bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Differential expression of carboxylesterases in larva and adult of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) from sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India
Authors: Bharati Minu , Saha Dhiraj 
Published: August 2018

AbstractCulex quinquefasciatusSay, a widely distributed mosquito in tropical and subtropical areas, is the most important vector of the filarial parasiteWuchereria bancrofti, the causative agent of lymphatic filariasis. In India, filariasis is endemic in 17 States and six Union Territories, putting about 553 million people at risk of infection. Vector control, which aims to prevent pathogen transmission through interventions targeting adult mosquito vectors, is a significant component of control of the disease. Chemical-based control represents a chief strategy in the management of mosquito vectors; however, continuous application of insecticides has led to the development of resistance in many mosquito vectors around the world. The current study aims to observe the variability of expression of carboxylesterase isozymes that play a role in detoxifying insecticides into non-toxic compounds, in different life stages ofCulexmosquitoes, to understand levels of insecticide susceptibility that may be used in integrated mosquito management for efficient vector control.C. quinquefasciatus werecollected from different localities of sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India, and adult and larval bioassays were performed against one organophosphate insecticide (chlorpyrifos) and two synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (deltamethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin). The activity of α- and β-carboxylesterases (quantitative assay) were measured in larvae and adults ofC. quinquefasciatususing a microplate assay, and measured qualitative expression by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The study shows a differential activity of α- and β-carboxylesterases both in quantitative and qualitative assays. The quantitative assay reveals that larvae exhibit a 12.2-fold higher level activity of α-carboxylesterase and about 5.0-fold higher level of activity of β-carboxylesterase than adults. Some carboxylesterase isozymes, i.e., α-Est I-IV, α-Est VII and α-Est XI-XV were exclusively expressed in larvae, whereas α-Est V-VI and α-Est IX were expressed only in adults. In larvae, all β-Est I-IX were expressed, while in adults only β-Est IV-V was expressed. The results of adult and larval insecticide bioassay are also as per the above findings showing an LC90value of 0.017 ppm, 0.097 ppm and 0.072 ppm in the larva, and LC90value of 0.0015 ppm, 0.721 ppm, 0.364 ppm in adults against chlorpyrifos, deltamethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin, respectively.
Climate Change and Future Wildfire in the Western United States: An Ecological Approach to Nonstationarity
Authors: Littell Jeremy S. , McKenzie Donald , Wan Ho Yi , Cushman Samuel A. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractWe developed ecologically based climate‐fire projections for the western United States. Using a finer ecological classification and fire‐relevant climate predictors, we created statistical models linking climate and wildfire area burned for ecosections, which are geographic delineations based on biophysical variables. The results indicate a gradient from purely fuel‐limited (antecedent positive water balance anomalies or negative energy balance anomalies) to purely flammability‐limited (negative water balance anomalies or positive energy balance anomalies) fire regimes across ecosections. Although there are other influences (such as human ignitions and management) on fire occurrence and area burned, seasonal climate significantly explains interannual fire area burned. Differences in the role of climate across ecosections are not random, and the relative dominance of climate predictors allows objective classification of ecosection climate‐fire relationships. Expected future trends in area burned range from massive increases, primarily in flammability limited systems near the middle of the water balance deficit distribution, to substantial decreases, in fuel‐limited nonforested systems. We predict increasing area burned in most flammability‐limited systems but predict decreasing area burned in primarily fuel‐limited systems with a flammability‐limited (“hybrid”) component. Compared to 2030–2059 (2040s), projected area burned for 2070–2099 (2080s) increases much more in the flammability and flammability‐dominated hybrid systems than those with equal control and continues to decrease in fuel‐limited hybrid systems. Exceedance probabilities for historical 95th percentile fire years are larger in exclusively flammability‐limited ecosections than in those with fuel controls. Filtering the projected results using a fire‐rotation constraint minimizes overprojection due to static vegetation assumptions, making projections more conservative.
Application of Neonatologist Performed Echocardiography in the Assessment and Management of Neonatal Heart Failure unrelated to Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Levy Philip T. , Tissot Cecile , Horsberg Eriksen Beate , Nestaas Eirik , Rogerson Sheryle , McNamara Patrick J. , El-Khuffash Afif , de Boode Willem P. ,   on behalf of the European Special Interest Group ‘Neonatologist Performed Echocardiography’ (NPE), Austin T. , Bohlin K. , Bravo M. C. , Breatnach C. R. , Breindahl M. , Dempsey E. , Groves A. M. , Gupta S. , Molnar Z. , Roehr C. C. , Savoia M. , Schubert U. , Schwarz C. E. , Sehgal A. , Singh Y. , Slieker M. G. , van der Lee R. , van Laere D. , van Overmeire B. , van Wyk L. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractNeonatal heart failure (HF) is a progressive disease caused by cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular abnormalities. The most common cause of neonatal HF is structural congenital heart disease, while neonatal cardiomyopathy represents the most common cause of HF in infants with a structurally normal heart. Neonatal cardiomyopathy is a group of diseases manifesting with various morphological and functional phenotypes that affect the heart muscle and alter cardiac performance at, or soon after birth. The clinical presentation of neonates with cardiomyopathy is varied, as are the possible causes of the condition and the severity of disease presentation. Echocardiography is the selected method of choice for diagnostic evaluation, follow-up and analysis of treatment results for cardiomyopathies in neonates. Advances in neonatal echocardiography now permit a more comprehensive assessment of cardiac performance that could not be previously achieved with conventional imaging. In this review, we discuss the current and emerging echocardiographic techniques that aid in the correct diagnostic and pathophysiological assessment of some of the most common etiologies of HF that occur in neonates with a structurally normal heart and acquired cardiomyopathy and we provide recommendations for using these techniques to optimize the management of neonate with HF.
Ancestral gene acquisition as the key to virulence potential in environmental Vibrio populations
Authors: Bruto Maxime , Labreuche Yannick , James Adèle , Piel Damien , Chenivesse Sabine , Petton Bruno , Polz Martin F , Le Roux Frédérique 
Published: August 2018

Abstract
Diseases of marine animals caused by bacteria of the genus Vibrio are on the rise worldwide. Understanding the eco-evolutionary dynamics of these infectious agents is important for predicting and managing these diseases. Yet, compared to Vibrio infecting humans, knowledge of their role as animal pathogens is scarce. Here we ask how widespread is virulence among ecologically differentiated Vibrio populations, and what is the nature and frequency of virulence genes within these populations? We use a combination of population genomics and molecular genetics to assay hundreds of Vibrio strains for their virulence in the oyster Crassostrea gigas, a unique animal model that allows high-throughput infection assays. We show that within the diverse Splendidus clade, virulence represents an ancestral trait but has been lost from several populations. Two loci are necessary for virulence, the first being widely distributed across the Splendidus clade and consisting of an exported conserved protein (R5.7). The second is a MARTX toxin cluster, which only occurs within V. splendidus and is for the first time associated with virulence in marine invertebrates. Varying frequencies of both loci among populations indicate different selective pressures and alternative ecological roles, based on which we suggest strategies for epidemiological surveys.
PAK2–c-Myc–PKM2 axis plays an essential role in head and neck oncogenesis via regulating Warburg effect
Authors: Gupta Amit , Ajith Athira , Singh Smriti , Panday Rajendra Kumar , Samaiya Atul , Shukla Sanjeev 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe histone modifiers (HMs) are crucial for chromatin dynamics and gene expression; however, their dysregulated expression has been observed in various abnormalities including cancer. In this study, we have analyzed the expression of HMs in microarray profiles of head and neck cancer (HNC), wherein a highly significant overexpression of p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2) was identified which was further validated in HNC patients. The elevated expression of PAK2 positively correlated with enhanced cell proliferation, aerobic glycolysis and chemoresistance and was associated with the poor clinical outcome of HNC patients. Further, dissection of molecular mechanism revealed an association of PAK2 with c-Myc and c-Myc-dependent PKM2 overexpression, wherein we showed that PAK2 upregulates c-Myc expression and c-Myc thereby binds to PKM promoter and induces PKM2 expression. We observed that PAK2–c-Myc–PKM2 axis is critical for oncogenic cellular proliferation. Depletion of PAK2 disturbs the axis and leads to downregulation of c-Myc and thereby PKM2 expression, which resulted in reduced aerobic glycolysis, proliferation and chemotherapeutic resistance of HNC cells. Moreover, the c-Myc complementation rescued PAK2 depletion effects and restored aerobic glycolysis, proliferation, migration and invasion in PAK2-depleted cells. The global transcriptome analysis of PAK2-depleted HNC cells revealed the downregulation of various genes involved in active cell proliferation, which indicates that PAK2 overexpression is critical for HNC progression. Together, these results suggest that the axis of PAK2–c-Myc–PKM2 is critical for HNC progression and could be a therapeutic target to reduce the cell proliferation and acquired chemoresistance and might enhance the efficacy of standard chemotherapy which will help in better management of HNC patients.
Conical-intersection dynamics and ground-state chemistry probed by extreme-ultraviolet time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy
Authors: von Conta A. , Tehlar A. , Schletter A. , Arasaki Y. , Takatsuka K. , Wörner H. J. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractTime-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) is a useful approach to elucidate the coupled electronic-nuclear quantum dynamics underlying chemical processes, but has remained limited by the use of low photon energies. Here, we demonstrate the general advantages of XUV-TRPES through an application to NO2, one of the simplest species displaying the complexity of a non-adiabatic photochemical process. The high photon energy enables ionization from the entire geometrical configuration space, giving access to the true dynamics of the system. Specifically, the technique reveals dynamics through a conical intersection, large-amplitude motion and photodissociation in the electronic ground state. XUV-TRPES simultaneously projects the excited-state wave packet onto many final states, offering a multi-dimensional view of the coupled electronic and nuclear dynamics. Our interpretations are supported by ab initio wavepacket calculations on new global potential-energy surfaces. The presented results contribute to establish XUV-TRPES as a powerful technique providing a complete picture of ultrafast chemical dynamics from photoexcitation to the final products.
Phylogenomics uncovers early hybridization and adaptive loci shaping the radiation of Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes
Authors: Irisarri Iker , Singh Pooja , Koblmüller Stephan , Torres-Dowdall Julián , Henning Frederico , Franchini Paolo , Fischer Christoph , Lemmon Alan R. , Lemmon Emily Moriarty , Thallinger Gerhard G. , Sturmbauer Christian , Meyer Axel 
Published: August 2018

AbstractLake Tanganyika is the oldest and phenotypically most diverse of the three East African cichlid fish adaptive radiations. It is also the cradle for the younger parallel haplochromine cichlid radiations in Lakes Malawi and Victoria. Despite its evolutionary significance, the relationships among the main Lake Tanganyika lineages remained unresolved, as did the general timescale of cichlid evolution. Here, we disentangle the deep phylogenetic structure of the Lake Tanganyika radiation using anchored phylogenomics and uncover hybridization at its base, as well as early in the haplochromine radiation. This suggests that hybridization might have facilitated these speciation bursts. Time-calibrated trees support that the radiation of Tanganyika cichlids coincided with lake formation and that Gondwanan vicariance concurred with the earliest splits in the cichlid family tree. Genes linked to key innovations show signals of introgression or positive selection following colonization of lake habitats and species’ dietary adaptations are revealed as major drivers of colour vision evolution. These findings shed light onto the processes shaping the evolution of adaptive radiations.
Mapping the energy landscapes of supramolecular assembly by thermal hysteresis
Authors: Harkness V Robert W. , Avakyan Nicole , Sleiman Hanadi F. , Mittermaier Anthony K. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractUnderstanding how biological macromolecules assemble into higher-order structures is critical to explaining their function in living organisms and engineered biomaterials. Transient, partly-structured intermediates are essential in many assembly processes and pathway selection, but are challenging to characterize. Here we present a simple thermal hysteresis method based on rapid, non-equilibrium melting and annealing measurements that maps the rate of supramolecular assembly as a function of temperature and concentration. A straightforward analysis of these surfaces provides detailed information on the natures of assembly pathways, offering temperature resolution beyond that accessible with conventional techniques. Validating the approach using a tetrameric guanine quadruplex, we obtain strikingly good agreement with previous kinetics measurements and reveal temperature-dependent changes to the assembly pathway. In an application to the recently discovered co-assembly of polydeoxyadenosine (poly(A)) and cyanuric acid, we show that fiber elongation is initiated when an unstable complex containing three poly(A) monomers acquires a fourth strand.
A biodegradable hybrid inorganic nanoscaffold for advanced stem cell therapy
Authors: Yang Letao , Chueng Sy-Tsong Dean , Li Ying , Patel Misaal , Rathnam Christopher , Dey Gangotri , Wang Lu , Cai Li , Lee Ki-Bum 
Published: August 2018

AbstractStem cell transplantation, as a promising treatment for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, has been hampered by crucial issues such as a low cell survival rate, incomplete differentiation, and limited neurite outgrowth in vivo. Addressing these hurdles, scientists have designed bioscaffolds that mimic the natural tissue microenvironment to deliver physical and soluble cues. However, several significant obstacles including burst release of drugs, insufficient cellular adhesion support, and slow scaffold degradation rate remain to be overcome before the full potential of bioscaffold–based stem-cell therapies can be realized. To this end, we developed a biodegradable nanoscaffold-based method for enhanced stem cell transplantation, differentiation, and drug delivery. These findings collectively support the therapeutic potential of our biodegradable hybrid inorganic (BHI) nanoscaffolds for advanced stem cell transplantation and neural tissue engineering.
Exceptional electrocatalytic oxygen evolution via tunable charge transfer interactions in La0.5Sr1.5Ni1−xFexO4±δ Ruddlesden-Popper oxides
Authors: Forslund Robin P. , Hardin William G. , Rong Xi , Abakumov Artem M. , Filimonov Dmitry , Alexander Caleb T. , Mefford J. Tyler , Iyer Hrishikesh , Kolpak Alexie M. , Johnston Keith P. , Stevenson Keith J. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe electrolysis of water is of global importance to store renewable energy and the methodical design of next-generation oxygen evolution catalysts requires a greater understanding of the structural and electronic contributions that give rise to increased activities. Herein, we report a series of Ruddlesden–Popper La0.5Sr1.5Ni1−xFexO4±δ oxides that promote charge transfer via cross-gap hybridization to enhance electrocatalytic water splitting. Using selective substitution of lanthanum with strontium and nickel with iron to tune the extent to which transition metal and oxygen valence bands hybridize, we demonstrate remarkable catalytic activity of 10 mA cm−2 at a 360 mV overpotential and mass activity of 1930 mA mg−1ox at 1.63 V via a mechanism that utilizes lattice oxygen. This work demonstrates that Ruddlesden–Popper materials can be utilized as active catalysts for oxygen evolution through rational design of structural and electronic configurations that are unattainable in many other crystalline metal oxide phases.
Reduced exposure to extreme precipitation from 0.5 °C less warming in global land monsoon regions
Authors: Zhang Wenxia , Zhou Tianjun , Zou Liwei , Zhang Lixia , Chen Xiaolong 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe Paris Agreement set a goal to keep global warming well below 2 °C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C. Understanding how 0.5 °C less warming reduces impacts and risks is key for climate policies. Here, we show that both areal and population exposures to dangerous extreme precipitation events (e.g., once in 10- and 20-year events) would increase consistently with warming in the populous global land monsoon regions based on Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 multimodel projections. The 0.5 °C less warming would reduce areal and population exposures to once-in-20-year extreme precipitation events by 25% (18–41%) and 36% (22–46%), respectively. The avoided impacts are more remarkable for more intense extremes. Among the monsoon subregions, South Africa is the most impacted, followed by South Asia and East Asia. Our results improve the understanding of future vulnerability to, and risk of, climate extremes, which is paramount for mitigation and adaptation activities for the global monsoon region where nearly two-thirds of the world’s population lives.
Transcriptional and physiological adaptations in nucleus accumbens somatostatin interneurons that regulate behavioral responses to cocaine
Authors: Ribeiro Efrain A. , Salery Marine , Scarpa Joseph R. , Calipari Erin S. , Hamilton Peter J. , Ku Stacy M. , Kronman Hope , Purushothaman Immanuel , Juarez Barbara , Heshmati Mitra , Doyle Marie , Lardner Casey , Burek Dominicka , Strat Ana , Pirpinias Stephen , Mouzon Ezekiell , Han Ming-Hu , Neve Rachael L. , Bagot Rosemary C. , Kasarskis Andrew , Koo Ja Wook , Nestler Eric J. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe role of somatostatin interneurons in nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain reward region, remains poorly understood due to the fact that these cells account for < 1% of NAc neurons. Here, we use optogenetics, electrophysiology, and RNA-sequencing to characterize the transcriptome and functioning of NAc somatostatin interneurons after repeated exposure to cocaine. We find that the activity of somatostatin interneurons regulates behavioral responses to cocaine, with repeated cocaine reducing the excitability of these neurons. Repeated cocaine also induces transcriptome-wide changes in gene expression within NAc somatostatin interneurons. We identify the JUND transcription factor as a key regulator of cocaine action and confirmed, by use of viral-mediated gene transfer, that JUND activity in somatostatin interneurons influences behavioral responses to cocaine. Our results identify alterations in NAc induced by cocaine in a sparse population of somatostatin interneurons, and illustrate the value of studying brain diseases using cell type-specific whole transcriptome RNA-sequencing.
Online flow cytometric monitoring of microbial water quality in a full-scale water treatment plant
Authors: Buysschaert Benjamin , Vermijs Lotte , Naka Agathi , Boon Nico , De Gusseme Bart 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe ever-increasing need for high-quality drinking and process waters, and growing public awareness about possible contamination, drive efforts for the further development of automated control of water treatment plants. For example, membrane filtration processes and reverse osmosis in particular are generally regarded as a safe barrier for inorganic, organic, and microbial contamination. Yet, to ensure the final water quality and to increase the confidence of the end-user, intensive and preferably online monitoring should be further implemented as an early-warning tool to control membrane integrity and to prevent microbial regrowth in the distributing network. In this paper, we test the applicability of flow cytometry and cytometric fingerprinting for a full-scale water treatment plant. We demonstrate in a full-scale water treatment plant that flow cytometry can be used as online monitoring tool and that changes in water quality can be observed, which are not monitored by commonly used online quality parameters. Furthermore, we illustrate with ultrafiltration that process conditions impact the flow cytometric cell counts.
Red fox genome assembly identifies genomic regions associated with tame and aggressive behaviours
Authors: Kukekova Anna V. , Johnson Jennifer L. , Xiang Xueyan , Feng Shaohong , Liu Shiping , Rando Halie M. , Kharlamova Anastasiya V. , Herbeck Yury , Serdyukova Natalya A. , Xiong Zijun , Beklemischeva Violetta , Koepfli Klaus-Peter , Gulevich Rimma G. , Vladimirova Anastasiya V. , Hekman Jessica P. , Perelman Polina L. , Graphodatsky Aleksander S. , O’Brien Stephen J. , Wang Xu , Clark Andrew G. , Acland Gregory M. , Trut Lyudmila N. , Zhang Guojie 
Published: August 2018

AbstractStrains of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with markedly different behavioural phenotypes have been developed in the famous long-term selective breeding programme known as the Russian farm-fox experiment. Here we sequenced and assembled the red fox genome and re-sequenced a subset of foxes from the tame, aggressive and conventional farm-bred populations to identify genomic regions associated with the response to selection for behaviour. Analysis of the re-sequenced genomes identified 103 regions with either significantly decreased heterozygosity in one of the three populations or increased divergence between the populations. A strong positional candidate gene for tame behaviour was highlighted:SorCS1, which encodes the main trafficking protein for AMPA glutamate receptors and neurexins and suggests a role for synaptic plasticity in fox domestication. Other regions identified as likely to have been under selection in foxes include genes implicated in human neurological disorders, mouse behaviour and dog domestication. The fox represents a powerful model for the genetic analysis of affiliative and aggressive behaviours that can benefit genetic studies of behaviour in dogs and other mammals, including humans.