Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INTAKE AND NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY IN SHEEP FED SOME SEMI-ARID BROWSE PLANTS

The study was conducted to determine the intake and nutrient digestibility in sheep fed dried leaves of four browse plants. Four sheep of mixed breed (Uda and Yankasa) weighing an average of 28.4kg each were used for the study. The treatments were Ziziphus mauritania (A), Balanites aegyotica (B), Ficus sycomorus (C), and Celtis integrifolia (D). The animals were weighed and randomly allotted to four treatments in a 4x4 Latin square des ign with four periods. Each period lasted for three weeks. The dry matter and crude protein content of the treatments range from 92.2% to 95.6% and 12.78% to 17.33%, respectively. The crude fibre content ranged from 25.0% to 30.5% while the ether extract content ranged from 2.0% to 3.0%. Nutrient digestibility ranged from 58.13% to 65.17%, 72.37% to 94.18% and 52.71% to 64.90% for dry matter, crude protein and crude fibre, respectively. Dry matter intake was significantly higher (P<0.05) in treatment D than that of treatments A and C. There was no significant different in crude fiber digestibility of treatments A and B. The results from this study indicated that browse plants used have high nutritional value and therefore could serve as supplementary feed especially during the dry season in the semi-arid zone where dry grass and crops residues are the only available feed resources
Dexamethasone modulates melatonin MT2 receptor expression in splenic tissue and humoral immune response in mice

Abstract Melatonin modulates immune function through its membrane-bound MT1 and MT2 receptors in mammalian system. Adrenal glucocorticoid, an important metabolic hormone is known as a immuno-compromising agent. In the present study, we investigated the effect of dexamethasone on melatonin receptor proteins in spleen tissue and anti-klh-IgG response in Swiss albino mice. Melatonin treatment increased the MT1 and MT2 receptor proteins and anti-klh-IgG than control mice. Dexamethasone treatment increased MT2 receptor protein and anti-klh-IgG than melatonin-treated group. Dexamethasone treatment to melatonin-treated mice showed additive effects and maximally increased the anti-klh-IgG than other experimental groups. A decrease in glucocorticoid receptor (GR) protein was noted in melatonin treated as well as dexamethasone-treated mice. Dexamethasone significantly increased MT2 melatonin receptor protein in spleen and anti-klh-IgG and additively increased anti-klh-IgG when supplemented along with melatonin. Therefore, the present study may suggest that dexamethasone increased humoral immune response permissively by enhancing MT2 receptor expression in splenic tissue of mice.
Comunicação de alarme em duas espécies de cnidário, Tubastraea sp. e Palythoa caribaeorum (Cnidaria: Anthozoa)

As especies Palythoa sp. e Tubastraea sp. estao incluidas no filo Cnidaria, o qual e composto por animais pouco complexos e contendo poucos tipos celulares, podendo ser solitarios ou coloniais. Este estudo visou determinar se os polipos de Tubastraea sp. e Palythoa caribaeorum respondem a retracao de um conspecifico de mesma populacao.O trabalho foi realizado na Praia de Aracatiba, no Municipio de Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro. Foram realizadas observacoes atraves de mergulho livre. As colonias observadas foram escolhidas de forma aleatoria. As observacoes foram realizadas a partir do metodo Grupo Focal. Cada observacao foi precedida por um periodo de tres minutos e durante esse periodo nenhuma colonia apresentou qualquer mudanca comportamental. Um individuo central da colonia recebeu um estimulo tatil e os polipos retraidos foram contados/fotografados. Os resultados apontaram uma diferenca significativa entre os polipos que retrairam nas colonias de ambas as especies. As colonias de Palythoa caribaeorum apresentaram uma media de 196,67±120,93 polipos retraidos apos o estimulo. Ja as colonias de Tubastraea sp. apresentaram uma media de 2,4 ± 2,14 polipos retraidos apos o estimulo.
Transnational Firms and their Corporate Labor Policy: Case Studies on Philips and ING in the Netherlands and the United States, 1980–2010

textabstractIn the last quarter of the 20th century, many firms significantly expanded their operations across national borders. It has been argued that, as a result, they have become disembedded from the national economic fields in which they conduct their business and have experienced a race to the bottom in their corporate labor policy. This dissertation argues that this contention does not accurately describe the recent development of transnational firms and their corporate labor policy. Rather, transnational firms experienced a significant shift in their dual embeddedness in national and transnational economic fields. They were restructured in line with the competitive conditions in the transnational economic field, but the competitive conditions in the national economic fields continue to be of great importance for their corporate labor policy. Consequently, the recent development of their corporate labor policy is characterized by processes of centralization, instrumentalization, and polarization.
Cancer Stem Cells and Its Therapeutic Application: An Overview

Cancer was always the most common cause of mortality in the past and is still today. In the past few decades, stem cell biology has provided new approaches and research into cancer biology.2­5 It is now believed that tumor cells have the stem cell properties of self­renewal and differentiation to generate mature cells. These cells are called cancer stem cells (CSCs), which have the ability to produce distinct cell types that are found in their original tumor (Flow Chart 1). 5,6 It is still unclear whether the CSCs are derived by transformation of stem cells or are due to differentiation of mature neoplastic cells.5­8 The CSCs were actually first discovered in the hematopoi­ etic system.5,9,10 Cancer stem cell­rich tumors have high metastatic rate and poor prognosis as they have increased resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.5,11­13 It is generally accepted that cancer may arise from tissue stem cells through genetic and epigenetic changes and CSCs are recognized by the presence or absence of different cell surface markers.14
CHEMICAL SIMILARITIES TO POLYPEI~IDE CHAINS OF MYELOMA GLOBULINS AND NORMAL v-GLOBULINS

The proteins excreted in the urine of patients suffering from multiple myeloma were originally studied by Dr. Henry Bence Jones in 1847 (1, 2) and thus are among the first proteins to have been described. Since that time, a number of efforts have been made to define the nature of Bence-Jones proteins and their relation to myeloma globulins (3). The extensive antigenic cross-reactivity (4-6) among Bence-Jones proteins, myeloma globulins, pathological macroglobulins, and normal v-globulins would suggest that portions of their molecules are structurally similar or identical. On the other hand, Bence-Jones proteins have the apparently unique and characteristic property of precipitating in the temperature range 45°-60°C, of redispersing upon boiling, and of reprecipitating upon subsequent cooling. Other v-globulins of higher molecular weight are coagulated irreversibly by heating, usually at temperatures above 60°C. Many speculations on the nature of Bence-Jones proteins have been advanced; none has accounted for their singular properties and for their chemical relation to other v-globulins. Recent demonstrations that v-globulin molecules consist of multiple polypeptide chains linked by disulfide bonds and non-covalent interactions (7, 8) have prompted the hypothesis that Bence-Jones proteins are composed of certain of these polypeptide chains. This hypothesis has been strengthened by the finding (9) that, in certain instances, chains of reduced alkylated myeloma proteins and similarly treated Bence-Jones proteins from the same patient migrate identically upon starch gel electrophoresis. Two types of chains have been isolated from dissociated v-globulins. One type consists of chains with molecular weights in the vicinity of 20,000 (L or light chains). The other type consists of chains the molecular weights of which are less precisely determined, but appear to lie in the range of 50,000 to 100,000 (H or heavy chains) (8). The present communication provides evidence that Bence-Jones proteins are composed of L chains which in some cases appear to be chemically identical to those of the myeloma protein of the same patient. The identity has been estab-
New data on the distribution of stenothoid amphipods (Crustacea) from Scotia Arc, West Antarctic

This paper presents new records of stenothoids from the Scotia Arc (West Ant− arctic). Altogether twenty species were recorded, two of which are reported in the West Antarctic for the first time. In addition, two species are here recorded for the first time since their description. New data on distribution are supplemented by taxonomical remarks on the collected species.
The evolution and dynamics of interacting populations

The evolution of interacting species is investigated using mathematical models and computer simulation. Lotka-Volterra food web models are adapted to include genetic variation, and then used to model the coevolution of interspecific interactions. Due to the complexity of the population dynamics exhibited by multi-species community models, I concentrate upon the evolution of predator-prey interactions. The models so constructed can be solved either ". analytically, or numerically, to evaluate the evolutionary dynamics of phenotypes in predator and prey. The phenotypes that are considered have an effect on the interspecific interaction, and could represent predator and prey body size. These models show that a range of evolutionary dynamics can arise in simple predator-prey systems, including evolutionarily stable states, and continuous coevolutionary change, or Red Queen coevolution. They also show that the coexistence of predator and prey can be maintained under selection. Simulation models are developed in a similar fashion. where the population dynamics of genotypes are evaluated by numerical integration. One simulation model incorporates the evolution of body sizes. while in the other evolution acts directly upon the interspecific interaction coefficients. These models are used to investigate the build-up of invasion resistance to mutant invasion. the maintenance of polymorphism in predator-prey interactions. and the population dynamical consequences of predator-prey coevolution. It is unclear whether predator-prey interactions can maintain polymorphism, but evidence is obtained of the build-up of resistance to mutant invasions. implying approach to evolutionarily stable states. Evolution of predators and prey is seen to result in a range of dynamical behaviours: natural selection may lead to stable dynamics. but alternatively to cyclic behaviour or chaos.
Multimodal Biometric Identification System based on Cascaded Advanced of Fingerprint and Finger Vein Images and AND Rule at Decision Level Fusion

: The multimodal identiﬁcation system can integrate a variety of biometric characteristics. The main advan-tage of multibiometric system against traditional single biometric is achieving the recognition process more accurate and safe. In this paper, we will present a multimodal biometric recognition system that combines ﬁngerprint and ﬁnger vein. The features in theses biometric traits are extracted to identify that individual is genuine or impostor using minutia points for ﬁngerprint and Histogram of Oriented Gradient for ﬁnger vein.In the ﬁrst stage, cascade multimodal biometric system based on the both biometric modalities is applied. In the second stage, the fusion is accomplished at decision level method based on AND rule using multimodal biometric recognition system. The simulation results have demonstrated that the proposed fusion algorithm performs increase probability the accuracy to 99,85 than the other system based on unimodal characteristics.
Quantitative deciphering of local mutation in protein structures of human olfactory receptors

In Human, Odors are detected by a large family of Olfactory Receptors (ORs) proteins. A sequence of Human ORs database has been proposed by D. Lancet et al. (2000, 2006) based on divergence of evolutionary model. In our earlier work, we have reckoned many important features ( viz . Fractal dimension of Indicator matrix, DNA walk, Hurst exponent of 2-adic and 4-adic representations, codon compositions) of DNA sequences and their corresponding amino acid sequences of human ORs and also after making local changes we have calculated the same and found significant quantitative variations between the original and edited sequences. But it is a fact that two same sequences may function different and two different sequences may function same due their specific protein structure. So for complete understanding the effect of mutation we need to study the structure of proteins of those DNA sequences. In this article, an effort has been made to understand the effect of local mutations in the amino acid sequences as well as their tertiary protein structures of Human ORs. The significant changes are resulted through the present analysis through Fractals and standard Bioinformatics tools.
The Hedgehog signalling pathway and its role in cancer

The Hedgehog signalling pathway and its role in cancer Gerald Saldanha Mutations in Hedgehog (Hh) pathway genes such as Patched1 are of established importance in Basal cell carcinoma (BCC). However, BCC is unusual because it has indolent behaviour and rarely metastasises. Hh pathway gene mutations are rare in cancers with more typical malignant behaviour, leading to the hypothesis that the pathway plays an important role in BCC but has limited importance in cancers with typical malignant behaviour. This has been addressed in three ways. First, evidence that superficial BCC is a clonal proliferation driven by alterations at the Patched1 locus was sought. Second, evidence of Wnt pathway activation in BCC was sought by looking for nuclear accumulation of p-catenin, because Wnt is a putative Hedgehog pathway target gene. Third, to determine whether the Hh pathway was important in a cancer with typical malignant behaviour, breast cancer was studied. In superficial BCC, microdissection of individual tumour nests and analysis for LOH in six cases using three microsatellite markers at the Patchedl locus was performed. Only one of the microsatellites was successfully employed. In four of the cases, all nests showed no LOH and in two cases, all nests lost the same allele. Concordant patterns of allelic loss/retention within cases represented strong evidence of clonality. In addition, the two cases with LOH suggested that clonal proliferation in superficial BCCs might be driven by Patchedl alterations. Accumulation of nuclear p-catenin was found in 20 out of 86 BCCs and had a significant relationship with proliferation, indicating that the Hh pathway may act through its target genes. Alternative factors influencing p-catenin distribution were sought: no relationship between nuclear P-catenin and expression of E-cadherin was seen and no p-catenin mutations in eight cases were found. Four breast cancer cell lines and HBL100, derived from normal mammary epithelium, showed substantially lower expression of Hh pathway target genes than BCC and were unresponsive to the pathway ligand, Sonic Hh, suggesting that the pathway is not important in this tumour. However, a relationship was found between the expression of Patchedl and in vitro invasion, the importance of which is uncertain. In conclusion, these results support the hypothesis that the Hh pathway is important in BCC but not in cancers with typical malignant behaviour.
Brood parasitism by the enigmatic and rare Pavonine Cuckoo in Amazonian Peru

ABSTRACT Brood parasitism is an uncommon and understudied strategy in Amazonian bird communities, within which only 5 species are known to be brood parasites. We present data on the brood-parasitic behavior of the Pavonine Cuckoo (Dromococcyx pavoninus) in 3 host species of small-bodied flycatchers in the Peruvian Amazon that construct hanging globular nests with side entrances. During the 7 yr of the study, we encountered 74 nests of these 3 hosts, but parasitism occurred only in 9 nests (12.2%) in 2 yr. Only 1 Pavonine Cuckoo egg was deposited in each host nest (n = 7), and eggs were markedly dissimilar in size and coloration between hosts and parasite. Incubation investment per day was slightly higher (4%) for 1 parasitized nest than for nonparasitized nests. Overall, 33% of parasitic eggs (n = 6) hatched; cuckoo nestlings apparently removed host eggs and killed host nestlings. The nestling period lasted 24 days, and the growth-rate constant based on nestling mass (k = 0.23) was slower for parasite nestlings than for their hosts (k = 0.27 and 0.31). Food provisioning rates were greater in 1 parasitized nest (2.1 ± 0.7 feedings hr−1 nestling−1) than in nonparasitized nests (1.1 ± 0.4). Nestling cuckoos may further mimic the plumage of their host nestlings. Our results suggest that Pavonine Cuckoos negatively affect their hosts' breeding success and are engaged in a coevolutionary arms race with hosts that have defenses against parasitism.
In vitro and in vivo control of pearl millet midrib spot using plant extracts.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of cold and hot water extracts of neem leaf and seed, mahogany seed, ginger rhizome and shea butter leaf against Curvularia eragrostidis. Methodology and results: The efficacy of cold and hot water extracts of neem leaf and seed, garlic bulb, mahogany seed, ginger rhizome and shea butter leaf was tested in the control of Curvularia eragrostidis isolated from pearl millet in vitro and in vivo. Twenty grams each of ethanol sterilized plant material was either suspended in 100 ml of sterile water for 24 hr to get cold water extract or suspended in 100 ml of sterile water and placed in a water bath at 90 oC for 1.5hr to get hot water extracts. The filtered extracts were incorporated into PDAS used to culture Curvularia eragrostidis. Radial mycelia growth, sporulation and spore length and width were determined from these cultures at 7 and 14 days after inoculation. Cold water extracts were staggered applied on potted pathogen inoculated pearl millet plants to get application at 2 days before inoculation (DBI), 2days after inoculation (DBI) and at symptom appearance time (SAP). Disease incidence and severity were assessed on these plants. The cold water extract of each tested plant material reduced mycelial growth, sporulation and spore size of the pathogen better than hot water extracts. The efficacy of garlic was significantly (P= 0.05) reduced by heat the most while that of ginger was significantly (P= 0.05) the least. Application of the cold water plant extracts 2 days before inoculation (2DBI) and 2 days after inoculation (2DAI) resulted in a significant (P= 0.05) reduction of the disease incidence and severity compared to application of plant extracts at symptom appearance time (SAP) Conclusion and application: The conclusion of this study is that cold water plant extracts could be used successfully as environmentally safe and economical fungicides against Curvularia eragrostidis causal agent of pearl millet midrib spot.
Projecting Different Identities: A Longitudinal Study of the 'Whipsaw' Effects of Changing Leadership Discourse About the Triple Bottom Line

This paper focuses on changes in leadership’s discourse about the "triple bottom line" in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from its founding days through to its acquisition by and integration into Unilever. For this study, the authors analyzed CEO claims about "who we are" from their letters in annual reports (what they label projected identity). A sample of employees (both long-service and relative newcomers) were interviewed about their perceptions of B&J’s over the thirty years covered. Findings reveal that successive CEO’s stressed different "logics" about the business and what would make it successful over the years with the founders emphasizing a strong linkage between the economic, product, and social components of the company’s triple bottom line and their next three successors decoupling these components and pushing, each in different ways, for stronger financial returns. As a result, organization members were "whipsawed" between their CEOs’ different logics and identity claims. The CEO letters exhibit a progression over time from a more normative to utilitarian tone familiar in the organizational identity literature. The messaging shifts, however, when a fifth CEO takes charge and re-integrates the firm’s triple bottom line. Thus the firm’s projected identity evolved in a U pattern starting with an integrated triple bottom line logic, shifting to a more linear logic where the economic mission dominates, and then reintegration where multiple bottom lines are embraced once again. Here the authors explore both the strategic (external) and personal (internal) challenges informing the different CEOs’ messages over years, the whipsaw effect on staff, and the longer term evolution of projected identity in the company and reemergence of its integrated triple bottom line. This study contributes to the CSR and organization identity literatures by documenting how CEO’s (and their company) must struggle with maintaining an integrated triple bottom line in the context of commercial challenges and major changes involved in M&A. It also speaks to the practical matters of keeping normative traditions alive amidst competing pressures for change.
A study of the iterative type I polyketide synthases in enediyne and mellein biosynthesis.

Iterative type I polyketide synthases (iPKSs) are large multifunctional enzymes that assemble polyketide products by using a single module composed of several catalytic domains. Although iPKSs utilize the same repertoire o f catalytic domains as fatty acid synthases and modular PKSs, iPKSs are able to use a single set of catalytic domains to assemble the chemically and structurally diverse polyketide products in an iterative manner. How the iPKSs achieve the chemical and structural diversity by “programming” the catalytic domains remains one of the greatest mysteries in enzymology today. In this thesis, I describe the results from my studies on two iPKSs that aimed to understand the function and mechanism of the multifunctional iPKSs. The first iPKS under investigation is SgcE, the PKS putatively responsible for the biosynthesis of the functional enediyne moiety of the antitumor compound C-1027. Naturally occurring enediynes are mostly known for their unique molecular structure and remarkable biological activities largely owing to the central bicyclic enediyne functionality. Following the recent sequencing of the gene clusters for the synthesis of several enediyne natural products, my research work aimed to understand the role of SgcE in the biogenesis of the enediyne functionality o f C-1027. Together with the putative ancillary enzymes SgcE3 and SgcE10, SgcE were overexpressed in the heterologous expression systems that include E. coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several highly conjugated polyene products of SgcE generated by in vitro enzymatic reactions and in vivo protein co-expression were characterized to suggest that SgcE is ATTENTION: The Singapore Copyright Act applies to the use of this document. Nanyang Technological University Library