bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Concerns about disease management and psychological stress in SAPHO patients during the COVID-19 epidemic
Authors: Zhang Shuo , Lu Xinyu , Cao Yihan , Li Yueting , Li Chen , Zhang Wen
Published: May 2020

Objectives
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic brings potentially impact on the care of patients with rheumatic diseases, including SAPHO syndrome. We aimed to investigate the disease status, concerns about management, and psychological stress in SAPHO patients during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Method
A structured questionnaire was distributed online to patients with SAPHO syndrome enrolled in a Chinese cohort study on March 3rd, 2020. Patients were ask about the current treatments, disease status, and concerns about disease management during the epidemic. Psychologic stress (scored from 0 to 10 points) and psychological problems were reported by the patients.
Results
A total of 157 patients (mean age 38.4 ± 12.3 years, 66.9% females) were included in the study. None of the patients were diagnosed with COVID-19. Sixty-five (41.4%) patients worried about their disease conditions during the epidemic with concerns including medication shortage (73.8%), delay of consultation (46.2%), and disease aggravation (61.5%). Sixty-seven (42.7%) patients had medication withdrawal or dose reduction due to lack of drugs, irregular daily schedule or subjective reasons. The most common psychological problems reported was little interest or pleasure in doing things (66.2%). Patients with progressive disease condition were more distressed and disturbed by the epidemic. Patients with nail involvement felt more worried about their disease conditions than patients without (59.6% vs 31.0%, p =0. 001).
Conclusions
The COVID-19 epidemic imposes a negative impact on the disease management and psychological stress in SAPHO patients. Patients' access to specialty care and medication well as mental stress is of great concern.
Rapid increase of Care Homes reporting outbreaks a sign of eventual substantial disease burden
Authors: Hall Ian , Lewkowicz Hugo , House Thomas , Pellis Lorenzo , Sedgwick James , Gent Nick
Published: May 2020

Enclosed societies (i.e. locations that are connected to wider community only by subgroups of their population and that are dominated by within society transmission) have the potential, upon establishment of a respiratory disease, to suffer a large proportion of the population within becoming infected. Care homes are particularly susceptible to COVID19 outbreaks and suffer high mortality due to vulnerable population within. Recent data on the number of new outbreak reports in care homes to Public Health England shows an initial increase then plateau perhaps associated with an SIS model dynamic. Without change in policy moving forward a high prevalence in such setting is predicted of around 75%. Action is needed to support staff in such settings.
Anxiety among the general population during Coronavirus-19 Disease in Saudi Arabia: Implications for a Mental Support Program
Authors: Alsaqri Salman H. , Alkwiese Mohannad J. , Aldalaykeh Mohammed K. , Hamzi Mada Ibrahim , Mahdi Mada Mousa , Shafie Zainab M.
Published: May 2020

Background

The 2019 outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an worldwide health emergency that threatens mental health of general public. Research data are required to establish evidence-based approaches to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety during the outbreak. This study aimed to survey the general public in Saudi Arabia to help in understanding their levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods

The researchers performed an on-line survey using snowball sampling methods from April 1 through April 10, 2020. The online survey collected demographics information data, while the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) was used to measure anxiety level.

Results

This study consisted of 709 respondents from different regions of Saudi Arabia. The general population reported mild to moderate rates of anxiety. Married respondents were associated with a significantly higher level of anxiety (p<0.05).

Conclusions

The respondents reported mild to moderate anxiety during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Implication for practice

The results of this study identify the implications to lower levels of anxiety that may be used during the COVID-19 outbreak to develop mental health support programs to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups.
Frontolimbic brain volume abnormalities in bipolar disorder with suicide attempts
Authors: Jabbi Mbemba , Weber Wade , Welge Jeffrey , Nery Fabiano , Tallman Maxwell , Gable Austin , Fleck David E. , Lippard Elizabeth T.C. , DelBello Melissa , Adler Caleb , Strakowski Stephen M.
Published: May 2020

Over 2.3 million people in the United States live with bipolar disorder. Sixty percent of those with a bipolar disorder diagnosis attempt suicide at least once in their lifetime, and up to 19% die by suicide. However, the neurobiology of suicide attempts in bipolar disorder remains unclear. Here, we studied the neuroanatomical basis for suicide attempt history in bipolar disorder by measuring gray matter volumes (GMV) to identify differences in brain-volumes in 121 participants with bipolar disorder type I, and healthy participants (n=40). The bipolar group consisted of individuals with suicide attempt history (n=23) and no suicide attempt history (n=58). All participants completed behavioral/diagnostic assessments and MRI measures of GMV. We focused on a predefined frontolimbic circuitry in bipolar disorder versus (vs.) healthy to first identify diagnostic GMV markers and to specifically identify markers for suicide attempt history. We found reduced GMV markers for bipolar diagnosis (i.e., bipolar<healthy) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC). Our observed frontolimbic GMV abnormalities were associated with suicide attempt history and measures of individual variations in current suicidal ideation at the time of scanning. These results identified a frontolimbic-GMV marker for bipolar diagnosis and suicidal behavioral risk tendencies.

Highlights

Suicide is a major health problem especially in bipolar disorder but the neurobiological basis for suicide attempts remains obscure. We identified an anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortical volume correlate for suicide attempt history and suicidal ideation and thereby demonstrates a convergent brain marker for suicidal behaviors.
Observer agreement and clinical significance of chest CT reporting in patients suspected of COVID-19
Authors: Debray Marie-Pierre , Tarabay Helena , Males Lisa , Chalhoub Nisrine , Mahdjoub Elyas , Pavlovsky Thomas , Visseaux Benoît , Bouzid Donia , Borie Raphael , Wackenheim Catherine , Crestani Bruno , Rioux Christophe , Saker Loukbi , Choquet Christophe , Mullaert Jimmy , Khalil Antoine
Published: May 2020

Objectives

To assess inter-observer agreement and clinical significance of chest CT reporting in patients suspected of COVID-19.

Methods

From 16th to 24th March 2020, 241 consecutive patients addressed to hospital for COVID-19 suspicion had both chest CT and SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. Eight observers (2 thoracic and 2 general senior radiologists, 2 junior radiologists and 2 emergency physicians) retrospectively categorized each CT into one out of 3 categories (evocative, compatible for COVID-19 pneumonia, and not evocative or normal). Observer agreement for categorization between all readers and pairs of readers with similar experience was evaluated with the Kappa coefficient. The results of a consensus categorization were correlated to RT-PCR.

Results

Observer agreement across the 3 categories was good between all readers (κ value 0.68 95%CI 0.67-0.70) and good to very good between pairs of readers (0.64-0.85). It was very good (κ 0.81 95%CI 0.79-0.83), fair (κ 0.32 95%CI 0.29-0.34) and good (κ 0.74 95%CI 0.71-0.76) for the categories evocative, compatible and not evocative or normal, respectively. RT-PCR was positive in 97%, 50% and 27% of cases classified in the respective categories. Observer agreement was lower (p=0.045) and RT-PCR positive cases were less frequently categorized evocative in presence of an underlying pulmonary disease (p<0.001).

Conclusion

Inter-observer agreement for chest CT reporting using categorization of findings is good in patients suspected of COVID-19. Among patients considered for hospitalization in an epidemic context, CT categorized evocative is highly predictive of COVID-19, whereas the predictive value of CT decreases between the categories compatible and not evocative.

Key results

Inter-observer agreement for chest CT reporting into categories is good in patients suspected of COVID-19

Chest CT can participate in estimating the likelihood of COVID-19 in patients presenting to hospital during the outbreak, CT categorized «evocative» being highly predictive of the disease whereas up to a quarter of patients with CT «not evocative» had a positive RT-PCR in our study.

Observer agreement is lower and CTs of positive RT-PCR cases less frequently “evocative” in presence of an underlying pulmonary disease
Pandemic related Health literacy – A Systematic Review of literature in COVID-19, SARS and MERS pandemics
Authors: Seng Jun Jie Benjamin , Yeam Cheng Teng , Huang Caleb Weihao , Tan Ngiap Chuan , Low Lian Leng
Published: May 2020

Background

Health literacy plays an essential role in one’s ability to acquire and understand critical medical information in the COVID-19 infodemic and other pandemics.

Purpose

To summarize the assessment, levels and determinants of pandemic related health literacy and its associated clinical outcomes.

Data sources

Medline®, Embase®, PsychINFO®, CINAHL®, arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, and Social Science Research Network. The start date was unrestricted and current as of 22 April 2020.

Study selection

Studies which evaluated health literacy related to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

Data extraction

Data on the characteristics of study designs, instruments, participants and level of health literacy were collected. Items used in instruments were grouped under the themes of knowledge, attitudes and practices. Determinants of health literacy were grouped into five domains (socio-demographic, medical, psychological/psychiatric, health systems related and others).

Data synthesis

Of 2,065 articles screened, 70 articles were included. 21, 17 and 32 studies evaluated health literacy related to COVID-19, SARS and MERS, respectively. The rates of low pandemic health literacy ranged from 4.3 to 57.9% among medical-related populations and 4.0% to 82.5% among non-medical populations. Knowledge about symptoms and transmission of infection; worry about infection and, practices related to mask usage and hand hygiene was most frequently evaluated. Socio-demographic determinants of health literacy were most studied, where higher education level, older age and female gender were associated with better health literacy. No studies evaluated outcomes associated with health literacy.

Limitations

Non-English articles were excluded.

Conclusion

The level of pandemic related health literacy is sub-optimal. Healthcare administrators need to be aware of health literacy determinants when formulating policies in pandemics.
Chaos, Percolation and the Coronavirus Spread: a two-step model
Authors: Bonasera Aldo , Zheng Hua
Published: May 2020

We discuss a two-step model for the rise and decay of a new coronavirus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV-2) first reported in December 2019, COVID-19. The first stage is well described by the same equation for turbulent flows, population growth and chaotic maps: a small number of infected d0grows exponentially to a saturation value d∞. The typical growth λ time (aggressive spreading of the virus) is given by, whereλis the Lyapunov exponent.!After a time tcritdetermined by social distancing and/or other measures, the spread decreases exponentially as for nuclear decays and non-chaotic maps. Some countries, like China, S. Korea and Italy are in this second stage while others including the USA are near the end of the growth stage. The model predicts 15,000 (±2,250) casualties for the Lombardy region (Italy) at the end of the spreading around May 10,2020. Without the quarantine, the casualties would have been more than 50,000, hundred days after the start of the pandemic. The data from the 50 US states are of very poor quality because of an extremely late and confused response to the pandemic, resulting unfortunately in a large number of casualties, more than 70,000 on May 6, 2020. S. Korea, notwithstanding the high population density (511/km2) and the closeness to China, responded best to the pandemic with 255 deceased as of May 6,2020.
Self-Rated and Social Determinants of Health Spending Attitudes in the United States
Authors: Ahamad Mazbahul G. , Tanin Fahian
Published: May 2020

Self-rated and social determinants of health are associated with people’s health attitudes towards government spending on improving national health in the US. We used data from eight biennial nationally representative General Social Surveys from 2004 to 2018 (n = 21116) to assess the determinants of health spending attitudes among US adults through a multivariate logistic regression technique. We found that more than three quarters of adults responded that government health spending was ‘too little’ for improving and protecting American health. We also found that adults those with ‘fair’ self-rated health were more likely to respond ‘too little’ or negative about health spending after adjusting for socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors and political regimes. This result suggests exploring individual-specific reasons associated with this negative attitude to restructure health spending priorities in the US.
ApoE e4 Genotype Predicts Severe COVID-19 in the UK Biobank Community Cohort
Authors: Kuo Chia-Ling , Pilling Luke C , Atkins Janice L , Masoli Jane AH , Delgado João , Kuchel George A , Melzer David
Published: May 2020

The novel respiratory disease COVID-19 produces varying symptoms, with fever, cough, and shortness of breath being common. In older adults, we found that pre-existing dementia is a major risk factor (OR = 3.07, 95% CI: 1.71 to 5.50) for COVID-19 hospitalization in the UK Biobank (UKB). In another UK study of 16,749 patients hospitalized for COVID-19, dementia was among the common comorbidities and was associated with higher mortality. Additionally, impaired consciousness, including delirium, is common in severe cases. The ApoE e4 genotype is associated with both dementia and delirium, with the e4e4 (homozygous) genotype associated with high risk of dementia. We therefore aimed to test associations between ApoE e4 alleles and COVID-19 severity, using the UKB data.
Early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures on routine childhood vaccinations in England, January to April 2020
Authors: McDonald Helen I , Tessier Elise , White Joanne M , Woodruff Matthew , Knowles Charlotte , Bates Chris , Parry John , Walker Jemma L , Scott J. Anthony , Smeeth Liam , Yarwood Joanne , Ramsay Mary , Edelstein Michael
Published: May 2020

Electronic health records were used to assess the early impact of COVID-19 on routine childhood vaccination in England to 26 April 2020.

MMR vaccination counts fell from February 2020, and in the three weeks after introduction of social distancing measures were 19.8% lower (95% CI −20.7 to −18.9%) than the same period in 2019, before improving in mid-April. A gradual decline in hexavalent vaccination counts throughout 2020 was not accentuated on introduction of social distancing.
The rise of the three-spined stickleback – eco-evolutionary consequences of a mesopredator release
Authors: Eriksson Britas Klemens , Yanos Casey , Bourlat Sarah , Donadi Serena , Fontaine Michael C. , Hansen Joakim P. , Jakubavičiūtė Eglė , Kiragosyan Karine , Maan Martine E. , Merilä Juha , Austin Åsa N. , Olsson Jens , Reiss Katrin , Sundblad Göran , Bergström Ulf , Eklöf Johan S.
Published: May 2020

Declines of large predatory fish due to overexploitation are restructuring food webs across the globe. It is now becoming evident that restoring these altered food webs requires addressing not only ecological processes, but evolutionary ones as well, because human-induced rapid evolution may in turn affect ecological dynamics. In the central Baltic Sea, abundances of the mesopredatory fish, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), have increased dramatically during the past decades. Time-series data covering 22 years show that this increase coincides with a decline in the number of juvenile perch (Perca fluviatilis), the most abundant predator of stickleback along the coast. We studied the interaction between evolutionary and ecological effects of this mesopredator take-over, by surveying the armour plate morphology of stickleback and the structure of the associated food web. First, we investigated the distribution of different stickleback phenotypes depending on predator abundances and benthic production; and described the stomach content of the stickleback phenotypes using metabarcoding. Second, we explored differences in the relation between different trophic levels and benthic production, between bays where the relative abundance of fish was dominated by stickleback or not; and compared this to previous cage-experiments to support causality of detected correlations. We found two distinct lateral armour plate phenotypes of stickleback, incompletely and completely plated. The proportion of incompletely plated individuals increased with increasing benthic production and decreasing abundances of adult perch. Stomach content analyses showed that the completely plated individuals had a stronger preference for invertebrate herbivores (amphipods) than the incompletely plated ones. In addition, predator dominance interacted with ecosystem production to determine food web structure and the propagation of a trophic cascade: with increasing production, biomass accumulated on the first (macroalgae) and third (stickleback) trophic levels in stickleback-dominated bays, but on the second trophic level (invertebrate herbivores) in perch-dominated bays. Since armour plates are defence structures favoured by natural selection in the presence of fish predators, the phenotype distribution suggest that a novel low-predation regime favours sticklebacks with less armour. Our results indicate that an interaction between evolutionary and ecological effects of the stickleback take-over has the potential to affect food web dynamics.
Redox state changes of mitochondrial cytochromes in brain and breast cancers by Raman spectroscopy and imaging
Authors: Abramczyk Halina , Surmacki Jakub Maciej , Brozek-Pluska Beata
Published: May 2020

This paper presents a non-invasive approach to study redox status of cytochromesin vitrohuman brain cells of normal astrocytes (NHA), astrocytoma (CRL-1718), glioblastoma (U87- MG) and medulloblastoma (Daoy), and human breast cells of normal cells (MCF10A), slightly malignant cells (MCF7) and highly aggressive cells (MDA-MB-231), in vivo animal models, andex vivobrain and breast tissues surgically resected human specimens by means of Raman microspectroscopy at 355 nm, 532 nm, 785 nm and endospectroscopic Raman probe at 785 nm. Here we show that the amount of reduced cytochrome becomes abnormally high in human brain tumors and breast cancers. In contrast, the amount of reduced cytochrome c is lower in cancer cells when compared to the normal one atin vitroconditions when the effect of microenvironment is eliminated. Mitochondrial dysfunction and alterations in the chemical composition of the nucleus, mitochondria, lipid droplets, cytoplasm in single cells have been detected by Raman imaging. Incubationin vitrowith retinoic acid increases the amount of reduced cytochrome c.
Memory consolidation and improvement by synaptic tagging and capture in recurrent neural networks
Authors: Luboeinski Jannik , Tetzlaff Christian
Published: May 2020

The synaptic-tagging-and-capture (STC) hypothesis formulates that at each synapse the concurrence of a tag with protein synthesis yields the maintenance of changes induced by synaptic plasticity. This hypothesis provides a biological principle underlying the synaptic consolidation of memories that is not verified for recurrent neural circuits. We developed a theoretical model integrating the mechanisms underlying the STC hypothesis with calcium-based synaptic plasticity in a recurrent spiking neural network. In the model, calcium-based synaptic plasticity yields the formation of strongly interconnected cell assemblies encoding memories, followed by consolidation through the STC mechanisms. Furthermore, we find that the STC mechanisms have an up to now undiscovered effect on memories – with the passage of time they modify the storage of memories, such that after several hours memory recall is significantly improved. This kind of memory enhancement can provide a new principle for storing information in biological and artificial neural circuits.
An evolutionarily conserved metallophosphodiesterase is a determinant of lifespan inDrosophila
Authors: Gupta Kriti , Janardan Vishnu , Banerjee Sanghita , Chakrabarti Sveta , Srinivas Swarna , Mahishi Deepthi , Raghu Padinjat , Visweswariah Sandhya S.
Published: May 2020

Evolutionarily conserved genes usually have a critical role to play during organismal aging and longevity. Here, we show that a previously uncharacterized Class III metallophosphoesterase inDrosophila, an ortholog of the MPPED1 and MPPED2 proteins in mammals, is necessary for optimal lifespan. dMPPED is the product of the geneCG16717and hydrolyzed a variety of phosphodiester substrates in a metal-dependent manner.dMPPEDwas expressed widely during development and in the adult fly. Deletion of the gene in flies dramatically reduced lifespan, without affecting development or fecundity. Longevity was restored on ubiquitous expression of the protein, and neuronal expression of both wild type and the catalytically inactive form of dMPPED was also able to restore normal lifespan. Overexpression of the protein, both ubiquitously and neuronally in wild type flies extended lifespan by ~ 20%. RNA-seq analysis ofdMPPEDKOflies revealed mis-regulation of innate immune pathways, a number of transcription factors and genes earlier reported to affect aging and lifespan. Importantly, neuronal expression of mammalian MPPED2 was able to rescue lifespan indMPPEDKOflies, but not extend lifespan in wild type flies. This reports the first description of the biological role of an evolutionarily conserved metallophosphoesterase that may serve as a scaffolding protein in diverse signaling pathways to modulate longevity in the fly.
Explainable multi-view framework for dissecting intercellular signaling from highly multiplexed spatial data
Authors: Tanevski Jovan , Flores Ricardo Omar Ramirez , Gabor Attila , Schapiro Denis , Saez-Rodriguez Julio
Published: May 2020

The advancement of technologies to measure highly multiplexed spatial data requires the development of scalable methods that can leverage the spatial information. We present MISTy, a flexible, scalable and explainable machine learning framework for extracting interactions from any spatial omics data. MISTy builds multiple views focusing on different spatial or functional contexts to dissect different effects, such as those from direct neighbours versus those from distant cells. MISTy can be applied to different spatially resolved omics data with dozens to thousands of markers, without the need to perform cell-type annotation. We evaluate the performance of MISTy on anin silicodataset and demonstrate its applicability on three breast cancer datasets, two measured by imaging mass cytometry and one by Visium spatial transcriptomics. We show how we can estimate interactions coming from different spatial contexts that we can relate to tumor progression and clinical features. Our analysis also reveals that the estimated interactions in triple negative breast cancer are associated with clinical outcomes which could improve patient stratification. Finally, we demonstrate the flexibility of MISTy to integrate different kinds of views by modeling activities of pathways estimated from gene expression in a spatial context to analyse intercellular signaling.
Electrophysiological and behavioral indices of cognitive conflict processing across adolescence
Authors: Overbye Knut , Walhovd Kristine B. , Fjell Anders M. , Tamnes Christian K. , Huster Rene J.
Published: May 2020

Cognitive control enables goal-oriented adaptation to a fast-changing environment and has a slow developmental trajectory that spans into young adulthood. The specifics of this development are still poorly understood, as are the neurodevelopmental mechanisms that drive it. In a cross-sectional sample of participants 8-19 years old (n = 108), we used blind source separation of EEG data recorded in a Flanker task to derive electrophysiological measures of attention and the processing of cognitive conflict, including a frontal negative component corresponding to the N2 and a parietal positive component corresponding to the P3. Additionally, we examined multiple behavioral measures of interference control derived from the Flanker, Stroop, and Anti-saccade tasks. We found a positive association between age and the amplitude of the parietal positive component, while there was no relationship between age and the amplitude of the frontal negative component. A stronger frontal negative amplitude was, however, age-independently related to better performance on both Stroop and Anti-saccade measures of interference control. Finally, we examined post-conflict behavioral adjustment on the Flanker task. A Gratton effect was found with slower reaction times on current congruent and better accuracy on current incongruent trials when preceded by incongruent as opposed to congruent trials. The Gratton effect on accuracy was positively associated with age. Together, the findings suggest a multifaceted developmental pattern in neurocognitive mechanisms for conflict processing across adolescence, with a more protracted development of the parietal positive compared to the frontal negative component.
SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein and ACE2 interaction reveals modulation of viral entry in wild and domestic animals
Authors: Praharaj Manas Ranjan , Garg Priyanka , Kesarwani Veerbhan , Topno Neelam A , Khan Raja Ishaq Nabi , Sharma Shailesh , Panigrahi Manjit , Mishra B P , Mishra Bina , Sai kumar G , Gandham Ravi Kumar , Singh Raj Kumar , Majumdar Subeer , Mohapatra Trilochan
Published: May 2020

Background

SARS-CoV-2 is a viral pathogen causing life-threatening disease in human. Interaction between spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 receptor on the cells is a potential factor in the infectivity of a host. The interaction of SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain with its receptor - ACE2, in different hosts was evaluated to understand and predict viral entry. The protein and nucleotide sequences of ACE2 were initially compared across different species to identify key differences among them. The ACE2 receptor of various species was homology modeled (6LZG, 6M0J, and 6VW1 as a reference), and its binding ability to the spike ACE2 binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 was assessed. Initially, the spike binding parameters of ACE2 of known infected and uninfected species were compared with each Order (of animals) as a group. Finally, a logistic regression model vis-a-vis the spike binding parameters of ACE2 (considering data against 6LZG and 6M0J) was constructed to predict the probability of viral entry in different hosts.

Results

Phylogeny and alignment comparison did not lead to any meaningful conclusion on viral entry in different hosts. Out of several spike binding parameters of ACE2, a significant difference between the known infected and uninfected species was observed for six parameters. However, these parameters did not specifically categorize the Orders (of animals) into infected or uninfected. The logistic regression model constructed revealed that in the mammalian class, most of the species of Carnivores, Artiodactyls, Perissodactyls, Pholidota, and Primates had high probability of viral entry. However, among the primates, African Elephant had low probability of viral entry. Among rodents, hamsters were highly probable for viral entry with rats and mice having a medium to low probability. Rabbits have a high probability of viral entry. In Birds, ducks have a very low probability, while chickens seemed to have medium probability and turkey showed the highest probability of viral entry.

Conclusions

Most of the species considered in this study showed high probability of viral entry. This study would prompt us to closely follow certain species of animals for determining pathogenic insult by SARS-CoV-2 and for determining their ability to act as a carrier and/or disseminator.
Comment on ‘Initiation of chromosome replication controls both division and replication cycles inE. colithrough a double-adder mechanism’
Authors: Le Treut Guillaume , Si Fangwei , Li Dongyang , Jun Suckjoon
Published: May 2020

Witzet al. recently performed single-cell mother machine experiments to track growth and the replication cycle inE. coli. They analyzed the correlation structure of selected parameters using both their data and published data, and concluded thatE. colicell-size control is implemented at replication initiation, which challenged the newly emerged division-centric mechanism of cell-size control in bacteria. We repeated Witz et al.’s analysis, and performed additional experiments and analytical calculations. These results explain Witz et al.’s observation and in fact support the division-centric model.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend: Nematode infection of pollinating and non-pollinating fig wasps has net benefits for the fig-fig wasp pollination mutualism
Authors: Van Goor Justin , Piatscheck Finn , Houston Derek D. , Nason John D.
Published: May 2020

Mutualistic associations between species pairs are ubiquitous in nature but are also components of broader organismal community networks. These community-level associations have shaped the evolution of individual mutualisms through interspecific interactions ranging from secondarily mutualistic to intensely antagonistic. Our understanding of this complex context remains limited because identifying species interacting with focal mutualists and assessing their associated fitness benefits and costs is difficult, especially over space and through time. Here, we focus on a community comprised of a fig and fig wasp mutualist, eight non-pollinating fig wasp (NPFW) commensals/antagonists, and a nematode previously believed to be associated only with the pollinator wasp mutualist. Through repeated sampling and field experiments, we identified that all NPFWs are targets for infection by this nematode. Further, this infection can impact NPFWs more severely than either mutualistic partner, suggesting a novel role of density-dependent facultative mutualism between fig and wasp mutualists and the nematode.
Pulmonary infection interrupts acute cutaneous wound healing through disruption of chemokine signals
Authors: Crane Meredith J. , Xu Yun , Monaghan Sean F. , Hall Benjamin M. , Albina Jorge E. , Henry William L. , Tran Holly L. , Chhabria Karisma R. P. , Jordon Alexander R. D. , Carlsen Lindsey , Jamieson Amanda M.
Published: May 2020

Studies of the immune response typically focus on single-insult systems, with little known about how multi-insult encounters are managed. Pneumonia in patients recovering from surgery is a clinical situation that exemplifies the need for the patient to mount two distinct immune responses. Examining this, we have determined that poor wound healing is an unreported complication of pneumonia in laparotomy patients. Using mouse models, we found that lung infection suppressed the trafficking of innate leukocytes to wounded skin, while pulmonary resistance to the bacterial infection was maintained. The dual insults caused distinct systemic and local changes to the inflammatory response, the most striking being a rapid and sustained decrease in chemokine levels at the wound site of mice with pneumonia. Remarkably, replenishing wound chemokine levels completely rescued the wound-healing rate in mice with a pulmonary infection. These findings have broad implications for understanding the mechanisms guiding the innate immune system to prioritize inflammatory sites.

One Sentence Summary

Chemokine-mediated signaling drives the prioritization of innate immune responses to bacterial pulmonary infection over cutaneous wound healing.

Highlights

Human laparotomy patients with pneumonia have an increased rate of incision dehiscence, and this observation can be recapitulated in mouse models of bacterial lung infections and skin wounds.

Lung infection causes rapid and sustained suppression of skin wound chemokine and inflammatory cytokine production as well as leukocyte recruitment.

Unique systemic shifts in the immune compartment occur with two inflammatory insults, including the cytokine/chemokine signature and the mobilization, recruitment, and phenotype of innate leukocytes.

Restoration of chemokine signaling in the wounds of mice that have a lung infection results in increased neutrophil trafficking to the wound site and rescues the rate of healing.

Graphical Abstract
Genome-wide mapping of histone modifications in two species ofLeptosphaeria maculansshowing contrasting genomic organization and host specialization
Authors: Soyer J.L. , Clairet C. , Gay E.J. , Lapalu N. , Rouxel T. , Stukenbrock E.H. , Fudal I.
Published: May 2020

In plant-associated fungi, the role of the epigenome is increasingly recognized as an important regulator of genome structure and of the expression of genes involved in interaction(s) with the host plant. Two closely-related phytopathogenic species,Leptosphaeria maculans‘brassicae’ (Lmb) andL. maculans‘lepidii’ (Lml) exhibit a large conservation of genome synteny but contrasting genome structure. Lmb has undergone massive invasion of its genome by transposable elements amounting to one third of its genome and clustered in large TE-rich regions on chromosomal arms, while Lml genome has only a small amount of repeats (3% of the genome). Previous studies showed that the TE-rich regions of Lmb harbour a few species-specific effector genes, expressed during plant infection. The distinct genome structures shown by Lmb and Lml thus provides an excellent model for comparing the organization of pathogenicity/effector genes in relation to the chromatin landscape in two closely related phytopathogenic fungi. Here, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation during axenic culture, targeting either histone modifications typical for heterochromatin or euchromatin, combined with transcriptomic analysis to analyse the influence of chromatin organisation on gene expression. In both species, we found that facultative heterochromatin landscapes associated with H3K27me3-domains are enriched with genes lacking functional annotation, including numerous candidate effector and species-specific genes. Notably, orthologous genes located in H3K27me3-domains in both species are enriched with genes encoding putative proteinaceous and metabolic effectors. These genes are mostly silenced in axenic growth conditions and are likely to be involved in interaction with the host. Compared to other fungal species, including Lml, Lmb is distinct in having large H3K9me3-domains associated with TE-rich regions that contain numerous species-specific effector-encoding genes. Discovery of these two distinctive heterochromatin landscapes now raises questions about their involvement in the regulation of pathogenicity, the dynamics of these domains during plant infection, and the selective advantage to the fungus to host effector genes in H3K9me3- or H3K27me3-domains.
Design issues and solutions for stop-signal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development [ABCD] study
Authors: Bissett Patrick G. , Hagen McKenzie P. , Jones Henry M. , Poldrack Russell A.
Published: May 2020

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study is an unprecedented longitudinal neuroimaging sample that tracks the brain development of over 10,000 9-10 year olds through adolescence. At the core of this study are the three tasks that are completed repeatedly within the MRI scanner, one of which is the stop-signal task. In analyzing the available stopping experimental code and data, we identified a set of design issues that we believe significantly compromise its value. These issues include but are not limited to: variable stimulus durations that violate basic assumptions of dominant stopping models, trials in which stimuli are incorrectly not presented, and faulty stop-signal delays. We present eight issues, show their effect on the existing ABCD data, suggest prospective solutions including task changes for future data collection and preliminary computational models, and suggest retrospective solutions for data users who wish to make the most of the existing data.
Tumor-specific EphA2 receptor tyrosine kinase inhibits anti-tumor immunity by recruiting suppressive myeloid populations in NSCLC
Authors: Shiuan Eileen , Song Wenqiang , Wang Shan , Brantley-Sieders Dana M. , Chen Jin
Published: May 2020

Given the success of both targeted and immunotherapies against cancer, there is increasing utility for identifying targeted agents that also promote anti-tumor immunity. EphA2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase that contributes to tumor growth and metastasis and has been identified as a viable target for many solid cancers. Investigating EphA2’s impact on the host immune system may advance our understanding of tumor immune evasion and the consequences of targeting EphA2 on the tumor microenvironment. Here, we examine how tumor-specific EphA2 affects the activation and infiltration of immune cell populations and the cytokine and chemokine milieu in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Effects of EphA2 overexpression in murine NSCLC cells were evaluated in bothin vitrocell viability assays andin vivotumor models. Tumor immune infiltrate was assessed by flow cytometry. Cytokine and chemokine expression was evaluated using NanoString technology and qRT-PCR. Although EphA2 overexpression in NSCLC cells did not display proliferative advantagein vitro, it conferred a growth advantagein vivo. Analysis of lung tumor infiltrate revealed decreased natural killer and T cells in the EphA2-overexpressing tumors, as well as increased myeloid populations, including tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). T cell activation, particularly in CD8 T cells, was decreased, while PD-1 expression was increased. These changes were accompanied by increased monocyte-attracting chemokines, specifically CCL2, CCL7, CCL8, and CCL12, and immunosuppressive proteins TGF-β and arginase 1. Our studies suggest EphA2 on tumor cells recruits monocytes and promotes their differentiation into TAMs that likely inhibit activation and infiltration of cytotoxic lymphocytes, promoting tumor immune escape. Further studies are needed to determine the molecular mechanisms by which EphA2 affects the recruitment of these cell types and to test the function of these myeloid cells.
Using EEG Microstates to Examine Post-Encoding Quiet Rest and Subsequent Word-Pair Memory
Authors: Poskanzer Craig , Denis Dan , Herrick Ashley , Stickgold Robert
Published: May 2020

Evidence suggests that the brain preferentially consolidates memories during “offline” periods, in which an individual is not performing a task and their attention is otherwise undirected, including spans of quiet, resting wakefulness. Moreover, research has demonstrated that factors such as the initial encoding strength of information influence which memories receive the greatest benefit. Recent studies have begun to investigate these periods of post-learning quiet rest using EEG microstate analysis to observe the electrical dynamics of the brain during these stretches of memory consolidation, specifically finding an increase in the amount of the canonical microstate D during a post-encoding rest period. Here, we implement an exploratory analysis to probe the activity of EEG microstates during a post-encoding session of quiet rest in order to scrutinize the impact of learning on microstate dynamics and to further understand the role these microstates play in the consolidation of memories. We examined 54 subjects (41 female) as they completed a word-pair memory task designed to use repetition to vary the initial encoding strength of the word-pair memories. In this study, we were able to replicate previous research in which there was a significant increase (p < .05) in the amount of microstate D (often associated with the dorsal attention network) during post-encoding rest. This change was accompanied by a significant decrease (p < .05) in the amount of microstate C (often associated with the default mode network). We also found preliminary evidence indicating a positive relationship between the amount of microstate D and improved memory for weakly encoded memories, which merits further exploration.
Structure of the unique tetrameric STENOFOLIA homeodomain bound with DNA
Authors: Pathak Prabhat Kumar , Zhang Fei , Peng Shuxia , Niu Lifang , Chaturvedi Juhi , Tadege Million , Deng Junpeng
Published: May 2020

Homeobox transcription factors are key regulators of morphogenesis and development in both animals and plants1. In plants, the WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) family transcription factors function as central organizers of several developmental programs from embryo patterning to meristematic stem cell maintenance through transcriptional activation and repression2-4. The structure of WOX Homeodomain (HD) and the molecular mechanism of its interaction with DNA are unknown. Here, we report the 2.1 Å crystal structure of the STENOFOLIA (STF) HD fromMedicago truncatulain complex with DNA. STF binds DNA as a novel cooperative tetramer, enclosing nearly entire bound DNA surface. The STF tetramer is partially stabilized by docking of the C-terminal tail from one protomer onto a conserved hydrophobic surface on the head of another in a head-to-tail manner. Helix α3 not only serves a canonical role as a base reader in the major groove, but also provides extensive binding to DNA in the minor groove. Our structural and functional data reveal that STF specifically targets ‘TGA’ sequence and the cooperative tetrameric binding with DNA is key to transcriptional repression in plants. Our data reveal an unprecedented HD:DNA recognition mechanism, representing the first plant HD structure from WOX family of transcription factors.
The shapes of wine and table grape leaves: an ampelometric study inspired by the methods of Pierre Galet
Authors: Chitwood Daniel H.
Published: May 2020

The shapes of grapevine leaves have been critical to correctly identify economically important varieties throughout history. The correspondence of homologous features in nearly all grapevine species and varieties has enabled advanced morphometric approaches to mathematically classify leaf shape. These approaches either model leaves through the measurement of numerous vein lengths and angles or measure a finite number of corresponding landmarks and use Procrustean approaches to superimpose points and perform statistical analyses. Hand illustrations, too, play an important role in grapevine identification, as details omitted using the above methods can be visualized. Here, I use a saturating number of pseudo-landmarks to capture intricate, local features in grapevine leaves: the curvature of veins and the shapes of serrations. Using these points, averaged leaf shapes for 60 varieties of wine and table grapes are calculated that preserve features. A pairwise Procrustes distance matrix of the overall morphological similarity of each variety to the other classifies leaves into two main groups—deeply lobed and more entire—that correspond to the measurements of sinus depth by Pierre Galet. Using the system of Galet, pseudo-landmarks are converted into relative distance and angle measurements. Both Galet-inspired and Procrustean methods allow increased accuracy in predicting variety compared to a finite number of landmarks. Using Procrustean pseudo-landmarks captures grapevine leaf shape at the same level of detail as drawings and provides a quantitative method to arrive at mean leaf shapes representing varieties that can be used within a predictive statistical framework.
Causal inference explains the stimulus-level relationship between the McGurk Effect and auditory speech perception
Authors: Magnotti John F. , Dzeda Kristen B. , Wegner-Clemens Kira , Beauchamp Michael S.
Published: May 2020

The McGurk effect is widely used as a measure of multisensory integration during speech perception. Two observations have raised questions about the relationship between the effect and everyday speech perception. First, there is high variability in the strength of the McGurk effect across different stimuli and observers. Second, there is low correlation across observers between perception of the McGurk effect and measures of everyday speech perception, such as the ability to understand noisy audiovisual speech. Using the framework of the causal inference of multisensory speech (CIMS) model, we explored the relationship between the McGurk effect, syllable perception, and sentence perception in seven experiments with a total of 296 different participants. Perceptual reports revealed a relationship between the efficacy of different McGurk stimuli created from the same talker and perception of the auditory component of the McGurk stimuli presented in isolation, either with or without added noise. The CIMS model explained this high stimulus-level correlation using the principles of noisy sensory encoding followed by optimal cue combination within a representational space that was identical for McGurk and everyday speech. In other experiments, CIMS successfully modeled low observer-level correlation between McGurk and everyday speech. Variability in noisy speech perception was modeled using individual differences in noisy sensory encoding, while variability in McGurk perception involved additional differences in causal inference. Participants with all combinations of high and low sensory encoding noise and high and low causal inference disparity thresholds were identified. Perception of the McGurk effect and everyday speech can be explained by a common theoretical framework that includes causal inference.