bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Brain endothelial antigen presentation detains CD8+T cells at the blood-brain barrier leading to its breakdown
Authors: Aydin Sidar , Pareja Javier , Schallenberg Vivianne M. , Klopstein Armelle , Gruber Thomas , Page Nicolas , Kaba Elisa , Deutsch Urban , Johnson Aaron J. , Schenk Mirjam , Merkler Doron , Engelhardt Britta 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBlood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown and immune cell infiltration into the central nervous system (CNS) are early hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS). High numbers of CD8+T cells are found in MS lesions and antigen (Ag)-presentation at the BBB was proposed to promote CD8+T-cell entry into the CNS. Employing live cell imaging and primary mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells (pMBMECs) asin vitromodel of the BBB and a mouse model of CNS autoimmunity, we here show that pMBMECs process and present antigens leading to effector CD8+T-cell differentiation. Under physiological flow, endothelial Ag-presentation prohibited CD8+T-cell crawling and diapedesis leading to pMBMEC apoptosis. Reduced motility of Ag-specific CD8+T cells was also observed in CNS microvessels in neuroinflammationin vivo.Luminal MHC class I Ag-presentation at the BBB thus prohibits CD8+T-cell entry into the CNS and rather triggers CD8+T cell mediated focal BBB breakdown.
Differential metabolism of arsenicals regulates Fps1-mediated arsenite transport
Authors: Lee Jongmin , Levin David E. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractArsenic is an environmental toxin that exists mainly as pentavalent arsenate and trivalent arsenite. Both forms activate the yeast SAPK Hog1, but with different consequences. We describe a mechanism by which cells distinguish between these arsenicals through one-step metabolism to differentially regulate the bidirectional glycerol channel Fps1, an adventitious port for arsenite. Cells exposed to arsenate reduce it to thiol-reactive arsenite, which modifies a set of cysteine residues in target proteins; whereas cells exposed to arsenite metabolize it to methylarsenite, which modifies an additional set of cysteine residues. Hog1 becomes arsenylated, which prevents it from closing Fps1. However, this block is overcome in cells exposed to arsenite through methylarsenylation of Acr3, an arsenite efflux pump that we found also regulates Fps1 directly. This adaptation allows cells to restrict arsenite entry through Fps1, but also allows its exit when produced from arsenate exposure. These results have broad implications for understanding how SAPKs activated by diverse stressors can drive stress-specific outputs.Summary (for JCB table of contents)Jongmin Lee, David E. LevinLee and Levin investigate the question of how different stressors can drive divergent outputs from an active SAPK. The work describes the mechanism by which two forms of arsenic that both activate the yeast SAPK Hog1 differentially regulate the glycerol channel Fps1.
Individual alpha power predicts language comprehension
Authors: Wang P. , He Y. , Maess B. , Yue J. , Chen L. , Brauer J. , Friederici A.D. , Knösche T.R. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAlpha power attenuation during cognitive task performing has been suggested to reflect a process of release of inhibition, increase of excitability, and thereby benefit the improvement of performance. Here, we hypothesized that changes in individual alpha power during the execution of a complex language comprehension task may correlate with the individual performance in that task. We tested this using magnetoencephalography (MEG) recorded during comprehension of German sentences of different syntactic complexity.Results showed that neither the frequency nor the power of the spontaneous oscillatory activity at rest were associated with the individual performance. However, during the execution of a sentences processing task, the individual alpha power attenuation did correlate with individual language comprehension performance. Source reconstruction localized effects in temporal-parietal regions of both hemispheres. While the effect of increased task difficulty is localized in the right hemisphere, the difference in power attenuation between tasks of different complexity exhibiting a correlation with performance was localized in left temporal-parietal brain regions known to be associated with language processing.From our results, we conclude that in-task attenuation of individual alpha power is related to the essential mechanisms of the underlying cognitive processes, rather than merely to general phenomena like attention or vigilance.HighlightsComprehension of structurally complexed embedded sentences is correlated with individual alpha power attenuation during task but not with alpha power at rest.These effects were localized in temporal-parietal brain regions known to be associated with language processing.Data availability statementAnonymized raw data will be made available upon request via email to the corresponding author provided the requesting researchers sign a formal data sharing agreement and cite this paper as origin of the data.
Specificity of California mouse pup vocalizations in response to olfactory cues
Authors: Wilson Kerianne M. , Wagner Victoria , Saltzman Wendy 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTIn rodents, young pups communicate with their parents through harmonic calls and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). These forms of communication can improve chances of survival, since pups rely on their parents for thermoregulation, nutrition and protection. The extent to which pups modulate calls in response to their surroundings remains unclear. In this study we examined whether olfactory stimuli influence characteristics of pup calls, and how these calls may be affected by pup sex and litter size, in the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus). Pups were isolated and audio recorded during an initial, 3-minute control period, after which they were exposed for 5 minutes to bedding containing one of 4 olfactory cues: scent from their home cage, scent from the home cage of an unfamiliar family, coyote urine, or no scent. Latency to call, call rate, call duration and call characteristics (e.g. frequency and amplitude) were compared between the control period and olfactory-exposure period as well as among olfactory conditions. Pups from 2-pup litters called more quietly (lower amplitude) when exposed to odor from a predator while pups from 3-pup litters called louder (higher amplitude). Additionally, pups tended to reduce their call rates in response to odors from their home cage, consistent with contact quieting. However, pups tended to increase their rate of calling when exposed to predator urine, in contrast to the expectations of predator-induced vocal suppression. Lastly, male pups produced higher-frequency calls and more USVs than females. These results indicate that a number of pup call characteristics in this species can be influenced by acute olfactory stimuli as well as factors such as litter size and sex. The value of these pup call variations for offspring-parent communication is unclear: whether they elicit different parental responses is unknown and would be an interesting/valuable/informative avenue for future studies.
Impact of baseline culture conditions of mouse-derived cancer organoids when determining therapeutic response and tumor heterogeneity
Authors: DeStefanis Rebecca A. , Olson Autumn M. , DeZeeuw Alyssa K. , Gillette Amani A. , Sha Gioia C. , Johnson Katherine A. , Kratz Jeremy D. , Pasch Cheri A. , Clipson Linda , Skala Melissa C. , Deming Dustin A. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractRepresentative models are needed to screen new therapies for patients with cancer. Cancer organoids are a leap forward as a culture model that faithfully represents the disease. Mouse-derived cancer organoids (MDCOs) are becoming increasingly popular, however there has yet to be a standardized method to assess therapeutic response and identify subpopulation heterogeneity. There are multiple factors unique to organoid culture that could affect how therapeutic response and MDCO heterogeneity are assessed. Here we describe an analysis of nearly 3,500 individual MDCOs where individual organoid morphologic tracking was performed. Change in MDCO diameter was assessed in the presence of control media or targeted therapies. Individual organoid tracking was identified to be more sensitive to treatment response than well-level assessment. The impact of different generations of mice of the same genotype, different regions of the colon, and organoid specific characteristics including baseline size, passage number, plating density, and location within the matrix were examined. Only the starting size of the MDCO altered the subsequent growth. Here we establish organoid culture parameters for individual organoid morphologic tracking to determine therapeutic response and growth/response heterogeneity for translational studies using murine colorectal cancer organoids.
Transkingdom Analysis of the Female Reproductive Tract Reveals Bacteriophages Form Communities
Authors: Madere Ferralita S. , Sohn Michael , Winbush Angelina , Barr Breóna , Grier Alex , Java James , Meiring Tracy , Williamson Anna-Lise , Bekker Linda-Gail , Adler David H. , Monaco Cynthia L. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe female reproductive tract (FRT) microbiome plays an important role in maintaining vaginal health. Viruses play a key role in regulating other microbial ecosystems, but little is known about how the FRT viruses (virome), particularly bacteriophages, impacts FRT health and dysbiosis. We hypothesize that bacterial vaginosis is associated with alterations in the FRT virome, and these changes correlate with bacteriome shifts. We conducted a retrospective, longitudinal analysis of vaginal swabs collected from 54 bacterial vaginosis (BV)-positive and 46 BV-negative South African women. Bacteriome analysis revealed samples clustered into five distinct bacterial community groups (CG). Bacterial alpha diversity was significantly associated with BV. Virome analysis on a subset of baseline samples showed FRT bacteriophages clustering into novel viral state types (VSTs), a viral community clustering system based on virome composition and abundance. Distinct BV bacteriophage signatures included increased alpha diversity along with Bacillus, Burkholderia and Escherichia bacteriophages. Discriminate bacteriophage-bacteria transkingdom associations were also identified between Bacillus and Burkholderia viruses and BV-associated bacteria, providing key insight for future studies elucidating transkingdom interactions driving BV-associated microbiome perturbations. In this cohort, bacteriophage-bacterial associations suggest complex interactions which may play a role in the establishment and maintenance of BV.
Honey bees can store and retrieve independent memory traces after complex experiences that combine appetitive and aversive associations
Authors: Klappenbach Martín , Lara Agustín E. , Locatelli Fernando F. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractReal-world experiences do often mix appetitive and aversive events. Understanding the ability of animals to extract, store and use this information is an important issue in neurobiology. We used honey bees as model to study learning and memory after a differential conditioning that combines appetitive and aversive training trials. First of all, we describe an aversive conditioning paradigm that constitutes a clear opposite of the well known appetitive olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response. A neutral odour is presented paired with the bitter substance quinine. Aversive memory is evidenced later as an odour-specific impairment in appetitive conditioning. Then we tested the effect of mixing appetitive and aversive conditioning trials distributed along the same training session. Differential conditioning protocols like this were used before to study the ability to discriminate odours, however they were not focused on whether appetitive and aversive memories are formed. We found that after a differential conditioning, honey bees establish independent appetitive and aversive memories that do not interfere with each other during acquisition or storage. Finally, we moved the question forward to retrieval and memory expression to evaluate what happens when appetitive and the aversive learned odours are mixed during test. Interestingly, opposite memories compete in a way that they do not cancel each other out. Honey bees showed the ability to switch from expressing appetitive to aversive memory depending on their satiation level.
Local and global chemical shaping of bacterial communities by redox potential
Authors: Dick Jeffrey M. , Meng Delong 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThermodynamics predicts a positive correlation between environmental redox potential and oxidation state of molecules; if found for microbial communities it would imply a new kind of deterministic eco-evolutionary process. This study examines evidence for local- and global-scale correlations between oxidation-reduction potential (ORP or Eh) in environmental samples and carbon oxidation state (ZC) of estimated bacterial and archaeal community proteomes. Seventy-nine public datasets for seven environment types (river & seawater, lake & pond, alkaline spring, hot spring, groundwater, sediment, and soil) were analyzed. Taxonomic abundances inferred from high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequences were combined with NCBI Reference Sequence (RefSeq) proteomes to estimate the amino acid compositions and chemical formulas (CcHhNnOoSs) of community proteomes, which yield ZC. Alkaline hot springs have the lowest ZC for both bacterial and archaeal domains of any environment. Positive global correlations between redox potential and ZC are found for bacterial communities in lake & pond, groundwater, and soil environments, but not archaeal communities, suggesting a broad ecological signal of chemical shaping in Bacteria.
Truncation of poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG) polymerization with N-acetylglucosamine analogues
Authors: Morrison Zachary A. , Eddenden Alexander , Subramanian Adithya Shankara , Howell P. Lynne , Nitz Mark 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBacteria require polysaccharides for structure, survival, and virulence. Despite the central role these structures play in microbiology few tools are available to manipulate their production. In E. coli the glycosyltransferase complex PgaCD produces poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG), an extracellular matrix polysaccharide required for biofilm formation. We report that C6-substituted (H, F, N3, SH, NH2) UDP-GlcNAc substrate analogues are inhibitors of PgaCD. In vitro the inhibitors cause PNAG chain termination; consistent with the mechanism of PNAG polymerization from the non-reducing terminus. In vivo, expression of the GlcNAc-1-kinase NahK in E. coli provided a non-native GlcNAc salvage pathway that produced the UDP-GlcNAc analogue inhibitors in situ. The 6-fluoro and 6-deoxy derivatives were potent inhibitors of biofilm formation in the transformed strain, providing a tool to manipulate this key exopolysaccharide. Characterization of the UDP-GlcNAc pool and quantification of PNAG generation support PNAG termination as the primary in vivo mechanism of biofilm inhibition by 6-fluoro UDP-GlcNAc.
Screening of CHO-K1 endogenous promoters for expressing recombinant proteins in mammalian cell cultures
Authors: Tossolini Ileana , Gugliotta Agustina , Díaz Fernando López , Kratje Ricardo , Prieto Claudio 
Published: October 2021

AbstractFor the production of recombinant protein therapeutics in mammalian cells, a high rate of gene expression is desired and hence strong viral-derived promoters are commonly used. However, they usually induce cellular stress and can be susceptible to epigenetic silencing. Endogenous promoters, which coordinates their activity with cellular and bioprocess dynamics while at the same time they maintain high expression levels, may help to avoid such drawbacks. In this work, endogenous promoters were identified based on high expression levels in RNA-seq data of CHO-K1 cells cultured in high density. The promoters of Actb, Ctsz, Hmox1, Hspa5, Vim and Rps18 genes were selected for generating new expression vectors for the production of recombinant proteins in mammalian cells. Thein silico-derived promoter regions were experimentally verified and the majority showed transcriptional activity comparable or higher than CMV. Also, stable expression following a reduction of culture temperature was investigated. The characterized endogenous promoters (excluding Rps18) constitute a promising alternative to CMV promoter due to their high strength, long-term expression stability and integration into the regulatory network of the host cell. These promoters may also comprise an initial panel for designing cell engineering strategies and synthetic promoters, as well as for industrial cell line development.
Ribosomal protein S1 plays a critical role in horizontal gene transfer by mediating the expression of foreign mRNAs
Authors: Roberts Luc , Wieden Hans-Joachim 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTThe emergence of multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria is one of the largest threats to global heath. This rise is due to the genomic plasticity of bacteria, allowing rapid acquisition of antibiotic resistance through the uptake of foreign DNA (i.e. horizontal gene transfer, HGT). This genomic plasticity is not limited to DNA from bacteria, highly divergent (trans-kingdom) mRNA have been reported to drive translation in E. coli. Trans-kingdom activity has been attributed to mRNA tertiary structure suggesting the bacterial translation machinery bottle-necks HGT, restricting the expression of foreign DNA. However, here we show that tertiary structure is not responsible for ribosome recruitment and that the translation efficiency is dependent on ribosomal protein S1 and an A-rich Shine-Dalgarno-like element. The S1-facilitated ability of ribosomes to identify and exploit A-rich sequences in foreign RNA highlights the important role that S1 plays in horizontal gene transfer, the robustness of canonical prokaryotic translation, and bacterial evolution.
China's poverty alleviation “miracle” from the perspective of the structural transformation of the urban–rural dual economy
Authors: Gao Fan 
Published: October 2021

PurposePoverty alleviation has been a major theme of China's modernization process since the founding of New China. This paper points out that China's poverty alleviation process presents three stylized facts: “Miraculous” achievements of poverty alleviation have been made on a global scale; the poverty alleviation achievements mainly occurred in the high growth stage after reform and opening up; the poverty alleviation process is accompanied by the structural transformation of the urban–rural dual economy.Design/methodology/approachTherefore, a logically consistent analytical framework should form among the structural transformation of the dual economy, economic growth and the achievements in poverty alleviation. In logical deduction, the structural transformation of the dual economy affects rural poverty alleviation through the effects of labor reallocation, agricultural productivity improvement, demographic change and fiscal resource allocation.FindingsThe first two refer to economic growth, and the latter two are alleviation policies. The combination of economic growth and poverty alleviation policies is the main cause for poverty alleviation performance. China's empirical evidence can support the four effects by which the structural transformation of the dual economy affects poverty alleviation.Originality/valueChina's socialist system and its economic system transformation after reform and opening up provide an institutional basis for the effects to come into play. After 2020, China's poverty alleviation strategies will enter the “second-half” phase, namely, the phase of solving the problems of relative poverty in urban and rural areas by adopting conventional methods and establishing long-term mechanisms. This requires the facilitation of the reconnection between poverty alleviation strategies and the structural transformation of the dual economy in terms of development ideas and policy directions.
Environmental concerns among the entrepreneurs: a disaster resilience and environment building during the second wave of the COVID-19
Authors: Soomro Bahadur Ali , Shah Naimatullah 
Published: October 2021

Purpose
Nowadays, nearly the whole globe is confronting a severe threat of the COVID-19. The purpose of this paper is to explore the predictors of environmental concerns during the COVID-19 among the entrepreneurs during a second pandemic wave.

Design/methodology/approach
The deductive approach is applied based on cross-sectional data. An online response is gotten from entrepreneurs of Pakistan. A convenience sampling is applied to target the entrepreneurs. In total, 220 usable answers ensue for the outcome. The structural equation model (SEM) is used for the assessment of hypotheses.

Findings
The results of this study highlight a significant and positive effect of uncertainty of COVID-19 (U19), Perceived vulnerability (PV), Risk perception of COVID-19 (RP) and Fear of COVID-19 (F19) on environmental concerns (EC) among the entrepreneurs.

Practical implications
The research outcomes would provide the guidelines to policymakers and planners to develop the policies for reducing the fear, vulnerability, risk and uncertainties during the waves of the COVID-19. The findings of the study would make disaster resilience which COVID-19 creates. The results would provide the re-built environment guidelines by reducing fear, vulnerability, risk and uncertainties. Besides, the findings would help provide the knowledge and practical aspects of disasters in terms of anxiety, exposure, risk and uncertainties, which are hazardous for humans and the environment.

Originality/value
This study provides the empirical evidence which is the first time conducted among the entrepreneurs. Besides, this study highlights the predictors such as fear, vulnerability, risk and uncertainties towards EC in the COVID-19 scenario.
Evaluating and visualizing QoS of service providers in knowledge-intensive crowdsourcing: a combined MCDM approach
Authors: Xie Shixin , Wang Xu , Yang Biyu , Li Longxiao , Yu Jinfeng 
Published: October 2021

PurposeAs the number of joined service providers (SPs) in knowledge-intensive crowdsourcing (KI-C) continues to rise, there is an information overload problem for KI-C platforms and consumers to identify qualified SPs to complete tasks. To this end, this paper aims to propose a quality of service (QoS) evaluation framework for SPs in KI-C to effectively and comprehensively characterize the QoS of SPs, which can aid the efficient selection of qualified SPs.Design/methodology/approachBy literature summary and discussion with the expert team, a QoS evaluation indicator system for SPs in KI-C based on the SERVQUAL model is constructed. In addition, the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is used to obtain evaluation indicators' weights. The SPs are evaluated and graded by the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and rank–sum ratio (RSR), respectively.FindingsA QoS evaluation indicator system for SPs in KI-C incorporating 13 indicators based on SERVQUAL has been constructed, and a hybrid methodology combining DEMATEL, TOPSIS and RSR is applied to quantify and visualize the QoS of SPs.Originality/valueThe QoS evaluation framework for SPs in KI-C proposed in this paper can quantify and visualize the QoS of SPs, which can help the crowdsourcing platform to realize differentiated management for SPs and assist SPs to improve their shortcomings in a targeted manner. And this is the first paper to evaluate SPs in KI-C from the prospect of QoS.