits that increases the use of antibiotics. The increase of soluble fibre (once met insoluble fibre requirements) limits the incidence of ERE and improves nitrogen and energy balance, while high levels of insoluble fibre seem to favour ERE. This study evaluated whether the increase of soluble and insoluble fibre above the current requirements of insoluble fibre had a positive impact on mortality, growth performance, diet digestibility, and energy, nitrogen, and mineral balance. Treatments had no effect on mortality, which was low (1%). The increase of insoluble fibre reduced the dietary digestible energy, while soluble fibre only increased it when combined with a low insoluble fibre level. The group fed with the lowest insoluble and soluble fibre levels showed the best energy and mineral balance, while the increase of insoluble or soluble fibre did not improve any growth trait. We conclude that in healthy rabbits, and once the minimal insoluble fibre requirements are met, no increase of insoluble or soluble fibre is recommended. Abstract Dietary soluble fibre limits the incidence of epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) and improves the energy and nitrogen balance in low-insoluble fibre diets, while high-insoluble fibre diets seem to favour ERE. This study assessed whether the positive effects of soluble fibre are influenced by the level of insoluble fibre. Four diets (2 × 2 factorial arrangement) were used with two levels of insoluble fibre (314 vs. 393 g/kg DM) and soluble fibre (87 vs. 128 g/kg DM), resulting in four diets with increasing total dietary fibre levels. Growth performance and chemical composition (body and carcass) (28–62 days of age), faecal digestibility (54–57 days of age), and jejunal morphometry functionality (39 days of age) were determined. Mortality was low (<1%) and treatments did not influence it. Insoluble and soluble fibre tended to reduce the growth rate (p ≤ 0.109), body protein, and fat accretion (p = 0.049 to 0.120), but only insoluble fibre impaired feed efficiency (p < 0.001). The efficiency of digestible energy used for growth was impaired with the increase of total dietary fibre (p = 0.027), while that of nitrogen remained majorly unaffected. In conclusion, in healthy rabbits, the increase of either insoluble or soluble fibre had no benefit.
Copper requirements for iron acquisition and growth of coastal and oceanic diatoms

Centric diatoms isolated from open ocean environments require higher concentrations of Cu for growth than their coastal counterparts. In artificial seawater medium containing <1 nmol L™1 Cu, three coastal species maintained near maximum rates of growth, but the oceanic clones were unable to survive. Copper limitation was more severe in the diatoms grown in low‐ than in high‐Fe seawater, suggesting that Cu and Fe were interacting essential resources. The interactive effect was in part the result of a Cu requirement for Fe transport. Thalassiosira weissflogii and Thalassiosira oceanica had lower Fe quotas and slower rates of Fe uptake when [Cu] was reduced in the medium. Brief exposure of Cu‐limited cells to 10 nmol L−1 Cu increased the instantaneous Fe uptake rate by 1.5 times in T. oceanica. Steady‐state uptake rates of both species at high, growth‐saturating concentrations of Fe were also Cu dependent. Oceanic species appeared to have an additional Cu requirement that was independent of Fe acquisition and likely responsible for their higher requirements compared to coastal species. Evidence for the importance of Cu in natural communities of phytoplankton was obtained from an incubation experiment performed in the Fe‐limited basin of the Bering Sea. Addition of 2 nmol L−1 Cu doubled the phytoplankton net growth rate compared to the untreated controls and, in the presence of extra Fe, increased the growth rate compared to the samples amended with Fe alone. The results suggest that Cu may be an important micronutrient for phytoplankton growth in low‐Fe regions of the sea because of its role in Fe acquisition. Paradoxically, oceanic diatoms may be more susceptible to the effects of low Cu concentrations than coastal species.
Molecular Control of Pyramidal Neuron Fate Determination in the Developing Neocortex

The pyramidal neurons of the neocortex, which form the neural substrate for our higher cognitive abilities, arise from a single layer of neuroepithelium lining the dorsal ventricles. It has been of immense interest to study how cell fate specification within the developing cortex dictates the generation of these numerous classes of pyramidal neurons from a small pool of cortical progenitors. Others and we had previously shown that postmitotic neurons signal back to their progenitors and instruct the timing of cell fate switch. This process governs both the switch from producing one neuronal type to the other and from neurogenesis to gliogenesis. We have previously shown that Fgf9 controls the switch from neurogenesis to gliogenesis. While a similar mechanism governing the switch from deep layer to upper layer neuronal production was predicted, the precise molecular pathway was not shown. In this thesis, we show that the neurotrophin Ntf3, signals back to cortical progenitors and initiates the shift from deep to upper layer cell fate. It does so by shifting the ratio of apical progenitors to basal progenitors, which in turn govern the production of cortical neurons. We go on to show that the effect of Ntf3 is most likely mediated by the truncated- Non Catalytic isoform of TrkC- NC-TrkC. NC-TrkC, to our knowledge, is the first molecule to show an expression pattern that parallels the timing of deep layer neurogenesis. Through gain-of-function experiments, we show that NC-TrkC expression tilts neurogenesis in favor of deeper layer neurons. We also show that the effect of NC-TrkC is most likely through the negative regulation of ERK signaling. We provide further evidence that signaling via the binding site for the signaling molecule Shc, on NC-TrkC is important for its role in cell fate determination. Further, we show a novel interaction between NC-TrkC and the BMP class I receptor BMPRIA. These receptors interact in vitro and in vivo. The genetic programs controlled by them interact to govern neuronal fate during corticogenesis. Finally, we study the role of a family of transneuronal cytokines-Cbln, as molecules that function in parallel to Ntf3 in controlling neuronal fate switch in the cortex. We show that over-expression of the Cbln family members can also alter the proportions of apical and basal progenitors, thereby providing insights into new modes of signaling between postmitotic neurons and their progenitors.
Iterative Learning Control for a Soft Exoskeleton with Hip and Knee Joint Assistance

Walking on different terrains leads to different biomechanics, which motivates the development of exoskeletons for assisting on walking according to the type of a terrain. The design of a lightweight soft exoskeleton that simultaneously assists multiple joints in the lower limb is presented in this paper. It is used to assist both hip and knee joints in a single system, the assistance force is directly applied to the hip joint flexion and the knee joint extension, while indirectly to the hip extension also. Based on the biological torque of human walking at three different slopes, a novel strategy is developed to improve the performance of assistance. A parameter optimal iterative learning control (POILC) method is introduced to reduce the error generated due to the difference between the wearing position and the biological features of the different wearers. In order to obtain the metabolic rate, three subjects walked on a treadmill, for 10 min on each terrain, at a speed of 4 km/h under both conditions of wearing and not wearing the soft exoskeleton. Results showed that the metabolic rate was decreased with the increasing slope of the terrain. The reductions in the net metabolic rate in the experiments on the downhill, flat ground, and uphill were, respectively, 9.86%, 12.48%, and 22.08% compared to the condition of not wearing the soft exoskeleton, where their corresponding absolute values were 0.28 W/kg, 0.72 W/kg, and 1.60 W/kg.
Reproductive biology of brown trout, Salmo trutta macrostigma Dumeril 1858, in a tributary of the Ceyhan River which flows into the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Summary The study describes some key elements of the reproductive biology, including spawning season, age at sexual maturity, fecundity and egg diameter of the native brown trout, Salmo trutta macrostigma, in a tributary of the Ceyhan River. A total of 197 brown trout (118 females and 79 males) were captured in 2000–2001 by electric fishing. In observations on monthly changes, the gonadosomatic index (GSI) and the monthly frequency distribution of egg diameter confirmed that spawning lasted from November to January. Some 27.7% of the females and 62.5% of the males attained sexual maturity in their second year. The smallest fork length (FL) of brown trout attaining sexual maturity was 17.4 cm for males and 17.8 cm for females. Mean fecundity in age groups II, III, IV and V were 360, 452, 693 and 1283 eggs per female, respectively. One 9-year-old female had a unique 3232 egg count. The mean fecundity of the sampled population was 554 eggs per fish, positively correlated with the FL (mm) (R = 0.8227 ) and body weight (R = 0.8130). The diameter of mature eggs in the spawning season ranged from 3.250 to 5.930 mm, with a 4.146 mm average. Mean egg diameter in age groups II, III, IV and V in the spawning season were 0.813, 3.799, 4.663 and 5.243 mm, respectively. Fecundity, egg weight and diameter were statistically different in all age groups.
Two distinct pathways of pregranulosa cell differentiation support follicle formation in the mouse ovary

Significance This paper improves knowledge of the somatic and germ cells of the developing mouse ovary that assemble into ovarian follicles, by determining cellular gene expression, and tracing lineage relationships. The study covers the last week of fetal development through the first five days of postnatal development. During this time, many critically important processes take place, including sex determination, follicle assembly, and the initial events of meiosis. We report expression differences between pregranulosa cells of wave 1 follicles that function at puberty and wave 2 follicles that sustain fertility. These studies illuminate ovarian somatic cells and provide a resource to study the development, physiology, and evolutionary conservation of mammalian ovarian follicle formation. We sequenced more than 52,500 single cells from embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) postembryonic day 5 (P5) gonads and performed lineage tracing to analyze primordial follicles and wave 1 medullar follicles during mouse fetal and perinatal oogenesis. Germ cells clustered into six meiotic substages, as well as dying/nurse cells. Wnt-expressing bipotential precursors already present at E11.5 are followed at each developmental stage by two groups of ovarian pregranulosa (PG) cells. One PG group, bipotential pregranulosa (BPG) cells, derives directly from bipotential precursors, expresses Foxl2 early, and associates with cysts throughout the ovary by E12.5. A second PG group, epithelial pregranulosa (EPG) cells, arises in the ovarian surface epithelium, ingresses cortically by E12.5 or earlier, expresses Lgr5, but delays robust Foxl2 expression until after birth. By E19.5, EPG cells predominate in the cortex and differentiate into granulosa cells of quiescent primordial follicles. In contrast, medullar BPG cells differentiate along a distinct pathway to become wave 1 granulosa cells. Reflecting their separate somatic cellular lineages, second wave follicles were ablated by diptheria toxin treatment of Lgr5-DTR-EGFP mice at E16.5 while first wave follicles developed normally and supported fertility. These studies provide insights into ovarian somatic cells and a resource to study the development, physiology, and evolutionary conservation of mammalian ovarian follicles.
Evolution of the distribution of dispersal distance under distance‐dependent cost of dispersal

Abstract We analyse the evolution of the distribution of dispersal distances in a stable and homogeneous environment in one‐ and two‐dimensional habitats. In this model, dispersal evolves to avoid the competition between relatives although some cost might be associated with this behaviour. The evolutionarily stable dispersal distribution is characterized by an equilibration of the fitness gains among all the different dispersal distances. This cost‐benefit argument has heuristic value and facilitates the comprehension of results obtained numerically. In particular, it explains why some minimal or maximal probability of dispersal may evolve at intermediate distances when the cost of dispersal function is an increasing function of distance. We also show that kin selection may favour long range dispersal even if the survival cost of dispersal is very high, provided the survival probability does not vanish at long distances.
Regional variability of climate–growth relationships in Pinus cembra high elevation forests in the Alps

1 The tree‐ring growth response of stone pine (Pinus cembra L.) to climatic variability was studied in the Alps. The aims were (i) to assess tree‐ring growth patterns at different spatial‐temporal scales; (ii) to identify the climate parameters that explain most of the variability in radial growth at different time domains; and (iii) to study past and current trends in radial growth and climate–growth relationships at different locations. 2 High‐ and low‐frequency stone pine chronologies were compiled for 30 treeline sites on the French and Italian Alps. We used gridded climate data computed from 200 years of instrumental records from an extensive Alpine network. Climate–growth relationships were computed with bootstrap correlation functions and their stationarity and consistency over time assessed with moving correlation. 3 No spatial patterns were detected in stone pine chronology statistics despite the regional clustering observed in tree‐ring series and climate responses. This can be attributed to (i) local weather variability; (ii) different biophysical conditions caused by soil moisture, solar radiation, snowmelt dynamics and growing season length; and (iii) forest stand history and age structure, the expression of long‐term land use and disturbances. 4 The exceptionally long‐term climate records allowed significant stone pine growth response changes to be assessed at both annual and decadal time scales. Winter conditions and spring–summer temperatures mainly affected the growing season length, in addition to site carbon and water balance. Most of these limiting factors varied spatially and temporally along the latitudinal and longitudinal gradients in response to the corresponding changes in local conditions. 5 Our results show evidence of a clear response variability of Pinus cembra to climate limiting factors, at both spatial and temporal scale. Such knowledge extended to other species and regions will provide better estimates of the effect of climate variability on species distribution and dynamics within global change scenarios and more accurate past climate reconstruction and forest ecosystem modelling.
Steerability detection of an arbitrary two-qubit state via machine learning

Quantum steering is an important nonclassical resource for quantum information processing. However, even lots of steering criteria exist, it is still very difficult to efficiently determine whether an arbitrary two-qubit state shared by Alice and Bob is steerable or not, because the optimal measurement directions of Alice are unknown. In this work, we provide an efficient quantum steering detection scheme for arbitrary 2-qubit states with the help of machine learning, where Alice and Bob only need to measure in a few fixed measurement directions. In order to prove the validity of this method, we firstly realize a high performance quantum steering classifier with the whole information. Furthermore, a high performance quantum steering classifier with partial information is realized, where Alice and Bob only need to measure in three fixed measurement directions. Our method outperforms the existing methods in generic cases in terms of both speed and accuracy, opening up the avenues to explore quantum steering via the machine learning approach.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae whi2 mutants in stationary phase retain the properties of exponentially growing cells

Summary: Stationary phase cultures of whi2 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were tested to discover whether they had undergone the changes which wild-type cells show in response to nutrient deprivation. The sensitivity to a 52°C heat shock, nystatin treatment and Zymolyase digestion of the cell wall was determined in isogenic WHI2+ and whi2 strains in both exponential and stationary growth phases. In each case, WH12+ cells become more resistant to these treatments in stationary phase but whi2 cells in stationary phase retained the sensitivity of exponential cultures. In addition, glycogen accumulation was reduced in the whi2 mutant, and DAPI fluorescent staining of the nuclei revealed that nuclear cycle arrest did not occur in G1, but at a minimum of three different phases of the cell cycle. We conclude that under the conditions of deprivation which occur in stationary phase, whi2 mutants retain the properties of exponentially growing cells.
Snake venom‐derived bradykinin‐potentiating peptides: A promising therapy for COVID‐19?

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐COV‐2), a novel coronavirus responsible for the recent infectious pandemic, is known to downregulate angiotensin‐converting enzyme‐2 (ACE2). Most current investigations focused on SARS‐COV‐2‐related effects on the renin–angiotensin system and especially the resultant increase in angiotensin II, neglecting its effects on the kinin–kallikrein system. SARS‐COV‐2‐induced ACE2 inhibition leads to the augmentation of bradykinin 1‐receptor effects, as ACE2 inactivates des‐Arg9‐bradykinin, a bradykinin metabolite. SARS‐COV‐2 also decreases bradykinin 2‐receptor effects as it affects bradykinin synthesis by inhibiting cathepsin L, a kininogenase present at the site of infection and involved in bradykinin production. The physiologies of both the renin–angiotensin and kinin–kallikrein system are functionally related suggesting that any intervention aiming to treat SARS‐COV‐2‐infected patients by triggering one system but ignoring the other may not be adequately effective. Interestingly, the snake‐derived bradykinin‐potentiating peptide (BPP‐10c) acts on both systems. BPP‐10c strongly decreases angiotensin II by inhibiting ACE, increasing bradykinin‐related effects on the bradykinin 2‐receptor and increasing nitric oxide‐mediated effects. Based on a narrative review of the literature, we suggest that BPP‐10c could be an optimally effective option to consider when aiming at developing an anti‐SARS‐COV‐2 drug.
Perspectives on the Role of Non-Coding RNAs in the Regulation of Expression and Function of the Estrogen Receptor

Estrogen receptors (ERs) comprise several nuclear and membrane-bound receptors with different tissue-specific functions. ERα and ERβ are two nuclear members of this family, whereas G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), ER-X, and Gq-coupled membrane estrogen receptor (Gq-mER) are membrane-bound G protein-coupled proteins. ERα participates in the development and function of several body organs such as the reproductive system, brain, heart and musculoskeletal systems. ERβ has a highly tissue-specific expression pattern, particularly in the female reproductive system, and exerts tumor-suppressive roles in some tissues. Recent studies have revealed functional links between both nuclear and membrane-bound ERs and non-coding RNAs. Several oncogenic lncRNAs and miRNAs have been shown to exert their effects through the modulation of the expression of ERs. Moreover, treatment with estradiol has been shown to alter the malignant behavior of cancer cells through functional axes composed of non-coding RNAs and ERs. The interaction between ERs and non-coding RNAs has functional relevance in several human pathologies associated with estrogen regulation, such as cancers, intervertebral disc degeneration, coronary heart disease and diabetes. In the current review, we summarize scientific literature on the role of miRNAs and lncRNAs on ER-associated signaling and related disorders.
What came first, the virus or the egg: Innate immunity during viral coinfections

Infections with any pathogen can be severe and present with numerous complications caused by the pathogen or the host immune response to the invading microbe. However, coinfections, also called polymicrobial infections or secondary infections, can further exacerbate disease. Coinfections are more common than is often appreciated. In this review, we focus specifically on coinfections between viruses and other viruses, bacteria, parasites, or fungi. Importantly, innate immune signaling and innate immune cells that facilitate clearance of the initial viral infection can affect host susceptibility to coinfections. Understanding these immune imbalances may facilitate better diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of such coinfections.
THE SURVIVAL VALUE OF FLOCKING IN NEOTROPICAL BIRDS: REALITY OR FICTION?

Greater foraging efficiency and/or better predator avoidance have long been assumed and used as explanations for the evolution of flocking behavior in birds. Even if the debate between the validity of these two hypotheses remains open, one prediction is that living in flocks can favor increased survival rates. We gathered published and unpublished data from various tropical forests where bird species forage (1) exclusively alone or in pairs (2) in heterospecific flocks some of the time (facultative flock members), or (3) exclusively in heterospecific year-long associations (obligate flock members). We controlled statistically for effects of body size, nest type, clutch size, and phylogeny, and tested whether survival rates differed among these three groups. The survival rates of the obligate flock members (mean survival rate 68.7%, range 48.0–87.0%) were significantly higher than estimates for the species feeding alone or in pairs (mean survival rate 58.3%, range 33.0–79.0%). However, survival rates of th.