Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Acetate Turnover Rate and Rumen Fermentation Characteristics in Sheep Fed Rice Straw Supplemented with Soybean Meal

The present experiment was conducted to assess the effects of rice straw supplemented with soybean meal (RSS-diet) on turnover rate of plasma acetate using an isotope dilution method in sheep. Rumen fermentation characteristics and nitrogen (N) balance were also determined. Four sheep were assigned to two dietary treatments including either a RSS-diet or mixed hay (MH-diet). The experiment was performed by a crossover design with two 24 day periods. On day 24 of each dietary period the isotope dilution method of [1- 13 C]Na acetate was carried out as the primed-continuous infusion to determine the plasma acetate turnover rate. Nitrogen intake and N retention did not differ between diets, while N digestibility was higher (P = 0.004) for the RSS-diet than the MH-diet. Concentrations of rumen total volatile fatty acid (VFA) and acetate did not differ between diets, and those of other individual VFA were higher (P < 0.05) for the RSS-diet than the MHdiet. Concentration and turnover rate of plasma acetate did not differ between dietary treatments. From the present results it could be concluded that rice straw supplemented with soybean meal as high energy protein source showed the comparable performance to mixed hay on plasma acetate turnover rate, and enhanced performance over mixed hay on digestive functions in sheep.
Evaluation of entomopathogens against lepidopteran defoliators infesting soybean.

A field trial was conducted in kharif seasons of 2011-2012 to study the efficacy of certain entomopathogens viz., Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae,Verticilium lecanii, Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki @ 5 g/l along with standard check Quinalphos 25 EC @ 1.5 g/L and Spinosad 45%SC @ 73 g a.i. /ha against lepidopteran defoliators. Bacillus thuringiensis @ 10 13 spores/ha followed by B. bassiana @ 10 13 spores/ha were the most effective treatments when ap plied as foliar sprays at 38, 41 and 45 days old crop. These treatments were effective in reducing the foliage feeder larval population. The highest grain yield was obtained also in the treatment, B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki (474.77 kg/ha). The lowest yield was recorded in the control (215.23 kg/ha) which was significantly inferior to the rest of the treatments.
The role of collagen in the quality and processing of fish

Collagen in the muscles of fish constitutes the main component of the connective tissue membanes joining individual myotomes and is responsible for the integrity of the fillets. The content of collagen in fish muscles is from about 0.2 to 1.4% and in squid mantel about 2.6%. Fish and invertebrata collagens contain slightly more essential amino acids than intramuscular bovine connective tissue collagen. The invertebrata collagens are exceptionally rich in sugars linked mainly O‐glycosidically to hydroxylysine residues. During maturation of fish the proportion of collagen to total protein in the muscles increases while the extent of crosslinking does not change significantly. The thermal properties of fish collagens depend significantly on the content of hydroxyproline and proline residues which in turn is correlated to the temperature of the habitat. Generally the shrinkage temperature of fish skin collagens is about 20°C lower than that of mammalian hide collagens. In several species of fish the weakening.
Truncation, Randomization, and Selection GENERATIONOFAREDUCEDLENGTHc-JunANTAGONISTTHATRETAINSHIGH INTERACTIONSTABILITY *

The DNA binding activity of the transcriptional regulator activator protein-1 shows considerable promise as a target in cancer therapy. A number of different strategies have been employed to inhibit the function of this protein with promise having been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Peptidebased therapeutics have received renewed interest in the last few years, and a number of 37-amino acid peptides capable of binding to the coiled coil dimerization domain of Jun and Fos have been derived. Here, we demonstrate how truncation and semirational library design, followed by protein-fragment complementation, can be used to produce a leucine zipper binding peptide by iterative means. To this end, we have implemented this strategy on the FosW peptide to produce 4hFosW. This peptide is truncated by four residues with comparably favorable binding properties and demonstrates the possibility to design progressively shorter peptides to serve as leucine zipper antagonists while retaining many of the key features of the parent peptide. Whether or not the necessity for low molecular weight antagonists is required from the perspective of druggability and efficacy is subject to debate. However, antagonists of reduced length are worthy of perusal from the point of view of synthetic cost as well as identifying the smallest functional unit that is required for binding.
Interleukin-1 beta promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and a stem cell phenotype of colon cancer cells via Zeb1/2

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) is an important mediator of inflammatory response, and the elevated expression of IL-1β is correlated with tumor growth and metastasis. Epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT) is a reversible transition between epithelial phenotype and mesenchymal phenotype. Usually, EMT can be identified by its unique morphology change and expression of EMT markers. In our study, we have found after treated HCT-116, a colon cancer cell line, and human primary colon cancer cells with IL-1β, cells began to display mesenchymal phenotype with highly down-regulated E-cadherin expression and up-regulated ZEB factors expression. For colon cancer cells, sphere formation assay in serum free medium (SFM) with the presence of growth factors is used to identify cancer stem cell population. We have shown that IL-1β can induce colon cancer stem cell proliferation and express stem cell markers (Bmi1, Nanog, and Nestin). In addition, besides the stem cell markers, we also found ZEB factors were highly up-regulated in spheroid cells as well. We silenced Zeb1 expression and investigated the effect of IL-1β on shZeb1 HCT-116 cells. The results indicated Zeb1 knockdown not only inhibited IL-1β-induced EMT but also reduced proliferation of spheroid cells and inhibited Bmi1 expression. Therefore, ZEB factors must play an important role in both EMT process and cancer stem cell development. From our data, we conclude that IL-1β promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and a stem cell phenotype in colon cancer via ZEB factors.
Diet, spatial ecology and energetics of echidnas: the significance of habitat and seasonal variation

The ant- and termite-eating echidna is a solitary, monotreme mammal with a highly seasonal life history. I investigated several aspects of the seasonal energetics and ecology of free-ranging echidnas: the role of leptin in the annual mass cycle, seasonal and habitat effects on diet, the relationship between home range size and habitat quality, and the effect of habitat on the siting of echidna latrines. The echidna has a large seasonal variation in fat stores, which reach their maximum prior to hibernation. I hypothesised that the hormone leptin would have the same role in the echidna as in eutherian hibernators, i.e. that there would be a direct relationship between body mass and plasma leptin that would change to allow pre-hibernatory fattening. I found significant seasonal variations in plasma leptin, with the highest levels occurring in hibernation and in females during mating. The lowest levels were found in males after the reproductive period. Rather than the expected strong positive relationship between adiposity and plasma leptin I found a weak negative relationship, similar to that in reptiles and birds. To determine if there was any significant seasonal variation in diet associated with prehibernatory fattening I investigated diet using scat and stable isotope analysis. Echidna scats consisted largely of ants and the larvae of pasture cockchafer beetles. There was significant seasonal variation in percent occurrence of larvae, but not in the ant species found in scats or in the stable isotopic composition of echidna plasma. Although there was no difference in the prey items that contributed most to scat contents of animals living in different habitats, stable isotope analysis of blood showed a highly significant effect of habitat type on `δ^15N`. Female echidnas showed a significant negative relationship between the proportion of woodland habitat and home range size, whereas there was no such relationship for males, which had significantly larger home ranges. My data suggest that female home range is scaled to available resources, while male home range is probably scaled to maximise access to females. The role of latrines and their relationship to habitat was examined by a detailed survey of part of the field site, where many echidna home ranges were known to overlap. Latrines were located more frequently in scrub than in pasture or thick bush and the highest frequency of latrines occurred where there were two home ranges that overlapped. Latrines may be important in the spatial organisation of echidnas.
Book Reviews

In 1979, the prison authorities in California employed a full-time video technician to work in San Quentin. The technician’s job was to pipe precensored videos into the cells of the prisoners. This development was no liberal reform but was a strategic response to the bloody disturbances and furious confrontations that had occurred in the prison over the previous decade. According to Eric Cummins (1994), the strategy was designed to induce the ‘total elimination’ of reading and writing which were key elements in the politicization of the confined. Through the introduction of ‘idiot boxes’— television sets—‘the prison’s surveillance and communication arsenal’ (pp. 238–9) was augmented and reinforced. Twenty years on from San Quentin’s media-inspired prisoner pacification programme, Yvonne Jewkes’ illuminating study of the role and place of the mass media in a number of English male prisons identifies a similar strategy of managerial control, although this is only one of a number of issues she highlights in her dissection of the complex relationship between the prison system, prisoners and the mass media. Jewkes analyses ‘the nexus of relationships between media, identity, social psychological survival and relations of power . ’ (p. xi). The first two chapters elaborate this point and provide a very well-written and incisive discussion of the theoretical literature which analytically connects the pains of imprisonment and the social construction of the self and identity with the discourse of hegemonic masculinity and the perpetuation of this discourse in the mass media. She makes some excellent connections in these chapters through building her argument on a critical reading of Giddens’ structuration theory and Bourdieu’s notion of habitus to construct a theoretical framework that helps to explain the different levels involved in the construction of an individual’s sense of identity and self and the dynamic and active contours of resistance engaged in by B O O K R E V I E W S
Radioprotective Effect of Spirulina Platensis on Head and Neck Radiation-Induced Xerostomia Sarianoferni*,

Radiotherapy relating to the head and neck is often accompanied by side effects with varying degrees of xerostomia. Spirulina has high nutritional value due its content. The current study aims to establish, the possible effect of Spirulina on salivary dysfunction. A total of 36 male, Wistar Strain Rattus Norvegicus weighing 200-250 grams were divided into six groups: the normal control, subjects only irradiated as the negative control, subjects which received 300 gr/ kgBW of Spirulina (obtained from DXN) and were irradiated, subjects which received 300 mg/ kgBW of Spirulina and were irradiated, subjects which received 600 mg/ kgBW of Spirulina and irradiated, subjects which received Spirulina 900 mg/ kgBW and irradiated. Spirulina was administered for seven days before and during five days of X-ray irradiation. 24 hours after the final fractionation, blood and the submandibular gland were collected and analyzed to determine their levels of F2-isoprostane, caspase-3 expression, and AQP5 expression. Spirulina was able to reduce F2-isoprostane levels and decrease caspase-3 and while also increasing AQP5 expression. Spirulina with various antioxidant content can prevent xerostomia caused by head and neck radiotherapy. The study showed that 600 mg/kgBW Spirulina was an effective dose. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2020; 13(2): 475-479)
AUTOMATIC RESOLUTION CONTROL FOR THE FINITE-VOLUME METHOD, PART 3: TURBULENT FLOW APPLICATIONS

The first two parts of this article [1, 2] describe the components of an automatic resolution control (ARC) algorithm for the finite-volume method. While the performance of similar algorithms is well established for inviscid supersonic flows and partly for laminar flows, the number of studies dealing with incompressible turbulent flows is very limited. In this article we shall apply the ARC to two turbulent flow test cases using the k-e turbulence model in 2- and 3-D to examine the performance of the method. For completeness, both the high-Re model with wall functions and the low-Re variant will be included.
Differential Interaction between Isolates of Macrophomina phaseolina and Egyptian Cotton Cultivars

Pathogeniciy of 20 isolates of Macrophomina phaseolina was tested on six cotton cultivars under greenhouse conditions. Preemergence damping-off, postemergence damping-off, survival, plant height, and dry weight were used as criteria to evaluate pathogenicity. Analysis of variance showed that the main effects of both cultivars (p=0.0001) and isolates (p=0.0001) were very highly significant sources of variation in all the tested parameters as was cultivar × isolate interaction (p=0.0001). Statistically significant cultivars, isolates, these significant main effects and interactions suggest that physiologic specialization exists within M. phaseolina isolates pathogenic on cotton. It also implies that the resistance of the tested cultivars is a mixture of both vertical and horizontal resistance and there are significant differences among cultivars in both types of resistance. Similarly, pathogenicity of the tested isolates is also mixture of virulence and aggressiveness, and the isolates significantly differ in both types of pathogenicity. Cluster analysis differentiated the isolates into 4 pathotypes based on their virulence on the 6 cotton cultivars.
The Generification of the Fossil Record

Abstract Many modern paleobiological analyses are conducted at the generic level, a practice predicated on the validity of genera as meaningful proxies for species. Uncritical application of genera in such analyses, however, has led—perhaps inadvertently—to the unjustified reification of genera in an evolutionary context. While the utility of genera as proxies for species in evolutionary studies should be evaluated as an empirical issue, in practice it is increasingly assumed (rather than demonstrated) that genera are suitable proxies for species. This is problematic on both ontological and epistemological grounds. Genera are arbitrarily circumscribed, non-equivalent, often paraphyletic, and sometimes polyphyletic collections of species. They are useful tools for communication but have no theoretical or biological reality of their own and, whether monophyletic or not, cannot themselves operate in the evolutionary process. Attributes considered important for understanding macroevolution—e.g., geographic ranges, niche breadths, and taxon durations—are frequently variable among species within genera and will be inflated at the generic level, especially in species-rich genera. Consequently, the meaning(s) of results attained at the generic level may not “trickle down” in any obvious way that elucidates our understanding of evolution at the species level. Ideally, then, evolutionary studies that are actually about species should be pursued using species-level data rather than proxy data tabulated using genera. Where genera are used, greater critical attention should be focused on the degree to which attributes tabulated at the generic level reflect biological properties and processes at the species level.
Spatio-temporal variations of phytoplankton community composition assayed by morphological observation and photosynthetic pigment analyses in Lake Taihu (China)

Spatio-temporal variations of phytoplankton were assayed by morphological observation and photosynthetic pigment analyses at four sites in Lake Taihu from September 2007 to June 2008. Results showed that cyanobacteria abundance in water column decreased from autumn to winter but increased in the sediment; in spring, cyanobacteria abundance decreased in sediment but increased in water column. Since phycocyanin in the sediment fluctuated during the year with maxima in March and minima in September, vertical migration and recruitment of cyanobacteria were apparent. Algal abundance and composition changed in the water column. Chlorophytes dominated phytoplankton community initially and were replaced by cyanobacteria especially Microcystis spp. , which underwent a colony-enlargement process and evolved from colonies with a few cells to those with dozens or hundreds of cells before blooming in late June.
SINAPINE LEAKAGE FROM BRASSICA SEEDS

The purpose of this project was to study factors that influence the leakage rate and develop methods to enhance leakage of sinapine from Brassica seeds. Six seedlots (two seedlots of one cultivar each of cabbage ( Brassica oleracea L., Capitata group), broccoli, and cauliflower ( B. oleracea L., Botrytis group) were studied. Leakage was quantified spectrophotometrically by measuring the absorbance of the soak water at 330 nm. The onset of sinapine leakage was determined from single seeds by the visual presence (yellow soak water) caused by soaking seeds in a biological buffer adjusted to pH 10. The leakage pattern from heat-killed seeds of all seedlots was sigmoidal with a distinct lag phase followed by a rapid efflux and final slower rate. The duration of the lag phase and the total amount of sinapine leaked after 24 hours was not the same for all seedlots after adjusting for seed count, seed weight, or sinapine content. Therefore, another factor was responsible for differences measured in leakage. Embryos or seeds with cracked testas leaked faster than intact seeds, and the leakage pattern without testa integrity was biphasic. From these studies, we conclude that the testa was a major factor regulating sinapine leakage. Pretreating heat killed seeds, with up to 1.0% NaOCl for 10 minutes, accelerated the onset of leakage. The time for 50 percent of the seeds to leak (T50) decreased as NaOCl concentration increased. Leakage uniformity, as measured by the standard deviation of the distribution, generally increased as NaOCl concentration increased. The sigmoidal leakage pattern from heat-killed Brassica seeds may be attributed to seedcoat cracking associated with imbibitional swelling. A NaOCl pretreatment may have increased the permeability of the testa and, thereby, enhanced the leakage rate.
An Assessment of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Wildlife Research

Abstract Aerial surveys are valuable tools for wildlife research and management. However, problems with safety, cost, statistical integrity, and logistics continue to impede aerial surveys from manned aircraft. The use of small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may offer promise for addressing these problems and become a useful tool for many wildlife applications, such as for collecting low-altitude aerial imagery. During 2002 and 2003, we used a 1.5-m wingspan UAV equipped with autonomous control and sophisticated video equipment to test the potential usefulness of such an aircraft for wildlife research applications in Florida, USA. The UAV we used completed >30 missions (missions averaging 13 km linear distance covered) over 2 years before finally crashing due to engine failure. The UAV captured high-quality, progressive-scan video of a number of landscapes and wildlife species (white ibis [Eudocimus albus], other white wading birds, American alligator [Alligator mississippiensis], and Florida manatee [Trichechus manatus]). The UAV system was unable to collect georeferenced imagery and was difficult to deploy in unimproved areas. The performance of the autonomous control system and the quality of the progressive-scan imagery indicated strong promise for future UAVs as useful field tools. For small UAVs to be useful as management or research tools, they should be durable, modular, electric powered, launchable and recoverable in rugged terrain, autonomously controllable, operable with minimal training, and collect georeferenced imagery.
DETERMINATE VERSUS INDETERMINATE INFLORESCENCES OF THE 'HASS' AVOCADO

The relative productivity of determinate versus indeterminate inflorescences of the Hass, avocado (Persea americana Mill.) under California conditions is not known. Thus, the present study was undertaken as part of a multi-year field trial to characterize the potential of both types of inflorescences to set fruit that survive to harvest in "on" or "off" years. Scanning electron microscopy was used to determine when stomata were formed and stomatal densities for both flowers and inflorescence leaves. Respiration or photosynthesis, and transpiration were assessed for both organs during the course of inflorescence development in the field to identify the transition of the leaf from sink to source and to quantify the difference in water flux through the two inflorescence types in relation to anthesis and fruit set.
Thymocyte Negative Selection Is Mediated by Protein Kinase C- and Ca2+-Dependent Transcriptional Induction of Bim1

The processes of positive and negative selection in the thymus both determine the population of T cells that will enter the peripheral immune system and eliminate self-reactive T cells by apoptosis. Substantial evidence indicates that TCR signal intensity mediates this cell fate choice: low-intensity signals lead to survival and differentiation, whereas high-intensity signals generated by self-Ag lead to cell death. The molecular mechanism by which these graded signals are converted to discrete outcomes is not understood. Positive selection requires the Ca2+-dependent phosphatase calcineurin, whereas negative selection requires the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bcl-2-interacting mediator of cell death (Bim). In this study, we investigated the regulation of Bim expression and the role of Ca2+ in mediating negative selection. Our results show that transcription is necessary for both negative selection and Bim induction. Surprisingly, we also found that Ca2+ is necessary for Bim induction. Induction of bim transcription appears to involve protein kinase C, but not calcineurin, JNK, p38 MAPK, or MEK. These results localize the decision point in positive vs negative selection to a step downstream of Ca2+ signaling and suggest that negative selection signals induce Ca2+-dependent bim transcription through PKC.
Total Factor Productivity Growth in Chinese Industry: 1952–2005

This paper presents new estimates of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Chinese industry over the past half century that seek to improve on earlier estimates in several respects: better data series are developed for capital and labour; the production function is estimated with fewer restrictive assumptions and corrected for serial correlation; and the TFP estimates are adjusted for cyclical fluctuations. The paper also offers a broader than usual interpretation of TFP growth. Its main findings are: (i) that over the whole period 1952–2005 the main source of industrial output growth was capital accumulation; (ii) that during the period since 1980 TFP growth also contributed significantly to industrial output growth; and (iii) that TFP growth in Chinese industry accelerated from the late 1980s, probably as a result of changes in the pattern of ownership and increased integration into the world economy.