Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Phospholipase Activity of Ammodytoxin, a Prototype Snake Venom β-Neurotoxin, Is Not Obligatory for Cell Internalisation and Translocation to Mitochondria

β-Neurotoxins are secreted phospholipase A2 molecules that inhibit transmission in neuromuscular synapses by poisoning the motor neurons. These toxins specifically and rapidly internalise into the nerve endings of motor neurons. Ammodytoxin (Atx) is a prototype β-neurotoxin from the venom of the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes ammodytes). Here, we studied the relevance of the enzymatic activity of Atx in cell internalisation and subsequent intracellular movement using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We prepared a recombinant, enzymatically inactive mutant of Atx, Atx(D49S), labelled with gold nanoparticles (GNP), and incubated this with PC12 cells, to analyse its localisation by TEM. Atx(D49S)-GNP internalised into the cells. Inside the cells, Atx(D49S)-GNP was detected in different vesicle-like structures, cytosol, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, where it was spotted in the intermembrane space and matrix. Co-localization of fluorescently labelled Atx(D49S) with mitochondria in PC12 cells by confocal fluorescence microscopy confirmed the reliability of results generated using Atx(D49S)-GNP and TEM and allowed us to conclude that the phospholipase activity of Atx is not obligatory for its cell internalisation and translocation into the mitochondrial intermembrane space and matrix.
Absence of major epigenetic and transcriptomic changes accompanying an interspecific cross between peach and almond

Abstract Hybridization has been widely used in breeding of cultivated species showing low genetic variability, such as peach (Prunus persica). The merging of two different genomes in a hybrid often triggers a so-called “genomic shock” with changes in DNA methylation and in the induction of transposable element expression and mobilization. Here, we analysed the DNA methylation and transcription levels of transposable elements and genes in leaves of Prunus persica and Prunus dulcis and in an F1 hybrid using high-throughput sequencing technologies. Contrary to the “genomic shock” expectations, we found that the overall levels of DNA methylation in the transposable elements in the hybrid are not significantly altered compared with those of the parental genomes. We also observed that the levels of transcription of the transposable elements in the hybrid are in most cases intermediate as compared with that of the parental species and we have not detected cases of higher transcription in the hybrid. We also found that the proportion of genes whose expression is altered in the hybrid compared with the parental species is low. The expression of genes potentially involved in the regulation of the activity of the transposable elements is not altered. We can conclude that the merging of the two parental genomes in this Prunus persica x Prunus dulcis hybrid does not result in a “genomic shock” with significant changes in the DNA methylation or in the transcription. The absence of major changes may facilitate using interspecific peach x almond crosses for peach improvement.
Quality in bank service encounters: Assessing the equivalence of customers’ and front-line employees’ perceptions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need to evaluate perception-based quality in service encounters. It sets out to diagnose potential mismatches in how customers and front-line employees perceive quality in high-involvement service settings, based on the premise that any initiative toward quality enhancement in service encounters is advisable only when employees and customers evaluate quality utilizing common perceptual structures. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes invariance analysis. The survey involved 165 bank branches and 1,522 respondents (463 front-line employees and 1,059 customers) and operationalized the same set of questions for both groups of participants. Multisample confirmatory factor analysis tested a series of measurement models. Findings Results revealed equivalence for tangibles, responsiveness and assurance but also mismatches between customers and front-line employees perceptions of reliability and empathy. Practical implications Findings add to current knowledge of how both groups of participants evaluate quality in service encounters and are discussed with reference to managerial consequences for perception-based quality mismatches. Originality/value So far only a few studies have simultaneously examined front-line employees’ and customers’ perceptions of service quality in service encounters. Unlike previous research designs, this study addresses the critical aspect of potential mismatches in how customers and employees perceive service quality, and presents a methodological procedure to detect them.
Removal of Chromium(VI) by Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron Supported on Melamine Carbon Foam

The overuse of chromium (Cr) has significantly negatively impacted human life and environmental sustainability. Recently, the employment of nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) for Cr(VI) removal is becoming an emerging approach. In this study, carbonized melamine foam-supported nZVI composites, prepared by a simple impregnation–carbonization–reduction method, were assessed for efficient Cr(VI) removal. The prepared composites were characterized by XPS, SEM, TEM, BET and XRD. Batch experiments at different conditions revealed that the amount of iron added, the temperature of carbonization and the initial Cr(VI) concentration were critical factors. Fe@MF-12.5-800 exhibited the highest removal efficiency of 99% Cr(VI) (10 mg/L) at neutral pH among the carbonized melamine foam-supported nZVI composites. Its iron particles were effectively soldered onto the carbonaceous surfaces within the pore networks. Moreover, Fe@MF-12.5-800 demonstrated remarkable stability (60%, 7 days) in an open environment compared with nZVI particles.
The implication of vendor inventory liability period in a decentralised assembly system

This paper investigates a decentralised assembly system that consists of one manufacturer and multiple suppliers who produce the complementary components. In a single selling season, the manufacturer initially sets a vendor inventory liability period (VILP) to control the suppliers’ delivery times, and the suppliers simultaneously determine when to deliver their components. Given the firms’ equilibrium strategies, we find that it is not wise for the manufacturer to set an overly long VILP, since having no inventory is not always beneficial to the manufacturer. A supplier may choose to postpone his delivery when the length of the VILP increases or the other suppliers’ deliveries are delayed, and either of these conditions is detrimental to the supplier’s profitability. We also examine the impact of VILP under different situations and find that having VILPs customised for different suppliers can reduce the manufacturer’s cost as well as improve the supply chain’s overall efficiency.
Impact of Insulin Therapies on Cancer Incidence in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Reggio Emilia, Italy

Simple Summary The aim of this population-based study was to assess the impact of insulin treatment on cancer incidence in subjects with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Italy. We found that insulin use was associated with a 20% excess for all sites cancer incidence among people with type 2 diabetes, while people with type 1 diabetes did not show any excess. Liver, pancreatic, bladder, and neuroendocrine cancers seem to be the sites with strongest association. Abstract Objective: To assess the effect of insulin on cancer incidence in type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: The cohort included all 401,172 resident population aged 20–84 in December 2009 and still alive on December 2011, classified for DM status. Drug exposure was assessed for 2009–2011 and follow up was conducted from 2012 to 2016 through the cancer registry. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were computed for all sites and for the most frequent cancer sites. Results: among residents, 21,190 people had diabetes, 2282 of whom were taking insulin; 1689 cancers occurred, 180 among insulin users. The risk for all site was slightly higher in people with T2DM compared to people without DM (IRR 1.21, 95% CI 1.14–1.27), with no excess for T1DM (IRR 0.73, 95% CI 0.45–1.19). The excess in T2DM remained when comparing with diet-only treatment. In T2DM, excess incidence was observed for liver and pancreas and for NETs: 1.76 (95% CI 1.44–2.17) and 1.37 (95% CI 0.99–1.73), respectively. For bladder, there was an excess both in T1DM (IRR 3.00, 95% CI 1.12, 8.02) and in T2DM (IRR1.27, 95% CI 1.07–1.50). Conclusions: Insulin was associated with a 20% increase in cancer incidence. The risk was higher for liver, pancreatic, bladder and neuroendocrine tumours.
Psychological ownership towards online brand communities driving brand engagement: a visitors’ perspective

ABSTRACT This study investigates how visitors’ sense of psychological ownership towards online brand communities (OBCs) can influence their engagement with the focal brand. The approach is anchored in the postulates of psychological ownership theory and a theoretical model is proposed. Data collected from 387 visitors to firm-created OBCs is used for empirical model validation. Data analysis reveals that a sense of self-efficacy, accountability, belongingness, and self-identity experienced by the visitors towards the community can influence their engagement with the focal brand. Visitors’ engagement with the brand further influences their intentions towards brand purchase. Perceived diversity among the visitors moderates the effect of four dimensions of psychological ownership on brand engagement.Current study pioneers the application of psychological ownership theory in understanding visitors’ brand engagement through OBCs and depicts different moderating mechanisms. The findings offer unique theoretical and managerial implications for brand building.
NMR Spectroscopy Applied to the Metabolic Analysis of Natural Extracts of Cannabis sativa

Cannabis sativa is a herbaceous multiple-use species commonly employed to produce fiber, oil, and medicine. It is now becoming popular for the high nutritional properties of its seed oil and for the pharmacological activity of its cannabinoid fraction in inflorescences. The present study aims to apply nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to provide useful qualitative and quantitative information on the chemical composition of seed and flower Cannabis extracts obtained by ultra-sound-assisted extraction, and to evaluate NMR as an alternative to the official procedure for the quantification of cannabinoids. The estimation of the optimal ω-6/ω-3 ratio from the 1H NMR spectrum for the seed extracts of the Futura 75 variety and the quantitative results from the 1H and 13C NMR spectra for the inflorescence extracts of the Tiborszallasi and Kompolti varieties demonstrate that NMR technology represents a good alternative to classical chromatography, supplying sufficiently precise, sensitive, rapid, and informative data without any sample pre-treatment. In addition, different extraction procedures were tested and evaluated to compare the elaboration of spectral data with the principal component analysis (PCA) statistical method and the quantitative NMR results: the extracts obtained with higher polarity solvents (acetone or ethanol) were poor in psychotropic agents (THC < LOD) but had an appreciable percentage of both cannabinoids and triacylgliceroles (TAGs). These bioactive-rich extracts could be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries, opening new pathways for the production of functional foods and supplements.
Hitchhiking Mapping of Candidate Regions Associated with Fat Deposition in Iranian Thin and Fat Tail Sheep Breeds Suggests New Insights into Molecular Aspects of Fat Tail Selection

Simple Summary Fatness-related traits are economically very important in sheep production and are associated with serious diseases in humans. Using a denser set of SNP markers and a variety of statistical approaches, our results were able to refine the regions associated with fat deposition and to suggest new insights into molecular aspects of fat tail selection. These results may provide a strong foundation for studying the regulation of fat deposition in sheep and do offer hope that the causal mutations and the mode of inheritance of this trait will soon be discovered by further investigation. Abstract The fat tail is a phenotype that divides indigenous Iranian sheep genetic resources into two major groups. The objective of the present study is to refine the map location of candidate regions associated with fat deposition, obtained via two separate whole genome scans contrasting thin and fat tail breeds, and to determine the nature of the selection occurring in these regions using a hitchhiking approach. Zel (thin tail) and Lori-Bakhtiari (fat tail) breed samples that had previously been run on the Illumina Ovine 50 k BeadChip, were genotyped with a denser set of SNPs in the three candidate regions using a Sequenom Mass ARRAY platform. Statistical tests were then performed using different and complementary methods based on either site frequency (FST and Median homozygosity) or haplotype (iHS and XP-EHH). The results from candidate regions on chromosome 5 and X revealed clear evidence of selection with the derived haplotypes that was consistent with selection to near fixation for the haplotypes affecting fat tail size in the fat tail breed. An analysis of the candidate region on chromosome 7 indicated that selection differentiated the beneficial alleles between breeds and homozygosity has increased in the thin tail breed which also had the ancestral haplotype. These results enabled us to confirm the signature of selection in these regions and refine the critical intervals from 113 kb, 201 kb, and 2831 kb to 28 kb, 142 kb, and 1006 kb on chromosome 5, 7, and X respectively. These regions contain several genes associated with fat metabolism or developmental processes consisting of TCF7 and PPP2CA (OAR5), PTGDR and NID2 (OAR7), AR, EBP, CACNA1F, HSD17B10, SLC35A2, BMP15, WDR13, and RBM3 (OAR X), and each of which could potentially be the actual target of selection. The study of core haplotypes alleles in our regions of interest also supported the hypothesis that the first domesticated sheep were thin tailed, and that fat tail animals were developed later. Overall, our results provide a comprehensive assessment of how and where selection has affected the patterns of variation in candidate regions associated with fat deposition in thin and fat tail sheep breeds.
Phenotypic diversity of wild tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) populations

Objective: To produce information about the morpho-agronomic variability of 15 wild tomato populations from different areas of Mexico. Design/Methodology/Approach: A completely experimental design was used, comprised of 17 treatments (15 wild tomato populations and two commercial tomato populations) and 10 repetitions (individuals). The experimental unit was a plant (individual) which was subjected to an evaluation of 65 morpho-agronomic descriptors, proposed by Biodiversity International. An analysis of variance using repeated measurements was carried out and the mean differences were compared with Tukey’s multiple comparison test (p0.05). The quantitative and qualitative variables were subjected to a main component and multiple correspondence analyses, respectively. Results: A wide variability of the morphological traits and the quality attributes of the fruits —such as consistency and total soluble solids— was recorded. The main component and multiple correspondence analyses accounted for 67.41 and 42.06% of the phenotypic variation, respectively, in the first three components and dimensions. The more discriminatory characteristics belonged to fruits and cymes, based on which the populations were divided into four groups. The first group was made up of heirloom tomatoes with multiparous cyme, and red, small, and medium fruits; the second group was made up of cherry and grape tomatoes with uniparous and multiparous cymes, and yellow, orange, red, and very small fruits; the third group was made up of beef and cocktail tomatoes with uniparous and bifurcated cymes and red, orange, yellow, and small and medium fruits; finally, the fourth group was made up of purple beef tomatoes with uniparous cymes and medium size tomatoes. Study Limitations/Implications: A molecular characterization must be carried out in order to better understand the variability of these populations. Findings/Conclusions: All wild tomato populations show a wide genetic heritage. Fruits characteristics —such as size, shape, and color, as well as all types of cymes, and flowering days— contributed to the discrimination of the accessions. Indeterminate plants and red fruits showed higher °Brix than semi-determined plants and orange, yellow, and purple fruits; however, the latter had a better flavor. A new type of tomato leaf that had not been previously reported among the tomato descriptors was found; the leaf was described as “with sprout”.
Defense against Feeding by Spring Aphid Parasitism in the Upper Leaf Parts of Host Plants

In a symbiosis, each participant gains more fitness benefits than is paid in maintenance costs for the symbiosis. The mugwort aphid, Macrosiphoniella yomogicola, is ant-associated, and the host mugwort Artemisia montana is a genet-producing plant that has clonal aboveground shoots. M. yomogicola infests most A. montana shoots from spring to midsummer, and attending ants also repel leaf-eaters of the host plant. However, most aphid colonies become extinct after budding of A. montana inflorescence after early August. A few surviving aphid colonies (1∼3 per genet) produce sexuparae in mid-October. The shoots on which the sexuparae emerged lost most of their fitness because the aphids strongly suppress budding and growth of inflorescence. However, as the shoots are genetic clones of each other, the appearance of stem mothers in the next spring may result in early spreading of the aphids and attending ants to clonal shoots, which would protect the host from leaf-eaters. Here, we show that all shoots on a genet with stem mothers are occupied by aphids and ants much faster than those on a genet without stem mothers. The attending ants repel leaf-eaters to unimportant leaves for the host. Our results suggest that, as the shoots of a genet are all clones, sustaining the aphids on a few shoots may be beneficial to a genet as a whole through kin selection.
Discovering the values of residential building occupants for value-sensitive improvement of building energy efficiency

Improving building energy efficiency is one of the best strategies to reduce building energy consumption. Recent studies emphasized the importance of occupant behavior as key means of enhancing building energy efficiency. It is critical that while we strive to improve the energy efficiency of buildings through the understanding of energy use behavior that we also understand the values (such as thermal comfort, indoor air quality, productivity) of building occupants, how these values may impact energy use behavior, and how we can improve energy efficiency without negatively impacting these values (i.e., while maintaining the satisfaction levels with these values). This paper focuses on presenting the authors work in (1) identifying potential occupant values that may impact energy use behavior and energy consumption in residential buildings, (2) discovering actual building occupant values and the importance levels of these values to residential building occupants, and (3) discovering the current satisfaction levels of residential building occupants with these values. The discovery of actual occupant values and current satisfaction levels was conducted using an online survey. A randomly selected set of 310 residential building occupants in Arizona (AZ), Illinois (IL), and Pennsylvania (PA) were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The paper discusses the value discovery, questionnaire design, survey results, results analysis, and conclusions. The results showed similarities and differences across occupants in AZ, IL, and PA in terms of what they value in buildings as well as their current satisfaction levels with these values.
Low carbon cities and urban energy systems Research of the Relationship between Li-ion Battery Charge Performance and SOH based on MIGA-GPR Method

Owing to the problem that it is difficult to measure State of Health (SOH) of Li-ion battery online, a method to estimate SOH of Li-ion battery using the charge performance under different SOH is put forward. By Grey Incidence Analysis (GIA), the correlation degree between the charge performance and SOH is measured. Based on Multi-island Genetic Algorithm (MIGA) and Gauss Process Regression (GPR), with charge performance as input, SOH is estimates and variance of estimation is also calculated. The result shows that the above-mentioned method can evaluate SOH well. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of CUE
Development technology of starter cultures using lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented Camel milk with cholesterol lowering ability

The aim of the study is to develop a technology of starter cultures for fermented milk using new strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Mongolian traditional fermented camel milk. “Khoormog” samples are collected from Inner Mongolia, China. Totally 230 Lactobacillus strains are isolated and screened by acid-, bile- tolerance, lactose decomposition and acid production ability. The cholesterol lowering abilities and adhesiveness on Caco-2 are evaluated. The top 2 strains are identified as Lactobacillus plantarum. These 2 strains are prepared as the starter cultures in milk fermentation. The development technology of starter cultures is studied.
Construction and Evaluation of Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles for Oral Administration of Exenatide in Type 2 Diabetic Rats

Oral delivery of therapeutic peptides has been a daunting challenge due to poor transport across the tight junctions and susceptibility to enzymatic degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. Numerous advancement in nanomedicine has been made for the effective delivery of protein and peptide. Owing to the superior performance of chitosan in opening intercellular tight junctions of epithelium and excellent mucoadhesive properties, chitosan-based nanocarriers have recently garnered considerable attention, which was formulated in this paper to orally deliver the GLP-1 drug (Exenatide). Against this backdrop, we used chitosan (CS) polymers to encapsulate the exenatide, sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) as the cross-linking agent and coated the exterior with sodium alginate (ALG) to impart the stability in an acidic environment. The chitosan/alginate nanoparticles (CS-TPP-ALG) functioned as a protective exenatide carrier, realized efficient cellular uptake and controlled release, leading to a steady hypoglycemic effect and a good oral bioavailability in vivo. Trimethyl chitosan (TMC), a chitosan derivative with stronger positive electrical properties was additionally selected as a substitute for chitosan to construct the TMC-TPP-ALG nanoparticle, and its oral peptide delivery capacity was explored in terms of both characterization and pharmacodynamics studies. Overall, our study demonstrated that functional chitosan/alginate nanoparticles can protect proteins from enzymatic degradation and enhance oral absorption, which presents important research value and application prospects.