bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modular co-option of cardiopharyngeal genes during non-embryonic myogenesis
Authors: Mandela Prünster Maria , Ricci Lorenzo , Brown Federico , Tiozzo Stefano 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTBackgroundIn chordates cardiac and body muscles arise from different embryonic origins. Myogenesis can in addition be triggered in adult organisms, during asexual development or regeneration. In the non-vertebrate ascidians, muscles originate from embryonic precursors regulated by a conserved set of genes that orchestrate cell behavior and dynamics during development. In colonial ascidians, besides embryogenesis and metamorphosis, an adult can propagate asexually via blastogenesis, skipping embryo and larval stages, and form anew the adult body, including the complete body musculature.ResultsTo investigate the cellular origin and mechanisms that trigger non-embryonic myogenesis, we followed the expression of ascidian myogenic genes duringBotryllus schlosseriblastogenesis, and reconstructed the dynamics of muscle precursors. Based on the expression dynamics ofTbx1/10, Ebf, Mrf, Myh3for body wall and ofFoxF, Tbx1/10, Nk4, Myh2for heart development we show that the embryonic factors regulating myogenesis are only partially co-opted in blastogenesis, and propose that the cellular precursors contributing to heart or body muscles have different origins.ConclusionsRegardless of the developmental pathway, non-embryonic myogenesis shares a similar molecular and anatomical setup as embryonic myogenesis, but implements co-option and loss of molecular modules.
Ultra-high field MRI reveals mood-related circuit disturbances in depression: A comparison between 3-Tesla and 7-Tesla
Authors: Morris Laurel S , Kundu Prantik , Costi Sara , Collins Abigail , Schneider Molly , Verma Gaurav , Balchandani Priti , Murrough James W 
Published: November 2018

AbstractUltra-high field 7-Tesla (7T) MRI has the potential to advance our understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD). To date, few studies have quantified the advantage of resting state functional MRI (fMRI) at 7T compared to 3-Tesla (3T). We conducted a series of experiments that demonstrate the improvement in temporal signal-to-noise ratio (TSNR) of a multi-echo fMRI protocol with ultra-high field 7T, compared to 3T MRI in healthy controls (HC). We also directly tested the enhancement in ultra-high field 7T fMRI signal power by examining the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a small midbrain structure that is critical to the expected neuropathology of MDD but difficult to discern with standard 3T MRI. We demonstrate 200-300% improvement in TSNR and resting state functional connectivity coefficients provided by ultra-high field 7T fMRI compared to 3T, indicating enhanced power for detection of functional neural architecture. A multi-echo based acquisition protocol and signal denoising pipeline afforded greater gain in signal power at ultra-high field compared to classic acquisition and denoising pipelines. Furthermore, ultra-high field fMRI revealed mood-related neuro-circuit disturbances in patients with MDD compared to HC, which were not detectable with 3T fMRI. Ultra-high field 7T fMRI may provide an effective tool for studying functional neural architecture relevant to MDD and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
A Proof Of Concept For A Syndromic Surveillance System Based On Routine Ambulance Records In The South-west Of England, For The Influenza Season 2016/17
Authors: Reich Thilo , Budka Marcin 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTThe introduction of electronic patient records in the ambulance service provides new opportunities to monitor the population. Most patients presenting to British ambulance services are discharged at scene. Ambulance records are therefore an ideal data source for syndromic early event detection systems to monitor infectious disease in the prehospital population. It has been previously found that tympanic temperature records can be used to detect influenza outbreaks in emergency departments. This study investigated whether routine tympanic temperature readings collected by ambulance crews can be used to detect seasonal influenza. Here we show that these temperature readings do allow the detection of seasonal influenza before methods applied to conventional data sources. The counts of pyretic patients were used to calculate a sliding case ratio (CR) as a measurement to detect seasonal influenza outbreaks. This method does not rely on conventional thresholds and can be adapted to the data. The data collected correlated with seasonal influenza. The 2016/17 outbreak was detected with high specificity and sensitivity, up to 9 weeks before other surveillance programs. An unanticipated outbreak of E. coli was detected in the same dataset. Our results show that ambulance records can be a useful data source for biosurveillance systems. Two outbreaks caused by different infectious agents have been successfully detected. The routine ambulance records allowed to use tympanic temperature readings that can be used as surveillance tool for febrile diseases. Therefore, this method is a valuable addition to the current surveillance tools.
The Effect of Oral Tactile Sensitivity on Texture Perception and Mastication Behavior in Humans
Authors: Shupe Grace E. , Wilson Arran , Luckett Curtis R. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractMastication behavior is a notable source of interindividual variation in texture perception and could be linked to oral sensitivity. As oral sensitivity declines so does the amount of tactile feedback relayed to the brain, resulting in less effective manipulation or food and a reduced ability to discriminate differences. To address these hypotheses, we measured masticatory behavior and related this to texture discrimination and oral sensitivity. The study was performed on 41 participants in two groups, with high (n = 20) or low (n=21) sensitivity. Oral sensitivity was measured using a battery of tests that included: oral stereognosis, lingual tactile acuity, and bite force sensitivity. Sensitivity to texture changes was measured using a series of triangle tests with confectionaries of different hardness, with masticatory patterns and behaviors being video recorded and analyzed using jaw tracking software. Overall, there was no significant difference between high and low sensitivity participants and their ability to distinguish texture changes. But, there were significantly different trends found between the groups based on their masticatory behaviors including chewing pattern and overall number of chews. But, it was found that multiple masticatory behaviors were being modulated by oral sensitivity, including overall chewing cycles used (p < 0.0001). More, specifically those in the high sensitivity group used more stochastic chewing movements, while those in the low sensitivity group were found to use crescent-shaped chewing cycles. It was also noted that in the high sensitivity group the jaw moved further distances (p < 0.0001) in all phases and moved at a higher velocity when opening (p < 0.0001) but not when closing, when compared to the low sensitivity group. These results help bolster evidence that mastication and oral sensitivity are related.
The evolutionary advantage of cultural memory on heterogeneous contact networks
Authors: Carja Oana , Creanza Nicole 
Published: November 2018

AbstractCultural processes, as well as the selection pressures experienced by individuals in a population over time and space, are fundamentally stochastic. Phenotypic variability, together with imperfect phenotypic transmission between parents and offspring, has been previously shown to play an important role in evolutionary rescue and (epi)genetic adaptation of populations to fluctuating temporal environmental pressures. This type of evolutionary bet-hedging does not confer a direct benefit to a single individual, but instead increases the adaptability of the whole lineage.Here we develop a population-genetic model to explore cultural response strategies to temporally changing selection, as well as the role of local population structure, as exemplified by heterogeneity in the contact network between individuals, in shaping evolutionary dynamics. We use this model to study the evolutionary advantage of cultural bet-hedging, modeling the evolution of a variable cultural trait starting from one copy in a population of individuals with a fixed cultural strategy. We find that the probability of fixation of a cultural bet-hedger is a non-monotonic function of the probability of cultural memory between generations. Moreover, this probability increases for networks of higher mean degree but decreases with increasing heterogeneity of the contact network, tilting the balance of forces towards drift and against selection.These results shed light on the interplay of temporal and spatial stochasticity in shaping cultural evolutionary dynamics and suggest that partly-heritable cultural phenotypic variability may constitute an important evolutionary bet-hedging strategy in response to changing selection pressures.
Female variation in allocation of steroid hormones, antioxidants and fatty acids: a multilevel analysis in a wild passerine bird
Authors: Mentesana Lucia , Isaksson Caroline , Goymann Wolfgang , Andersson Martin N. , Trappschuh Monika , Hau Michaela 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe environment where an embryo develops can be influenced by components of maternal origin, which can shape offspring phenotypes and therefore maternal fitness. In birds that produce more than one egg per clutch, females differ in the concentration of components they allocate into the yolk along the laying sequence. However, identification of processes that shape female yolk allocation and thus offspring phenotype still remains a major challenge within evolutionary ecology. A way to increase our understanding is by acknowledging that allocation patterns can differ depending on the level of analysis, such as the populationversusthe among-female (within-population) level. We employed mixed models to analyze at both levels the variation in allocation along the laying sequence of four steroid hormones, three antioxidants, and four groups of fatty acids present in the egg yolks of wild great tits (Parus major). We also quantified repeatabilities for each component to study female consistency. At a population level, the concentrations/proportions of five yolk components varied along the laying sequence, implying that the developmental environment is different for offspring developing in firstversuslast eggs. Females varied substantially in the mean allocation of components and in their plasticity along the laying sequence. For most components, these two parameters were negatively correlated. Females were also remarkably repeatable in their allocation. Overall, our data emphasize the need to account for female variation in yolk allocation along the laying sequence at multiple levels, as variation at a population level is underpinned by different individual patterns. Our findings also highlight the importance of considering both levels of analysis in future studies investigating the causes and fitness consequences of yolk compounds. Finally, our results on female repeatability confirm that analyzing one egg per nest is a suitable way to address the consequences of yolk resource deposition for the offspring.
Characterization of proprioceptive system dynamics in behavingDrosophilalarvae using high-speed volumetric microscopy
Authors: Vaadia Rebecca , Li Wenze , Voleti Venkatakaushik , Singhania Aditi , Hillman Elizabeth M.C. , Grueber Wesley B. 
Published: November 2018

SummaryProprioceptors provide feedback about body position that is essential for coordinated movement. Proprioceptive sensing of the position of rigid joints has been described in detail in several systems, however it is not known how animals with an elastic skeleton encode their body positions. Understanding how diverse larval body positions are dynamically encoded requires knowledge of proprioceptor activity patternsin vivoduring natural movement. Here we applied high-speed volumetric SCAPE microscopy to simultaneously track the position, physical deformation, and temporal patterns of intracellular calcium activity of multidendritic proprioceptors in crawlingDrosophilalarvae. During the periodic segment contraction and relaxation that occurs during crawling, proprioceptors with diverse morphologies showed sequential onset of activity throughout each periodic episode. A majority of these proprioceptors showed activity during segment contraction with one neuron type activated by segment extension. Different timing of activity of contraction-sensing proprioceptors was related to distinct dendrite terminal targeting, providing a continuum of position encoding during all phases of crawling. These dynamics could endow different proprioceptors with specific roles in monitoring the progression of contraction waves, as well as body shape during other behaviors. We provide activity measurements during exploration as one example. Our results provide powerful new insights into the body-wide neuronal dynamics of the proprioceptive system in crawlingDrosophila, and demonstrate the utility of our approach for characterization of neural encoding throughout the nervous system of a freely behaving animal.
Phase separation and nucleosome compaction are governed by the same domain of Polycomb Repressive Complex 1
Authors: Plys Aaron J. , Davis Christopher P. , Kim Jongmin , Rizki Gizem , Keenen Madeline M. , Marr Sharon K. , Kingston Robert E. 
Published: November 2018

SummaryMammalian development requires effective mechanisms to repress genes whose expression would generate inappropriately specified cells. The Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) family complexes are central to maintaining this repression1. These include a set of canonical PRC1 complexes that each contain four core proteins, including one from the CBX family. These complexes have previously been shown to reside in membraneless organelles called Polycomb bodies, leading to speculation that canonical PRC1 might be found in a separate phase from the rest of the nucleus2,3. We show here that reconstituted PRC1 readily phase separates into droplets in vitro at low concentrations and physiological salt conditions. This behavior is driven by the CBX2 subunit. Point mutations in an internal domain of CBX2 eliminate phase separation. These same point mutations eliminate the formation of puncta in cells, and have previously been shown to eliminate nucleosome compaction in vitro4 and to generate axial patterning defects in mice5. Thus, a single domain in CBX2 is required for phase separation and nucleosome compaction, a finding that relates these functions to each other and to proper development.
Rickettsia Sca2 Recruits Two Actin Subunits for Nucleation but Lacks WH2 Domains
Authors: Alqassim SS , Lee IG , Dominguez R 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe Rickettsia ~1,800 amino acid autotransporter protein Sca2 promotes actin polymerization on the surface of the bacterium to drive its movement using an actin comet tail mechanism. Sca2 mimics eukaryotic formins in that it promotes both actin filament nucleation and elongation and competes with capping protein to generate filaments that are long and unbranched. However, despite these functional similarities, Sca2 is structurally unrelated to eukaryotic formins and achieves these functions through an entirely different mechanism. Thus, while formins are dimeric, Sca2 functions as a monomer. However, Sca2 displays intramolecular interactions and functional cooperativity between its N- and C-terminal domains that are crucial for actin nucleation and elongation. Here, we map the interaction of N- and C-terminal fragments of Sca2 and their contributions to actin binding and nucleation. We find that both the N- and C-terminal regions of Sca2 interact with actin monomers, but only weakly, whereas the full-length protein binds two actin monomers with high affinity. Moreover, deletions at both ends of the N- and C-terminal regions disrupt their ability to interact with each other, suggesting that they form a contiguous ring-like structure that wraps around two actin subunits, analogous to the formin homology-2 (FH2) domain. The discovery of Sca2 as an actin nucleator followed the identification of what appeared to be a repeat of three WH2 domains in the middle of the molecule, consistent with the presence of WH2 domains in most actin nucleators. However, we show here that contrary to previous assumptions Sca2 does not contain WH2 domains, and that the corresponding region is folded as a globular domain that cooperates with other parts of the Sca2 molecule for actin binding and nucleation.
Untangling the Evolutionary History of European Bison (Bison bonasus)
Authors: van Loenen Ayla L. , Hofman-Kamińska Emilia , Mitchell Kieren J. , Llamas Bastien , Bocherens Hervé , Soubrier Julien , Heiniger Holly , Pacher Martina , Makowiecki Daniel , Piličiauskienė Giedrė , Drucker Dorothée , Kowalczyk Rafał , Cooper Alan 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTEuropean bison (Bison bonasus) are the largest endemic vertebrates in Europe, and one of the few megafaunal species to have survived the mass megafaunal extinction during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (12-9 thousand years ago). Untangling their evolutionary history would provide valuable information about the response of European megafauna to periods of rapid environmental change. However, a severe and recent population bottleneck obscures much of the population history that could be inferred from the genomes of modern individuals. While several studies have attempted to analyse ancient European bison populations directly using ancient DNA, their datasets were limited in temporal and geographic range. In this study we present the most comprehensive dataset of ancient European bison mitochondrial genomes to date, with 131 ancient bison samples from across the Eurasian continent covering over 50 thousand years. We reveal patterns of bison distribution and concurrent environmental changes across a broad geographical and temporal range. In particular, population expansions following periods of extensive forest reduction combined with a decrease in anthropogenic pressures suggest that European bison remain preferentially adapted to an open steppe environment through to the present day.
Sparse Binary Relation Representations for Genome Graph Annotation
Authors: Karasikov Mikhail , Mustafa Harun , Joudaki Amir , Javadzadeh-No Sara , Rätsch Gunnar , Kahles André 
Published: November 2018

AbstractHigh-throughput DNA sequencing data is accumulating in public repositories, and efficient approaches for storing and indexing such data are in high demand. In recent research, several graph data structures have been proposed to represent large sets of sequencing data and to allow for efficient querying of sequences. In particular, the concept of labeled de Bruijn graphs has been explored by several groups. While there has been good progress towards representing the sequence graph in small space, methods for storing a set of labels on top of such graphs are still not sufficiently explored. It is also currently not clear how characteristics of the input data, such as the sparsity and correlations of labels, can help to inform the choice of method to compress the graph labeling. In this work, we present a new compression approach, Multi-BRWT, which is adaptive to different kinds of input data. We show an up to 29% improvement in compression performance over the basic BRWT method, and up to a 68% improvement over the current state-of-the-art for de Bruijn graph label compression. To put our results into perspective, we present a systematic analysis of five different state-of-the-art annotation compression schemes, evaluate key metrics on both artificial and real-world data and discuss how different data characteristics influence the compression performance. We show that the improvements of our new method can be robustly reproduced for different representative real-world datasets.
Extraordinary Fast-Twitch Fiber Abundance in Elite Weightlifters
Authors: Serrano Nathan , Colenso-Semple Lauren M. , Lazauskus Kara K. , Siu Jeremy W. , Bagley James R. , Lockie Robert G. , Costa Pablo B. , Galpin Andrew J. 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTHuman skeletal muscle fibers exist across a continuum of slow → fast-twitch. The amount of each fibertype(FT) influences muscle performance but remains largely unexplored in elite athletes, particularly from strength/power sports. To address this nescience,vastus lateralis(VL) biopsies were performed on World/Olympic (female, n=6, “WCF”) and National-caliber (female, n=9, “NCF”; and male, n=6, “NCM”) American weightlifters. Participant accolades included 3 Olympic Games, 19 World Championships, 25 National records, and >170 National/International medals. Samples were analyzed for myosin heavy chain (MHC) content via SDS-PAGE using two distinct techniques: single fiber (SF) distribution (%) and homogenate (HG) composition. These athletes displayed the highest MHC IIa concentrations ever reported in healthyVL(23±9% I, 5±3% I/IIa, 67±13% IIa, and 6±10% IIa/IIx), with WCF expressing a notable 71±17% (NCF=67±8%, NCM=63±16%). The heavyweights accounted for 91% of the MHC IIa/IIx fibers. When compared to SF, HG overestimated MHC I (23±9 vs. 31±9%) and IIx (0±0 vs. 3±6%) by misclassifying I/IIa fibers as I and IIa/IIx fibers as IIx. These findings suggest athlete caliber (World vs. National), training experience, and body mass determine FT% more than sex and refutes the common pronouncement that women possess more slow and fewer fast-twitch fibers than men. Our results also show the abundance of pure MHC IIa and rarity of IIx in elite strength/power-trained athletes, indicate a potential link between MHC IIa/IIx frequency and body mass, and question the fidelity of HG as a measure of FT% distribution. The extreme fast-twitch abundance partially explains how elite weightlifters generate high forces in rapid time-frames. These data highlight the need for more cellular and molecular muscle research on elite anaerobic athletes.
Short-term fasting selectively influences impulsivity in healthy individuals
Authors: Howard Maxine , Roiser Jonathan P , Gilbert Sam , Burgess Paul W , Dayan Peter , Serpell Lucy 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPrevious research has shown that short-term fasting in healthy individuals (HIs) is associated with changes in risky decision-making. The current experiment was designed to examine the influence of short-term fasting in HIs on four types of impulsivity: reflection impulsivity, risky decision-making, delay aversion, and action inhibition. HIs were tested twice, once when fasted for 20 hours, and once when satiated. Participants demonstrated impaired action inhibition when fasted; committing significantly more errors of commission during a food-related Affective Shifting Task. Participants also displayed decreased reflection impulsivity when fasted, opening significantly more boxes during the Information Sampling Task (IST). There were no significant differences in performance between fasted and satiated sessions for risky decision-making or delay aversion. These findings may have implications for understanding eating disorders such as Bulimia Nervosa (BN). Although BN has been characterised as a disorder of poor impulse control, inconsistent findings when comparing individuals with BN and HIs on behavioural measures of impulsivity question this characterisation. Since individuals with BN undergo periods of short-term fasting, the inconsistent findings could be due to differences in the levels of satiation of participants. The current results indicate that fasting can selectively influence performance on the IST, a measure of impulsivity previously studied in BN. However, the results from the IST were contrary to the original hypothesis and should be replicated before specific conclusions can be made.