bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A crosstalk between E2F1 and GLP-1 signaling pathways modulates insulin secretion
Authors: Bourouh Cyril , Courty Emilie , Pasquetti Gianni , Gromada Xavier , Rabhi Nabil , Carney Charlène , Moreno Maeva , Boutry Raphaël , Rolland Laure , Caron Emilie , Benfodda Zohra , Meffre Patrick , Kerr-Conte Julie , Pattou François , Froguel Philippe , Bonnefond Amélie , Oger Frédérik , Annicotte Jean-Sébastien
Published: April 2021

Compromised β-cell function contributes to type 2 diabetes (T2D) development. The glucagon like peptide 1 (Glp-1) has emerged as a hormone with broad pharmacological potential toward T2D treatment, notably by improving β-cell functions. Recent data have shown that the transcription factor E2f1, besides its role as a cell cycle regulator, is involved in glucose homeostasis by modulating β-cell mass, function and identity. Here, we demonstrate a crosstalk between the E2F1, phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRb) and Glp-1 signaling pathways. We found that β-cell specificE2f1deficient mice (E2f1β−/−) presented with impaired glucose homeostasis and decreased glucose stimulated-insulin secretion mediated by exendin 4 (i.e., GLP1R agonist), which were associated with decreased expression ofGlp1rencoding Glp-1 receptor (GLP1R) inE2f1β−/−pancreatic islets. Decreasing E2F1 transcriptional activity with an E2F inhibitor in islets from nondiabetic humans decreasedGLP1Rlevels and blunted the incretin effect of exendin 4 on insulin secretion. Conversely, overexpressingE2f1in pancreatic β cells increasedGlp1rexpression associated with enhanced insulin secretion mediated by GLP1R agonist. Interestingly, kinome analysis of mouse islets demonstrated that an acute treatment with exendin 4 increased pRb phosphorylation and subsequent E2f1 transcriptional activity. This study suggests a molecular crosstalk between the E2F1/pRb and GLP1R signaling pathways that modulates insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis.
A polysaccharide deacetylase enhances bacterial adhesion in high ionic strength environments
Authors: Chepkwony Nelson K. , Brun Yves V.
Published: April 2021

The adhesion of organisms to surfaces in aquatic environments provides a diversity of benefits such as better access to nutrients or protection from the elements or from predation. Differences in ionic strength, pH, temperature, shear forces, and other environmental factors impact adhesion and organisms have evolved various strategies to optimize their adhesins for their specific environmental conditions. We know essentially nothing about how bacteria evolved their adhesive mechanisms to attach efficiently in environments with different physico-chemical conditions. Many species of Alphaproteobacteria, including members of the orderCaulobacterales, use a polar adhesin, called holdfast, for surface attachment and subsequent biofilm formation in both freshwater and marine environments.Hirschia baltica,a marine member ofCaulobacterales,produces a holdfast adhesin that tolerates a drastically higher ionic strength than the holdfast produced by its freshwater relative,Caulobacter crescentus. In this work, we show that the holdfast polysaccharide deacetylase HfsH plays an important role in adherence in high ionic strength environments. We show that deletion ofhfsHinH. balticadisrupts holdfast binding properties and structure. Increasing expression of HfsH inC. crescentusimproved holdfast binding in high salinity, whereas lowering HfsH expression inH. balticareduced holdfast binding at high ionic strength. We conclude that HfsH plays a role in modulating holdfast binding at high ionic strength and hypothesize that this modulation occurs through varied deacetylation of holdfast polysaccharides.
Gasdermin D mediates inflammation-induced defects in reverse cholesterol transport and promotes atherosclerosis
Authors: Opoku Emmanuel , Alicia Traughber C. , Zhang David , Iacano Amanda J , Khan Mariam , Han Juying , Smith Jonathan D , Gulshan Kailash
Published: April 2021

Activation of inflammasomes, such as Nlrp3 and Aim2, can exacerbate atherosclerosis in mice and humans. Gasdermin D (GsdmD) serves as a final executor of inflammasome activity, by generating membrane pores for the release of mature Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β). Inflammation dampens reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) and promotes atherogenesis, while anti-IL-1β antibodies were shown to reduce cardiovascular disease in humans. Though Nlrp3/AIM2 and IL-1β nexus is an emerging atherogenic pathway, the direct role of GsdmD in atherosclerosis is not yet fully clear. Here, we used in-vivo Nlrp3 inflammasome activation to show that the GsdmD-/-mice release ~80% less IL-1β vs WT mice. The GsdmD-/-macrophages were more resistant to Nlrp3 inflammasome mediated reduction in cholesterol efflux, showing ~26% decrease vs. ~60% reduction in WT macrophages. GsdmD expression in macrophages exacerbated foam cell formation in an IL-1β dependent fashion. The GsdmD-/-mice were resistant to Nlrp3 inflammasome mediated defect in RCT, with ~32% reduction in plasma RCT vs. ~ 57% reduction in WT mice, ~ 17% reduction in RCT to liver vs. 42% in WT mice, and ~ 37% decrease in RCT to feces vs. ~ 61% in WT mice. The LDLr anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASO) induced hyperlipidemic mouse model showed the role of GsdmD in promoting atherosclerosis. The GsdmD-/-mice exhibit ~42% decreased atherosclerotic lesion area in females and ~33% decreased lesion area in males vs. WT mice. The atherosclerotic plaque-bearing sections stained positive for the cleaved N-terminal fragment of GsdmD, indicating cleavage of GsdmD in atherosclerotic plaques. Our data show that GsdmD mediates inflammation-induced defects in RCT and promotes atherosclerosis.

GsdmD mediates inflammation-induced defects in RCT and promotes atherosclerosis.
Causal roles of prefrontal cortex during spontaneous perceptual switching are determined by brain state dynamics
Authors: Watanabe Takamitsu
Published: April 2021

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to orchestrate cognitive dynamics. However, in tests of bistable visual perception, no direct evidence supporting such presumable causal roles of the PFC has been reported. Here, using a novel brain-state-dependent neural stimulation system, we found that three PFC regions—right frontal eye fields and anterior/posterior dorsolateral PFCs (a/pDLPFCs)—have causal effects on perceptual dynamics but the behavioural effects are detectable only when we modulated the PFC activity in brain-state-/state-history-dependent manners. Also, we revealed that the brain-dynamics-dependent behavioural causality is underpinned by transient changes in the brain state dynamics, and such neural changes are determined by structural transformations of hypothetical energy landscapes. Moreover, we identified different functions of the three PFC areas: in particular, we found that aDLPFC enhances the integration of the two PFC-active brain states, whereas pDLPFC promotes the diversity between them. This work resolves the controversy over the PFC roles in spontaneous perceptual switching and underlines brain state dynamics in fine investigations of brain-behaviour causality.

Impact statement

Prefrontal causal roles are changing during bistable visual perception, which was determined by large-scale brain state dynamics and attributable to hypothetical energy landscapes that underpin the brain state dynamics.
Florigen revisited: proteins of the FT/CETS/PEBP/PKIP/YbhB family may be the enzymes of small molecule metabolism
Authors: Tsoy Olga , Mushegian Arcady
Published: April 2021

Flowering signals are sensed in plant leaves and transmitted to the shoot apical meristems, where the formation of flowers is initiated. Searches for a diffusible hormone-like signaling entity (“florigen”) went on for many decades, until in the 1990s a product of plant geneFTwas identified as the key component of florigen, based on genetic evidence and protein localization studies. Sequence homologs of FT protein are found throughout prokaryotes and eukaryotes; some eukaryotic family members appear to bind phospholipids or interact with the components of the signal transduction cascades. We studied molecular features of the FT homologs in prokaryotes and analyzed their genome context, to find tentative evidence connecting the bacterial family members with small molecule metabolism, often involving sugar- or ribonucleoside-containing substrates. Most FT homologs share a constellation of five charged residues, three of which, i.e., two histidines and an aspartic acid, circumfere the rim of a well-defined cavity on the protein surface. We argue that this conserved feature is more likely to be an enzymatic active center than a catalytically inactive ligand-binding site. We propose that most of FT-related proteins are enzymes operating on small diffusible molecules, which may constitute an overlooked essential ingredient of the florigen signal.
Axis formation in annual killifish: Nodal coordinates morphogenesis in absence of Huluwa prepatterning
Authors: Abitua Philip B. , Aksel Deniz C. , Schier Alexander F.
Published: April 2021

Axis formation in fish and amphibians is initiated by a prepattern of maternal gene products in the blastula. The embryogenesis of annual killifish challenges prepatterning models because blastomeres disperse and then re-aggregate to form the germ layers and body axes. This dispersion-aggregation process prompts the question how axis determinants such as Huluwa and germ layer inducers such as Nodal function in annual killifish. Here we show inNothobranchius furzerithathuluwa, the factor thought to break symmetry by stabilizing β-catenin, is a non-functional pseudogene. Nuclear β-catenin is not selectively stabilized on one side of the blastula but accumulates in cells forming the incipient aggregate. Inhibition of Nodal signaling blocks aggregation and disrupts coordinated cell migration, establishing a novel role for this signaling pathway. These results reveal a surprising departure from classic mechanisms of axis formation: canonical Huluwa-mediated prepatterning is dispensable and Nodal coordinates morphogenesis.

One Sentence Summary

Axis formation in annual killifish relies on Nodal to coordinate cell migration and is independent of Huluwa-mediated prepatterning.
Genetic diversity of theLILRB1andLILRB2coding regions in an admixed Brazilian population sample
Authors: Guimarães de Oliveira Maria Luiza , Castelli Erick C. , Veiga-Castelli Luciana C. , Pereira Alison E. , Marcorin Letícia , Carratto Thássia M. T. , Souza Andreia S. , Andrade Heloisa S. , Simões Aguinaldo L. , Donadi Eduardo A. , Courtin David , Sabbagh Audrey , Giuliatti Silvana , Mendes-Junior Celso Teixeira
Published: April 2021

Leukocyte Immunoglobulin (Ig)-like Receptors (LILR) LILRB1 and LILRB2 play a pivotal role in maintaining self-tolerance and modulating the immune response through interaction with classical and non-classical Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) molecules. Although both diversity and natural selection patterns over HLA genes have been extensively evaluated, little information is available concerning the genetic diversity and selection signatures on theLIRB1/2regions. Therefore, we identified theLILRB1/2genetic diversity using next-generation sequencing in a population sample comprising 528 healthy control individuals from São Paulo State, Brazil. We identified 58LILRB1Single Nucleotide Variants (SNVs), which gave rise to 13 haplotypes with at least 1% of frequency. ForLILRB2, we identified 41 SNVs arranged into 11 haplotypes with frequencies above 1%. We found evidence of either positive or purifying selection onLILRB1/2coding regions. Some residues in both proteins showed to be under the effect of positive selection, suggesting that amino acid replacements in these proteins resulted in beneficial functional changes. Finally, we have shown that allelic variation (six and five amino acid exchanges in LILRB1 and LILRB2, respectively) affects the structure and/or stability of both molecules. Nonetheless, LILRB2 has shown higher average stability, with no D1/D2 residue affecting protein structure. Taken together, our findings demonstrate thatLILRB1andLILRB2are highly polymorphic and provide strong evidence supporting the directional selection regime hypothesis.
Sensitive high-throughput assays for tumour burden reveal the response of aDrosophila melanogastermodel of colorectal cancer to standard chemotherapies
Authors: Adams Jamie , Casali Andreu , Campbell Kyra
Published: April 2021

Drosophila melanogaster (Drosophila)models of cancer are emerging as powerful tools to investigate the basic mechanisms underlying tumour progression and identify novel therapeutics. Rapid and inexpensive, it is possible to carry out genetic and drug screens at a far larger scale than in vertebrate organisms. Such whole-organism-based drug screens permits assessment of drug absorption and toxicity, reducing the possibility of false positives. Activating mutations in the Wnt and Ras signalling pathways are common in many epithelial cancers, and when driven in the adultDrosophilamidgut, it induces aggressive intestinal tumour-like outgrowths that recapitulate many aspects of human colorectal cancer (CRC). Here we have taken aDrosophilaCRC model in which tumourous cells are marked with both GFP and luciferase reporter genes, and developed novel high-throughput assays for quantifying tumour burden. Leveraging these assays, we find that theDrosophilaCRC model responds rapidly to treatment with standard CRC-drugs, opening the door to future rapid genetic and drug screens.
An inter-channel cooperative mechanism mediates PIEZO1’s exquisite mechanosensitivity
Authors: Wijerathne Tharaka , Ozkan Alper D. , Jiang Wenjuan , Luo Yun , Lacroix Jérôme J.
Published: April 2021

The bowl-shaped structure of PIEZO channels is predicted to flatten in response to mechanical stimuli, gating their pore open. However, how this unique structure allows them to detect exquisitely small changes in membrane tension remains unclear. Here, using pressure clamp electrophysiology, modeling, and molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the single channel open probability of PIEZO1 increases weakly with respect to pressure-induced tension. In contrast, when multiple channels are present in a membrane patch, channel open probability increases steeply as a function of the number of open channels. These cooperative effects are consistent with an inter-channel energetic repulsion due to the local membrane deformation created by the non-planar PIEZO structure. When channels open, this deformation shrinks, allowing open channels to diffuse closer to each other, thus delaying closure. This study reveals how PIEZO1 channels acquire their exceptional mechanosensitivity and suggests a possible mechanism by which cells could rapidly tune mechanosensitivity.
Predicting the Genomic Resolution of Bulk Segregant Analysis
Authors: Shen Runxi , Messer Philipp W.
Published: April 2021

Bulk segregant analysis (BSA) is a technique for identifying the genetic loci that underlie phenotypic trait differences. The basic approach of this method is to compare two pools of individuals from the opposing tails of the phenotypic distribution, sampled from an interbred population. Each pool is sequenced and scanned for alleles that show divergent frequencies between the pools, indicating potential association with the observed trait differences. BSA has already been successfully applied to the mapping of various quantitative trait loci in organisms ranging from yeast to maize. However, these studies have typically suffered from rather low mapping resolution, and we still lack a detailed understanding of how this resolution is affected by experimental parameters. Here, we use coalescence theory to calculate the expected genomic resolution of BSA. We first show that in an idealized interbreeding population of infinite size, the expected length of the mapped region is inversely proportional to the recombination rate, the number of generations of interbreeding, and the number of genomes sampled, as intuitively expected. In a finite population, coalescence events in the genealogy of the sample reduce the number of potentially informative recombination events during interbreeding, thereby increasing the length of the mapped region. This is incorporated into our theory by an effective population size parameter that specifies the pairwise coalescence rate of the interbreeding population. The mapping resolution predicted by our theory closely matches numerical simulations. Furthermore, we show that the approach can easily be extended to modifications of the crossing scheme. Our framework enables researchers to predict the expected power of their mapping experiments, and to evaluate how their experimental design could be tuned to optimize mapping resolution.
Molecular approaches reveal speciation between red and blue flowered plants in the MediterraneanLysimachia arvensisandLysimachia monelli(Primulaceae)
Authors: Jiménez-López F.J. , Viruel J. , Arista M. , Ortiz P.L. , Talavera M.
Published: April 2021

Flower colour constitutes a pivotal evolutionary force in speciation. The MediterraneanLysimachia arvensisandL. monelliare morphologically variable species having both blue or red flowered plants. Previous studies suggested thatL. arvensisplants differing in colour are diverging lineages, but this variation has not been considered in a phylogenetic context. We reconstruct the phylogenetic signal and the ancestral states of flower colour of MediterraneanLysimachiaspecies by using nuclear (ITS) and three plastid markers. Blue and red specimens are nested in two independent clades in the ITS tree, thus supporting thatL. arvensisandL. monelliare polyphyletic, whereas low phylogenetic resolution was found in plastid markers. Blue-floweredL. arvensisis reconstructed sister toL. talaveraein a monophyletic clade sister to the remainingLysimachia. Red-floweredL. arvensisis reconstructed sister to red-floweredL. monelliin a monophyletic clade sister to blue-floweredL. monelliandL. foemina. Our results suggest that colour lineages inL. arvensisandL. monelliconstitute different species, but flower colour did not promote the separation of these lineages. We propose a new name for blue-floweredL. arvensis(L. loeflingii) and a new combination for red-floweredL. monelli(L. collina).
Unraveling the influences of sequence and position on yeast uORF activity using massively parallel reporter systems and machine learning
Authors: May Gemma , Akirtava Christina , Agar-Johnson Matthew , Micic Jelena , Woolford John , McManus Joel
Published: April 2021

Upstream open reading frames (uORFs) are potentcis-acting regulators of mRNA translation and nonsense-mediated decay (NMD). While both AUG- and non-AUG initiated uORFs are ubiquitous in ribosome profiling studies, few uORFs have been experimentally tested. Consequently, the relative influences of sequence, structural, and positional features on uORF activity have not been determined. We quantified thousands of yeast uORFs using massively parallel reporter assays in wildtype and Δupf1yeast. While nearly all AUG uORFs were robust repressors, most non-AUG uORFs had relatively weak impacts on expression. Machine learning regression modeling revealed that uORF functions are strongly impacted by both their sequences and locations within transcript leaders. Indeed, alternative transcription start sites highly influenced uORF activity. These results define the scope of natural uORF activity, identify features associated with translational repression and NMD, and suggest that the locations of uORFs in transcript leaders are nearly as important as uORF sequences.
Personality-specific pathways from peer victimization to adolescent alcohol misuse: A multilevel longitudinal moderated mediation analysis
Authors: Laroque Flavie M. , Boers Elroy , Afzali Mohammad H. , Conrod Patricia J.
Published: April 2021

Peer victimization is common in adolescence and have been associated with a broad variety of psychopathology and alcohol use. The present study assessed whether peer victimization has a time-varying effect on alcohol use through internalizing and externalizing symptoms and whether this indirect association throughout time is moderated by personality. This 5-year longitudinal study (3,800 grade 7 adolescents) used Bayesian multilevel moderated mediation models: independent variable was peer victimization; moderators were four personality dimensions (anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, impulsivity, and sensation seeking); internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depressive symptoms) and externalizing symptoms (conduct, hyperactivity problems) were the mediators; and alcohol use, the outcome. Results indicated significant between, within, and lagged effects on alcohol use through internalizing and externalizing symptoms. There was significant between and within effects on alcohol use through internalizing symptoms for adolescents with high anxiety sensitivity and hopelessness, and significant between, within, and lagged effects on alcohol use through externalizing for adolescents with high impulsivity and sensation seeking. These findings implicate two risk pathways that account for how peer victimization enhances alcohol use risk and emphasize the importance of personality profiles that can shape the immediate and long-term consequences of victimization.
Cellulomonas zeaesp. nov.,Lelliottia zeaesp. nov.,Paraburkholderia zeaesp. nov. andSphingomonas zeigerminissp. nov., four new bacterial species isolated fromZea maysand other hosts
Authors: Seaton Sarah , Lemaire Jacqueline , Inderbitzin Patrik , Knight-Connoni Victoria , Trujillo Martha E.
Published: April 2021

Four novel bacterial species collected from healthy tissues of corn, rice and soybean plants in the United States are described. These includeCellulomonas zeaesp. nov. isolated from corn in Indiana;Lelliottia zeaesp. nov. from corn in Indiana and rice in Arkansas;Paraburkholderia zeaesp. nov. isolated from corn in Iowa; andSphingomonas zeigerminissp. nov. from corn in Mississippi and soy in Arkansas. No pathogenic strains are known for any of the novel species based on genome comparisons to assemblies in GenBank.
Topoisomerase I Essentiality, DnaA-independent Chromosomal Replication, and Transcription-Replication Conflict inEscherichia coli
Authors: Leela J Krishna , Raghunathan Nalini , Gowrishankar J
Published: April 2021

Topoisomerase I (Topo I) ofEscherichia coli, encoded bytopA, acts to relax negative supercoils in DNA. Topo I deficiency results in hypernegative supercoiling, formation of transcription-associated RNA-DNA hybrids (R-loops), and DnaA- andoriC-independent constitutive stable DNA replication (cSDR), but some uncertainty persists as to whethertopAis essential for viability inE. coliand related enterobacteria. Here we show that severaltopAalleles, including ΔtopA, confer lethality in derivatives of wild-typeE. colistrain MG1655. Viability in absence of Topo I was restored with two perturbations, neither of which reversed the hypernegative supercoiling phenotype: (i) in a reduced-genome strain MDS42, or (ii) by an RNA polymerase (RNAP) mutationrpoB*35that has been reported to alleviate the deleterious consequences of RNAP backtracking and transcription-replication conflicts. Four phenotypes related to cSDR were identified fortopAmutants: (i) One of thetopAalleles rescued ΔdnaAlethality; (ii) indnaA+derivatives, Topo I deficiency generated a characteristic copy number peak in the terminus region of the chromosome; (iii)topAwas synthetically lethal withrnhA(encoding RNase HI, whose deficiency also confers cSDR); and (iv)topA rnhAsynthetic lethality was itself rescued by ΔdnaA. We propose that the terminal lethal consequence of hypernegative DNA supercoiling inE. coli topAmutants is RNAP backtracking during transcription elongation and associated R-loop formation, which in turn lead to transcription-replication conflicts and to cSDR.

Importance

In all life forms, double helical DNA exists in a topologically supercoiled state. The enzymes DNA gyrase and topoisomerase I act, respectively, to introduce and to relax negative DNA supercoils inEscherichia coli. That gyrase deficiency leads to bacterial death is well established, but the essentiality of topoisomerase I for viability has been less certain. This study confirms that topoisomerase I is essential forE. coliviability, and suggests that in its absence aberrant chromosomal DNA replication and excessive transcription-replication conflicts occur that are responsible for lethality.
An infectious Rous Sarcoma Virus Gag mutant that is defective in nuclear cycling
Authors: Ricaña Clifton L , Johnson Marc C
Published: April 2021

During retroviral replication, unspliced viral genomic RNA (gRNA) must escape the nucleus for translation into viral proteins and packaging into virions. “Complex” retroviruses such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) use cis-acting elements on the unspliced gRNA in conjunction with trans-acting viral proteins to facilitate this escape. “Simple” retroviruses such as Mason-Pfizer Monkey Virus (MPMV) and Murine Leukemia Virus (MLV) exclusively use cis-acting elements on the gRNA in conjunction with host nuclear export proteins for nuclear escape. Uniquely, the simple retrovirus Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) has a Gag structural protein that cycles through the nucleus prior to plasma membrane binding. This trafficking has been implicated in facilitating gRNA nuclear export and is thought to be a required mechanism. Previously described mutants that abolish nuclear cycling displayed enhanced plasma membrane binding, enhanced virion release, and a significant loss in genome incorporation resulting in loss of infectivity. Here, we describe a nuclear cycling deficient RSV Gag mutant that has similar plasma membrane binding and genome incorporation to WT virus and surprisingly, is replication competent albeit with a slower rate of spread compared to WT. This mutant suggests that RSV Gag nuclear cycling is not strictly required for RSV replication.

Importance

While mechanisms for retroviral Gag assembly at the plasma membrane are beginning to be characterized, characterization of intermediate trafficking locales remain elusive. This is in part due to the difficulty of tracking individual proteins from translation to plasma membrane binding. RSV Gag nuclear cycling is a unique phenotype that may provide comparative insight to viral trafficking evolution and may present a model intermediate to cis- and trans-acting mechanisms for gRNA export.
Mucin-mimetic glycan arrays integrating machine learning for analyzing receptor pattern recognition by influenza A viruses
Authors: Lucas Taryn M. , Gupta Chitrak , Altman Meghan O. , Sanchez Emi , Naticchia Matthew R. , Gagneux Pascal , Singharoy Abhishek , Godula Kamil
Published: April 2021

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) exploit host glycans in airway epithelial mucosa to gain entry and initiate infection. Rapid detection of changes in IAV specificity towards host glycan classes can provide early indication of virus transmissibility and infection potential. IAVs use hemagglutinins (HA) to bind sialic acids linked to larger glycan structures and a switch in HA specificity from α2,3-to α2,6-linked sialoglycans is considered a prerequisite for viral transmission from birds to humans. While the changes in HA structure associated with the evolution of binding phenotype have been mapped, the influence of glycan receptor presentation on IAV specificity remains obscured. Here, we describe a glycan array platform which uses synthetic mimetics of mucin glycoproteins to model how receptor presentation in the mucinous glycocalyx, including glycan type and valency of the glycoconjugates and their surface density, impact IAV binding. We found that H1N1 virus produced in embryonated chicken eggs, which recognizes both receptor types, exclusively engaged mucin-mimetics carrying α2,3-linked sialic acids in their soluble form. The virus was able utilize both receptor structures when the probes were immobilized on the array; however, increasing density in the mucin-mimetic brush diminished viral adhesion. Propagation in mammalian cells produced a change in receptor pattern recognition by the virus, without altering its HA affinity, toward improved binding of α2,6-sialylated mucin mimetics and reduced sensitivity to surface crowding of the probes. Application of a support vector machine (SVM) learning algorithm as part of the glycan array binding analysis efficiently characterized this shift in binding preference and may prove useful to study the evolution of viral responses to a new host.
Death in the Spanish fire services: a curriculum development study
Authors: Leiva Santos Juan Pablo , García-Llana Helena , Pablo Victor , Liébana Maya , Kellehear Allan
Published: April 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the need and resources firefighters have to deal with death and dying (D&D) that they encounter whilst on duty and to present a curriculum to support D&D issues for firefighters.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology involving focus groups was conducted in two fire stations in Spain. The sample was 38 male participants with a mean age of 46 y/o (range: 30-59 years) and an average tenure of employment of 18 years (range: 6-35 years). Data were subjected to a thematic analysis. Dual coding of the transcripts in addition to member checking enhanced analysis.

Findings

Nine themes emerged: witnessing D&D during rescue operations; memories about D&D and trauma; impact on firefighter’s families; decision-making process under stress; teamwork: protective and self-support; inadequate D&D preparation and training; adequate technical and physical training preparation; relationship between equipment, legal-moral obligation, and victims’ outcomes; communication issues: toward the victim and/or their relatives. These themes were subsequently framed into three basic domains: personal impact of D&D, team impact of D&D, and victim impact. Each domain, in its turn, is covered by three curriculum topics. The curriculum’s pedagogy is primarily based on experimental-reflective activities during 16 study-hours.

Research limitations/implications

The absence of female participants. All fire stations were in cities with no more than 150,000 inhabitants.

Practical implications

Individuals who take this curriculum will: increase their ability for self-care and resilience; improve teamwork, leadership skills, and to decrease burnout; provide more effective care for victims; provide skills to cope with compassion fatigue; reduced the levels of post-traumatic stress disorders.

Originality/value

Understanding firefighters’ needs with relation to D&D, and assessing the resources available to mitigate these issues will provide a comprehensive approach to their education and promote health both personally and professionally. A comparable curriculum or proposal has not been previously identified.
On the regulatory changes in government accounting development in Indonesia
Authors: Boolaky Pran Krishansing , Mirosea Nitri , Singh Kishore
Published: April 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the history of government accounting, using a well-grounded periodisation, in order to provide a chronology of government accounting development (GAD) in Indonesia from 1845 to 2015 focusing on development on accounting regulations and systems and practices in local government in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

It collects archival data and then uses a descriptive tradition of research to capture mainly regulatory changes affecting GAD from colonial to post-colonial period.

Findings

The paper reports major regulatory changes, evolution in local government accounting practice, development of government accounting standards (GASt) and converging GASs with international standards.

Research limitations/implications

This study is important to accounting historians and other academics because it provides a detailed chronicle of accounting regulatory changes in Indonesia which can be used for future research. The limitation(s) of this study is that is data collection which was not easily accessible and as results have to rely on various sources.

Practical implications

The study has an important practical implication. It has produced a time series register of regulatory changes affecting GAD in Indonesia. It can be used as a reference document in the National Library of Indonesia and also by academics for future research.

Originality/value

A times series register, for the first time, is produced which provides a comprehensive chronology of accounting development in Indonesia.
Learning from unlabelled real seismic data: Fault detection based on transfer learning
Authors: Zhou Ruoshui , Yao Xingmiao , Hu Guangmin , Yu Fucai
Published: April 2021

Significant advances have been made towards fault detection using deep learning. However, the fault labelling of seismic data requires great human effort. The resulting small sample problem makes traditional deep learning methods difficult to achieve desired results. Existing research proposes to train a deep learning model with labelled synthetic seismic data to get good fault detection results. However, due to the complexity of the actual geological situation, there are inevitable differences between synthetic seismic data and real seismic data in many aspects such as seismic signal frequency, frequency of fault distribution and degree of noise disturbance, which lead to the fact that the deep learning model trained by synthetic seismic data is difficult to get good fault detection result in field data applications. We propose to use transfer learning to reduce the impact of data differences to solve this problem: part of the deep transfer learning model is used to learn fault‐related features. And the other part of the deep transfer learning model is used to mine common features between the real seismic data and the synthetic seismic data, which makes the deep transfer learning model more suitable for real seismic data. Compared with the latest research progress, our method can greatly improve the effect of fault detection without real data label, which can significantly save the cost of manual label processing.
‘A Mood in the Air … Like 1945’: Democratic Socialism and the Post‐Corbyn Labour Party
Authors: Berry Christine
Published: April 2021

It has become commonplace to suggest that the coronavirus pandemic is a ‘1945 moment’ and should trigger a paradigm shift in the UK's political economy. But Starmer's Labour has thus far resisted putting forward a vision of what that shift might look like. This article argues that a ‘democratic socialist’ vision is taking shape within the ‘new left’ based on three core principles: basic economic rights, democratising ownership and democratising power. It suggests that there is a perhaps surprising level of consensus on many of these ideas within the UK Labour Party—but that the party nonetheless appears reluctant to embrace them under Starmer's leadership, for strategic and factional reasons. Ultimately, it is argued that an overriding preoccupation with distancing the party from Corbynism risks paralysing it from responding to the fast‐changing and unprecedented situation it now finds itself in.
How Malinowski sailed the Midnight Sun: the academic conference as ethnographic performance
Authors: Jarillo Sergio
Published: April 2021

Anthropology's scope is broader than its public, often limited to other anthropologists, while those who share their knowledge in the field with the ethnographer are too often cut off from anthropological debates about that knowledge. The anthropology conference, seen as research practice, proves successful in readmitting ethnographic subjects into anthropological dialogues. A symposium held in 2015 in Alotau, Papua New Guinea, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Malinowski's arrival in the Massim region, demonstrates how Massim peoples transcend anthropologists’ discursive presentations by using images, objects, and performances, diluting, along the way, anthropology's hierarchical control.
Inventing a Space to Speak: Ethos, Agency and United States' Woman Suffrage Cookbooks (1886–1916)
Authors: Nielsen Danielle
Published: April 2021

During the last forty years of the United States’ fight for woman suffrage, a handful of suffragists wrote cookbooks sponsored by suffrage organisations. These cookbooks created a rhetorical space and ethos within and through the kitchen. Because their activism was grounded in expected feminine actions, this home‐bound ethos allowed the primarily white, middle‐class suffragists to simultaneously advocate for women's suffrage in public and maintain their adherence to the Cult of True Womanhood. The arguments put forth in the cookbooks illustrate an ethos that is influenced by both personal agency and the rhetor's gendered, physical location in the kitchen. From this expected space, they made the more revolutionary argument for suffrage less discrediting.
DENIGRATING BY NUMBERS: Quantification, Statistics and Territorial Stigma
Authors: Sisson Alistair
Published: April 2021

A vibrant literature on territorial stigma has emerged over the past decade, detailing how particular neighbourhoods or districts have been discursively constructed as dangerous, depraved, deprived, dilapidated, and so on. Amidst this focus on the discursive, the role of numbers has been largely overlooked. In this article I argue that quantitative practices and statistical representations are central to the production of territory and to territorial stigmatization. I demonstrate how problem territories are produced through quantitative practices that reproduce forms of denigration and how statistical representations obfuscate the culpability of markets and the state and legitimize unjust interventions. I elaborate these arguments via three recent examples from public housing policy, governance and discourse in Sydney. Statistics have been deployed to portray tenants as undeserving of either the real estate they inhabit or any assistance whatsoever, and estates as pathological territories that cause disadvantage. Such representations have obscured how neoliberalization has caused such so‐called problems, and have thus legitimated privatization, displacement and a punitive policy turn. I call for greater attention to the role of quantification and statistics among scholars of stigma—not only through deconstruction and critique, but also through strategic deployment in aid of struggles against stigma.
The one‐year impact of accountable care networks among Washington State employees
Authors: Coe Norma B. , Ingraham Bailey , Albertson Elaine , Zhou Lingmei , Wood Suzanne , Grembowski David , Conrad Douglas
Published: April 2021

Objective

To estimate the impact of a new, two‐sided risk model accountable care network (ACN) on Washington State employees and their families.

Data Sources/Study Setting

Administrative data (January 2013‐December 2016) on Washington State employees.

Study Design

We compared monthly health care utilization, health care intensity as measured through proxy pricing, and annual HEDIS quality metrics between the five intervention counties to 13 comparison counties, analyzed separately by age categories (ages 0‐5, 6‐18, 19‐26, 18‐64).

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

We used difference‐in‐difference methods and generalized estimating equations to estimate the effects after 1 year of implementation for adults and children.

Principal Findings

We estimate a 1‐2 percentage point decrease in outpatient hospital visits due to the introduction of ACNs (adults: −1.8, P < .01; age 0‐5: −1.2, P = .07; age 6‐18: −1.2, P = .06; age 19‐26; −1.2, P < .01). We find changes in primary and specialty care office visits; the direction of impact varies by age. Dependents age 19‐26 were also responsive with inpatient admissions declines (−0.08 percentage points, P = .02). Despite changes in utilization, there was no evidence of changes in intensity of care and mixed results in the quality measures.

Conclusions

Washington's state employee ACN introduction changed health care utilization patterns in the first year but was not as successful in improving quality.
Detection and diversity of fluorinated oil‐ and water‐repellent coatings on apparel fibers
Authors: Dolan Michael J. , Li Wanqing , Jorabchi Kaveh
Published: April 2021

Fluorinated coatings, often used for oil and water repellency and stain resistance in fabrics, are potentially persistent forensic fiber markers. However, they have received limited attention because of challenges in their detection caused by the small size of a single fiber and thin nature of stain‐resistant coatings. Here, we utilize a sensitive fluorine‐selective analytical technique to detect and evaluate diversity of fluorinated coatings in apparel. Twelve clothing items marketed as stain‐resistant were tested with nine showing oil‐ and water‐repellent properties. Fluorinated pyrolysis products of single fibers from all of the nine items were detected by gas chromatography coupled to plasma‐assisted reaction chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC‐PARCI‐MS), indicating the prevalence of fluoropolymer coatings in stain‐resistant clothing articles. Furthermore, three major classes of fluorinated coatings were identified via principal component analysis of pyrogram patterns. The classes were coating‐specific and did not correlate with fiber core and color, highlighting a robust detection methodology. To evaluate the effect of fiber lifting in crime scenes, fibers from the 9 clothing items were used to develop a multinomial logistic regression model based on pyrogram principal components. The model was then tested using fibers subjected to contact with Post‐it® notes. The test set fibers were sampled from the clothing items of the training set and from three additional garments of differing color but the same brands as the training set. The coating classes were predicted with 98.4% accuracy, confirming robust classification of fiber coatings using py‐GC‐PARCI‐MS regardless of fiber color, core, and fiber lifting.
Rethinking consent processes for research in emergency departments
Authors: Miller Joseph , Costa Stephen Guy , Taylor David Alan , Buntine Paul
Published: April 2021

Emergency medicine researchers face the challenge of prioritising patients' immediate interests and maintaining hospital flow while attempting to collect clinical data. Even in low‐risk scenarios, excessive consent processes can make it difficult to recruit patients while observing guidelines on efficient triage. We discuss a recent situation in which a six‐page consent form appeared to deter clinicians from recruiting patients to a low‐risk intervention. We then argue that there need be no conflict between the imperatives of patient wellbeing and clinical research. Apparent conflicts between treatment and research could be reduced through creative recruitment techniques: the adoption of an ‘opt‐out’ approach; securing the budget for a dedicated research assistant; early consultation with the institution's human research ethics committee; and the use of a short, simple participant information and consent form with a QR code linking to a more detailed outline of the study.
The contagion effect of collective voluntary turnover on firm performance and moderation of communication practices
Authors: Chung David Jinwoo , Kim Andrea , Kim Youngsang
Published: April 2021

This study examines a moderated mediation model that delineates how collective voluntary turnover (CVT) impedes firms and when this organisational phenomenon is altered. Based on a social capital perspective, we propose that CVT can decrease firm performance over a long period through subsequent CVT, and communication practices weaken this negative mediational process. Analysing a three‐wave longitudinal dataset collected from 207 firms in South Korea, our work revealed that CVT decreased firm performance after 4 years via subsequent CVT, and such a contagion effect of CVT is mitigated among firms that extensively implemented communication practices. The results of this study provide insights into how, why, and when CVT damages firms by indicating its contagion effect over time and the buffer of communication practices. Also, our findings from South Korean firms broaden our understanding of the CVT‐consequence linkage in a non‐Western context.
Method optimization of oxylipin hydrolysis in nonprocessed bovine milk indicates that the majority of oxylipins are esterified
Authors: Teixeira Bianca Ferraz , Dias Fernanda Furlan Gonçalves , Vieira Thais Maria Ferreira de Souza , Leite Nobrega de Moura Bell Juliana Maria , Taha Ameer Y.
Published: April 2021

The oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids produces bioactive primary oxidation products known as oxylipins. In many biological matrices, the majority of oxylipins are bound (i.e. esterified), and a relatively small proportion (<10%) exists in the free form. The present study tested whether this extends to bovine milk following method evaluation of various extraction and base hydrolysis protocols for measuring bound oxylipins. Free (unbound) oxylipins were also measured. Folch extraction followed by sodium carbonate hydrolysis in the presence of methanol containing 0.1% of acetic acid and 0.1% of butylated hydroxytoluene resulted in greater oxylipin concentrations and better surrogate standard recoveries compared to other methods that did not involve Folch extraction or the addition of methanol with hydrolysis base. Sodium hydroxide was better than sodium carbonate in hydrolyzing bound oxylipins under the same conditions. Milk analysis of oxylipins with mass‐spectrometry following Folch extraction and sodium hydroxide hydrolysis revealed that 95% of oxylipins in bovine milk were esterified. Most of the detected oxylipins were derived from linoleic acid, which accounted for 92 and 88% of oxylipins in the free and esterified pools, respectively. These results demonstrate that the majority of bovine milk oxylipins are bound, and that linoleic‐acid derived metabolites are the most abundant oxylipin species in free and bound lipid pools. Additional studies are needed to understand the role of different oxylipin pools in both calf and human nutrition.

Practical Application

A method involving Folch lipid extraction and sodium hydroxide hydrolysis was validated for esterified oxylipin measurements in bovine milk. Application of the method revealed that the majority (∼95%) of oxylipins in bovine milk were bound. Linoleic‐acid derived oxylipins were the most abundant species in both bound and free milk fractions (88‐92%). The results highlight the presence of a new pool of oxidized lipids in milk, potentially involved in modifying its sensory and nutritional properties.
Comparative study on the gel properties and nanostructures of gelatins from chicken, porcine, and tilapia skin
Authors: Xin Ying , Chai Mengyang , Chen Fusheng , Hou Yucheng , Lai Shaojuan , Yang Hongshun
Published: April 2021

To clarify the feasibility of replacing commercial gelatin with chicken skin gelatin, we investigated the gel properties and nanostructures of chicken skin gelatin (CG), commercial porcine skin gelatin (PG), and tilapia skin gelatin (FG). Compared with PG and FG, CG exhibited the better gel strength, hardness, chewiness, melting point, gelling temperature, and thermostability. The different physicochemical properties of CG might be caused by its higher imino acid content (25.43 residues/100 total residues), which make it more liable to form intramolecular H‐bonds (lower amplitude of amide A wave number). In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) result was shown that CG contained larger spherical aggregates (483 nm) than PG and FG (334 and 224 nm, respectively), and the lack of chain and ring‐like structure promoted the formation of a dense rigid gel. These results revealed that the intramolecular H‐bond and the aggregation behavior are the fundamental explanations for the different gel properties of gelatins from three sources.

Practical Application

This research provides guidance for the application of chicken skin gelatin as a replacer for commercial gelatin. And the results provide a theoretical basis for the modification of chicken skin gelatin.