bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exhibits stress memory in the accumulation of triacylglycerols induced by nitrogen deprivation
Authors: Mikulski Pawel , Santos-Aberturas Javier
Published: July 2021

Stress memory is a phenomenon whereby exposure to initial stress event influences a response to subsequent stress exposures. Studying stress memory is important to understand the cellular behaviour in dynamic environment, especially nowadays, in times with growing environmental instability. Stress memory has been characterized in vascular plants but its occurrence in non-vascular plant species has been rarely investigated.

We hypothesized that stress memory occurs in non-vascular plants in relation to metabolic stress. We sought to test it using accumulation of lipids (triacylglycerols) in model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii subjected to nitrogen deprivation stress as a model system.

Here, we established stress memory protocol on C. reinhardtii cells. Using a blend of microscopy and gas chromatography methods, we showed that the cells exposed to recurrent stress show differential accumulation of triacylglycerols on the quantitative level without qualitative changes in lipid composition, comparing to single stress controls.

Overall, our results suggest that metabolic stress memory does occur in non-vascular plant C. reinhardtii and provides a starting point to characterize metabolic stress memory mechanism. Due to the commercial potential of algae, our findings are relevant for basic science, as well as industrial production of algae-derived compounds.
Thein vitroandin vivopotency of CT-P59 against Delta and its associated variants of SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Ryu Dong-Kyun , Woo Hye-Min , Kang Bobin , Noh Hanmi , Kim Jong-In , Seo Ji-Min , Kim Cheolmin , Kim Minsoo , Kim Jun-Won , Kim Nayoung , Jeon Pyeonghwa , Lee Hansaem , Yang Jeong-Sun , Kim Kyung-Chang , Lee Joo-Yeon , Lee Min-Ho , Oh Sang-Seok , Chung Hyo-Young , Kwon Ki-Sung , Lee Soo-Young
Published: July 2021

The Delta variant originally from India is rapidly spreading across the world and causes to resurge infections of SARS-CoV-2. We previously reported that CT-P59 presented itsin vivopotency against Beta and Gamma variants, despite its reduced activity in cell experiments. Yet, it remains uncertain to exert the antiviral effect of CT-P59 on the Delta and its associated variants (L452R). To tackle this question, we carried out cell tests and animal study. CT-P59 showed reduced antiviral activity but enabled neutralization against Delta, Epsilon, and Kappa variants in cells. In line within vitroresults, the mouse challenge experiment with the Delta variant substantiatedin vivopotency of CT-P59 showing symptom remission and virus abrogation in the respiratory tract. Collectively, cell and animal studies showed that CT-P59 is effective against the Delta variant infection, hinting that CT-P59 has therapeutic potency for patients infected with Delta and its associated variants.

Highlights

CT-P59 exerts the antiviral effect on authentic Delta, Epsilon and Kappa variants in cell-based experiments.

CT-P59 showed neutralizing potency against variants including Delta, Epsilon, Kappa, L452R, T478K and P681H pseudovirus variants.

The administration of clinically relevant dose of CT-P59 showedin vivo

protection against Delta variants in animal challenge experiment.
Phage Resistance Mechanisms Increase Colistin Sensitivity in Acinetobacter baumannii
Authors: Wang Xiaoqing , Loh Belinda , Yu Yunsong , Hua Xiaoting , Leptihn Sebastian
Published: July 2021

Few emergency-use antibiotics remain for the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Infections with resistant bacteria are becoming increasingly common. Phage therapy has reemerged as a promising strategy to treat such infections, as microbial viruses are not affected by bacterial resistance to antimicrobial compounds. However, phage therapy is impeded by rapid emergence of phage-resistant bacteria during therapy. In this work, we studied phage-resistance of colistin sensitive and resistant A. baumannii strains. Using whole genome sequencing, we determined that phage resistant strains displayed mutations in genes that alter the architecture of the bacterial envelope. In contrast to previous studies where phage-escape mutants showed decreased binding of phages to the bacterial envelope, we obtained several not uninfectable isolates that allowed similar phage adsorption compared to the susceptible strain. When phage-resistant bacteria emerged in the absence of antibiotics, we observed that the colistin resistance levels often decreased, while the antibiotic resistance mechanism per se remained unaltered. In particular the two mutated genes that conveyed phage resistance, a putative amylovoran-biosynthesis and a lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) biosynthesis gene, impact colistin resistance as the mutations increased sensitivity to the antibiotic.
GAN-GMHI: Generative Adversarial Network for high discrimination power in microbiome-based disease prediction
Authors: Li Yuxue , Xie Gang , Zha Yuguo , Ning Kang
Published: July 2021

Gut microbiome-based health index (GMHI) has been applied with success, while the discrimination powers of GMHI varied for different diseases, limiting its utility on a broad-spectrum of diseases. In this work, a generative adversarial network (GAN) model is proposed to improve the discrimination power of GMHI. Built based on the batch corrected data through GAN, GAN-GMHI has largely reduced the batch effects, and profoundly improved the performance for distinguishing healthy individuals and different diseases. GAN-GMHI has provided a solution to unravel the strong association of gut microbiome and diseases, and indicated a more accurate venue toward microbiome-based disease monitoring. The code for GAN-GMHI is available at https://github.com/HUST-NingKang-Lab/GAN-GMHI.

Importance

The association of gut microbiome and diseases has been proven for many diseases, while the transformation of such association to a robust and universal disease prediction model has remained illusive, largely due to the batch effects presents in multiple microbiome cohorts. Our analyses have indicated a plausible venue, which is based on GAN technique, towards batch effect removal for microbiome datasets. GAN-GMHI is a novel method built based on the batch corrected data through GAN, as well as GMHI for prediction of a broad-spectrum of diseases.
TMPRSS2 promotes SARS-CoV-2 evasion from NCOA7-mediated restriction
Authors: Khan H , Winstone H , Jimenez-Guardeño J , Graham C , Doores KJ , Goujon C , Matthews DA , Davidson AD , Rihn SJ , Palmarini M , Neil SJD , Malim MH
Published: July 2021

Interferons play a critical role in regulating host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, but the interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene (ISG) effectors that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 are not well characterized. The IFN-inducible short isoform of human nuclear receptor coactivator 7 (NCOA7) inhibits endocytic virus entry, interacts with the vacuolar ATPase, and promotes endo-lysosomal vesicle acidification and lysosomal protease activity. Here, we used ectopic expression and gene knockout to demonstrate that NCOA7 inhibits infection by SARS-CoV-2 as well as by lentivirus particles pseudotyped with SARS-CoV-2 Spike in lung epithelial cells. Infection with the highly pathogenic, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, or seasonal, HCoV-229E and HCoV-NL63, coronavirus Spike-pseudotyped viruses was also inhibited by NCOA7. Importantly, either overexpression of TMPRSS2, which promotes plasma membrane fusion versus endosomal fusion of SARS-CoV-2, or removal of Spike’s polybasic furin cleavage site rendered SARS-CoV-2 less sensitive to NCOA7 restriction. Collectively, our data indicate that furin cleavage sensitizes SARS-CoV-2 Spike to the antiviral consequences of endosomal acidification by NCOA7, and suggest that the acquisition of furin cleavage may have favoured the co-option of cell surface TMPRSS proteases as a strategy to evade the suppressive effects of IFN-induced endo-lysosomal dysregulation on virus infection.
DNA-damage induced cell death in yap1;wwtr1 mutant epidermal basal cells
Authors: Lai Jason K. H. , Toh Pearlyn J. Y. , Cognart Hamizah A. , Chouhan Geetika , Saunders Timothy E.
Published: July 2021

In a previous study, it was reported that Yap1 and Wwtr1 in zebrafish regulates the morphogenesis of the posterior body and epidermal fin fold (Kimelman, D., et al. 2017). We report here that DNA damage induces apoptosis of epidermal basal cells (EBCs) in zebrafish yap1−/−;wwtr1−/− embryos. Specifically, these mutant EBCs exhibit active Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and γH2AX, consistent with DNA damage serving as a stimulus of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway in epidermal cells. Live imaging of zebrafish epidermal cells reveals a steady growth of basal cell size in the developing embryo, but this growth is inhibited in mutant basal cells followed by apoptosis, leading to the hypothesis that factors underscoring cell size play a role in this DNA damage-induced apoptosis phenotype. We tested two of these factors using cell stretching and substrate stiffness assays, and found that HaCaT cells cultured on stiff substrates exhibit more numerous γH2AX foci compared to ones cultured on soft substrates. Thus, we propose that substrate rigidity modulates genomic stress in the developing epidermal cell, and that Yap1 and Wwtr1 are required for its survival.
The “neural shift” of sleep quality and cognitive ageing: A resting-state MEG study of transient neural dynamics
Authors: Tibon Roni ,   Cam-CAN, Tsvetanov Kamen A.
Published: July 2021

Sleep quality changes dramatically from young to old age, but its effects on brain dynamics and cognitive functions are not yet fully specified. We applied Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to resting-state MEG data from a large cohort (N=564) of population-based adults (aged 18-88), in order to characterize transient neural networks and to relate their temporal dynamics to sleep quality and to cognitive performance. Using multivariate analyses of brain-sleep profiles and of brain-cognition profiles, we found that an age-related “neural shift”, expressed as decreased occurrence of “lower-order” brain networks, coupled with increased occurrence of “higher-order” networks, was associated with both increased sleep dysfunction and decreased fluid intelligence above and beyond age. These results suggest that poor sleep quality, as evident in ageing, may lead to a behavior-related shift in neural dynamics.
Shifts in leaf senescence across the Northern Hemisphere in response to seasonal warming
Authors: Chen Lei , Rossi Sergio , Smith Nicholas G. , Liu Jianquan
Published: July 2021

Shifts in plant phenology under ongoing warming affect global vegetation dynamics and carbon assimilation of the biomes. The response of leaf senescence to climate is crucial for predicting changes in the physiological processes of trees at ecosystem scale. We used long-term ground observations, phenological metrics derived from PhenoCam, and satellite imagery of the Northern Hemisphere to show that the timings of leaf senescence can advance or delay in case of warming occurring at the beginning (before June) or during (after June) the main growing season, respectively. Flux data demonstrated that net photosynthetic carbon assimilation converted from positive to negative at the end of June. These findings suggest that leaf senescence is driven by carbon assimilation and nutrient resorption at different growth stages of leaves. Our results provide new insights into understanding and modelling autumn phenology and carbon cycling under warming scenarios.
Probiotic consortia improve anti-viral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Ferrets
Authors: Lehtinen Markus J , Ritesh Kumar , Bryan Zabel , Mäkelä Sanna M , Derek Nedveck , Peipei Tang , Sinikka Latvala , Sebastien Guery , Budinoff Charles R
Published: July 2021

Probiotics have been suggested as one solution to counter detrimental health effects by SARS-CoV-2, however, data so far is scarce. We tested the effect of two probiotic consortia, OL-1 and OL-2, against SARS-CoV-2 in ferrets and assessed their effect on cytokine production and transcriptome in a human monocyte-derived macrophage (Mf) and dendritic cell (DC) model.

The results showed that the consortia significantly reduced the viral load, modulated immune response, and regulated viral receptor expression in ferrets compared to placebo. In human Mf and DC model, OL-1 and OL-2 induced cytokine production and genes related to SARS-CoV-2 anti-viral immunity.

The study results indicate that probiotic stimulation of the ferret immune system leads to improved anti-viral immunity against SARS-COV-2 and that critical genes and cytokines for anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity are stimulated in human immune cellsin vitro. The effect of the consortia against SARS-CoV-2 warrants further investigations in human clinical trials.
Insights on the historical biogeography of Philippine native pigs and its relationship with Continental domestic and wild boars
Authors: Layos John King N. , Geromo Ronel N. , Espina Dinah M. , Nishibori Masahide
Published: July 2021

The Philippine archipelago was believed to have never been connected to the Asian continent even during the severe Quaternary sea-level drops. As a result, the history of pig dispersal in the Philippines remains controversial and must have some anthropogenic origin associated with some human migration events. In this study, the context of origin, dispersal, and the level of genetic introgression in Philippine native pigs were deduced using mitochondrial DNA D-loop analysis altogether with domestic pigs and wild boars corresponding to their geographic origin. Results revealed a considerable genetic diversity (0.900±0.016), and a widespread Asian pig-ancestry (94.60%) were revealed in the phylogenetic analysis with admixed European pig-origin (5.10%) harboring various fractions of ancestry from Berkshire and Landrace. The close genetic connection between the continental wild boars and domestic pigs present in the Philippine pigs corroborates our hypothesis of a genetic signal that could potentially be associated with the recently reported multiple waves of human migrations to the Philippines during the last 50,000 years. The high frequency of haplotypes (54.08%) that collapsed in the D7 haplogroup represent an interesting challenge as its distribution does not coincide with the hypothesized migratory route of the Neolithic Austronesian-speaking populations. We detected the first Pacific Clade signature and ubiquitously distributed D2 haplotypes which postulate the legitimate dispersal of pigs associated with the multiple waves of human migrations involving the Philippines. The multimodal mismatch and neutrality test statistics both Fu’s Fs and Tajima’s D correlates the long stationary period of effective population size revealed in the Bayesian skyline plot. While the sudden decrease in population was consistent with the pronounced population bottleneck of Asian and European pigs during the interglacial periods of the Pleistocene.
Molecular characterization and functional annotation of a hypothetical protein (TDB29877.1) from probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus: an in-silico approach
Authors: Rabbani Md Ataul Goni
Published: July 2021

Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria are widely used as probiotic and to produce various healthy fermented food products. The PNW3 strain of the bacteria has numerous proteins in its genome and some are considered as hypothetical proteins. The aim of the present study was to predict the structures and biological functions of the hypothetical protein (accession number: TDB29877.1) from L. acidophilus through an in-silico approach applying various bioinformatics tools. The sequence similarity was searched on the available biological databases using BLASTp program to find out the homologues proteins. Besides, determination of various properties like physicochemical characteristics, subcellular localization, phylogenetic analysis, functional annotation, protein-protein interaction, determination of secondary and tertiary structures, active site detection and further quality assessment analysis were done using appropriate computational methods of bioinformatics. In-silico analysis revealed that the hypothetical protein has contained TerB-N and TerB-C domains with the presence of YjbR-like superfamily. The Protein-protein interaction network analysis revealed that the protein highly interacted with various known and unknown proteins responsible for iron ion binding, DNA and RNA metabolisms and numerous repair mechanisms that maintain cellular integrity. It was also found that the protein has predominantly alpha-helices in its secondary structure and the three dimensional model has been found to be novel as it possessed expected quality while gone through various quality assessment tools. Thus, the present result indicated that the selected hypothetical protein which is cytoplasmic in nature with Belta-grasp fold, plays important role in responding during stress condition or phage defense mechanism.
miR-206 inhibits estrogen-induced proliferation and invasion of ER-α36 positive gastric cancer cells
Authors: Yuan Chunyan , Yang Yuanyuan , Jiang Xuebing , Xie Xiaoli , Liu Jun , Wang Xuming , Sheng Xia
Published: July 2021

Objective

To explore the biological role of miR-206 in inhibiting the proliferation and invasion of estrogen-induced ER-α36 positive gastric cancer cells and its related mechanisms.

Methods

MTT and tranwell assays were used to detect the proliferation and invasion of BGC-823 cells under different concentrations and time of ER stimulation. RT-PCR was used to detect the effect of ER stimulation on the content of miR-206 in gastric cancer cells. miR-206 mimics were transfected into BGC-823 cells to detect cell proliferation and invasion; luciferase reporter assay was used to determine whether miR-206 targets the 3’-untranslated region of the CDK14-encoding gene (3’ -UTR).

Results

We confirmed that estrogen promoted the proliferation and invasion of BGC-823 cells; As the concentration of estrogen increases, the level of miR206 in the cell gradually rises.Overexpression of miR-206 significantly decreased the estrogen-induced BGC-823 cells. Proliferative and invasive ability; miR-206 inhibits the expression of CDK14 by directly binding to the 3’-UTR of CDK14 mRNA, thereby inhibiting the proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that miR-206 inhibits estrogen-induced proliferation and invasion of ER-α36-positive gastric cancer cells by inhibiting CDK14 and may be a promising therapeutic option for anticancer therapy.
Decoding the Neural Signatures of Valence and Arousal From Portable EEG Headset
Authors: Garg Nikhil , Garg Rohit , Anand Apoorv , Baths Veeky
Published: July 2021

Emotion classification using electroencephalography (EEG) data and machine learning techniques has been on the rise in the recent past. However, past studies uses data from medical-grade EEG setup with long set-up time and environment constraints. This paper focuses on classifying emotions on the valence-arousal plane using various feature extraction, feature selection and machine learning techniques. We evaluate different feature extraction and selection techniques and propose the optimal set of features and electrodes for emotion recognition. The images from the OASIS image dataset were used to elicit valence and arousal emotions, and the EEG data was recorded using the Emotiv Epoc X mobile EEG headset. The analysis is carried out on publicly available datasets: DEAP and DREAMER for benchmarking. We propose a novel feature ranking technique and incremental learning approach to analyze performance dependence on the number of participants. Leave-one-subject-out cross-validation was carried out to identify subject bias in emotion elicitation patterns. The importance of different electrode locations was calculated, which could be used for designing a headset for emotion recognition. The collected dataset and pipeline are also published. Our study achieved a root mean square score (RMSE) of 0.905 on DREAMER, 1.902 on DEAP, and 2.728 on our dataset for valence label and a score of 0.749 on DREAMER, 1.769 on DEAP and 2.3 on our proposed dataset for arousal label respectively.
Gastric cancer derived exosomes induce peritoneal mesothelial cell EMT through TGF-β1/Smads pathway to promote peritoneal metastasis
Authors: Dong Jungang , Zhu Zhongbo , Cui Guoning , Zhang Zhixuan , Yue Juan , Zhang Yinghong , Yao Xuehan , Huo Minfeng , Wei Jingjing , Wang Qingmiao , Dai Lirong , Li Peiqing , Liu Xi-Ping
Published: July 2021

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in peritoneal metastasis of Gastric cancer (GC). Tumor exosomes can mediate tumor directed metastasis, and TGF-β1 is an important factor in inducing tumor Epithelial mesenchymal transition. However, it is not clear whether GC derived exosomes can induce peritoneal mesothelial cells through the TGF-β1/ Smads pathway and the effect of injured peritoneal mesothelial cells on the biological characteristics of GC cells. In this study, we demonstrated that GC-derived exosomes can activate the TGF-β1/Smads pathway in peritoneal mesothelial cells and induce the corresponding EMT process, and that the injured peritoneal mesothelial cells can improve the migration and adhesion of GC cells. Taken together, these data further support the critical role of exosomes in the remodeling of the pre-metastatic microenvironment.
Synthesis and characterization of peptide conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles for targeted cardiac uptake and drug delivery
Authors: Lomis Nikita , Westfall Susan , Shum-Tim Dominique , Prakash Satya
Published: July 2021

Congestive heart failure, a prominent cardiovascular disease results primarily from myocardial infarction or ischemia. Milrinone (MRN), a widely used clinical drug for heart failure, improves myocardial contractility and cardiac function through its inotropic and vasodilatory effects. However, lacking target specificty, it exhibits low bioavailability and lower body retention time. Therefore, in this study, angiotensin II (AT1) peptide conjugated human serum albumin nanoparticles (AT1-HSA-MRN-NPs) have been synthesized for targeted delivery of MRN to the myocardium, overexpressing AT1 receptors under heart failure. The NPs were surface functionalized through a covalent conjugation reaction between HSA and AT1. Nanoparticle size was 215.2±4.7 nm and zeta potential -28.8±2.7 mV and cumulative release of MRN was ∼72% over 24 hrs. The intracellular uptake of nanoparticles and cell viability was studied in H9c2 cells treated with AT1-MRN-HSA-NPs vs the control non-targeted drug, MRN Lactate under normal, hypoxic and hypertrophic conditions. The uptake of AT1-HSA-MRN-NPs in H9c2 cells was significantly higher as compared to non-targeted nanoparticles, and the viability of H9c2 cells treated with AT1-MRN-HSA-NPs vs MRN Lactate was 73.4±1.4% vs 44.9±1.4%, respectively. Therefore, AT1-HSA-MRN-NPs are safe for in vivo use and exhibit superior targeting and drug delivery characteristics for treatment of heart failure.
Identification and Validation of N-Acetylputrescine in Combination With Non-Canonical Clinical Features As a Parkinson’s Disease Biomarker Panel
Authors: Peng Kuan-Wei , Klotz Allison , Guven Arcan , Kapadnis Unnati , Ravipaty Shobha , Tolstikov Vladimir , Vemulapalli Vijetha , Rodrigues Leonardo O. , Li Hongyan , Kellogg Mark D. , Kausar Farah , Rees Linda , Sarangarajan Rangaprasad , Schüle Birgitt , Langston William , Narain Paula P. , Narain Niven R. , Kiebish Michael A.
Published: July 2021

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra results in a clinically heterogeneous group with variable motor and non-motor symptoms with a degree of misdiagnosis. Only 3-5% of sporadic Parkinson’s patients present with genetic abnormalities, thus environmental, metabolic, and other unknown causes contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease, which highlights the critical need for biomarkers. There could be a significant clinical benefit to treating Parkinson’s disease at the earliest stage and identify at-risk populations once disease-modifying treatments are available. In the present study, we prospectively collected and analyzed plasma samples from 201 Parkinson’s disease patients and 199 age-matched non-diseased controls. Multiomic and Bayesian artificial intelligence analysis of molecular and clinical data identified the diagnostic utility of N-acetyl putrescine (NAP) in combination with smell (B-SIT), depression/anxiety (HADS), and acting out dreams (RBD1Q) clinical measurements. The clinical and biomarker panel demonstrated an area under the curve, AUC = 0.9, positive predictive value, PPV = 0.91, and negative predictive value, NPV = 0.66 utilizing all four variables. The assessed diagnostic panel demonstrates combinatorial utility in diagnosing Parkinson’s disease, allowing for an integrated interpretation of disease pathophysiology and highlighting the use of multi-tiered panels in neurological disease diagnosis.
Gene editing in bacteria by CRISPR-Cas9 via SpCas9/sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complexes
Authors: Dario Arroyo-Olarte Rubén , Ricardo Bravo Rodríguez , Edgar Morales-Ríos
Published: July 2021

The authors have withdrawn this manuscript due to a duplicate posting of manuscript number 449263. Therefore, the authors do not wish this work to be cited as reference for the project. If you have any questions, please contact the corresponding author.
Effects of climatic change on the potential distribution of Lycoriella species (Diptera: Sciaridae) of economic importance
Authors: Marques Roberta , Pinto Duarte Juliano Lessa , da Fonseca Duarte Adriane , Krüger Rodrigo Ferreira , da Cunha Uemmerson Silva , Osorio-Olvera Luís , Contreras-Díaz Rusby Guadalupe , Jiménez-García Daniel
Published: July 2021

Lycoriella species (Sciaridae) are responsible for significant economic losses in greenhouse production (e.g. mushrooms, strawberry, and nurseries). Current distributions of species in the genus are restricted to cold-climate countries. Three species of Lycoriella are of particular economic concern in view of their ability to invade across the Northern Hemisphere. We used ecological niche models to determine the potential for range expansion under climate change future scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) in distributions of these species of Lycoriella. Stable suitability under climate change was a dominant theme in these species; however, potential range increases were noted for key countries (e.g. USA, Brazil, and China). Our results illustrate the potential for range expansion in these species in the Southern Hemisphere, including some of the highest greenhouse production areas in the world.
Identification of high seed oil yield and high oleic acid content in brazilian germplasm of winter squash (Cucurbita moschata D.)
Authors: Gomes Ronaldo Silva , Júnior Ronaldo Machado , de Almeida Cleverson Freitas , de Oliveira Rebeca Lourenço , Chagas Rafael Ravaneli , Pereira Ednângelo Duarte , Delazari Fabio Teixeira , da Silva Derly José Henriques
Published: July 2021

Cucurbita moschata D. seed oil contains approximately 75% unsaturated fatty acids, with high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant compounds such as vitamin E and carotenoid, constituting a promising food in nutritional terms. Associated to this, the Brazilian germplasm of C. moschata exhibits remarkable variability, representing an important source for the genetic breeding of this vegetable and other cucurbits. In this context, the present study evaluated the productivity and profile of the seed oil of 91 C. moschata accessions from different regions of Brazil and maintained in the Vegetable Germplasm Bank of the Federal University of Viçosa (BGH-UFV). A field experiment was conducted between January and July 2016. The tested C. moschata accessions showed high genetic variability in terms of characteristics related to seed oil productivity (SOP), such as the mass of seeds per fruit and productivity of seeds, providing predicted selection gains of 29.39 g and 0.26 t ha-1, respectively. Based on the phenotypic and genotypic correlations, greater SOP can be achieved while maintaining high oleic acid content and low linoleic acid content, providing oil of better nutritional and chemical quality. In variability analysis, the accessions were clustered into five groups, which presented different averages for SOP and fatty acid content of seed oil; approach that will guide the use of appropriate germplasm in programs aimed at genetic breeding for SOP and seed oil profile. Per se analysis identified BGH-4610, BGH-5485A, BGH-6590, BGH-5556A, BGH-5472A, and BGH-5544A as the most promising accessions in terms of SOP, with average (μ+g) of approximately 0.20 t ha-1. The most promising accessions for higher oleic acid content of seed oil were BGH-5456A, BGH-3333A, BGH-5361A, BGH-5472A, BGH-5544A, BGH-5453A, and BGH-1749, with average (μ+g) of approximately 30%, and almost all of these accessions were also the most promising in terms of lower linoleic acid content of seed oil, with average (μ+g) of approximately 45%. Overall, part of the C. moschata accessions evaluated in the present study can serve as a promising resource in genetic breeding programs for SOP and fatty acid profile, aiming at the production of oil with better nutritional and physicochemical quality.
Community health and human-animal contacts on the edges of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
Authors: Muylaert Renata L. , Davidson Ben , Ngabirano Alex , Kalema-Zikusoka Gladys , MacGregor Hayley , Lloyd-Smith James O. , Fayaz Ahmed , Knox Matthew A. , Hayman David T. S.
Published: July 2021

Cross-species transmission of pathogens is intimately linked to human and environmental health. With limited healthcare and challenging living conditions, people living in poverty may be particularly susceptible to endemic and emerging diseases. Similarly, wildlife is impacted by human influences, including pathogen sharing, especially for species in close contact with people and domesticated animals. Here we investigate human and animal contacts and human health in a community living around the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), Uganda. We used contact and health survey data to identify opportunities for cross-species pathogen transmission, focusing mostly on people and the endangered mountain gorilla. We conducted a survey with background questions and self-reported diaries to investigate 100 participants’ health, such as symptoms and behaviours, and contact patterns, including direct contacts and sightings over a week. Contacts were revealed through networks, including humans, domestic, peri-domestic, and wild animals for 1) network of contacts seen in the week of background questionnaire completion, 2) network of contacts seen during the diary week. Participants frequently felt unwell during the study, reporting from one to 10 disease symptoms at different intensity levels (maximum of seven symptoms in one day), with severe symptoms comprising 6.4% of the diary records and tiredness and headaches the most common symptoms. Besides human-human contacts, direct contacts with livestock and peri-domestic animals were the most common. Wildlife contacts were the rarest, including one direct contact with gorilla with a concerning timeline of reported symptoms. The contact networks were moderately connected and revealing a preference in contacts within the same species or taxon and within their groups. Despite sightings of wildlife being much more common than touching, one participant declared direct contact with a mountain gorilla during the week. Gorillas were seen very close to six animal taxa (including themselves) considering all interaction types, mostly seen closer to other gorillas, but also people and domestic animals. Our findings reveal a local human population with recurrent symptoms of illness in a location with intense exposure to factors that can increase pathogen transmission, such as direct contact with domestic and wild animals and proximity among animal species. Despite significant biases and study limitations, the information generated here can guide future studies, such as models for disease spread and One Health interventions.
Performance of deep convolutional neural network approaches and human level in detecting mosquito species
Authors: Jomtarak Rangsan , Kittichai Veerayuth , Pengsakul Theerakamol , Phatthamolrat Naphop , Naing Kaung Myat , Tongloy Teerawat , Chuwongin Santhad , Boonsang Siridech
Published: July 2021

Recently, mosquito-borne diseases have been a significant problem for public health worldwide. These diseases include dengue, ZIKA and malaria. Reducing disease spread stimulates researchers to develop automatic methods beyond traditional surveillance Well-known Deep Convolutional Neural Network, YOLO v3 algorithm, was applied to classify mosquito vector species and showed a high average accuracy of 97.7 per cent. While one-stage learning methods have provided impressive output in Aedes albopictus, Anopheles sinensis and Culex pipiens, the use of image annotation functions may help boost model capability in the identification of other low-sensitivity (< 60 per cent) mosquito images for Cu. tritaeniorhynchus and low-precision Ae. vexans (< 80 per cent). The optimal condition of the data increase (rotation, contrast and blurredness and Gaussian noise) was investigated within the limited amount of biological samples to increase the selected model efficiency. As a result, it produced a higher potential of 96.6 percent for sensitivity, 99.6 percent for specificity, 99.1 percent for accuracy, and 98.1 percent for precision. The ROC Curve Area (AUC) endorsed the ability of the model to differentiate between groups at a value of 0.985. Inter-and intra-rater heterogeneity between ground realities (entomological labeling) with the highest model was studied and compared to research by other independent entomologists. A substantial degree of near-perfect compatibility between the ground truth label and the proposed model (k = 0.950 ± 0.035) was examined in both examinations. In comparison, a high degree of consensus was assessed for entomologists with greater experience than 5-10 years (k = 0.875 ± 0.053 and 0.900 ± 0.048). The proposed YOLO v3 network algorithm has the largest capacity for support-devices used by entomological technicians during local area detection. In the future, introducing the appropriate network model based methods to find qualitative and quantitative information will help to make local workers work quicker. It may also assist in the preparation of strategies to help deter the transmission of arthropod-transmitted diseases.
Population size, density, and ranging behaviour in a key leopard population in the Western Cape, South Africa
Authors: Müller Lana , Briers-Louw Willem D. , Seele Barbara , Lochner Christiaan , Amin Rajan
Published: July 2021

Globally, leopards are the most widespread large felid. However, mounting anthropogenic threats are rapidly reducing viable leopard populations and their range. Despite the clear pressures facing this species, there is a dearth of robust and reliable population and density estimates for leopards across their range, which is particularly important in landscapes that consist of protected and non-protected areas. We conducted a camera trapping survey between 2017 and 2018 in the Western Cape, South Africa to estimate the occupancy, density, and population size of a leopard population. Leopards were recorded at 95% of camera trapping sites, which resulted in a high occupancy that showed no significant variation between seasons, habitat types, or along an altitudinal gradient. Our results indicated a low leopard density in the study area, with an estimated 1.53 leopards/100 km2in summer and 1.62 leopards/100 km2in winter. Mean leopard population size was therefore estimated at 107 and 113 individuals in the winter and summer respectively. Leopard activity centres for female ranges were centred in the core study area and could be predicted with good certainty, while males appeared to move out of the study area during winter which resulted in a higher uncertainty in locations of activity centres. Interestingly, livestock depredation events in the surrounding farmlands were significantly higher in winter, which coincides with male leopards moving outside the core protected area into the surrounding farmlands. To reduce livestock losses and retaliatory leopard killings, we suggest that human-carnivore conflict mitigation measures be intensely monitored during the winter months in the study area. We also suggest that future leopard conservation efforts should focus on privately-owned land as these non-protected areas contain the majority of the remaining suitable leopard habitat and may provide important dispersal corridors and buffer zones on which the long-term sustainability of leopard populations depends.
Verification of our empirical understanding of the physiology and ecology of two contrasting plantation species using a trait database
Authors: Osone Yoko , Hashimoto Shoji , Kenzo Tanaka
Published: July 2021

The effects of climate change on forest ecosystems take on increasing importance more than ever. Information on plant traits is a powerful predictor of ecosystem dynamics and functioning. We reviewed the major ecological traits, such as foliar gas exchange and nutrients, xylem morphology and drought tolerance, ofCryptomeria japonicaandChamaecyparis obtusa, which are major timber species in East Asia, especially in Japan, by using a recently developed functional trait database for both species (SugiHinokiDB). Empirically,C. obtusahas been planted under drier conditions, whereasC. japonicahas been planted under wetter conditions. Our analyses revealed followings: The maximum photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, foliar nutrient content and soil-to-foliage hydraulic conductance were higher inC. japonicathan inC. obtusaand were consistent with the higher growth rate ofC. japonica. In contrast, the foliar turgor loss point and xylem pressure corresponding to 50% conductivity, which indicate drought tolerance, were lower inC. obtusathan inC. japonicaand are consistent with the drier habitat ofC. obtusa. Ontogenetic shifts were also observed; as the age and height of the trees increased, many foliar nutrient concentrations decreased, and the foliar minimum midday water potential and specific leaf area also decreased. This suggests that an ontogenetic reduction in photosynthesis occurred due to an increase in drought stress with tree height and age. However, among the Cupressaceae worldwide, the drought tolerance ofC. japonicaandC. obtusais not as high. This may be related to the fact that the Japanese archipelago has historically not been subjected to strong dryness. The maximum photosynthetic rate showed intermediate values within the family, indicating thatC. japonicaandC. obtusaexhibit relatively high growth rates in the Cupressaceae family, and this is thought to be the reason why they have been selected as economically suitable timber species in Japanese forestry. This study clearly demonstrated that the plant trait database provides us a promising opportunity to verify out empirical knowledge of plantation management and helps us to understand effect of climate change on plantation forests by using trait-based modelling.
Altered pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses in elderly individuals
Authors: Taira Naoyuki , Toguchi Sakura , Miyagi Mio , Mori Tomoari , Tomori Hiroaki , Oshiro Koichi , Tamai Osamu , Kina Mitsuo , Miyagi Masatake , Tamaki Kentaro , Collins Mary K , Ishikawa Hiroki
Published: July 2021

Pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells, but not antibodies, have been detected in some unexposed individuals. This may account for some of the diversity in clinical outcomes ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe COVID-19. Although age is a risk factor for COVID-19, how age affects SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses remains unknown. We found that some pre-existing T cell responses to specific SARS-CoV-2 proteins, Spike (S) and Nucleoprotein (N), were significantly lower in elderly donors (>70 years old) who were seronegative for S than in young donors. However, substantial pre-existing T cell responses to the viral membrane (M) protein were detected in some elderly donors. These responses likely compensate for loss of T cell responses specific to S and N. In contrast, young and elderly donors exhibited comparable T cell responses to S, N, and M proteins after infection with SARS-CoV-2. M-specific responses were mediated by CD4 T cells producing interferon-γ in both seronegative and seropositive individuals. T cells in seronegative elderly donors responded to various M-derived peptides, while the response after SARS-CoV-2 infection was apparently focused on a single peptide. These data suggest that diversity of target antigen repertoire for pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells declines with age, but the magnitude of pre-existing T cell responses is maintained by T cells reactive to specific viral proteins such as M. A better understanding of the role of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells that are less susceptible to age-related loss may contribute to development of more effective vaccines for elderly people.
“Increased risk of thrombocytopenia and death in patients with bacteremia caused by high alpha toxin-producing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus”
Authors: Alhurayri Fatimah , Porter Edith , Douglas-Louis Rachid , Minejima Emi , Wardenburg Julianne Bubeck , Wong-Beringer Annie
Published: July 2021

Background

Alpha toxin (Hla) is a major virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus that targets platelets but clinical data on Hla pathogenesis in bacteremia (SAB) is limited.

Objective

We examined the link between in vitro Hla activity and outcome.

Methods

Study isolates obtained from 100 patients with SAB (50 survivors; 50 non-survivors) were assessed for in vitro Hla production and activity by Western immunoblotting and hemolysis assay, respectively. Relevant demographics, laboratory and clinical data were extracted from patients’ medical records to correlate Hla activity of the infecting isolates with outcome.

Results

Hla production strongly correlated with hemolytic activity (rs=0.93) in vitro. A trend towards higher hemolytic activity was observed for MRSA compared to MSSA and with high-risk source infection. Significantly higher hemolytic activity was noted for MRSA strains isolated from patients who developed thrombocytopenia (median 52.48 vs 16.55 HU/ml in normal platelet count, p=0.012) and from non survivors (median 30.96 vs 14.87 HU/ml in survivors, p= 0.014) but hemolytic activity of MSSA strains did not differ between patient groups.

Conclusions

In vitro Hla activity of S. aureus strains obtained from patients with bacteremia may be used to predict risk for thrombocytopenia and death which supports bedside phenotyping and therapeutic targeting in the future.
Heritable changes in division speed accompany the diversification of single T cell fate
Authors: Plambeck Marten , Kazeroonian Atefeh , Loeffler Dirk , Schroeder Timm , Busch Dirk H. , Flossdorf Michael , Buchholz Veit R.
Published: July 2021

Rapid clonal expansion of antigen specific T cells is a fundamental feature of adaptive immune responses. It enables the outgrowth of an individual T cell into thousands of clonal descendants that diversify into short-lived effectors and long-lived memory cells. Clonal expansion is thought to be programmed upon priming of a single naïve T cell and then executed by homogenously fast divisions of all of its descendants. However, the actual speed of cell divisions in such an emerging ‘T cell family’ has never been measured with single-cell resolution. Here, we utilize continuous live-cell imagingin vitroto track the division speed and genealogical connections of all descendants derived from a single naïve CD8+T cell throughout up to ten divisions of activation-induced proliferation. This comprehensive mapping of T cell family trees identifies a short burst phase, in which division speed is homogenously fast and maintained independent of external cytokine availability or continued T cell receptor stimulation. Thereafter, however, division speed diversifies and model-based computational analysis using a novel Bayesian inference framework for tree-structured data reveals a segregation into heritably fast and slow dividing branches. This diversification of division speed is preceded already during the burst phase by variable expression of the interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain. Later it is accompanied by selective expression of memory marker CD62L in slower dividing branches. Taken together, these data demonstrate that T cell clonal expansion is structured into subsequent burst and diversification phases the latter of which coincides with specification of memory vs. effector fate.

Significance

Rapid clonal expansion of antigen-specific T cells is a fundamental feature of adaptive immune responses. Here, we utilize continuous live-cell imagingin vitroto track the division speed and genealogical connections of all descendants derived from a single naïve CD8+T cell throughout up to ten divisions of activation-induced proliferation. Bayesian inference of tree-structured data reveals that clonal expansion is divided into a homogenously fast burst phase encompassing two to three divisions and a subsequent diversification phase during which T cells segregate into quickly dividing effector T cells and more slowly cycling memory precursors. Our work highlights cell cycle speed as a major heritable property that is regulated in parallel to key lineage decisions of activated T cells.
Impact of perceived organizational support and green transformational leadership on sustainable organizational performance: a SEM approach
Authors: Kusi Manita , Zhao Fuqiang , Sukamani Dinesh
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The study aims to scrutinize the concomitant associations between corporate social responsibility (CSR), perceived organizational support (POS), green transformational leadership (GTL) and organizational performance (OP). This paper aims to explore the role of intervening variable to measure the strength on the relationship between CSR and OP.

Design/methodology/approach

This research administered a survey through self-administered questionnaire among the staff-level employees of construction companies of Nepal. Fully filled 305 responses from the participants were analyzed using a structural equation model. The study used self-structured questionnaire as research tool and face-to-face meetings as data collection technique.

Findings

The research indicates that POS showed competitive partial mediation relation between CSR and OP. Besides, a novel exploration of the moderation effect of GTL displays a supportive role in harmonizing the CSR with organizational support to achieve better OP. This study enriches empirical evidence to understand the linkage between CSR and POS in staff-level employees in the construction area. Moreover, the research shed a light on GTL 's moderating influence on the mediated model of CSR, POS and OP.

Research limitations/implications

Although the results of the study add to the current knowledge base, several limitations highlight avenues for future research. Future studies can explore the relationship in other study areas with added evidence on a similar result with different analysis patterns and study sample. The research model studied in the context of Nepal creating evidence as a representation for the developing countries.

Originality/value

The intervening role of POS and GTL gives new insight for the research-based organization based social behavior and performance