bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benefits and Drawbacks of Citizen Science to Complement Traditional Data Gathering Approaches for Medically Important Hard Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in the United States
Authors: Eisen Lars , Eisen Rebecca J 
Published: August 2020

AbstractTick-borne diseases are increasing in North America. Knowledge of which tick species and associated human pathogens are present locally can inform the public and medical community about the acarological risk for tick bites and tick-borne infections. Citizen science (also called community-based monitoring, volunteer monitoring, or participatory science) is emerging as a potential approach to complement traditional tick record data gathering where all aspects of the work is done by researchers or public health professionals. One key question is how citizen science can best be used to generate high-quality data to fill knowledge gaps that are difficult to address using traditional data gathering approaches. Citizen science is particularly useful to generate information on human–tick encounters and may also contribute to geographical tick records to help define species distributions across large areas. Previous citizen science projects have utilized three distinct tick record data gathering methods including submission of: 1) physical tick specimens for identification by professional entomologists, 2) digital images of ticks for identification by professional entomologists, and 3) data where the tick species and life stage were identified by the citizen scientist. We explore the benefits and drawbacks of citizen science, relative to the traditional scientific approach, to generate data on tick records, with special emphasis on data quality for species identification and tick encounter locations. We recognize the value of citizen science to tick research but caution that the generated information must be interpreted cautiously with data quality limitations firmly in mind to avoid misleading conclusions.
Transactional Model of Parental Adjustment and Caregiving Burden Following a Children's Acquired Disability
Authors: Palmor Haspel Shoshi , Benyamini Yael , Ginzburg Karni 
Published: August 2020

AbstractObjectivesPediatric-acquired disability is often a crossroads in the lives of children and their parents, as they set out to adjust to a new physical impairment. This longitudinal study examined associations between the severity of children’s-acquired disability, their parents’ caregiver burden and adjustment, and parents’ perception of the children’s adjustment over time.MethodsParticipants were parents and medical staff of 140 children with acquired disability, aged 1–18, hospitalized in pediatric or rehabilitation departments. Data were collected about 1 month after diagnosis (T1) and about 4 months later (T2). Parents completed background information, caregiver burden, child, and parental adjustment questionnaires. Medical staff contributed the disability severity indices.ResultsThe severity of the child’s disability was negatively associated with parents’ adjustment and perception of the child’s adjustment. Caregiver burden was positively associated with the severity of the disability, and negatively with parents’ adjustment and perception of their child’s adjustment, at both time points. Over time, the severity of the disability and caregiver burden decreased, and parents’ adjustment and perception of the child’s adjustment improved. At T2, parents’ and children’s adjustment were strongly associated.Conclusions The findings revealed the relationship between objective severity indices and caregiver burden. They suggest that parents’ adjustment may affect their perception of the child’s adjustment to disability, and emphasize the role of parental perceptions over time. Therefore, parents who are less likely to adjust effectively should be identified early on to facilitate professional intervention.
Trimethylamine N-Oxide is Associated with Heart Failure Risk in Patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction
Authors: Dong Zengxiang , Zheng Sijia , Shen Zhaoqian , Luo Yingchun , Hai Xin 
Published: August 2020

Abstract

Background
Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) has been considered to be an independent risk factor of heart failure (HF).

Objectives
To further determine the plasma levels of TMAO in patients who have HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and to analyze the relationship between TMAO and HFpEF risk.

Methods
A total of 57 control participants and 61 patients with HFpEF were recruited. We measured and analyzed plasma levels of TMAO and performed biochemical examination of all patients.

Results
The mean (SD) plasma levels of TMAO in patients with HFpEF (6.84 [1.12] μmol/L) were significantly higher than in controls (1.63 [0.08] μmol/L; P &lt;.01). The area under the curve (AUC) of TMAO and N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was 0.817 and 0.924, respectively, which were determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. TMAO was an independent risk factor in patients with HFpEF, as revealed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The level of TMAO was correlated with blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and NT-proBNP.

Conclusions
TMAO level was highly associated with HFpEF risk.
Seeing objects improves our hearing of the sounds they make
Authors: Man Kingson , Melo Gabriela , Damasio Antonio , Kaplan Jonas 
Published: August 2020

AbstractIt has been established that lip reading improves the perception of auditory speech. But does seeing objects themselves help us hear better the sounds they make? Here we report a series of psychophysical experiments in humans showing that the visual enhancement of auditory sensitivity is not confined to speech. We further show that the crossmodal enhancement was associated with the conscious visualization of the stimulus: we can better hear the sounds an object makes when we are conscious of seeing that object. Our work extends an intriguing crossmodal effect, previously circumscribed to speech, to a wider domain of real-world objects, and suggests that consciousness contributes to this effect.
Active vitamin D is cardioprotective in experimental uraemia but not in children with CKD Stages 3–5
Authors: Schön Anne , Leifheit-Nestler Maren , Deppe Jennifer , Fischer Dagmar-Christiane , Bayazit Aysun K , Obrycki Lukasz , Canpolat Nur , Bulut Ipek Kaplan , Azukaitis Karolis , Yilmaz Alev , Mir Sevgi , Yalcinkaya Fatos , Soylemezoglu Oguz , Melk Anette , Stangl Gabriele I , Behnisch Rouven , Shroff Rukshana , Bacchetta Justine , Querfeld Uwe , Schaefer Franz , Haffner Dieter ,   for the 4C and Study Consortium and the ESPN CKD-MBD Working Group
Published: August 2020

Abstract

Background
Uraemic cardiac remodelling is associated with vitamin D and Klotho deficiency, elevated fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and activation of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS). The cardioprotective properties of active vitamin D analogues in this setting are unclear.

Methods
In rats with 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6Nx) treated with calcitriol, the cardiac phenotype and local RAS activation were investigated compared with controls. A nested case–control study was performed within the Cardiovascular Comorbidity in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease (4C) study, including children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) Stages 3–5 [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 25 mL/min/1.73 m2] treated with and without active vitamin D. Echocardiograms, plasma FGF23 and soluble Klotho (sKlotho) were assessed at baseline and after 9 months.

Results
In rats with 5/6Nx, left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, LV fibrosis and upregulated cardiac RAS were dose-dependently attenuated by calcitriol. Calcitriol further stimulated FGF23 synthesis in bone but not in the heart, and normalized suppressed renal Klotho expression. In the 4C study cohort, treatment over a mean period of 9 months with active vitamin D was associated with increased FGF23 and phosphate and decreased sKlotho and eGFR compared with vitamin D naïve controls, whereas LV mass index did not differ between groups.

Conclusions
Active vitamin D ameliorates cardiac remodelling and normalizes renal Klotho expression in 5/6Nx rats but does not improve the cardiac phenotype in children with CKD Stages 3–5. This discrepancy may be due to further enhancement of circulating FGF23 and faster progression of CKD associated with reduced sKlotho and higher serum phosphate in vitamin D-treated patients.
Medical management of brain metastases
Authors: Lauko Adam , Rauf Yasmeen , Ahluwalia Manmeet S 
Published: August 2020

AbsrtractThe development of brain metastases occurs in 10–20% of all patients with cancer. Brain metastases portend poor survival and contribute to increased cancer mortality and morbidity. Despite multimodal treatment options, which include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, 5-year survival remains low. Besides, our current treatment modalities can have significant neurological comorbidities, which result in neurocognitive decline and a decrease in a patient’s quality of life. However, innovations in technology, improved understanding of tumor biology, and new therapeutic options have led to improved patient care. Novel approaches in radiotherapy are minimizing the neurocognitive decline while providing the same therapeutic benefit. In addition, advances in targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors are redefining the management of lung and melanoma brain metastases. Similar approaches to brain metastases from other primary tumors promise to lead to new and effective therapies. We are beginning to understand the appropriate combination of these novel approaches with our traditional treatment options. As advances in basic and translational science and innovative technologies enter clinical practice, the prognosis of patients with brain metastases will continue to improve.
Microbiome-mediated plasticity directs host evolution along several distinct time scales
Authors: Kolodny Oren , Schulenburg Hinrich 
Published: August 2020

Host-associated microbiomes influence their host's fitness in myriad ways and can be viewed as a source of phenotypic plasticity. This plasticity may allow the host to accommodate novel environmental challenges and thus influence the host's evolutionary adaptation. As with other modalities of phenotypic plasticity in phenomena such as the Baldwin effect and genetic assimilation, the microbiome-mediated plasticity may influence host genetic adaptation by facilitating and accelerating it, by slowing it down, or even by preventing it. The dynamics involved are likely more complex than those of previously studied phenomena related to phenotypic plasticity, and involve different processes on each time scale, such as acquired recognition of newly associated microbes by the host's immune system on single- and multiple-generation time scales, or selection on transmission dynamics of microbes between hosts, acting on longer time scales. To date, it is unclear if and how any of these processes shape host evolution. This opinion piece article provides a conceptual framework for considering the processes by which microbiome-mediated plasticity directs host evolution and concludes with suggestions for key experimental tests of the presented ideas.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.
Pathogen resistance may be the principal evolutionary advantage provided by the microbiome
Authors: McLaren Michael R. , Callahan Benjamin J. 
Published: August 2020

To survive, plants and animals must continually defend against pathogenic microbes that would invade and disrupt their tissues. Yet they do not attempt to extirpate all microbes. Instead, they tolerate and even encourage the growth of commensal microbes, which compete with pathogens for resources and via direct inhibition. We argue that hosts have evolved to cooperate with commensals in order to enhance the pathogen resistance this competition provides. We briefly describe competition between commensals and pathogens within the host, consider how natural selection might favour hosts that tilt this competition in favour of commensals, and describe examples of extant host traits that may serve this purpose. Finally, we consider ways that this cooperative immunity may have facilitated the adaptive evolution of non-pathogen-related host traits. On the basis of these observations, we argue that pathogen resistance vies with other commensal-provided benefits for being the principal evolutionary advantage provided by the microbiome to host lineages across the tree of life.This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.
Microbiota–host interactions shape ageing dynamics
Authors: Popkes Miriam , Valenzano Dario Riccardo 
Published: August 2020

Occupying the interface between host and environment, host-associated microbes play fundamental roles in nutrient absorption, essential metabolite synthesis, development of the immune system, defence against pathogens and pathogenesis. Microbiota composition and function is rather stable during adulthood, while it dramatically changes during early development, frailty and disease. Ageing is associated with progressive decrease of homeostasis, often resulting in disruption of the physiological balance between host and commensal microbes, ultimately leading to dysbiosis and host demise. Generally, high microbial diversity is associated with health and a youthful state, while low individual microbial diversity and larger inter-individual microbial diversity is associated with ageing and disease states. Different species are equipped with species-specific commensal, symbiotic and pathogenic microbial communities. How and whether the specific host–microbiota consortia co-evolved with host physiology to ensure homeostasis and promote individual fitness remains an open question. In this essay, we propose that the evolution of vertebrate-specific immune adaptations may have enabled the establishment of highly diverse, species-specific commensal microbial communities. We discuss how the maintenance of intact immune surveillance mechanisms, which allow discrimination between commensal and pathogenic bacteria, fail during ageing and lead to the onset of known ageing-related diseases. We discuss how host–microbiota interactions are key to maintaining homeostasis despite external perturbations, but also how they affect a range of host-specific ageing-related phenotypes.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.
Evolution of animal immunity in the light of beneficial symbioses
Authors: Gerardo Nicole M. , Hoang Kim L. , Stoy Kayla S. 
Published: August 2020

Immune system processes serve as the backbone of animal defences against pathogens and thus have evolved under strong selection and coevolutionary dynamics. Most microorganisms that animals encounter, however, are not harmful, and many are actually beneficial. Selection should act on hosts to maintain these associations while preventing exploitation of within-host resources. Here, we consider how several key aspects of beneficial symbiotic associations may shape host immune system evolution. When host immunity is used to regulate symbiont populations, there should be selection to evolve and maintain targeted immune responses that recognize symbionts and suppress but not eliminate symbiont populations. Associating with protective symbionts could relax selection on the maintenance of redundant host-derived immune responses. Alternatively, symbionts could facilitate the evolution of host immune responses if symbiont-conferred protection allows for persistence of host populations that can then adapt. The trajectory of immune system evolution will likely differ based on the type of immunity involved, the symbiont transmission mode and the costs and benefits of immune system function. Overall, the expected influence of beneficial symbiosis on immunity evolution depends on how the host immune system interacts with symbionts, with some interactions leading to constraints while others possibly relax selection on immune system maintenance.This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.
Compartmentalization drives the evolution of symbiotic cooperation
Authors: Chomicki Guillaume , Werner Gijsbert D. A. , West Stuart A. , Kiers E. Toby 
Published: August 2020

Across the tree of life, hosts have evolved mechanisms to control and mediate interactions with symbiotic partners. We suggest that the evolution of physical structures that allow hosts to spatially separate symbionts, termed compartmentalization, is a common mechanism used by hosts. Such compartmentalization allows hosts to: (i) isolate symbionts and control their reproduction; (ii) reward cooperative symbionts and punish or stop interactions with non-cooperative symbionts; and (iii) reduce direct conflict among different symbionts strains in a single host. Compartmentalization has allowed hosts to increase the benefits that they obtain from symbiotic partners across a diversity of interactions, including legumes and rhizobia, plants and fungi, squid andVibrio, insects and nutrient provisioning bacteria, plants and insects, and the human microbiome. In cases where compartmentalization has not evolved, we ask why not. We argue that when partners interact in a competitive hierarchy, or when hosts engage in partnerships which are less costly, compartmentalization is less likely to evolve. We conclude that compartmentalization is key to understanding the evolution of symbiotic cooperation.This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.
Housing microbial symbionts: evolutionary origins and diversification of symbiotic organs in animals
Authors: Douglas Angela E. 
Published: August 2020

In many animal hosts, microbial symbionts are housed within specialized structures known as symbiotic organs, but the evolutionary origins of these structures have rarely been investigated. Here, I adopt an evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) approach, specifically to apply knowledge of the development of symbiotic organs to gain insights into their evolutionary origins and diversification. In particular, host genetic changes associated with evolution of symbiotic organs can be inferred from studies to identify the host genes that orchestrate the development of symbiotic organs, recognizing that microbial products may also play a key role in triggering the developmental programme in some associations. These studies may also reveal whether higher animal taxonomic groups (order, class, phylum, etc.) possess a common genetic regulatory network for symbiosis that is latent in taxa lacking symbiotic organs, and activated at the origination of symbiosis in different host lineages. In this way, apparent instances of convergent evolution of symbiotic organs may be homologous in terms of a common genetic blueprint for symbiosis. Advances in genetic technologies, including reverse genetic tools and genome editing, will facilitate the application of evo-devo approaches to investigate the evolution of symbiotic organs in animals.This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.
Mobilization of aKluyvera-likearnBCADTEFoperon, besidesmcrgenes, confers colistin resistance toEscherichia coliisolated from healthy animals
Authors: Gallardo Alejandro , Iglesias María-Rocío , Ugarte-Ruiz María , Hernández Marta , Miguela-Villoldo Pedro , Gutiérrez Gloria , Rodríguez-Lázaro David , Domínguez Lucas , Quesada Alberto 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe use of colistin as a last resort antimicrobial is compromised by the emergence of resistant enterobacteria with acquired determinants likemcrgenes, mutations that activate the PmrAB two-component system and also by some other(s) still unknown mechanism(s). This work analyzed 74E. coliisolates from healthy swine, turkey or bovine animals, characterizing their colistin resistance determinants. Themcr-1gene, detected in 69 isolates, was the main determinant found among which 45% were carried by highly mobile plasmids, followed by four strains lacking previously known resistance determinants or two withmcr-4(one in addition tomcr-1), whose phenotypes were not transferred by conjugation. Although a fraction of isolates carryingmcr-1ormcr-4genes also presented missense polymorphisms inpmrAorpmrB, constitutive activation of PmrAB was not detected, in contrast to control strains carrying mutations that confer colistin resistance. The expression ofmcrgenes negatively controlsarnBCADTEFexpression, a down-regulation that was also observed in the four isolates lacking known resistance determinants, three of them sharing the same macrorestriction and plasmid profiles. Genomic sequencing of one of these strains, isolated from a bovine in 2015, revealed a IncFII plasmid of 60 Kb encoding anarnBCADTEFoperon closely related toKluyvera ascorbatahomologs. This element, named pArnT1, was cured by ethidum bromide and lost in parallel to colistin resistance. This work reveals that, besidesmcrgenes and chromosomal mutations, mobilization ofarnBCADTEFoperon represents a colistin resistance mechanism whose spread and relevance for public health should be carefully surveyed.Abstract ImportanceColistin is an old antibiotic that has returned to first-line fighting against (Gram negative) microorganisms after pandemic rising of antimicrobial resistance. However, low susceptibility to colistin is also becoming spread, mainly by plasmid mobilization of one of the enzymes (encoded bymcrgenes) that modify covalently the external layer (the lipid A component of the lipopolysaccharide) of bacterial envelope, interfering antibiotic effectiveness. The second enzymatic system that performs envelope modification and confers colistin resistance when overexpressed is encoded byarnBCADTEFoperon, a set of seven genes with location restricted (up to now) to the chromosome of Gram negative bacteria. This work describes plasmid mobilization of this operon between enterobacteria, fromKluyveratoEscherichia coli, where aKluyvera-likearnBCADTEFoperon carried by pArnT1 might represent, besidesmcrgenes, a potential risk for antimicrobial therapy and might require careful surveillance.