bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Beta-2 Adrenergic and Glucocorticoid Receptor Agonists Modulate Ozone-Induced Pulmonary Protein Leakage and Inflammation in Healthy and Adrenalectomized Rats
Authors: Henriquez Andres R , Snow Samantha J , Schladweiler Mette C , Miller Colette N , Dye Janice A , Ledbetter Allen D , Richards Judy E , Hargrove Marie M , Williams Wanda C , Kodavanti Urmila P
Published: August 2018

We have shown that acute ozone inhalation activates sympathetic-adrenal-medullary and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal stress axes, and adrenalectomy (AD) inhibits ozone-induced lung injury and inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that stress hormone receptor agonists (β2 adrenergic-β2AR and glucocorticoid-GR) will restore the ozone injury phenotype in AD, while exacerbating effects in sham-surgery (SH) rats. Male Wistar Kyoto rats that underwent SH or AD were treated with vehicles (saline + corn oil) or β2AR agonist clenbuterol (CLEN, 0.2 mg/kg, i.p.) + GR agonist dexamethasone (DEX, 2 mg/kg, s.c.) for 1 day and immediately prior to each day of exposure to filtered air or ozone (0.8 ppm, 4 h/day for 1 or 2 days). Ozone-induced increases in PenH and peak-expiratory flow were exacerbated in CLEN+DEX-treated SH and AD rats. CLEN+DEX affected breath waveform in all rats. Ozone exposure in vehicle-treated SH rats increased bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) protein, N-acetyl glucosaminidase activity (macrophage activation), neutrophils, and lung cytokine expression while reducing circulating lymphocyte subpopulations. AD reduced these ozone effects in vehicle-treated rats. At the doses used herein, CLEN+DEX treatment reversed the protection offered by AD and exacerbated most ozone-induced lung effects while diminishing circulating lymphocytes. CLEN+DEX in air-exposed SH rats also induced marked protein leakage and reduced circulating lymphocytes but did not increase BALF neutrophils. In conclusion, circulating stress hormones and their receptors mediate ozone-induced vascular leakage and inflammatory cell trafficking to the lung. Those receiving β2AR and GR agonists for chronic pulmonary diseases, or with increased circulating stress hormones due to psychosocial stresses, might have altered sensitivity to air pollution.
ACOs' Impact on Hospitalization Rates of Rural Older Adults With Diabetes
Authors: Lin Yi-Ling , Ortiz Judith , Boor Celeste
Published: August 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (SSP ACOs), along with other factors, on diabetes-related hospitalization rates for rural older adults. Using an early year of the SSP ACO program, we conducted multiple linear regressions to examine the effect of ACO participation on African American and white older adults. In neither model was ACO affiliation found to have a statistically significant impact on diabetes-related hospitalization rates. This study provides baseline measures for patient outcomes during the initial years of ACO formation.
Prognostic value of prehospital quick sequential organ failure assessment score among patients with suspected infection
Authors: Vaittinada Ayar Prabakar , Delay Mathieu , Avondo Aurélie , Duchateau François-Xavier , Nadiras Pierre , Lapostolle Frédéric , Chouihed Tahar , Freund Yonathan
Published: August 2018

Objective

After the third international consensus on sepsis released its new definitions, the prognostic value of quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score has been confirmed in the emergency department. However, its validity in the prehospital setting remains unknown. The objective of the study was to assess its accuracy for prehospital patients cared by emergency physician-staffed ambulances (services mobiles d’urgence et de réanimation SMUR).

Patients and methods

This was a prospective observational multicenter cohort study (N = 6). All consecutive patients with prehospital clinical suspicion of infection by the emergency physician of the SMUR emergency medical service were included. Components of qSOFA were collected, and the patients were followed until hospital discharge. The primary end point was in-hospital mortality, censored at 28 days. Secondary end points included ICU admission longer than 72 h and a composite of ‘death or ICU stay more than 72 h’.

Results

We screened 342 patients and included 332 in the analysis. Their mean age was 73 years, 159 (48%) were women, and the most common site of infection was respiratory (73% of cases). qSOFA was at least 2 in 133 (40%) patients. The overall in-hospital mortality was 27%: 41% in patients with qSOFA of at least 2 versus 18% for qSOFA less than 2 (absolute difference 23%; 95% confidence interval: 13–33%, P < 0.001). The overall discrimination for qSOFA was poor, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.69 (95% confidence interval: 0.62–0.74).

Conclusion

In this large multicenter study, prehospital qSOFA presents a strong association with mortality in infected patient, though with poor prognostic performances in our severely ill sample.
Comparison of Perioperative Outcomes Between Laparoscopic and Open Approach for Pancreatoduodenectomy
Authors: Poves Ignasi , Burdío Fernando , Morató Olga , Iglesias Mar , Radosevic Aleksander , Ilzarbe Lucas , Visa Laura , Grande Luís
Published: August 2018

Objective:

To compare perioperative outcomes of pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) performed through the laparoscopic route or by open surgery.

Summary Background Data:

Laparoscopic PD is being progressively performed in selected patients.

Methods:

An open-label single-center RCT was conducted between February 2013 and September 2017. The primary endpoint was the length of hospital stay (LOS). Secondary endpoints were operative time, transfusion requirements, specific pancreatic complications (pancreatic or biliary fistula, pancreatic hemorrhage, and delayed gastric emptying), Clavien–Dindo grade ≥ 3 complications, comprehensive complication index (CCI) score, poor quality outcome (PQO), and the quality of pathologic resection. Analyses were performed on an intention to treat basis.

Results:

Of 86 patients assessed for PD, 66 were randomized (34 laparoscopic approach, 32 open surgery). Conversion to an open procedure was needed in 8 (23.5%) patients. Laparoscopic versus open PD was associated with a significantly shorter LOS (median 13.5 vs. 17 d; P = 0.024) and longer median operative time (486 vs. 365 min; P = 0.0001). The laparoscopic approach was associated with significantly better outcomes regarding Clavien–Dindo grade ≥ 3 complications (5 vs. 11 patients; P = 0.04), CCI score (20.6 vs. 29.6; P = 0.038), and PQO (10 vs. 14 patients; P = 0.041). No significant differences in transfusion requirements, pancreas-specific complications, the number of lymph nodes retrieved, and resection margins between the two approaches were found.

Conclusions:

Laparoscopic PD versus open surgery is associated with a shorter LOS and a more favorable postoperative course while maintaining oncological standards of a curative-intent surgical resection.

Trial registry:

ISRCTN93168938.
Exercise Improves Outcomes of Surgery on Fatty Liver in Mice
Authors: Linecker Michael , Frick Lukas , Kron Philipp , Limani Perparim , Kambakamba Patryk , Tschuor Christoph , Langiewicz Magda , Kachaylo Ekaterina , Tian Yinghua , Schneider Marcel A. , Ungethüm Udo , Calo Nicolas , Foti Michelangelo , Dufour Jean-François , Graf Rolf , Humar Bostjan , Clavien Pierre-Alain
Published: August 2018

Objective:

To investigate whether exercise improves outcomes of surgery on fatty liver, and whether pharmacological approaches can substitute exercising programs.

Summary of Background Data:

Steatosis is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome, and decreases the liver's ability to handle inflammatory stress or to regenerate after tissue loss. Exercise activates adenosine monophosphate-activated kinase (AMPK) and mitigates steatosis; however, its impact on ischemia-reperfusion injury and regeneration is unknown.

Methods:

We used a mouse model of simple, diet-induced steatosis and assessed the impact of exercise on metabolic parameters, ischemia-reperfusion injury and regeneration after hepatectomy. The same parameters were evaluated after treatment of mice with the AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR). Mice on a control diet served as age-matched controls.

Results:

A 4-week-exercising program reversed steatosis, lowered insulin levels, and improved glucose tolerance. Exercise markedly enhanced the ischemic tolerance and the regenerative capacity of fatty liver. Replacing exercise with AICAR was sufficient to replicate the above benefits. Both exercise and AICAR improved survival after extended hepatectomy in mice challenged with a Western diet, indicating protection from resection-induced liver failure.

Conclusions:

Exercise efficiently counteracts the metabolic, ischemic, and regenerative deficits of fatty liver. AICAR acts as an exercise mimetic in settings of fatty liver disease, an important finding given the compliance issues associated with exercise. Exercising, or its substitution through AICAR, may provide a feasible strategy to negate the hepatic consequences of energy-rich diet, and has the potential to extend the application of liver surgery if confirmed in humans.
POEMS syndrome
Authors: Keddie Stephen , Lunn Michael P.
Published: August 2018

Purpose of review

To provide an overview of polyneuropathy organomegaly endocrinopathy M-protein and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome, detailing new insights into pathogenesis, prognostic factors, treatments, and outcome scores.

Recent findings

With the development of large multicentre national cohorts of patients, POEMS syndrome is evolving into a well characterized multisystem hematoneurological syndrome. Without early diagnosis significant disability results from the neuropathy. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a useful and accurate biomarker supporting diagnosis and following disease activity. The past decade has seen a number of therapeutics become available to patients with POEMS, repurposed from myeloma treatment. Simple treatment algorithms are based on the extent of monoclonal proliferation and the performance status of patients. Risk factors, prognostic scores, and their impact on outcome measures have been developed from deeply phenotyped patient cohorts to predict response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival.

Understanding links between the monoclonal lambda plasma cell disorder and resulting proinflammatory cytokine milieu is fundamental to determining POEMS syndrome pathophysiology. Similarities to chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy and some other monoclonal proliferative diseases makes POEMS misdiagnosis common. A range of treatments are available, and more work to identify pathogenic mechanisms and treatment targets and prognostic scores will further enable treatment stratification for optimum outcomes.
Brigitte Alice Askonas. 1 April 1923—9 January 2013
Authors: McMichael Andrew J. , Ogilvie Bridget M.
Published: August 2018

Brigitte Alice (Ita) Askonas, immunologist and biochemist, was born in Vienna to Czech parents. After an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at McGill University, Montreal, and a life changing experience as a PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK, she spent 36 years at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) where she was a founding member of the Division of Immunology there, eventually becoming its head in 1976 until her formal retirement in 1988. Thereafter, until her death 25 years later, she continued to take an active interest in immunology research, advising scientists at all levels and especially in training young scientists, ensuring they were not mistreated, ignored or not properly acknowledged.

Her influence came from her six decades of active involvement in research into many aspects of immunology, studying antibody production, the role of macrophages in antigen recognition and immunosuppression and the role of T lymphocytes in viral infection. This unusually wide experience supported by her biochemical training underlay her reputation for rigour in scientific experimentation, eye for detail and an exacting memory.

She was renowned as a scientific mentor and many high-profile scientists learnt their craft in her laboratory and were introduced there into areas of immunology where they subsequently became well known. She was simultaneously very critical and a really good friend who looked after people. She had an exceptionally generous attitude to publication and was thoughtful in many personal ways. She especially valued friends and colleagues who amused her, a quality obvious from her earliest days until the very end of her life.
John Conrad Waterlow. 13 June 1916—19 October 2010
Authors: Millward D. Joe
Published: August 2018

John Waterlow was an inspiring clinical and laboratory-based nutritional scientist, who was recognized as paterfamilias of a large, international and influential group of distinguished acolytes. His early work was characterized by study of the nature and clinical management of infantile malnutrition, notably as director of the MRC's Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, which he established in Jamaica in 1954. His London period, from 1970 until and beyond his official retirement in 1982, involved him as Head of the Nutrition Department at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Here he established a Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Unit to continue his experimental animal and human studies researching protein metabolism; he also assumed the role of the the UK's most influential public health nutritionist, becoming President of the Nutrition Society. Like all great scientists, his work encompassed a very wide range of scientific disciplines, although he modestly described himself as a physiologist, consistent with his primary Cambridge training. Above all, throughout his career, he was happiest as an experimentalist at the bench, from his first assignment studying heat stroke of British troops in the Iraq desert during the Second World War to his measurement of [
15
N] enrichment in urea as part of his study of whole-body protein turnover just prior to his retirement, working with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer which, like much of the equipment he used, he had largely assembled himself.
Neutron reflectometry with the Multi-Blade
10
B-based detector
Authors: Mauri G. , Messi F. , Anastasopoulos M. , Arnold T. , Glavic A. , Höglund C. , Ilves T. , Lopez Higuera I. , Pazmandi P. , Raspino D. , Robinson L. , Schmidt S. , Svensson P. , Varga D. , Hall-Wilton R. , Piscitelli F.
Published: August 2018

The Multi-Blade is a boron-10-based gaseous detector developed for neutron reflectometry instruments at the European Spallation Source in Sweden. The main challenges for neutron reflectometry detectors are the instantaneous counting rate and spatial resolution. The Multi-Blade has been tested on the CRISP reflectometer at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source in the UK. A campaign of scientific measurements has been performed to study the Multi-Blade response in real instrumental conditions. The results of these tests are discussed in this paper.
Environmental factors drive language density more in food-producing than in hunter–gatherer populations
Authors: Derungs Curdin , Köhl Martina , Weibel Robert , Bickel Balthasar
Published: August 2018

Linguistic diversity is a key aspect of human population diversity and shapes much of our social and cognitive lives. To a considerable extent, the distribution of this diversity is driven by environmental factors such as climate or coast access. An unresolved question is whether the relevant factors have remained constant over time. Here, we address this question at a global scale. We approximate the difference between pre- versus post-Neolithic populations by the difference between modern hunter–gatherer versus food-producing populations. Using a novel geostatistical approach of estimating language and language family densities, we show that environmental—chiefly climate factors—have driven the language density of food-producing populations considerably more strongly than the language density of hunter–gatherer populations. Current evidence suggests that the population dynamics of modern hunter–gatherers is very similar to that of what can be reconstructed from the Palaeolithic record. Based on this, we cautiously infer that the impact of environmental factors on language densities underwent a substantial change with the transition to agriculture. After this transition, the environmental impact on language diversity in food-producing populations has remained relatively stable since it can also be detected—albeit in slightly weaker form—in models that capture the reduced linguistic diversity during large-scale language spreads in the Mid-Holocene.
Increased fluctuation in a butterfly metapopulation leads to diploid males and decline of a hyperparasitoid
Authors: Nair Abhilash , Nonaka Etsuko , van Nouhuys Saskya
Published: August 2018

Climate change can increase spatial synchrony of population dynamics, leading to large-scale fluctuation that destabilizes communities. High trophic level species such as parasitoids are disproportionally affected because they depend on unstable resources. Most parasitoid wasps have complementary sex determination, producing sterile males when inbred, which can theoretically lead to population extinction via the diploid male vortex (DMV). We examined this process empirically using a hyperparasitoid population inhabiting a spatially structured host population in a large fragmented landscape. Over four years of high host butterfly metapopulation fluctuation, diploid male production by the wasp increased, and effective population size declined precipitously. Our multitrophic spatially structured model shows that host population fluctuation can cause local extinctions of the hyperparasitoid because of the DMV. However, regionally it persists because spatial structure allows for efficient local genetic rescue via balancing selection for rare alleles carried by immigrants. This is, to our knowledge, the first empirically based study of the possibility of the DMV in a natural host–parasitoid system.
Single neuron serotonin receptor subtype gene expression correlates with behaviour within and across three molluscan species
Authors: Tamvacakis A. N. , Senatore A. , Katz P. S.
Published: August 2018

The marine mollusc,
Pleurobranchaea californica
varies daily in whether it swims and this correlates with whether serotonin (5-HT) enhances the strength of synapses made by the swim central pattern generator neuron, A1/C2. Another species,
Tritonia diomedea
, reliably swims and does not vary in serotonergic neuromodulation. A third species,
Hermissenda crassicornis
, never produces this behaviour and lacks the neuromodulation. We found that expression of particular 5-HT receptor subtype (5-HTR) genes in single neurons correlates with swimming. Orthologues to seven 5-HTR genes were identified from whole-brain transcriptomes. We isolated individual A1/C2 neurons and sequenced their RNA or measured 5-HTR gene expression using absolute quantitative PCR. A1/C2 neurons isolated from
Pleurobranchaea
that produced a swim motor pattern just prior to isolation expressed 5-HT2a and 5-HT7 receptor genes, as did all
Tritonia
samples. These subtypes were absent from A1/C2 isolated from
Pleurobranchaea
that did not
s
wim on that day and from
Hermissenda
A1/C2 neurons. Expression of other receptors was not correlated with swimming. This suggests that these 5-HTRs may mediate the modulation of A1/C2 synaptic strength and play an important role in swimming. Furthermore, it suggests that regulation of receptor expression could underlie daily changes in behaviour as well as evolution of behaviour.
A new Palaeocene crocodylian from southern Argentina sheds light on the early history of caimanines
Authors: Bona Paula , Ezcurra Martín D. , Barrios Francisco , Fernandez Blanco María V.
Published: August 2018

Caimanines are crocodylians currently restricted to South and Central America and the oldest members are from lower Palaeocene localities of the Salamanca Formation (Chubut Province, Argentina). We report here a new caimanine from this same unit represented by a skull roof and partial braincase. Its phylogenetic relationships were explored in a cladistic analysis using standard characters and a morphogeometric two-dimensional configuration of the skull roof. The phylogenetic results were used for an event-based supermodel quantitative palaeobiogeographic analysis. The new species is recovered as the most basal member of the South American caimanines, and the Cretaceous North American lineage ‘
Brachychampsa
and related forms' as the most basal Caimaninae. The biogeographic results estimated north-central North America as the ancestral area of Caimaninae, showing that the Cretaceous and Palaeocene species of the group were more widespread than thought and became regionally extinct in North America around the Cretaceous–Palaeocene boundary. A dispersal event from north-central North America during the middle Late Cretaceous explains the arrival of the group to South America. The Palaeogene assemblage of Patagonian crocodylians is composed of three lineages of caimanines as a consequence of independent dispersal events that occurred between North and South America and within South America around the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary.
Facilitation costs and benefits function simultaneously on stress gradients for animals
Authors: Dangles Olivier , Herrera Mario , Carpio Carlos , Lortie Christopher J.
Published: August 2018

Understanding the variation in species interactions along environmental stress gradients is crucial for making robust ecological predictions about community responses to changing environmental conditions. The facilitation–competition framework has provided a strong basis for predictions (e.g. the stress-gradient hypothesis, SGH), yet the mechanisms behind patterns in animal interactions on stress gradients are poorly explored in particular for mobile animals. Here, we proposed a conceptual framework modelling changes in facilitation costs and benefits along stress gradients and experimentally tested this framework by measuring fitness outcomes of benefactor–beneficiary interactions across resource quality levels. Three arthropod consumer models from a broad array of environmental conditions were used including aquatic detritivores, potato moths and rainforest carrion beetles. We detected a shift to more positive interactions at increasing levels of stress thereby supporting the application of the SGH to mobile animals. While most benefactors paid no significant cost of facilitation, an increase in potato moth beneficiary's growth at high resource stress triggered costs for benefactors. This study is the first to experimentally show that both costs and benefits function simultaneously on stress gradients for animals. The proposed conceptual framework could guide future studies examining species interaction outcomes for both animals and plants in an increasingly stressed world.
Historical data for conservation: reconstructing range changes of Chinese pangolin (
Manis pentadactyla
) in eastern China (1970–2016)
Authors: Yang Li , Chen Minhao , Challender Daniel W. S. , Waterman Carly , Zhang Chao , Huo Zhaomin , Liu Hongwei , Luan Xiaofeng
Published: August 2018

The Chinese pangolin (
Manis pentadactyla
) has long suffered from intense exploitation driven by consumer demand for medicinal use and food. Effective conservation management is hampered by insufficient data on pangolin status and distribution. We integrated ecological niche modelling with long-term ecological records at the local scale (e.g. from local historical documents, grey and published literature and interviews) to estimate the magnitude of potential distribution change of the Chinese pangolin in eastern China (Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces) over time. Our results suggest that the range of the species decreased by 52.20% between the 1970s and early 2000s and that the population is now mainly confined to the Wuyi Mountains. This reduction in potential distribution range is attributable to anthropogenic pressures. According to our conservation prioritization analysis, the priority conservation area for the Chinese pangolin in eastern China is 51 268.4 km
2
, 5.62% of which is covered by nature reserves. There are 18 nature reserves and 46 prefectures which are priority areas for conservation in China. The priority-level nature reserves and prefectures in eastern China are mainly located in the centre of the Wuyi Mountains, and areas declared important tend to be around the Wuyi Mountains. We propose several actions to improve the conservation status of this species: establish or enlarge nature reserves, ensure local governments at the prefecture level prioritize conservation management and encourage local communities to participate in pangolin conservation.
Metabolic rates, climate and macroevolution: a case study using Neogene molluscs
Authors: Strotz Luke C. , Saupe Erin E. , Kimmig Julien , Lieberman Bruce S.
Published: August 2018

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is posited to be a fundamental control on the structure and dynamics of ecological networks, influencing organism resource use and rates of senescence. Differences in the maintenance energy requirements of individual species therefore potentially predict extinction likelihood. If validated, this would comprise an important link between organismic ecology and macroevolutionary dynamics. To test this hypothesis, the BMRs of organisms within fossil species were determined using body size and temperature data, and considered in the light of species' survival and extinction through time. Our analysis focused on the high-resolution record of Pliocene to recent molluscs (bivalves and gastropods) from the Western Atlantic. Species-specific BMRs were calculated by measuring the size range of specimens from museum collections, determining ocean temperature using the HadCM3 global climate model, and deriving values based on relevant equations. Intriguingly, a statistically significant difference in metabolic rate exists between those bivalve and gastropod taxa that went extinct and those that survived throughout the course of the Neogene. This indicates that there is a scaling up from organismic properties to species survival for these communities. Metabolic rate could therefore represent an important metric for predicting future extinction patterns, with changes in global climate potentially affecting the lifespan of individuals, ultimately leading to the extinction of the species they are contained within. We also find that, at the assemblage level, there are no significant differences in metabolic rates for different time intervals throughout the entire study period. This may suggest that Neogene mollusc communities have remained energetically stable, despite many extinctions.
Direct and indirect effects of chemical contaminants on the behaviour, ecology and evolution of wildlife
Authors: Saaristo Minna , Brodin Tomas , Balshine Sigal , Bertram Michael G. , Brooks Bryan W. , Ehlman Sean M. , McCallum Erin S. , Sih Andrew , Sundin Josefin , Wong Bob B. M. , Arnold Kathryn E.
Published: August 2018

Chemical contaminants (e.g. metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals) are changing ecosystems via effects on wildlife. Indeed, recent work explicitly performed under environmentally realistic conditions reveals that chemical contaminants can have both direct and indirect effects at multiple levels of organization by influencing animal behaviour. Altered behaviour reflects multiple physiological changes and links individual- to population-level processes, thereby representing a sensitive tool for holistically assessing impacts of environmentally relevant contaminant concentrations. Here, we show that even if direct effects of contaminants on behavioural responses are reasonably well documented, there are significant knowledge gaps in understanding both the plasticity (i.e. individual variation) and evolution of contaminant-induced behavioural changes. We explore implications of multi-level processes by developing a conceptual framework that integrates direct and indirect effects on behaviour under environmentally realistic contexts. Our framework illustrates how sublethal behavioural effects of contaminants can be both negative and positive, varying dynamically within the same individuals and populations. This is because linkages within communities will act indirectly to alter and even magnify contaminant-induced effects. Given the increasing pressure on wildlife and ecosystems from chemical pollution, we argue there is a need to incorporate existing knowledge in ecology and evolution to improve ecological hazard and risk assessments.
The ‘Woman in Red’ effect: pipefish males curb pregnancies at the sight of an attractive female
Authors: Cunha M. , Berglund A. , Mendes S. , Monteiro N.
Published: August 2018

In an old Gene Wilder movie, an attractive woman dressed in red devastated a man's current relationship. We have found a similar ‘Woman in Red’ effect in pipefish, a group of fish where pregnancy occurs in males. We tested for the existence of pregnancy blocks in pregnant male black-striped pipefish (
Syngnathus abaster
). We allowed pregnant males to see females that were larger and even more attractive than their original high-quality mates and monitored the survival and growth of developing offspring. After exposure to these extremely attractive females, males produced smaller offspring in more heterogeneous broods and showed a higher rate of spontaneous offspring abortion. Although we did not observe a full pregnancy block, our results show that males are able to reduce investment in current broods when faced with prospects of a more successful future reproduction with a potentially better mate. This ‘Woman in Red’ life-history trade-off between present and future reproduction has similarities to the Bruce effect, and our study represents, to our knowledge, the first documentation of such a phenomenon outside mammals.
A morphological novelty evolved by co-option of a reduced gene regulatory network and gene recruitment in a beetle
Authors: Hu Yonggang , Schmitt-Engel Christian , Schwirz Jonas , Stroehlein Nadi , Richter Tobias , Majumdar Upalparna , Bucher Gregor
Published: August 2018

The mechanisms underlying the evolution of morphological novelties have remained enigmatic but co-option of existing gene regulatory networks (GRNs), recruitment of genes and the evolution of orphan genes have all been suggested to contribute. Here, we study a morphological novelty of beetle pupae called gin-trap. By combining the classical candidate gene approach with unbiased screening in the beetleTribolium castaneum, we find that 70% of the tested components of the wing network were required for gin-trap development. However, many downstream and even upstream components were not included in the co-opted network. Only one gene was recruited from another biological context, but it was essential for the anteroposterior symmetry of the gin-traps, which represents a gin-trap-unique morphological innovation. Our data highlight the importance of co-option and modification of GRNs. The recruitment of single genes may not be frequent in the evolution of morphological novelties, but may be essential for subsequent diversification of the novelties. Finally, after having screened about 28% of annotated genes in theTriboliumgenome to identify the genes required for gin-trap development, we found none of them are orphan genes, suggesting that orphan genes may have played only a minor, if any, role in the evolution of gin-traps.
The SUMO conjugation complex self-assembles into nuclear bodies independent of SIZ1 and COP1
Authors: Mazur Magdalena J. , Kwaaitaal Mark , Mateos Manuel Arroyo , Maio Francesca , Kini Ramachandra K. , Prins Marcel , van den Burg Harrold A.
Published: August 2018

One sentence Summary

SUMO conjugation activity causes formation of SUMO nuclear bodies, which strongly overlap with COP1 bodies thanks to a substrate-binding (VP) motif in the E3 ligase SIZ1 that acts as bridge protein.

Attachment of the small ubiquitin-like modifier SUMO to substrate proteins modulates their turnover, activity or interaction partners. An unresolved question is how this SUMO conjugation activity concentrates the enzymes involved and the substrates into uncharacterized nuclear bodies (NBs). We here define the requirements for the formation of SUMO NBs and for their subsequent co-localisation with the master regulator of growth, the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1. COP1 activity results in degradation of transcription factors, which primes the transcriptional response that underlies elongation growth induced by night-time and high ambient temperatures (skoto- and thermomorphogenesis, respectively). SUMO conjugation activity itself is sufficient to target the SUMO machinery into NBs. Co-localization of these bodies with COP1 requires besides SUMO conjugation activity, a SUMO acceptor site in COP1 and the SUMO E3 ligase SIZ1. We find that SIZ1 docks in the substrate-binding pocket of COP1 via two VP motifs - a known peptide motif of COP1 substrates. The data reveal that SIZ1 physically connects COP1 and SUMO conjugation activity in the same NBs that can also contain the blue-light receptors CRY1 and CRY2. Our findings thus suggest that sumoylation apparently coordinates COP1 activity inside these NBs; a mechanism that potentially explains how SIZ1 and SUMO both control the timing and amplitude of the high-temperature growth response. The strong co-localization of COP1 and SUMO in these NBs might also explain why many COP1 substrates are sumoylated.

Funding information

The Netherlands Scientific Organisation (ALW-VIDI grant 864.10.004 to HvdB) and the Topsector T&U program Better Plants for Demands (grant 1409-036 to HvdB), including the partnering breeding companies, supported this work; FM is financially supported by Keygene N.V. (The Netherlands).
Songs in the understory and colors in the canopy: habitat structure leads to different avian communication strategies in a tropical montane forest
Authors: Laverde-R Oscar , Cadena Carlos Daniel
Published: August 2018

Birds inhabit a variety of habitats and they communicate using primarily visual and acoustic signals; two central hypotheses have been postulated to study the evolution of such a signals. The sensory drive hypothesis posits that variation in the physical properties of habitats leads to variation in natural selection pressures by affecting the ease with which different types of signals are perceived. Assuming that resources are limited for animals, the transfer hypothesis predicts a negative relationship between the investments in different types of signals. We evaluated these two hypotheses in a tropical montane forest bird assemblage. We also postulate a possible interaction between these two hypotheses: we predicted that the negative relationships between signals should be observed only when jointly considering birds from different environments (e.g. understory and canopy) due to the expected differences in communication strategies between habitats. The sensory drive hypothesis was supported by the differences we found between strata in vocal output, patch contrast to background and color conspicuousness, but not for the variables associated to song elaboration and hue disparity. We found support for the transfer hypothesis: birds with colors contrasting less against the background sing more frequently and birds with lower diversity of colors produce longer songs, understory birds showed also a negative relationship between signals, but only when accounting for phylogeny. We found partial support for the interaction between the sensory drive and the transfer hypotheses: hue disparity and vocal output were negatively related only when analyzing together birds from the canopy and the understory, but not when analyzing them separately. We conclude that the study of the evolution of communication signals needs to consider more than one channel and the functional interactions between them. The results of the interaction of optimal signaling strategies in two communication channels in the local habitats where animals signaling, are the patterns of colors and songs we revealed in a tropical montane forest bird assemblage.
TheRhizoctonia solaniRsLysM and RsRlpA effector proteins contribute to virulence by suppressing chitin-triggered immunity and hypersensitive response
Authors: Dölfors Fredrik , Holmquist Louise , Moschou Panagiotis N. , Dixelius Christina , Tzelepis Georgios
Published: August 2018

Rhizoctonia(in Greek “root-killer”) species and particularlyR. solaniattacks a broad range of plant species and crops. It belongs to Basidiomycota and is a soil-borne pathogen causing mainly damping-off diseases of seedlings and root rot, although it can infect plants in any stage. Despite the severity of this disease, many aspects inR. solaniinfection biology still remain to be elucidated. Here we investigated the role of two effector candidates, predicted from the genome of aR. solaniAG2-2IIIB strain that uses sugar beet as a host. Gene expression analysis showed that genes encoding for a LysM effector and a rare lipoprotein-A-like protein (RsRlpA) were induced upon early infection stages. When heterologous expressed inCercospora beticolathe two genes contributed to virulence. The RsLysM effector showed chitin‐ binding affinity and suppression of chitin-triggered immunity but could not protect hyphae from hydrolysis. The RsRlpA effector suppressed hypersensitive response inNicotiana benthamianaleaves. Overall, this study provides us with valuable information onR. solaniinfection biology, implying that this organism relies on mechanisms similar to hemibiotrophic pathogens in order to establish a successful infection.
Performance evaluation of inverse methods for identification and characterization of oscillatory brain sources: Ground truth validation & empirical evidences
Authors: Halder Tamesh , Talwar Siddharth , Jaiswal Amit Kumar , Banerjee Arpan
Published: August 2018

Oscillatory brain electromagnetic activity is an established tool to study neurophysiological mechanisms of human behavior using electro-encephalogram (EEG) and magneto-encephalogram (MEG) techniques. Often, to extract source level information in the cortex, researchers have to rely on inverse techniques that generate probabilistic estimation of the cortical activation underlying EEG/ MEG data from sensors located outside the body. State of the art source localization methods using current density estimates such as exact low resolution electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA) and minimum norm estimates (MNE) as well as beamformers such as Dynamic Imaging of Coherent Sources (DICS) and Linearly Constrained Minimum Variance (LCMV) have over the years been established as the prominent techniques of choice. However, these algorithms produce a distributed map of brain activity underlying sustained and transient responses during neuroimaging studies of behavior. Furthermore, the volume conduction effects, phase lags between sources and noise of the environment play a considerable role in adding uncertainty to source localization. There are very few comparative analyses that evaluates the “ground truth detection” capabilities of these methods and evaluates their efficacies based on sources in temporal cortex relevant for auditory processing as well as mesial temporal lobe epilepsies. In this Methods article, we compare the aforementioned techniques to estimate sources of spectral event generators in the cortex using a two-pronged approach. First, we simulated EEG data with point dipole (single and two-point), as well as, distributed dipole modelling techniques to validate the accuracy and sensitivity of each one of these methods of source localization. The abilities of the techniques were tested by comparing the localization error, focal width, false positive ratios while detecting already known location of neural activity generators under varying signal to noise ratios and depths of sources from cortical surface. Secondly, we performed source localization on empricial EEG data collected from human participants while they listened to rhythmic tone stimuli binaurally. Importantly, we found a less-distributed activation map is generated by LCMV and DICS when compared to eLORETA. However, control of false positives is much superior in eLORETA especially while using realistic distributed dipole scenarios. We also highlight the strengths and drawbacks of eLORETA, LCMV and DICS following a comprehensive analysis of simulated and empirical EEG data.
Xenopus hybrids provide insight into cell and organism size control
Authors: Gibeaux Romain , Miller Kelly , Acker Rachael , Kwon Taejoon , Heald Rebecca
Published: August 2018

Determining how size is controlled is a fundamental question in biology that is poorly understood at the organismal, cellular and subcellular levels. The Xenopus species, X. laevis and X. tropicalis differ in size at all three of these levels. Despite these differences, fertilization of X. laevis eggs with X. tropicalis sperm gives rise to viable hybrid animals that are intermediate in size. We observed that although hybrid and X. laevis embryogenesis initiates from the same sized zygote and proceeds synchronously through development, hybrid animals were smaller by the tailbud stage, and a change in the ratio of nuclear size to cell size was observed shortly after zygotic genome activation (ZGA), suggesting that differential gene expression contributes to size differences. Transcriptome analysis at the onset of ZGA identified twelve transcription factors paternally expressed in hybrids. A screen of these X. tropicalis factors by expression in X. laevis embryos revealed that Hes7 and Ventx2 significantly reduced X. laevis body length size by the tailbud stage, although nuclear to cell size scaling relationships were not affected as in the hybrid. Together, these results suggest that transcriptional regulation contributes to biological size control in Xenopus.
Circular RNAs regulate cancer stem cells by FMRP against CCAR1 complex in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Wang Hong-Yang , Zhu Yan-Jing , Zheng Bo , Ma Xu-Kai , Lu Xin-Yuan , Lin Xi-Meng , Luo Gui-Juan , Yang Shuai , Zhao Qing , Chen Xin , Yang Ying-Cheng , Liu Xiao-Long , Wu Rui , Liu Jingfeng , Ge Yang , Yang Li , Chen Lei
Published: August 2018

Circular RNA (circRNA) possesses great pre-clinical diagnostic and therapeutic potentials in multiple cancers. However, the underlying correlation between circRNAs and cancer stem cells (CSCs) has not been reported. The absence of circZKSCAN1 endowed several malignant properties including cancer stemness and tightly correlated with worse overall and recurrence-free survival rate in HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis and RNA immunoprecipitation-sequencing (RIP-seq) results revealed that circZKSCAN1 exerted its inhibitive role by competitively binding FMRP, therefore, block the binding between FMRP and β-catenin-binding protein-cell cycle and apoptosis regulator 1 (CCAR1) mRNA, and subsequently restraining the transcriptional activity of Wnt signaling. In addition, RNA-splicing protein Quaking 5 was found downregulated in HCC tissues and responsible for the reduction of circZKSCAN1. Collectively, this study revealed the mechanisms underlying the regulatory role of circZKSCAN1 in HCC CSCs and identified the newly discovered Qki5-circZKSCAN1-FMRP-CCAR1-Wnt signaling axis as a potentially important therapeutic target for HCC treatment.
Computations performed by shadow enhancers and enhancer duplications vary across the Drosophila embryo
Authors: Scholes Clarissa , Biette Kelly M. , Harden Timothy T. , DePace Angela H.
Published: August 2018

Transcription of developmental genes is controlled by multiple enhancers. Frequently, more than one enhancer can activate transcription from the same promoter in the same cells. In these cases, how is regulatory information from multiple enhancers combined to determine the overall expression output of their shared promoter? To investigate this question, we quantified nascent transcription driven by a pair shadow enhancers, each individual of the pair, and their duplications inDrosophilaembryos using live imaging. This set of constructs allows us to quantify the “computation” made by the pairs of enhancers: their combined output expression as a function of the expression that they drive separately. We show that the computation performed by these shadow enhancers and duplications varies across the expression pattern, implying that how their activities are combined depends on the transcriptional regulators bound to the enhancers in different parts of the embryo. Characterizing the computation made by multiple enhancers is a critical first step in developing conceptual and computational models of gene expression at the locus level, where multiple enhancers collaborate.
An Automated Behavioral Apparatus to Assess Distal Forelimb Function in Non-Human Primates
Authors: Totten Douglas , Novik Lisa , Christe Kari , Lemoy Marie-Josee , Roberts Jeffrey , Carmena Jose , Morecraft Robert , Ganguly Karunesh
Published: August 2018

Background

Primate distal forelimb behaviors are commonly assessed using reach-to-grasp tasks. While these tasks are widely recognized as sensitive assays for forelimb function, they often require experimenter input, lack precise temporal cues for physiological monitoring, and can be expensive.

New Method

Using components developed by open-source electronics platforms, we have designed and tested a low-cost system to measure distal forelimb function in non-human primates. Our system is inexpensive; it is made primarily of acrylic and 3D printed plastic parts. Our control software, developed in MATLAB, was also used to control two cameras in order to capture and process video during behavior. The system was equipped with sensors, motors and microcontrollers to control the timing of the task and facilitate synchronization between behavior and neurophysiology with high temporal precision.

Results

We demonstrate that this system can be used to monitor motor recovery after stroke and investigate neurophysiological correlates of motor control.

Comparison with Existing Methods

Compared to a previous version of this task, our setup reduces experimenter input while providing unbiased delivery of behavioral cues and behavioral measurements with the temporal precision necessary for electrophysiological studies.

Conclusions

In summary, our system will allow unbiased monitoring of forelimb function in both healthy and injured animals that is compatible with electrophysiological studies.