bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Induction of differentiation of the acute myeloid leukemia cell line (HL-60) by a securinine dimer
Authors: Hou Wen , Wang Zhen-Ya , Lin Jing , Chen Wei-Min
Published: November 2020

Differentiation therapy has been successfully applied clinically in cases of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), but few differentiation-induction agents other than all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) have been discovered clinically. Based on our previously reported neuritogenic differentiation activity of synthetic dimeric derivatives of securinine, we explored the leukemia differentiation-induction activity of such as compound, SN3-L6. It was found that SN3-L6 induces transdifferentiation of both acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells but unexpectedly, a new transdifferentiation pathway from APL cells to morphologically and immunologically normal megakaryocytes and platelets were discovered. SN3-L6 fails to induce transdifferentiation of ATRA–produced mature granulocytes into megakaryocytes, indicating its selectivity between mature and immature cells. SN3-L6 induces CML K562 cells to transdifferentiate into apoptotic megakaryocytes but without platelet formation, indicating a desirable selectivity between different leukemia cells. Our data illuminate a differentiation gap between AML cells and platelets, and promises applications in leukemia differentiation therapy strategy.
PTRH2: an adhesion regulated molecular switch at the nexus of life, death, and differentiation
Authors: Corpuz Austin D. , Ramos Joe W. , Matter Michelle L.
Published: November 2020

Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase 2 (PTRH2; Bit-1; Bit1) is an underappreciated regulator of adhesion signals and Bcl2 expression. Its key roles in muscle differentiation and integrin-mediated signaling are central to the pathology of a recently identified patient syndrome caused by a cluster of Ptrh2 gene mutations. These loss-of-function mutations were identified in patients presenting with severe deleterious phenotypes of the skeletal muscle, endocrine, and nervous systems resulting in a syndrome called Infantile-onset Multisystem Nervous, Endocrine, and Pancreatic Disease (IMNEPD). In contrast, in cancer PTRH2 is a potential oncogene that promotes malignancy and metastasis. PTRH2 modulates PI3K/AKT and ERK signaling in addition to Bcl2 expression and thereby regulates key cellular processes in response to adhesion including cell survival, growth, and differentiation. In this Review, we discuss the state of the science on this important cell survival, anoikis and differentiation regulator, and opportunities for further investigation and translation. We begin with a brief overview of the structure, regulation, and subcellular localization of PTRH2. We discuss the cluster of gene mutations thus far identified which cause developmental delays and multisystem disease. We then discuss the role of PTRH2 and adhesion in breast, lung, and esophageal cancers focusing on signaling pathways involved in cell survival, cell growth, and cell differentiation.
Individual differences among deep neural network models
Authors: Mehrer Johannes , Spoerer Courtney J. , Kriegeskorte Nikolaus , Kietzmann Tim C.
Published: November 2020

Deep neural networks (DNNs) excel at visual recognition tasks and are increasingly used as a modeling framework for neural computations in the primate brain. Just like individual brains, each DNN has a unique connectivity and representational profile. Here, we investigate individual differences among DNN instances that arise from varying only the random initialization of the network weights. Using tools typically employed in systems neuroscience, we show that this minimal change in initial conditions prior to training leads to substantial differences in intermediate and higher-level network representations despite similar network-level classification performance. We locate the origins of the effects in an under-constrained alignment of category exemplars, rather than misaligned category centroids. These results call into question the common practice of using single networks to derive insights into neural information processing and rather suggest that computational neuroscientists working with DNNs may need to base their inferences on groups of multiple network instances.
Diversity, function and assembly of mangrove root-associated microbial communities at a continuous fine-scale
Authors: Zhuang Wei , Yu Xiaoli , Hu Ruiwen , Luo Zhiwen , Liu Xingyu , Zheng Xiafei , Xiao Fanshu , Peng Yisheng , He Qiang , Tian Yun , Yang Tony , Wang Shanquan , Shu Longfei , Yan Qingyun , Wang Cheng , He Zhili
Published: November 2020

Mangrove roots harbor a repertoire of microbial taxa that contribute to important ecological functions in mangrove ecosystems. However, the diversity, function, and assembly of mangrove root-associated microbial communities along a continuous fine-scale niche remain elusive. Here, we applied amplicon and metagenome sequencing to investigate the bacterial and fungal communities among four compartments (nonrhizosphere, rhizosphere, episphere, and endosphere) of mangrove roots. We found different distribution patterns for both bacterial and fungal communities in all four root compartments, which could be largely due to niche differentiation along the root compartments and exudation effects of mangrove roots. The functional pattern for bacterial and fungal communities was also divergent within the compartments. The endosphere harbored more genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, lipid transport, and methane production, and fewer genes were found to be involved in sulfur reduction compared to other compartments. The dynamics of root-associated microbial communities revealed that 56–74% of endosphere bacterial taxa were derived from nonrhizosphere, whereas no fungal OTUs of nonrhizosphere were detected in the endosphere. This indicates that roots may play a more strictly selective role in the assembly of the fungal community compared to the endosphere bacterial community, which is consistent with the projections established in an amplification-selection model. This study reveals the divergence in the diversity and function of root-associated microbial communities along a continuous fine-scale niche, thereby highlighting a strictly selective role of soil-root interfaces in shaping the fungal community structure in the mangrove root systems.
Evidence for different behaviors of atmospheric glass alteration as a function of glass composition
Authors: Alloteau Fanny , Majérus Odile , Valbi Valentina , Biron Isabelle , Lehuédé Patrice , Caurant Daniel , Charpentier Thibault , Seyeux Antoine
Published: November 2020

The glass composition is a determining parameter that influences the glass chemical durability, particularly in atmospheric conditions (defined by the relative humidity, RH, < 100%). This is obvious in the field of the cultural heritage (CH), where some glass compositions qualified as unstable show advanced signs of degradation under atmosphere, while others seem, on the contrary, stable. This study investigates the differences between stable and unstable glass compositions regarding the phenomenology of the atmospheric glass alteration, by means of accelerated ageing of three glass replicas followed by the characterization of their alteration layers at different scales. Over the same ageing period and experimental conditions, the two glass compositions qualified as unstable develop thick hydrated layers and a thin top layer of carbonate precipitates. Their hydrated layers are depolymerized, and they remarkably retain alkalis and non-bridging oxygens in a dense network of hydrogen bonds, as demonstrated by 29Si and 1H MAS NMR. On the contrary, the stable glass composition shows a considerably thinner hydrated layer and, relatively, a higher amount of carbonates on the surface. In unstable glasses, the retention of a significant proportion of alkalis and NBOs, probably by maintaining a basic character to the hydrated layer, seems comparatively a destabilizing factor sustaining hydration by fast network hydrolysis.
Small-wedge synchrotron and serial XFEL datasets for Cysteinyl leukotriene GPCRs
Authors: Marin Egor , Luginina Aleksandra , Gusach Anastasiia , Kovalev Kirill , Bukhdruker Sergey , Khorn Polina , Polovinkin Vitaly , Lyapina Elizaveta , Rogachev Andrey , Gordeliy Valentin , Mishin Alexey , Cherezov Vadim , Borshchevskiy Valentin
Published: November 2020

Structural studies of challenging targets such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have accelerated during the last several years due to the development of new approaches, including small-wedge and serial crystallography. Here, we describe the deposition of seven datasets consisting of X-ray diffraction images acquired from lipidic cubic phase (LCP) grown microcrystals of two human GPCRs, Cysteinyl leukotriene receptors 1 and 2 (CysLT1R and CysLT2R), in complex with various antagonists. Five datasets were collected using small-wedge synchrotron crystallography (SWSX) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility with multiple crystals under cryo-conditions. Two datasets were collected using X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) at the Linac Coherent Light Source, with microcrystals delivered at room temperature into the beam within LCP matrix by a viscous media microextrusion injector. All seven datasets have been deposited in the open-access databases Zenodo and CXIDB. Here, we describe sample preparation and annotate crystallization conditions for each partial and full datasets. We also document full processing pipelines and provide wrapper scripts for SWSX and SFX data processing.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00759-w
Knockdown lncRNA NEAT1 regulates the activation of microglia and reduces AKT signaling and neuronal apoptosis after cerebral ischemic reperfusion
Authors: Ni Xunran , Su Qian , Xia Wenbo , Zhang Yanli , Jia Kejuan , Su Zhiqiang , Li Guozhong
Published: November 2020

Acute cerebral ischaemia may lead to serious consequences, including brain injury caused by uncontrolled reperfusion, which occurs when circulation is re-established. The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) plays an important role in the immune system. However, the potential roles and underlying molecular mechanisms of NEAT1 in cerebral ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the function of the lncRNA NEAT1 in cerebral I/R injury and its potential beneficial effects on neurons. In our study, oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD)/reoxygenation (OGD/R) was induced in vitro to mimic cerebral I/R injury. Cholecystokinin-octopeptide (CCK-8) was used to measure cell viability, and flow cytometry was used to measure cell apoptosis. Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expression of phenotypic markers of classically activated (M1) and alternatively activated (M2) microglia, and western blotting was performed to detect the levels of proteins related to the AKT/STAT3 pathway. The expression of the lncRNA NEAT1 was significantly upregulated in patients with ischaemic stroke, and knockdown of the lncRNA NEAT1 alleviated OGD/R-induced apoptosis and increased neuronal viability. Furthermore, the lncRNA NEAT1 may inhibit microglial polarization towards the M1 phenotype to reduce the damage caused by OGD/R and reduce the activity of the AKT/STAT3 pathway. In conclusion, the lncRNA NEAT1 may be a potential target for new therapeutic interventions for cerebral I/R.
Brain potentials reveal reduced attention and error-processing during a monetary Go/No-Go task in procrastination
Authors: Michałowski Jarosław M. , Wiwatowska Ewa , Weymar Mathias
Published: November 2020

Procrastination is a self-regulatory problem of voluntarily and destructively delaying intended and necessary or personally important tasks. Previous studies showed that procrastination is associated with executive dysfunctions that seem to be particularly strong in punishing contexts. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study a monetary version of the parametric Go/No-Go task was performed by high and low academic procrastinators to verify the influence of motivational context (reward vs. punishment expectation) and task difficulty (easy vs. hard) on procrastination-related executive dysfunctions. The results revealed increased post-error slowing along with reduced P300 and error-related negativity (ERN) amplitudes in high (vs. low) procrastination participants—effects that indicate impaired attention and error-related processing in this group. This pattern of results did not differ as a function of task difficulty and motivation condition. However, when the task got more difficult executive attention deficits became even more apparent at the behavioral level in high procrastinators, as indexed by increased reaction time variability. The findings substantiate prior preliminary evidence that procrastinators show difficulties in certain aspects of executive functioning (in attention and error processing) during execution of task-relevant behavior, which may be more apparent in highly demanding situations.
An earth system model shows self-sustained thawing of permafrost even if all man-made GHG emissions stop in 2020
Authors: Randers Jorgen , Goluke Ulrich
Published: November 2020

The risk of points-of-no-return, which, once surpassed lock the world into new dynamics, have been discussed for decades. Recently, there have been warnings that some of these tipping points are coming closer and are too dangerous to be disregarded. In this paper we report that in the ESCIMO climate model the world is already past a point-of-no-return for global warming. In ESCIMO we observe self-sustained thawing of the permafrost for hundreds of years, even if global society stops all emissions of man-made GHGs immediately. We encourage other model builders to explore our discovery in their (bigger) models, and report on their findings. The thawing (in ESCIMO) is the result of a continuing self-sustained rise in the global temperature. This warming is the combined effect of three physical processes: (1) declining surface albedo (driven by melting of the Arctic ice cover), (2) increasing amounts of water vapour in the atmosphere (driven by higher temperatures), and (3) changes in the concentrations of the GHG in the atmosphere (driven by the absorption of CO2 in biomass and oceans, and emission of carbon (CH4 and CO2) from thawing permafrost). This self-sustained, in the sense of no further GHG emissions, thawing process (in ESCIMO) is a causally determined, physical process that evolves over time. It starts with the man-made warming up to the 1950s, leading to a rise in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere—further lifting the temperature, causing increasing release of carbon from thawing permafrost, and simultaneously a decline in the surface albedo as the ice and snow covers melts. To stop the self-sustained warming in ESCIMO, enormous amounts of CO2 have to be extracted from the atmosphere.
Metabolomics profiling of plasma, urine and saliva after short term training in young professional football players in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alzharani Mansour A. , Alshuwaier Ghareeb O. , Aljaloud Khalid S. , Al-Tannak Naser F. , Watson David G.
Published: November 2020

Metabolomics profiling was carried out to observe the effect of short-term intensive physical activity on the metabolome of young Saudi professional football players. Urine, plasma and saliva were collected on 2 days pre- and post-training. An Orbitrap Exactive mass spectrometer was used to analyze the samples. A reversed-phase (RP) column was used for the analysis of non-polar plasma metabolites, and a ZIC-pHILIC column was used for the analysis of plasma, saliva and urine. mzMine was used to extract the data, and the results were modelled using Simca-P 14.1 software. There was no marked variation in the metabolite profiles between pre day 1 and 2 or between post day 1 and 2 according to principal components analysis (PCA). When orthogonal partial least squares (OPLSDA) modelling was also used, and then models could be fitted based on a total number of metabolites of 75, 16 and 32 for urine, plasma and saliva using hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) and 6 for analysis of plasma with reversed-phase (RP) chromatography respectively. The present study concludes that acylcarnitine may increase post-exercise in football players suggesting that they may burn fat rather than glucose. The levels of carnitine metabolites in plasma post-exercise could provide an important indicator of fitness.
Accelerated ethanol elimination via the lungs
Authors: Klostranec Jesse M. , Vucevic Diana , Crawley Adrian P. , Venkatraghavan Lashmi , Sobczyk Olivia , Duffin James , Sam Kevin , Holmes Royce , Fedorko Ludwik , Mikulis David J. , Fisher Joseph A.
Published: November 2020

Ethanol poisoning is endemic the world over. Morbidity and mortality depend on blood ethanol levels which in turn depend on the balance between its rates of absorption and clearance. Clearance of ethanol is mostly at a constant rate via enzymatic metabolism. We hypothesized that isocapnic hyperpnea (IH), previously shown to be effective in acceleration of clearance of vapour anesthetics and carbon monoxide, would also accelerate the clearance of ethanol. In this proof-of-concept pilot study, five healthy male subjects were brought to a mildly elevated blood ethanol concentration (~ 0.1%) and ethanol clearance monitored during normal ventilation and IH on different days. IH increased elimination rate of ethanol in proportion to blood levels, increasing the elimination rate more than three-fold. Increased veno-arterial ethanol concentration differences during IH verified the efficacy of ethanol clearance via the lung. These data indicate that IH is a nonpharmacologic means to accelerate the elimination of ethanol by superimposing first order elimination kinetics on underlying zero order liver metabolism. Such kinetics may prove useful in treating acute severe ethanol intoxication.
Partial synchronisation of glycolytic oscillations in yeast cell populations
Authors: Weber André , Zuschratter Werner , Hauser Marcus J. B.
Published: November 2020

The transition between synchronized and asynchronous behaviour of immobilized yeast cells of the strain Saccharomyces carlsbergensis was investigated by monitoring the autofluorescence of the coenzyme NADH. In populations of intermediate cell densities the individual cells remained oscillatory, whereas on the level of the cell population both a partially synchronized and an asynchronous state were accessible for experimental studies. In the partially synchronized state, the mean oscillatory frequency was larger than that of the cells in the asynchronous state. This suggests that synchronisation occurred due to entrainment by the cells that oscillated more rapidly. This is typical for synchronisation due to phase advancement. Furthermore, the synchronisation of the frequency of the glycolytic oscillations preceded the synchronisation of their phases. However, the cells did not synchronize completely, as the distribution of the oscillatory frequencies only narrowed but did not collapse to a unique frequency. Cells belonging to spatially denser clusters showed a slightly enhanced local synchronisation during the episode of partial synchronisation. Neither the clusters nor a transition from partially synchronized glycolytic oscillations to travelling glycolytic waves did substantially affect the degree of partial synchronisation. Chimera states, i.e., the coexistence of a synchronized and an asynchronous part of the population, could not be found.
Search strategy in a complex and dynamic environment: the MH370 case
Authors: Ivić Stefan , Crnković Bojan , Arbabi Hassan , Loire Sophie , Clary Patrick , Mezić Igor
Published: November 2020

Search and detection of objects on the ocean surface is a challenging task due to the complexity of the drift dynamics and lack of known optimal solutions for the path of the search agents. This challenge was highlighted by the unsuccessful search for Malaysian Flight 370 (MH370) which disappeared on March 8, 2014. In this paper, we propose an improvement of a search algorithm rooted in the ergodic theory of dynamical systems which can accommodate complex geometries and uncertainties of the drifting search areas on the ocean surface. We illustrate the effectiveness of this algorithm in a computational replication of the conducted search for MH370. We compare the algorithms using many realizations with random initial positions, and analyze the influence of the stochastic drift on the search success. In comparison to conventional search methods, the proposed algorithm leads to an order of magnitude improvement in success rate over the time period of the actual search operation. Simulations of the proposed search control also indicate that the initial success rate of finding debris increases in the event of delayed search commencement. This is due to the existence of convergence zones in the search area which leads to local aggregation of debris in those zones and hence reduction of the effective size of the area to be searched.
The importance of feature aggregation in radiomics: a head and neck cancer study
Authors: Fontaine Pierre , Acosta Oscar , Castelli Joël , De Crevoisier Renaud , Müller Henning , Depeursinge Adrien
Published: November 2020

In standard radiomics studies the features extracted from clinical images are mostly quantified with simple statistics such as the average or variance per Region of Interest (ROI). Such approaches may smooth out any intra-region heterogeneity and thus hide some tumor aggressiveness that may hamper predictions. In this paper we study the importance of feature aggregation within the standard radiomics workflow, which allows to take into account intra-region variations. Feature aggregation methods transform a collection of voxel values from feature response maps (over a ROI) into one or several scalar values that are usable for statistical or machine learning algorithms. This important step has been little investigated within the radiomics workflows, so far. In this paper, we compare several aggregation methods with standard radiomics approaches in order to assess the improvements in prediction capabilities. We evaluate the performance using an aggregation function based on Bags of Visual Words (BoVW), which allows for the preservation of piece-wise homogeneous information within heterogeneous regions and compared with standard methods. The different models are compared on a cohort of 214 head and neck cancer patients coming from 4 medical centers. Radiomics features were extracted from manually delineated tumors in clinical PET-FDG and CT images were analyzed. We compared the performance of standard radiomics models, the volume of the ROI alone and the BoVW model for survival analysis. The average concordance index was estimated with a five fold cross-validation. The performance was significantly better using the BoVW model 0.627 (95% CI: 0.616–0.637) as compared to standard radiomics0.505 (95% CI: 0.499–0.511), mean-var. 0.543 (95% CI: 0.536–0.549), mean0.547 (95% CI: 0.541–0.554), var.0.530 (95% CI: 0.524–0.536) or volume 0.577 (95% CI: 0.571–0.582). We conclude that classical aggregation methods are not optimal in case of heterogeneous tumors. We also showed that the BoVW model is a better alternative to extract consistent features in the presence of lesions composed of heterogeneous tissue.
Plasma metabolomics supports the use of long-duration cardiac arrest rodent model to study human disease by demonstrating similar metabolic alterations
Authors: Shoaib Muhammad , Choudhary Rishabh C. , Choi Jaewoo , Kim Nancy , Hayashida Kei , Yagi Tsukasa , Yin Tai , Nishikimi Mitsuaki , Stevens Jan F. , Becker Lance B. , Kim Junhwan
Published: November 2020

Cardiac arrest (CA) is a leading cause of death and there is a necessity for animal models that accurately represent human injury severity. We evaluated a rat model of severe CA injury by comparing plasma metabolic alterations to human patients. Plasma was obtained from adult human control and CA patients post-resuscitation, and from male Sprague–Dawley rats at baseline and after 20 min CA followed by 30 min cardiopulmonary bypass resuscitation. An untargeted metabolomics evaluation using UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS was performed for plasma metabolome comparison. Here we show the metabolic commonality between humans and our severe injury rat model, highlighting significant metabolic dysfunction as seen by similar alterations in (1) TCA cycle metabolites, (2) tryptophan and kynurenic acid metabolites, and (3) acylcarnitine, fatty acid, and phospholipid metabolites. With substantial interspecies metabolic similarity in post-resuscitation plasma, our long duration CA rat model metabolically replicates human disease and is a suitable model for translational CA research.
High definition transcranial direct current stimulation modulates abnormal neurophysiological activity in post-stroke aphasia
Authors: Shah-Basak Priyanka P. , Sivaratnam Gayatri , Teti Selina , Francois-Nienaber Alexander , Yossofzai Maryam , Armstrong Sabrina , Nayar Sumiti , Jokel Regina , Meltzer Jed
Published: November 2020

Recent findings indicate that measures derived from resting-state magnetoencephalography (rsMEG) are sensitive to cortical dysfunction in post-stroke aphasia. Spectral power and multiscale entropy (MSE) measures show that left-hemispheric areas surrounding the stroke lesion (perilesional) exhibit pathological oscillatory slowing and alterations in signal complexity. In the current study, we tested whether individually-targeted high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) can reduce MEG abnormalities and transiently improve language performance. In eleven chronic aphasia survivors, we devised a method to localize perilesional areas exhibiting peak MSE abnormalities, and subsequently targeted these areas with excitatory/anodal-tDCS, or targeted the contralateral homolog areas with inhibitory/cathodal-tDCS, based on prominent theories of stroke recovery. Pathological MEG slowing in these patients was correlated with aphasia severity. Sentence/phrase repetition accuracy was assessed before and after tDCS. A delayed word reading task was administered inside MEG to assess tDCS-induced neurophysiological changes in relative power and MSE computed on the pre-stimulus and delay task time windows. Results indicated increases in repetition accuracy, decreases in contralateral theta (4–7 Hz) and coarse-scale MSE (slow activity), and increases in perilesional low-gamma (25–50 Hz) and fine-scale MSE (fast activity) after anodal-tDCS, indicating reversal of pathological abnormalities. RsMEG may be a sensitive measure for guiding therapeutic tDCS.
Predicting airborne coronavirus inactivation by far-UVC in populated rooms using a high-fidelity coupled radiation-CFD model
Authors: Buchan Andrew G. , Yang Liang , Atkinson Kirk D.
Published: November 2020

There are increased risks of contracting COVID-19 in hospitals and long-term care facilities, particularly for vulnerable groups. In these environments aerosolised coronavirus released through breathing increases the chance of spreading the disease. To reduce aerosol transmissions, the use of low dose far-UVC lighting to disinfect in-room air has been proposed. Unlike typical UVC, which has been used to kill microorganisms for decades but is carcinogenic and cataractogenic, recent evidence has shown that far-UVC is safe to use around humans. A high-fidelity, fully-coupled radiation transport and fluid dynamics model has been developed to quantify disinfection rates within a typical ventilated room. The model shows that disinfection rates are increased by a further 50-85% when using far-UVC within currently recommended exposure levels compared to the room’s  ventilation alone. With these magnitudes of reduction, far-UVC lighting could be employed to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission before the onset of future waves, or the start of winter when risks of infection are higher. This is particularly significant in poorly-ventilated spaces where other means of reduction are not practical, in addition social distancing can be reduced without increasing the risk.
Weather and agricultural intensification determine the breeding performance of a small generalist predator
Authors: Orozco-Valor Paula M. , Grande Juan M.
Published: November 2020

Land-use changes due to agricultural intensification and climatic factors can affect avian reproduction. We use a top predator of agroecosystems, the American kestrel (Falco sparverius) breeding in nest boxes in Central Argentina as a study subject to identify if these two drivers interact to affect birds breeding. We analyzed their breeding performance across a gradient of agricultural intensification from native forest, traditional farmland to intensive farmland. The surface devoted to soybean was used as a proxy of agriculture intensification; however, it did not affect the breeding performance of American kestrels. Even though the presence of pastures was important to determine the probability of breeding successfully. Climatic variables had strong effects on the species breeding timing, on the number of nestlings raised by breeding pairs and on the probability of those pairs to breed successfully (raising at least one fledgling). Our results highlight the relevance of pastures and grasslands for American kestrel reproduction. These environments are the most affected by land-use change to intensive agriculture, being transformed into fully agricultural lands mostly devoted to soybean production. Therefore, future expansion of intensive agriculture may negatively affect the average reproductive parameters of American Kestrels, at least at a regional scale. Further research will be needed to disentangle the mechanisms by which weather variables affect kestrel breeding parameters.
A quick and sensitive diagnostic tool for detection of Maize streak virus
Authors: Tembo Mathias , Adediji Adedapo O. , Bouvaine Sophie , Chikoti Patrick C. , Seal Susan E. , Silva Gonҫalo
Published: November 2020

Maize streak virus disease (MSVD), caused by Maize streak virus (MSV; genus Mastrevirus), is one of the most severe and widespread viral diseases that adversely reduces maize yield and threatens food security in Africa. An effective control and management of MSVD requires robust and sensitive diagnostic tests capable of rapid detection of MSV. In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was designed for the specific detection of MSV. This test has shown to be highly specific and reproducible and able to detect MSV in as little as 10 fg/µl of purified genomic DNA obtained from a MSV-infected maize plant, a sensitivity 105 times higher to that obtained with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in current general use. The high degree of sequence identity between Zambian and other African MSV isolates indicate that this LAMP assay can be used for detecting MSV in maize samples from any region in Africa. Furthermore, this assay can be adopted in minimally equipped laboratories and with potential use in plant clinic laboratories across Africa strengthening diagnostic capacity in countries dealing with MSD.
A general form of capillary rise equation in micro-grooves
Authors: Bamorovat Abadi Gholamreza , Bahrami Majid
Published: November 2020

Micro-grooves are a crucial feature in many applications, such as microelectro-mechanical systems, drug delivery, heat pipes, sorption systems, and microfluidic devices. Micro-grooves utilize capillary action to deliver a liquid, with no need for an extra pumping device, which makes them unique and desirable for numerous systems. Although the capillary action is well studied, all the available equations for the capillary rise are case-specific and depend on the geometry of the groove, surface properties, and the transport liquid. In this study, a unified non-dimensional model for capillary rise is proposed that can accurately predict the capillary rise for any given groove geometry and condition and only depends on two parameters: contact angle and characteristic length scale, defined as the ratio of the liquid–vapor to the solid–liquid interface. The proposed model is compared against data from the literature and can capture the experimental results with less than 10% relative difference. The effect of the grooves’ height, width, and contact angle is investigated and reported. This study can be used for a unified approach in designing heat pipes, capillary-assisted evaporators for sorption systems, drug delivery micro-fluidic devices, etc.
Disruption of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans synergy by a commensal streptococcus
Authors: Huffines Joshua T. , Scoffield Jessica A.
Published: November 2020

Polymicrobial interactions in dental plaque play a significant role in dysbiosis and homeostasis in the oral cavity. In early childhood caries, Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans are often co-isolated from carious lesions and associated with increased disease severity. Studies have demonstrated that metabolic and glucan-dependent synergism between C. albicans and S. mutans contribute to enhanced pathogenesis. However, it is unclear how oral commensals influence pathogen synergy. Streptococcus parasanguinis, a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) producing oral commensal, has antimicrobial activity against S. mutans. In this study, we utilized a three species biofilm model to understand the impact of S. parasanguinis on S. mutans and C. albicans synergy. We report that S. parasanguinis disrupts S. mutans and C. albicans biofilm synergy in a contact and H2O2-independent manner. Further, metabolomics analysis revealed a S. parasanguinis-driven alteration in sugar metabolism that restricts biofilm development by S. mutans. Moreover, S. parasanguinis inhibits S. mutans glucosyltransferase (GtfB) activity, which is important for glucan matrix development and GtfB-mediated binding to C. albicans mannan. Taken together, our study describes a new antimicrobial role for S. parasanguinis and highlights how this abundant oral commensal may be utilized to attenuate pathogen synergism.
Transcriptome profiling and weighted gene co-expression network analysis of early floral development in Aquilegia coerulea
Authors: Min Ya , Kramer Elena M.
Published: November 2020

The earliest phases of floral development include a number of crucial processes that lay the foundation for the subsequent morphogenesis of floral organs and success in reproduction. Currently, key transcriptional changes during this developmental window have been characterized in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, but little is known about how transcriptional dynamics change over the course of these developmental processes in other plant systems. Here, we have conducted the first in-depth transcriptome profiling of early floral development in Aquilegia at four finely dissected developmental stages, with eight biological replicates per stage. Using differential gene expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we identified both crucial genes whose expression changes mark the transitions between developmental stages and hub genes in co-expression modules. Our results support the potential functional conservation of key genes in early floral development that have been identified in other systems, but also reveal a number of previously unknown or overlooked loci that are worthy of further investigation. In addition, our results highlight not only the dynamics of transcriptional regulation during early floral development, but also the potential involvement of the complex, essential networks of small RNA and post-translational regulation to these developmental stages.
830 nm photobiomodulation therapy promotes engraftment of human umbilical cord blood-derived hematopoietic stem cells
Authors: Yang Jingke , Wang Li , Wu Mei X.
Published: November 2020

Human umbilical cord blood (hUCB)-derived hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are an important source for HSCs in allogeneic HSC transplantation, but a limited number and a low efficacy of engraftment greatly restrict their clinical use. Here, we report the ability of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) to significantly enhance the engraftment efficacy of hUCB HSCs and progenitor cells (HSPCs). hUCB CD34+cells were illuminated at a fluence of 2 J/cm2with a near-infrared light (830 nm) transmitted by an array of light-emitting diodes (LED) prior to infusion of NOD/SCID-IL2Rγ−/−mice. The pre-treatment resulted in a threefold higher of the mean percentage of human CD45+cells in the periphery of the mice compared to sham-treated CD34+cells. The enhanced engraftment may result from a PBMT-mediated increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and Src protein phosphorylation in CD34+cells. The two events were causally related as suggested by the finding that elevation of ROS by hydrogen peroxide increased Src phosphorylation, while ROS reduction by N-acetyl cysteine partially reversed the phosphorylation. The investigation demonstrates that PBMT can promote engraftment of hUCB HPSCs, at least in part, via ROS-mediated Src signaling pathway. PBMT can be potentially a safe, convenient, and cost-effective modality to improve hematological reconstitution in patients.
Clinical and ultrasound features associated with congenital cytomegalovirus infection as potential predictors for targeted newborn screening in high-risk pregnancies
Authors: Imafuku Hitomi , Yamada Hideto , Uchida Akiko , Deguchi Masashi , Shirakawa Tokuro , Sasagawa Yuki , Shi Yutoku , Fujioka Kazumichi , Morioka Ichiro , Tanimura Kenji
Published: November 2020

This prospective cohort study aimed to determine clinical factors associated with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in pregnancy. Newborns born at a perinatal medical center received PCR analyses for CMV-DNA in their urine with informed consent. Clinical data, including age, maternal fever or flu-like symptoms, complications, ultrasound fetal abnormality, gestational weeks at delivery, and birth weight, were collected. Logistic regression analyses determined clinical findings associated with congenital CMV infection (cCMV). cCMV was diagnosed in 32 of 4380 pregnancies. Univariate and multivariable analyses revealed that age < 25 years old (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1–6.6; p < 0.05), the presence of maternal fever or flu-like symptoms (5.4, 2.6–11.2; p < 0.01), ultrasound fetal abnormalities (12.7, 5.8–27.7; p < 0.01), and preterm delivery at less than 34 gestational weeks (2.6, 1.1–6.0; p < 0.05) were independent clinical findings associated with cCMV. A combination of maternal fever/flu-like symptoms, ultrasound fetal abnormalities, or preterm delivery at less than 34 gestational weeks as optimal predictive factors showed 90.6% sensitivity, 66.4% specificity, and a maximum Youden index of 0.57. CMV-DNA tests in the urine of newborns born to mothers with these clinical manifestations may be an effective method in detecting cCMV as a targeted screening with a high sensitivity.
Temporal lung changes on thin-section CT in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia
Authors: Zhang Zhiyan , Tang Runhui , Sun Heyang , Dai Haiyang , Chen Kangyin , Ye Xinmiao , Ye Wei , Li Shengkai , Lan Bowen , Li Li , Ou Chun-Quan
Published: November 2020

We examined characteristics of chest CT across different time periods for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in Huizhou, China. This study included 56 COVID-19 patients with abnormal CT acquired between January 22 and March 3, 2020. The 141 scans of 56 patients were classified into four groups (Groups 1–4) based on dates on which scans were obtained at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd week or longer than three weeks after illness onset. Forty-five patients with follow-up scans were categorized into four groups (Groups A–D) according to extent that lesions reduced (≥ 75%, 50–75%, 25–50% and < 25%). Ground-glass opacities (GGO) was prevalent in Groups 1–4 (58.1–82.6%), while percentages of consolidation ranged between 9.7% in Group 4 and 26.2% in Group 2. The highest frequency of fibrous stripes occurred in Group 3 (46.7%). Total CT scores were on average higher in Groups 2–3. Among 45 follow-up patients, 11 (24.4%) of them recovered with lesions reducing ≥ 75%, with the lowest median age and total CT scores on admission. There are temporal patterns of lung abnormalities in COVID-19 patients, with higher extent of lesion involvement occurring in the 2nd and 3rd week. Persisting lung changes indicate some patients may need isolation after discharge from hospital.
Fabrication of a metal free catalyst for chemical reactions through decoration of chitosan with ionic liquid terminated dendritic moiety
Authors: Sadjadi Samahe , Koohestani Fatemeh , Heravi Majid M.
Published: November 2020

In attempt to develop a biocompatible metal-free catalyst, a dendritic moiety was grown on chitosan through successive reactions with 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine and ethylenediamine. Subsequently, the terminal functional groups of the dendron were decorated with 1-methylimidazolium chloride. The catalyst was characterized with SEM, EDS, TGA, FTIR, XRD and mapping analysis. Then, the catalytic activity of the resultant composite was scrutinized for catalyzing Knoevenagel condensation and synthesis of xanthene derivatives in aqueous media under mild reaction condition. The results confirmed high activity of the catalyst, superior to ionic liquid free counterpart and bare chitosan. This observation was ascribed to the instinct catalytic activity of ionic liquid. Moreover, using control catalysts, it was confirmed that the presence of the dendritic moiety that could increase the content of ionic liquid on the backbone of the catalyst enhanced the catalytic activity.
Neuromorphic on-chip recognition of saliva samples of COPD and healthy controls using memristive devices
Authors: Zarrin Pouya Soltani , Zahari Finn , Mahadevaiah Mamathamba K. , Perez Eduardo , Kohlstedt Hermann , Wenger Christian
Published: November 2020

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a life-threatening lung disease, affecting millions of people worldwide. Implementation of Machine Learning (ML) techniques is crucial for the effective management of COPD in home-care environments. However, shortcomings of cloud-based ML tools in terms of data safety and energy efficiency limit their integration with low-power medical devices. To address this, energy efficient neuromorphic platforms can be used for the hardware-based implementation of ML methods. Therefore, a memristive neuromorphic platform is presented in this paper for the on-chip recognition of saliva samples of COPD patients and healthy controls. Results of its performance evaluations showed that the digital neuromorphic chip is capable of recognizing unseen COPD samples with accuracy and sensitivity values of 89% and 86%, respectively. Integration of this technology into personalized healthcare devices will enable the better management of chronic diseases such as COPD.
Acetylsalicylic acid and salicylic acid present anticancer properties against melanoma by promoting nitric oxide-dependent endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis
Authors: Ausina Priscila , Branco Jessica R. , Demaria Thainá M. , Esteves Amanda M. , Leandro João Gabriel B. , Ochioni Alan C. , Mendonça Ana Paula M. , Palhano Fernando L. , Oliveira Marcus F. , Abou-Kheir Wassim , Sola-Penna Mauro , Zancan Patricia
Published: November 2020

Melanoma is the most aggressive and fatal type of skin cancer due to being highly proliferative. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA; Aspirin) and salicylic acid (SA) are ancient drugs with multiple applications in medicine. Here, we showed that ASA and SA present anticancer effects against a murine model of implanted melanoma. These effects were also validated in 3D- and 2D-cultured melanoma B16F10 cells, where the drugs promoted pro-apoptotic effects. In both in vivo and in vitro models, SA and ASA triggered endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which culminates with the upregulation of the pro-apoptotic transcription factor C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP). These effects are initiated by ASA/SA-triggered Akt/mTOR/AMPK-dependent activation of nitric oxide synthase 3 (eNOS), which increases nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species production inducing ER stress response. In the end, we propose that ASA and SA instigate anticancer effects by a novel mechanism, the activation of ER stress.
Identification of a nuclear localization signal in the Plasmodium falciparum CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase enzyme
Authors: Izrael Richard , Marton Lívia , Nagy Gergely N. , Pálinkás Hajnalka L. , Kucsma Nóra , Vértessy Beáta G.
Published: November 2020

The phospholipid biosynthesis of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum is a key process for its survival and its inhibition is a validated antimalarial therapeutic approach. The second and rate-limiting step of the de novo phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis is catalysed by CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (PfCCT), which has a key regulatory function within the pathway. Here, we investigate the functional impact of the key structural differences and their respective role in the structurally unique pseudo-heterodimer PfCCT protein in a heterologous cellular context using the thermosensitive CCT-mutant CHO-MT58 cell line. We found that a Plasmodium-specific lysine-rich insertion within the catalytic domain of PfCCT acts as a nuclear localization signal and its deletion decreases the nuclear propensity of the protein in the model cell line. We further showed that the putative membrane-binding domain also affected the nuclear localization of the protein. Moreover, activation of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis by phospholipase C treatment induces the partial nuclear-to-cytoplasmic translocation of PfCCT. We additionally investigated the cellular function of several PfCCT truncated constructs in a CHO-MT58 based rescue assay. In absence of the endogenous CCT activity we observed that truncated constructs lacking the lysine-rich insertion, or the membrane-binding domain provided similar cell survival ratio as the full length PfCCT protein.
Seasonal patterns in stable isotope and fatty acid profiles of southern stingrays (Hypanus americana) at Stingray City Sandbar, Grand Cayman
Authors: Hoopes Lisa A. , Clauss Tonya M. , Browning Nicole E. , Delaune Alexa J. , Wetherbee Bradley M. , Shivji Mahmood , Harvey Jessica C. , Harvey Guy C. M.
Published: November 2020

Ecotourism opportunities in the marine environment often rely heavily on provisioning to ensure the viewing of cryptic species by the public. However, intentional feeding of wildlife can impact numerous aspects of an animals’ behavior and ecology. Southern stingrays (Hypanus americana) provisioned at Stingray City Sandbar (SCS) in Grand Cayman have altered diel activity patterns and decreased measures of health. This study looked at seasonal changes in stable isotope (SI) and fatty acid (FA) profiles of provisioned stingrays at SCS. Plasma δ15N was higher in male stingrays (11.86 ± 1.71‰) compared to females (10.70 ± 1.71‰). Lower values for δ15N in males and females were measured in October during low tourist season, suggesting stingrays may be forced to rely on native prey items to supplement the decreased amount of provisioned squid available during this time. Plasma FA profiles were significantly different between sexes and across sampling time points, with FAs 22:6n3, 16:0, 20:5n3, 18:1n3C, 18:0 and 18:1n9T contributing to dissimilarity scores between groups. Dietary FAs primarily contributed to differences between males and females lending further evidence to differences in foraging patterns at SCS, likely due to intraspecific competition. Further, canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) analysis of FA profiles suggest similar diets during peak tourist season and differences in diet between males and females during the low season. This study demonstrates alterations in feeding ecology in stingrays at SCS which is of critical importance for effective management of the SCS aggregation.