bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Overwhelming Majority but not All Motor Fibers of the Bifid Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve are Located in the Anterior Extralaryngeal Branch
Authors: Barczyński Marcin , Stopa Małgorzata , Konturek Aleksander , Nowak Wojciech
Published: October 2015

Background

Few small studies reported that motor fibers are located exclusively in the anterior branch of the bifid recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). The aim of this study was to investigate the location of the motor fibers to the intrinsic muscles of the larynx among the bifid RLNs, and assess the prevalence of RLN injury with respect to nerve branching in a pragmatic trial.

Methods

This was a prospective cohort study of 1250 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy with intraoperative neural monitoring. The primary outcome was the position of the motor fibers in the bifid nerves. Adduction of the vocal folds was detected by the endotracheal tube electromyography and abduction by finger palpation of muscle contraction in the posterior cricoarytenoid. The secondary outcomes were the prevalence of the RLN branching and the prevalence of RLN injury in bifid versus non‐bifid nerves.

Results

The bifid RLNs were identified in 613/2500 (24.5 %) nerves at risk, including 92 (7.4 %) patients with bilateral bifurcations. The motor fibers were present exclusively in the anterior branch in 605/613 (98.7 %) bifid nerves, and in both the RLN branches in 8/613 (1.3 %) bifid nerves. Prevalence of RLN injury was 5.2 versus 1.6 % for the bifid versus non‐bifid nerves (p < 0.001), odds ratio 2.98 (95 % confidence interval 1.79–4.95; p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The motor fibers of the RLN are located in the anterior extralaryngeal branch in the vast majority of but not in all patients. In rare cases, the motor fibers for adduction or abduction are located in the posterior branch of the RLN. As the bifid nerves are more prone to injury than non‐branched nerves, meticulous dissection is recommended to assure preservation of all the branches of the RLN during thyroidectomy.
Leveraging ecological theory to guide natural product discovery
Authors: Smanski Michael J , Schlatter Daniel C , Kinkel Linda L
Published: October 2015

Technological improvements have accelerated natural product (NP) discovery and engineering to the point that systematic genome mining for new molecules is on the horizon. NP biosynthetic potential is not equally distributed across organisms, environments, or microbial life histories, but instead is enriched in a number of prolific clades. Also, NPs are not equally abundant in nature; some are quite common and others markedly rare. Armed with this knowledge, random ‘fishing expeditions’ for new NPs are increasingly harder to justify. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary pressures that drive the non-uniform distribution of NP biosynthesis provides a rational framework for the targeted isolation of strains enriched in new NP potential. Additionally, ecological theory leads to testable hypotheses regarding the roles of NPs in shaping ecosystems. Here we review several recent strain prioritization practices and discuss the ecological and evolutionary underpinnings for each. Finally, we offer perspectives on leveraging microbial ecology and evolutionary biology for future NP discovery.
Natural products as probes in pharmaceutical research
Authors: Schmitt Esther K , Hoepfner D , Krastel P
Published: October 2015

From the start of the pharmaceutical research natural products played a key role in drug discovery and development. Over time many discoveries of fundamental new biology were triggered by the unique biological activity of natural products. Unprecedented chemical structures, novel chemotypes, often pave the way to investigate new biology and to explore new pathways and targets. This review summarizes the recent results in the area with a focus on research done in the laboratories of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. We aim to put the technological advances in target identification techniques in the context to the current revival of phenotypic screening and the increasingly complex biological questions related to drug discovery.
Accuracy and Acceptability of Oral Fluid HIV Self-Testing in a General Adult Population in Kenya
Authors: Kurth Ann E. , Cleland Charles M. , Chhun Nok , Sidle John E. , Were Edwin , Naanyu Violet , Emonyi Wilfred , Macharia Stephen M. , Sang Edwin , Siika Abraham M.
Published: October 2015

We evaluated performance, accuracy, and acceptability parameters of unsupervised oral fluid (OF) HIV self-testing (HIVST) in a general population in western Kenya. In a prospective validation design, we enrolled 240 adults to perform rapid OF HIVST and compared results to staff administered OF and rapid fingerstick tests. All reactive, discrepant, and a proportion of negative results were confirmed with lab ELISA. Twenty participants were video-recorded conducting self-testing. All participants completed a staff administered survey before and after HIVST to assess attitudes towards OF HIVST acceptability. HIV prevalence was 14.6 %. Thirty-six of the 239 HIVSTs were invalid (15.1 %; 95 % CI 11.1–20.1 %), with males twice as likely to have invalid results as females. HIVST sensitivity was 89.7 % (95 % CI 73–98 %) and specificity was 98 % (95 % CI 89–99 %). Although sensitivity was somewhat lower than expected, there is clear interest in, and high acceptability (94 %) of OF HIV self-testing.
Discovery of a Novel Linoleate Dioxygenase of Fusarium oxysporum and Linoleate Diol Synthase of Colletotrichum graminicola
Authors: Sooman Linda , Oliw Ernst H.
Published: October 2015

Fungal pathogens constitute serious threats for many forms of life. The pathogenic fungi Fusarium and Colletotrichum and their formae speciales (f. spp.) infect many types of crops with severe consequences and Fusarium oxysporum can also induce keratitis and allergic conditions in humans. These fungi code for homologues of dioxygenase–cytochrome P450 (DOX–CYP) fusion proteins of the animal heme peroxidase (cyclooxygenase) superfamily. The objective was to characterize the enzymatic activities of the DOX–CYP homologue of Colletotrichum graminicola (EFQ34869) and the DOX homologue of F. oxysporum (EGU79548). The former oxidized oleic and linoleic acids in analogy with 7,8‐linoleate diol synthases (LDSs), but with the additional biosynthesis of 8,11‐dihydroxylinoleic acid. The latter metabolized fatty acids to hydroperoxides with broad substrate specificity. It oxidized 20:4n‐6 and 18:2n‐6 to hydroperoxides with an R configuration at the (n‐10) positions, and other n‐6 fatty acids in the same way. [11S‐2H]18:2n‐6 was oxidized with retention and [11R‐2H]18:2n‐6 with loss of deuterium, suggesting suprafacial hydrogen abstraction and oxygen insertion. Fatty acids of the n‐3 series were oxidized less efficiently and often to hydroperoxides with an R configuration at both (n‐10) and (n‐7) positions. The enzyme spans 1426 amino acids with about 825 residues in the N‐terminal domain with DOX homology and 600 residues at the C‐terminal domain without homology to other enzymes. We conclude that fungal oxylipins can be formed by two novel subfamilies of cyclooxygenase‐related DOX.
Who receives treatment for alcohol use disorders in the European Union? A cross-sectional representative study in primary and specialized health care
Authors: Rehm J. , Manthey J. , Struzzo P. , Gual A. , Wojnar M.
Published: October 2015

Background

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are highly prevalent in Europe, but only a minority of those affected receive treatment. It is therefore important to identify factors that predict treatment in order to reframe strategies aimed at improving treatment rates.

Methods

Representative cross-sectional study with patients aged 18–64 from primary health care (PC, six European countries, n = 8476, data collection 01/13–01/14) and from specialized health care (SC, eight European countries, n = 1762, data collection 01/13–03/14). For descriptive purposes, six groups were distinguished, based on type of DSM-IV AUD and treatment setting. Treatment status (yes/no) for any treatment (model 1), and for SC treatment (model 2) were main outcome measures in logistic regression models.

Results

AUDs were prevalent in PC (12-month prevalence: 11.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 11.2–12.5%), with 17.6% receiving current treatment (95%CI: 15.3–19.9%). There were clear differences between the six groups regarding key variables from all five predictor domains. Prediction of any treatment (model 1) or SC treatment (model 2) was successful with high overall accuracy (both models: 95%), sufficient sensitivity (model 1: 79%/model 2: 76%) and high specificity (both models: 98%). The most predictive single variables were daily drinking level, anxiety, severity of mental distress, and number of inpatient nights during the last 6 months.

Conclusions

Variables from four domains were highly predictive in identifying treatment for AUD, with SC treatment groups showing very high levels of social disintegration, drinking, comorbidity and functional losses. Earlier intervention and formal treatment for AUD in PC should be implemented to reduce these high levels of adverse outcomes.
Ganglioside GM3 as a gatekeeper of obesity‐associated insulin resistance: Evidence and mechanisms
Authors: Lipina Christopher , Hundal Harinder S.
Published: October 2015

Gangliosides constitute a large family of sialic acid‐containing glycosphingolipids which play a key regulatory role in a diverse array of cellular processes, including receptor‐associated signalling. Accordingly, the aberrant production of the ganglioside GM3 has been linked to pathophysiological changes associated with obesity, which in turn can lead to metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This review examines the role of GM3 in mediating obesity‐induced perturbations in metabolic function, including impaired insulin action. By doing so, we highlight the potential use of therapies targeting GM3 biosynthesis in order to counteract obesity‐related metabolic disorders.
The Utility of Positron Emission Tomography in Epilepsy
Authors: Burneo Jorge G. , Poon Raymond , Kellett Sarah , Snead O. Carter
Published: October 2015

The role of fludeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography (PET) in the presurgical evaluation of patients with medically intractable epilepsy continues to be refined. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature to assess the diagnostic accuracy and utility of PET in this setting. Thirty-nine studies were identified through MEDLINE and EMBASE databases that met the inclusion criteria. In adult patients, PET hypometabolism showed a 56 to 90% agreement with seizure onset localized by intracranial electroencephalogram (pediatric: 21 to 86%). In temporal lobe epilepsy patients with good surgical outcome, PET displayed moderate to high sensitivity in localizing the seizure focus (range: 71 to 89%). The sensitivity increased by 8 to 23% when PET results were combined with magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalogram. PET has been shown to affect patient management by improving the guidance of intracranial electrodes placement, altering the decision to perform surgery, or excluding patients from further evaluation.
On the selection of viscosity to suppress the Saffman–Taylor instability in a radially spreading annulus
Authors: Beeson-Jones Tim H. , Woods Andrew W.
Published: October 2015

We examine the stability of a system with two radially spreading fronts in a Hele-Shaw cell in which the viscosity increases monotonically from the innermost to the outermost fluid. The critical parameters are identified as the viscosity ratio of the inner and outer fluids and the viscosity difference between the intermediate and outer fluids as a fraction of the viscosity difference between the inner and outer fluids. There is a minimum viscosity ratio of the inner and outer fluids above which, for each azimuthal mode, the system is stable to perturbations of that mode at any flow rate. This condition is directly analogous to the result for a single interface. Below this minimum ratio, the system may be stable at any flow rate early in the flow. However, once the inner radius reaches a critical fraction of the outer radius, this absolute stability ceases to apply owing to the coupling of the inner and outer interfaces. We determine the maximum flow rate, as a function of time, in order that all modes remain stable due to the effects of interfacial tension. These criteria for stability are then used to select the viscosity of the intermediate fluid so that a fixed volume of the intermediate and then inner fluid can be added to the system in the minimum time with the system remaining stable throughout. The optimal viscosity for this intermediate fluid depends on the relative volume of the inner and intermediate fluid and also on the overall viscosity ratio of the innermost fluid and the original fluid in the cell, with the balance being to suppress the early time instability of the outer interface and the late time instability of the inner interface. We discuss application of this approach to a problem of injection of treatment fluid in an oil well.
Inertia–gravity waves in a liquid-filled, differentially heated, rotating annulus
Authors: Randriamampianina Anthony , Crespo del Arco Emilia
Published: October 2015

Direct numerical simulations based on high-resolution pseudospectral methods are carried out for detailed investigation into the instabilities arising in a differentially heated, rotating annulus, the baroclinic cavity. Following previous works using air (Randriamampianina et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 561, 2006, pp. 359–389), a liquid defined by Prandtl number $Pr=16$ is considered in order to better understand, via the Prandtl number, the effects of fluid properties on the onset of gravity waves. The computations are particularly aimed at identifying and characterizing the spontaneously emitted small-scale fluctuations occurring simultaneously with the baroclinic waves. These features have been observed as soon as the baroclinic instability sets in. A three-term decomposition is introduced to isolate the fluctuation field from the large-scale baroclinic waves and the time-averaged mean flow. Even though these fluctuations are found to propagate as packets, they remain attached to the background baroclinic waves, locally triggering spatio-temporal chaos, a behaviour not observed with the air-filled cavity. The properties of these features are analysed and discussed in the context of linear theory. Based on the Richardson number criterion, the characteristics of the generation mechanism are consistent with a localized instability of the shear zonal flow, invoking resonant over-reflection.
The role of regional survivor incumbency in the evolutionary recovery of calcareous nannoplankton from the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction
Authors: Schueth Jonathan D. , Bralower Timothy J. , Jiang Shijun , Patzkowsky Mark E.
Published: October 2015

The earliest Paleocene record of calcareous nannoplankton presents a unique opportunity to understand the evolutionary recovery of life from mass extinction. Nannoplankton were devastated at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary and their subsequent recovery can be studied in great detail because of their abundance in sediments, continuous stratigraphic occurrence, and near global distribution. Here we determine when and where new species of nannoplankton originated and how they dispersed following the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction. Initially, we focus our efforts on North Pacific and South Atlantic deep sea sites with orbital age control to compare the precise timing and dynamics of the recovery between the locations. We then broaden our investigation to six sites from different basins and a variety of environments to study global patterns of the initial recovery. Our results show that many taxa in key Paleogene lineages originated in the North Pacific Ocean and that assemblages comprised primarily of new Paleogene taxa were not observed at other sites for several hundred thousand years. Survivors that were adapted to eutrophic post extinction conditions rapidly expanded in Southern Hemisphere sites where they dominated assemblages for most of the initial recovery. We therefore hypothesize that groups of survivors formed regionally incumbent assemblages in the Southern Hemisphere that limited diversification and dispersal of new Paleogene taxa. The end of survivor dominance correlates to the recovery of the biologic pump and subsequent decrease in surface ocean nutrient concentration 300–400 Kyr after the boundary. Only after survivors were removed did new Paleogene nannoplankton assemblages become abundant globally. Our results indicate that competition from regionally incumbent survivors was as an important control on the K/Pg recovery of nannoplankton.
Women’s work in farming, child feeding practices and nutritional status among under-five children in rural Rukwa, Tanzania
Authors: Nordang Sunniva , Shoo Tiransia , Holmboe-Ottesen Gerd , Kinabo Joyce , Wandel Margareta
Published: October 2015

Some progress has been achieved in reducing the prevalence of undernutrition among children under 5 years of age in Tanzania. In the Rukwa region (2010), the level of stunted and underweight children was 50·4 and 13·5 %, respectively. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age, feeding practices and risk factors of undernutrition in a rural village in the Rukwa region, as well as to discuss the results in light of a similar study conducted in 1987/1988. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 152 households with children under 5 years of age. Data were obtained from the child’s main caretaker and the household head, using a structured questionnaire and a 24 h dietary recall. Children’s length/height and weight were measured. The prevalence of stunting and underweight was found to be 63·8 and 33·6 % (Z-score<−2 of WHO 2006 CGS), respectively. Sugar-water was given to 72·3 % of the children on the first day after birth. A thin gruel was introduced after a median of 2 months (25th–75th percentiles; 1–3). The time mothers spent farming was a significant risk factor for stunting (P=0·04). Illness, food shortage and dry-season cultivation were significant risk factors for underweight (P<0·01). Using the NCHS/WHO 1983 growth reference (<75 % of the median), the prevalence of underweight was 25·0 %, similar to that reported in 1987/1988 (26·4 %). In conclusion, the underweight prevalence was found to be at the same level in 2010 as was recorded in 1987/1988. Current child-feeding practices were not in line with WHO recommendations. Women working in farms, food shortage, dry-season cultivation and diseases partly explain the children’s poor nutritional status.
Validation of web-based, multiple 24-h recalls combined with nutritional supplement intake questionnaires against nitrogen excretions to determine protein intake in Dutch elite athletes
Authors: Wardenaar F. C. , Steennis J. , Ceelen I. J. M. , Mensink M. , Witkamp R. , de Vries J. H. M.
Published: October 2015

Information on dietary composition is vitally important for elite athletes to optimise their performance and recovery, which requires valid tools. The aim of the present study was to investigate the validity of assessing protein intake using three web-based 24-h recalls and questionnaires, by comparing these with three urinary N excretions on the same day. A total of forty-seven Dutch elite top athletes, both disabled and non-disabled, aged between 18 and 35 years, with a BMI of 17·5–31 kg/m2, exercising >12 h/week were recruited. Estimated mean dietary protein intake was 109·6 (sd33·0) g/d by recalls and questionnairesv. 141·3 (sd38·2) g/d based on N excretions in urine; the difference was 25·5 (sd21·3) % between the methods (P<0·05). We found a reasonably good association between methods for protein intake of 0·65 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·79). On an individual level, under-reporting was larger with higher protein intakes than with lower intakes. No significant differences were found in reporting absolute differences between subcategories (sex, under-reporting, BMI, collection of recalls within a certain amount of time and using protein supplements or not). In conclusion, combined, multiple, 24-h recalls and questionnaires underestimated protein intake in these young elite athletes more than that reported for non-athlete populations. The method proved to be suitable for ranking athletes according to their protein intake as needed in epidemiological studies. On an individual level, the magnitude of underestimation was about equal for all athletes except for those with very high protein intakes.
Questions of Modernization: Coding Speech, Regulating Attitude in Survey Research
Authors: Adalet Begüm
Published: October 2015

Foucauldian analyses and studies in the sociology of knowledge have provided vibrant accounts of the effects and lives of knowledge practices, yet they have been less attuned to their unexpected consequences upon reception in disparate settings. This article examines the employment of survey methodology as a means to enact modernization theory in non-Western areas during the early phases of the Cold War. An examination of the original questionnaires employed in sociologist Daniel Lerner's seminal text, The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East, reveals an alignment between the ideal subject of modernization theory and the expectations placed upon the respondent. These expectations included familiarity with the conditions of the survey setting, impersonal relationships, the promise of anonymity, and the capacity for having and voicing opinions regarding otherwise improbable situations. Lerner's work and the studies it spawned did not merely measure and describe the attitudes of peasants, students, and administrators; they were intended to be performative: the interviews were designed to occasion the forms of subjectivity and interpersonal relations articulated and idealized by modernization theory. However, the researchers’ interest in the very activity of survey-taking as a modernizing edifice was undercut by skeptical respondents, disorderly interviewer behavior, and the relentless remaking of coding procedures. In this reading, the questionnaires and their specific stipulations surface as artifacts of knowledge practices that nonetheless overflow the intentions of their coders, sponsors, and creators.
The Radiance of the Jewish National Home: Technocapitalism, Electrification, and the Making of Modern Palestine
Authors: Meiton Fredrik
Published: October 2015

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the history of the Palestine mandate and its power relations were not determined solely by a series of legal measures, beginning with the 1917 Balfour Declaration and ending with the UNGA partition resolution of 1947. Rather, the emergence of modern Palestine was a process significantly guided by global technocapitalism. Palestine was constituted on the basis of a successful Zionist pitch for the area as an economically viable territory—as an area of production and consumption and crucially also as an entity locatable in the global circulation of capital and commodities. A central vehicle for this technocapitalist vision in Palestine—proposed by the Zionists, and enthusiastically adopted by the British—was a hydroelectrical megasystem in the Jordan Valley. Significant portions of the mandate's borders were mapped onto the station's technical blueprint, and conceiving of and building the powerhouse created not just borders, but also “Palestine,” a bounded entity with a distinct political and economic character. While the electrification, like Zionism in general, was justified in a language of egalitarian universalism, the power system and the “free-market” capitalist system it helped create in Palestine generated familiar kinds of political and economic inequality. Specifically, it conjured a political-economic order based on a Jewish national scale in which the Arabs were expected to supply the menial labor power in return for the economic development that was to lift all boats.
“We've toiled without end”: Publicity, Crisis, and the Suicide “Epidemic” in Greece
Authors: Davis Elizabeth
Published: October 2015

This paper addresses the rising suicide rate in Greece since the economic crisis began in 2008. By 2011, Greek and international media were reporting the Greek suicide rate as the fastest rising in Europe; dozens of “spectacular” public suicides were taken as symptoms of an “epidemic.” In this paper, I explore different accounts of this “epidemic”: statistical studies and press reports on suicide since the crisis; notes written by people who committed or attempted suicide in public during the crisis; and narratives of suicidality from psychiatric patients before the crisis, in dialogue with local psychiatric epidemiologies. These accounts summon three axes of comparison around suicide in Greece: historical difference, defined by the economic crisis and the time before; locale, contrasting the public sphere of media coverage and consumption with a particular region distinguished by its “suicidogenic” features; and evidence, moving from the public discourse on suicide to clinical ethnographic research that I conducted in northeastern Greece a decade ago. I show that each way of accounting for suicide challenges the epistemologies and evidence at work in the others; the tensions and the interactions among them are signs of indeterminacy in suicide itself, taken as an object of inquiry. In the public discourse on the Greek crisis, the many meanings of suicide have been condensed and fixed as a politics of protest. Yet, I argue, comparison among epistemologies of suicide and recognition of its indeterminacy generate a space for thinking about suicide beyond the publicity of the crisis.
“Fak Germani”: Materialities of Nationhood and Transgression in the Greek Crisis
Authors: Kalantzis Konstantinos
Published: October 2015

This essay explores Greek responses to the debt crisis, particularly middle-class Greeks and their current experiences of Greece's putative subordination to Germany in particular, and IMF and EU monitoring generally. I focus on the sphere of materiality and embodiment, while also exploring the role of desire and pleasure in Greeks’ responses to their growing sense of subordination. Graffiti, popular protests, hip-hop expressive culture, and sexual joking are lenses through which I examine these themes. I also scrutinize my own positionality as a way of understanding the bitterness and ambiguity entailed in Greek reactions to the crisis. The essay illuminates how Greeks experience subjugation and respond to it through explosive resort to historical comparisons, sexual metaphors, and ill-mannered jokes.
Football, Migration, and Coalmining in Northern France, 1920s–1980s
Authors: Fontaine Marion
Published: October 2015

Football is often thought to have helped erase differences between natives and migrants in mining communities and to have helped in building a homogeneous class identity. Others have described this idea as a myth. Under closer scrutiny, however, relations between migrants and football are more complex than commonly thought. This article will elaborate on these complex relations by analysing the case of the coalfield in the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais during the twentieth century. Migrant workers were employed there from an early date: first, from the 1920s, Poles; later on other migrants, especially of Moroccan and Algerian descent. Migrants played an important role in the development of football in this region. This article looks at the influence of football on relations between migrants and other miners. More generally, it aims to show how sport was incorporated into the industrial mining world, both in employers’ policies and in the mining community.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and rodent reservoirs in the savanna-like biome of Brazil's southeastern region
Authors: LIMONGI J. E. , OLIVEIRA R. C. , GUTERRES A. , COSTA NETO S. F. , FERNANDES J. , VICENTE L. H.B. , COELHO M. G. , RAMOS V. N. , FERREIRA M. S. , BONVICINO C. R. , D'ANDREA P. S. , LEMOS E. R. S.
Published: October 2015

This paper describes the diversity of rodent fauna in an area endemic for hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in Brazil, the population dynamics and the relationship of rodents with hantavirus in the Cerrado (savanna-like) biome. Additionally, an analysis is made of the partial S segment sequences of the hantaviruses obtained from serologically confirmed human HCPS cases and from rodent specimens. Rodents were collected during four campaigns. Human serum samples were collected from suspected cases of HCPS at hospitals in the state of Minas Gerais. The samples antibody-reactive by ELISA were processed by RT–PCR. The PCR product was amplified and sequenced. Hantavirus was detected only inNecromys lasiurus, the wild rodent species most prevalent in the Cerrado biome (min-max: 50–83·7%). All the six human serum samples were hantavirus seropositive and five showed amplified PCR products. The analysis of the nucleotide sequences showed the circulation of a single genotype, the Araraquara hantavirus. The environmental changes that have occurred in the Cerrado biome in recent decades have favouredN. lasiurusin interspecific competition of habitats, thus increasing the risk of contact between humans and rodent species infected with hantavirus. Our data corroborate the definition ofN. lasiurusas the main hantavirus reservoir in the Cerrado biome.
Temperament and peer problems from early to middle childhood: Gene–environment correlations with negative emotionality and sociability
Authors: Hasenfratz Liat , Benish-Weisman Maya , Steinberg Tami , Knafo-Noam Ariel
Published: October 2015

Based in a transactional framework in which children's own characteristics and the social environment influence each other to produce individual differences in social adjustment, we investigated relationships between children's peer problems and their temperamental characteristics, using a longitudinal and genetically informed study of 939 pairs of Israeli twins followed from early to middle childhood (ages 3, 5, and 6.5). Peer problems were moderately stable within children over time, such that children who appeared to have more peer problems at age 3 tended to have also more peer problems at age 6.5. Children's temperament accounted for 10%–22% of the variance in their peer problems measured at the same age and for 2%–7% of the variance longitudinally. It is important that genetic factors accounted for the association between temperament and peer problems and were in line with a gene–environment correlation process, providing support for the proposal that biologically predisposed characteristics, particularly negative emotionality and sociability, have an influence on children's early experiences of peer problems. The results highlight the need for early and continuous interventions that are specifically tailored to address the interpersonal difficulties of children with particular temperamental profiles.
Take your mind off it: Coping style, serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region genotype (5-HTTLPR), and children's internalizing and externalizing problems
Authors: Cline Jessie I. , Belsky Jay , Li Zhi , Melhuish Edward , Lysenko Laura , McFarquhar Tara , Stevens Suzanne , Jaffee Sara R.
Published: October 2015

Individuals with the short variant of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region gene are more susceptible than individuals homozygous for the long allele to the effects of stressful life events on risk for internalizing and externalizing problems. We tested whether individual differences in coping style explained this increased risk for problem behavior among youth who were at both genetic and environmental risk. Participants included 279 children, ages 8–11, from the Children's Experiences and Development Study. Caregivers and teachers reported on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and caregivers and children on children's exposure to harsh parenting and parental warmth in middle childhood, and traumatic events. Children reported how frequently they used various coping strategies. Results revealed that short/short homozygotes had higher levels of internalizing problems compared with long allele carriers and that short allele carriers had higher levels of externalizing problems compared with long/long homozygotes under conditions of high cumulative risk. Moreover, among children who were homozygous for the short allele, those who had more cumulative risk indicators less frequently used distraction coping strategies, which partly explained why they had higher levels of internalizing problems. Coping strategies did not significantly mediate Gene × Environment effects on externalizing symptoms.
A NOTE ON TREND GROWTH AND LEARNING ABOUT MONETARY POLICY RULES IN A TWO-BLOCK WORLD ECONOMY
Authors: Schaling Eric , Tesfaselassie Mewael F.
Published: October 2015

We analyze the implications of openness and growth for determinacy and learnability of rational expectations equilibria in a two-country New Keynesian model with alternative monetary policy rules. Under the contemporaneous data rule, the conditions for determinacy and learnability become more stringent as a result of openness but less stringent as a result of growth, so that growth weakens the effect of openness. Under the expectations-based rule, the conditions for determinacy and learnability also become more stringent as a result of openness, whereas as a result of trend growth the conditions for determinacy also become more stringent (thus reinforcing the effect of openness) but those for learnability become less stringent (thus weakening the effect of openness). As in related studies, the elasticity of intertemporal substitution is key to our result, but within a framework that is consistent with long-run labor supply and balanced growth facts.
‘Emergency exit’ of bone-marrow-resident CD34+DNAM-1brightCXCR4+-committed lymphoid precursors during chronic infection and inflammation
Authors: Bozzano Federica , Marras Francesco , Ascierto Maria Libera , Cantoni Claudia , Cenderello Giovanni , Dentone Chiara , Di Biagio Antonio , Orofino Giancarlo , Mantia Eugenio , Boni Silvia , De Leo Pasqualina , Picciotto Antonino , Braido Fulvio , Antonini Francesca , Wang Ena , Marincola Francesco , Moretta Lorenzo , De Maria Andrea
Published: October 2015

During chronic inflammatory disorders, a persistent natural killer (NK) cell derangement is observed. While increased cell turnover is expected, little is known about whether and how NK-cell homeostatic balance is maintained. Here, flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in chronic inflammatory disorders, both infectious and non-infectious, reveals the presence of a CD34+CD226(DNAM-1)brightCXCR4+ cell population displaying transcriptional signatures typical of common lymphocyte precursors and giving rise to NK-cell progenies with high expression of activating receptors and mature function and even to α/β T lymphocytes. CD34+CD226brightCXCR4+ cells reside in bone marrow, hardly circulate in healthy donors and are absent in cord blood. Their proportion correlates with the degree of inflammation, reflecting lymphoid cell turnover/reconstitution during chronic inflammation. These findings provide insight on intermediate stages of NK-cell development, a view of emergency recruitment of cell precursors, and upgrade our understanding and monitoring of chronic inflammatory conditions.
Topologically robust sound propagation in an angular-momentum-biased graphene-like resonator lattice
Authors: Khanikaev Alexander B. , Fleury Romain , Mousavi S. Hossein , Alù Andrea
Published: October 2015

Topological insulators do not allow conduction in the bulk, yet they support edge modes that travel along the boundary only in one direction, determined by the carried electron spin, with inherent robustness to defects and disorder. Topological insulators have inspired analogues in photonics and optics, in which one-way edge propagation in topologically protected two-dimensional materials is achieved breaking time-reversal symmetry with a magnetic bias. Here, we introduce the concept of topological order in classical acoustics, realizing robust topological protection and one-way edge propagation of sound in a suitably designed resonator lattice biased with angular momentum, forming the acoustic analogue of a magnetically biased graphene layer. Extending the concept of an acoustic nonreciprocal circulator based on angular-momentum bias, time-reversal symmetry is broken here using moderate rotational motion of air within each element of the lattice, which takes the role of the electron spin in determining the direction of modal edge propagation.
MAP4K family kinases act in parallel to MST1/2 to activate LATS1/2 in the Hippo pathway
Authors: Meng Zhipeng , Moroishi Toshiro , Mottier-Pavie Violaine , Plouffe Steven W. , Hansen Carsten G. , Hong Audrey W. , Park Hyun Woo , Mo Jung-Soon , Lu Wenqi , Lu Shicong , Flores Fabian , Yu Fa-Xing , Halder Georg , Guan Kun-Liang
Published: October 2015

The Hippo pathway plays a central role in tissue homoeostasis, and its dysregulation contributes to tumorigenesis. Core components of the Hippo pathway include a kinase cascade of MST1/2 and LATS1/2 and the transcription co-activators YAP/TAZ. In response to stimulation, LATS1/2 phosphorylate and inhibit YAP/TAZ, the main effectors of the Hippo pathway. Accumulating evidence suggests that MST1/2 are not required for the regulation of YAP/TAZ. Here we show that deletion of LATS1/2 but not MST1/2 abolishes YAP/TAZ phosphorylation. We have identified MAP4K family members—Drosophila Happyhour homologues MAP4K1/2/3 and Misshapen homologues MAP4K4/6/7—as direct LATS1/2-activating kinases. Combined deletion of MAP4Ks and MST1/2, but neither alone, suppresses phosphorylation of LATS1/2 and YAP/TAZ in response to a wide range of signals. Our results demonstrate that MAP4Ks act in parallel to and are partially redundant with MST1/2 in the regulation of LATS1/2 and YAP/TAZ, and establish MAP4Ks as components of the expanded Hippo pathway.
The foot of Homo naledi
Authors: Harcourt-Smith W. E. H. , Throckmorton Z. , Congdon K. A. , Zipfel B. , Deane A. S. , Drapeau M. S. M. , Churchill S. E. , Berger L. R. , DeSilva J. M.
Published: October 2015

Modern humans are characterized by a highly specialized foot that reflects our obligate bipedalism. Our understanding of hominin foot evolution is, although, hindered by a paucity of well-associated remains. Here we describe the foot ofHomo naledifrom Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, using 107 pedal elements, including one nearly-complete adult foot. TheH. naledifoot is predominantly modern human-like in morphology and inferred function, with an adducted hallux, an elongated tarsus, and derived ankle and calcaneocuboid joints. In combination, these features indicate a foot well adapted for striding bipedalism. However, theH. naledifoot differs from modern humans in having more curved proximal pedal phalanges, and features suggestive of a reduced medial longitudinal arch. Within the context of primitive features found elsewhere in the skeleton, these findings suggest a unique locomotor repertoire forH. naledi, thus providing further evidence of locomotor diversity within both the hominin clade and the genusHomo.
Systematic analysis of somatic mutations impacting gene expression in 12 tumour types
Authors: Ding Jiarui , McConechy Melissa K. , Horlings Hugo M. , Ha Gavin , Chun Chan Fong , Funnell Tyler , Mullaly Sarah C. , Reimand Jüri , Bashashati Ali , Bader Gary D. , Huntsman David , Aparicio Samuel , Condon Anne , Shah Sohrab P.
Published: October 2015

We present a novel hierarchical Bayes statistical model, xseq, to systematically quantify the impact of somatic mutations on expression profiles. We establish the theoretical framework and robust inference characteristics of the method using computational benchmarking. We then use xseq to analyse thousands of tumour data sets available through The Cancer Genome Atlas, to systematically quantify somatic mutations impacting expression profiles. We identify 30 novelcis-effect tumour suppressor gene candidates, enriched in loss-of-function mutations and biallelic inactivation. Analysis oftrans-effects of mutations and copy number alterations with xseq identifies mutations in 150 genes impacting expression networks, with 89 novel predictions. We reveal two important novel characteristics of mutation impact on expression: (1) patients harbouring known driver mutations exhibit different downstream gene expression consequences; (2) expression patterns for some mutations are stable across tumour types. These results have critical implications for identification and interpretation of mutations with consequent impact on transcription in cancer.
Wave-driven butterfly distribution of Van Allen belt relativistic electrons
Authors: Xiao Fuliang , Yang Chang , Su Zhenpeng , Zhou Qinghua , He Zhaoguo , He Yihua , Baker D. N. , Spence H. E. , Funsten H. O. , Blake J. B.
Published: October 2015

Van Allen radiation belts consist of relativistic electrons trapped by Earth's magnetic field. Trapped electrons often drift azimuthally around Earth and display a butterfly pitch angle distribution of a minimum at 90° further out than geostationary orbit. This is usually attributed to drift shell splitting resulting from day–night asymmetry in Earth’s magnetic field. However, direct observation of a butterfly distribution well inside of geostationary orbit and the origin of this phenomenon have not been provided so far. Here we report high-resolution observation that a unusual butterfly pitch angle distribution of relativistic electrons occurred within 5 Earth radii during the 28 June 2013 geomagnetic storm. Simulation results show that combined acceleration by chorus and magnetosonic waves can successfully explain the electron flux evolution both in the energy and butterfly pitch angle distribution. The current provides a great support for the mechanism of wave-driven butterfly distribution of relativistic electrons.
Hypoionic shock treatment enables aminoglycosides antibiotics to eradicate bacterial persisters
Authors: Jiafeng Liu , Fu Xinmiao , Chang Zengyi
Published: October 2015

Bacterial persisters, usually being considered as dormant cells that are tolerant to antibiotics, are an important source for recurrent infection and emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens. Clinical eradication of pathogenic persisters is highly desired but greatly difficult mainly due to the substantial reduction in antibiotics uptake as well as the non-active state of the drug targets. Here we report that bacterial persisters (normal growing cells as well) can be effectively eradicated by aminoglycoside antibiotics upon hypoionic shock (e.g. pure water treatment) even for less than one minute. Such hypoionic shock potentiation effect on aminoglycosides is proton motive force-independent and is apparently achieved by promoting the entrance of aminoglycosides, speculatively through the mechanosensitive ion channels. Our revelations may provide a simple and powerful strategy to eradicate pathogen persisters.
Hofmeister effect of anions on calcium translocation by sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase
Authors: Tadini-Buoninsegni Francesco , Moncelli Maria Rosa , Peruzzi Niccolò , Ninham Barry W. , Dei Luigi , Nostro Pierandrea Lo
Published: October 2015

The occurrence of Hofmeister (specific ion) effects in various membrane-related physiological processes is well documented. For example the effect of anions on the transport activity of the ion pump Na+, K+-ATPase has been investigated. Here we report on specific anion effects on the ATP-dependent Ca2+ translocation by the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA). Current measurements following ATP concentration jumps on SERCA-containing vesicles adsorbed on solid supported membranes were carried out in the presence of different potassium salts. We found that monovalent anions strongly interfere with ATP-induced Ca2+ translocation by SERCA, according to their increasing chaotropicity in the Hofmeister series. On the contrary, a significant increase in Ca2+ translocation was observed in the presence of sulphate. We suggest that the anions can affect the conformational transition between the phosphorylated intermediates E1P and E2P of the SERCA cycle. In particular, the stabilization of the E1P conformation by chaotropic anions seems to be related to their adsorption at the enzyme/water and/or at the membrane/water interface, while the more kosmotropic species affect SERCA conformation and functionality by modifying the hydration layers of the enzyme.
Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud
Authors: Barcaccia Gianni , Galla Giulio , Achilli Alessandro , Olivieri Anna , Torroni Antonio
Published: October 2015

The Turin Shroud is traditionally considered to be the burial cloth in which the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped after his death approximately 2000 years ago. Here, we report the main findings from the analysis of genomic DNA extracted from dust particles vacuumed from parts of the body image and the lateral edge used for radiocarbon dating. Several plant taxa native to the Mediterranean area were identified as well as species with a primary center of origin in Asia, the Middle East or the Americas but introduced in a historical interval later than the Medieval period. Regarding human mitogenome lineages, our analyses detected sequences from multiple subjects of different ethnic origins, which clustered into a number of Western Eurasian haplogroups, including some known to be typical of Western Europe, the Near East, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian sub-continent. Such diversity does not exclude a Medieval origin in Europe but it would be also compatible with the historic path followed by the Turin Shroud during its presumed journey from the Near East. Furthermore, the results raise the possibility of an Indian manufacture of the linen cloth.
Rapid low dose electron tomography using a direct electron detection camera
Authors: Migunov Vadim , Ryll Henning , Zhuge Xiaodong , Simson Martin , Strüder Lothar , Batenburg K. Joost , Houben Lothar , Dunin-Borkowski Rafal E.
Published: October 2015

We demonstrate the ability to record a tomographic tilt series containing 3487 images in only 3.5 s by using a direct electron detector in a transmission electron microscope. The electron dose is lower by at least one order of magnitude when compared with that used to record a conventional tilt series of fewer than 100 images in 15–60 minutes and the overall signal-to-noise ratio is greater than 4. Our results, which are illustrated for an inorganic nanotube, are important for ultra-low-dose electron tomography of electron-beam-sensitive specimens and real-time dynamic electron tomography of nanoscale objects with sub-ms temporal resolution.
Non-alignment stagnation-point flow of a nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking sheet: Buongiorno’s model
Authors: Hamid Rohana Abdul , Nazar Roslinda , Pop Ioan
Published: October 2015

The paper deals with a stagnation-point boundary layer flow towards a permeable stretching/shrinking sheet in a nanofluid where the flow and the sheet are not aligned. We used the Buongiorno model that is based on the Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis to describe the nanofluid in this problem. The main purpose of the present paper is to examine whether the non-alignment function has the effect on the problem considered when the fluid suction and injection are imposed. It is interesting to note that the non-alignment function can ruin the symmetry of the flows and prominent in the shrinking sheet. The fluid suction will reduce the impact of the non-alignment function of the stagnation flow and the stretching/shrinking sheet but at the same time increasing the velocity profiles and the shear stress at the surface. Furthermore, the effects of the pertinent parameters such as the Brownian motion, thermophoresis, Lewis number and the suction/injection on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are also taken into consideration. The numerical results are shown in the tables and the figures. It is worth mentioning that dual solutions are found to exist for the shrinking sheet.