bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A bacterial DNA repair pathway specific to a natural antibiotic
Authors: Burby Peter E. , Simmons Lyle A. 
Published: October 2018

SummaryAll organisms possess DNA repair pathways that are used to maintain the integrity of their genetic material. Although many DNA repair pathways are well understood, new pathways continue to be discovered. Here, we report an antibiotic specific DNA repair pathway inBacillus subtilisthat is composed of a previously uncharacterized helicase (mrfA) and exonuclease (mrfB). Deletion ofmrfAandmrfBresults in sensitivity to the DNA damaging agent mitomycin C, but not to any other type of DNA damage tested. We show that MrfAB function independent of canonical nucleotide excision repair, forming a novel excision repair pathway. We demonstrate that MrfB is a metal‐dependent exonuclease and that the N‐terminus of MrfB is required for interaction with MrfA. We determined that MrfAB failed to unhook interstrand cross‐linksin vivo, suggesting that MrfAB are specific to the monoadduct or the intrastrand cross‐link. A phylogenetic analysis uncovered MrfAB homologs in diverse bacterial phyla, and cross‐complementation indicates that MrfAB function is conserved in closely related species.B. subtilisis a soil dwelling organism and mitomycin C is a natural antibiotic produced by the soil bacteriumStreptomyces lavendulae. The specificity of MrfAB suggests that these proteins are an adaptation to environments with mitomycin producing bacteria.
A discrete‐time anthrax model in human and herbivore populations
Authors: Yakubu Abdul‐Aziz , Ziyadi Najat 
Published: October 2018

AbstractWe introduce a discrete‐time anthrax disease model in human and herbivore populations, where the herbivore recruitment function is the classic Beverton–Holt model while that of humans is a constant recruitment function. We use the next generation method to compute the basic reproduction numbers for the submodels consisting of only herbivores and only humans . In addition, we compute it for the full human–herbivore model . When or or , the number of anthrax infections decreases and the disease does not invade the corresponding population. Whereas, the number of anthrax infections increases and the disease invades the corresponding population when or or . Our simulations show that it is possible for the anthrax disease to invade a human–herbivore population where the disease does not invade either herbivores or humans in isolation. Recommendations for resource managers

To help guide anthrax disease prevention and control strategies, we provide basic reproduction numbers for the herbivore only population , human‐only population and human–herbivore population .
implies the number of anthrax infections deceases and anthrax does not invade the population, while implies the number of anthrax cases increases and anthrax invasion occurs.
It is possible for anthrax to invade a population consisting of herbivores and humans where the disease does not invade either the herbivores or humans in isolation. Thus, more anthrax surveillance is required in mixed populations of herbivores and humans.
Our human–herbivore model can be used to predict the number of anthrax‐infected humans and animals given the number of known anthrax infections in populations.
Exercise performance increase in smokeless tobacco‐user athletes after overnight nicotine abstinence
Authors: Zandonai Thomas , Tam Enrico , Bruseghini Paolo , Capelli Carlo , Baraldo Massimo , Chiamulera Cristiano 
Published: November 2018

The use of nicotine administered through smokeless tobacco (snus) has increased among athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ergogenic effects of snus on aerobic performance during exercise until exhaustion in athletes after abstinence or satiety nicotine conditions. The study utilized a randomized, controlled, within‐subject design experiment. Sixteen male snus‐user athletes completed an exercise until exhaustion at a constant load of their 80% of (calculated by a maximal incremental test) in two separate sessions, corresponding to nicotine conditions: 12‐hour overnight abstinence and satiety. A portion of 1 g of snus (~8 mg/g of nicotine) was administered 25 minutes before each experimental test. In each session, time to exhaustion (TTE), global rating of perceived exertion, cardiovascular and metabolic responses, and muscle and cerebral oxygenation were measured. Nicotine and cotinine analysis confirmed session conditions (abstinence or satiety). Snus induced a significant increase (+13.1%) of TTE following abstinence (24.1 ± 10.7 minutes) compared to satiety condition (20.9 ± 8.0 minutes; P = 0.0131). The baseline values revealed that abstinence of snus induced significant increase in the oxygenation of the muscular tissues (+4%), in metabolic values and in cardiovascular parameters, when compared to satiety condition. Our results indicate an increase of exercise performance (+13.1% TTE) due to snus administration in an abstinence condition. Considering that twelve hours of abstinence from snus‐contained nicotine affected metabolic, cardiovascular and muscular tissue oxygenation, we suggest that snus administration at test time might relieve these withdrawal changes and yield an increase in time to exhaustion.
Hybrid capture data unravel a rapid radiation of pimpliform parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Pimpliformes)
Authors: Klopfstein Seraina , Langille Barbara , Spasojevic Tamara , Broad Gavin R. , Cooper Steven J. B. , Austin Andrew D. , Niehuis Oliver 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThe parasitoid wasp family Ichneumonidae is among the most diverse groups of organisms, with conservative estimates suggesting that it contains more species than all vertebrates together. However, ichneumonids are also among the most severely understudied groups, and our understanding of their evolution is hampered by the lack of a robust higher‐level phylogeny of this group. Based on newly generated transcriptome sequence data, which were filtered according to several criteria of phylogenetic informativeness, we developed target DNA enrichment baits to capture 93 genes across species of Ichneumonidae. The baits were applied to DNA of 55 ichneumonids, with a focus on Pimpliformes, an informal group containing nine subfamilies. Phylogenetic trees were inferred under maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches, at both the nucleotide and amino acid levels. We found maximum support for the monophyly of Pimpliformes but low resolution and very short branches close to its base, strongly suggesting a rapid radiation. Two genera and one genus‐group were consistently recovered in unexpected parts of the tree, prompting changes in their higher‐level classification:PseudorhyssaMerrill, currently classified in the subfamily Poemeniinae, is transferred to the tribe Delomeristini within Pimplinae, andHemiphanesFörster is moved from Orthocentrinae to Cryptinae. Likewise, the tribe Theroniini is resurrected for theTheronia groupof genera (stat. rev.). Phylogenetic analyses, in which we gradually increased the numbers of genes, revealed that the initially steep increase in mean clade support slows down at around 40 genes, and consideration of up to 93 genes still left various nodes in the inferred phylogenetic tree poorly resolved. It remains to be shown whether more extensive gene or taxon sampling can resolve the early evolution of the pimpliform subfamilies.
Effects on Motor Development and Performance Levels of Physical Activity in Music Accompaniment on Children with Developmental Deficiencies
Authors: Pektaş Songül , Akyol Betül 
Published: October 2018

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of physical activity with music on motor development and performance in children with developmental deficiencies. The study includes twenty children with developmental deficiencies, aged between 10-15 years old. Children were classified into two groups randomly and both groups were given 1 hour of training 3 days a week for 20 weeks. Physical activity with English and Spanish verbal song was used for the first group and only physical activity for the second group. Each participant participated in shuttle, shuttle run, flexibility, standing long jump, vertical jump tests. The fatigue parameter of children was evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale. As a result of this study, it has been shown that physical activity with music is more effective method to improve motor development and performance levels of children with developmental deficiencies.
Identification and expression analysis of type II and type III Pi transporters in the opossum kidney cell line
Authors: Guillén Natalia , Caldas Yupanqui A. , Levi Moshe , Sorribas Víctor 
Published: October 2018

New Findings
What is the central question of this study?
The opossum kidney (OK) cell line is the main in vitro model of proximal tubular Pi transport, but it is incomplete because only the NaPiIIa Pi transporter has been identified.

What is the main finding and its importance?
We have cloned and characterized the Pi transporters NaPiIIc, PiT1 and PiT2 from OK cells and have analysed the relevance of the four transporters to Pi transport. All four transporters are involved in the upregulated Pi transport of cells incubated using a low‐Pi medium, and only PiT1 is not involved in basal transport.

AbstractThe apical membrane of renal proximal tubular epithelial cells is the main controller of phosphate homeostasis, because it determines the rate of urinary Pi excretion. The opossum kidney (OK) cell line is a good model for studying this function, but only NaPiIIa (NaPi4) has been identified to date as a Pi transporter in this cell line. In this work, we have identified three additional Pi transporters that are present in OK cells: NaPiIIc, PiT1 and PiT2. All three sequences are similar to the corresponding orthologues, but PiT1 is missing the first transmembrane domain. Confluent cells exhibit characteristics of type II Pi transport, which increases with alkalinity and is inhibited by phosphonoformic acid (PFA), and they mainly express NaPiIIa and NaPiIIc, with a low abundance of PiT1 and PiT2. Proliferating cells show a higher expression of PiT1 and PiT2 and a low expression of NaPiIIa and NaPiIIc. Adaptation to a low Pi concentration for 24 h induces the expression of RNA from NaPiIIa and NaPiIIc, which is not prevented by actinomycin D. Small interfering RNA transfections revealed that PiT1 is not necessary for Pi transport, but it is necessary for adaptation to a low Pi, similar to NaPiIIa and PiT2. Our study reveals the complexity of the coordination between the four Pi transporters, the variability of RNA expression according to confluence and the heterogeneous correlation between Pi transport and RNA levels.
Anticipation of food intake induces phosphorylation switch to regulate basolateral amino acid transporter LAT4 (SLC43A2) function
Authors: Oparija Lalita , Rajendran Anuradha , Poncet Nadège , Verrey François 
Published: October 2018

Key points
Amino acid absorption requires luminal uptake into and subsequent basolateral efflux out of epithelial cells, with the latter step being critical to regulate the intracellular concentration of the amino acids.
The basolateral essential neutral amino acid uniporter LAT4 (SLC43A2) has been suggested to drive the net efflux of non‐essential and cationic amino acids via parallel amino acid antiporters by recycling some of their substrates; its deletion has been shown to cause defective postnatal growth and death in mice.
Here we test the regulatory function of LAT4 phosphorylation sites by mimicking their phosphorylated and dephosphorylated states in Xenopus laevis oocytes and show that dephosphorylation of S274 and phosphorylation of S297 increase LAT4 membrane localization and function.
Using new phosphorylation site‐specific antibodies, we observe changes in LAT4 phosphorylation in mouse small intestine that correspond to its upregulation at the expected feeding time.
These results strongly suggest that LAT4 phosphorylation participates in the regulation of transepithelial amino acid absorption.
AbstractThe essential amino acid uniporters LAT4 and TAT1 are located at the basolateral side of intestinal and kidney epithelial cells and their transport function has been suggested to control the transepithelial (re)absorption of neutral and possibly also cationic amino acids. Uniporter LAT4 selectively transports the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine, and additionally methionine and phenylalanine. Its deletion leads to a postnatal growth failure and early death in mice. Since LAT4 has been reported to be phosphorylated in vivo, we hypothesized that phosphorylation regulates its function. Using Xenopus laevis oocytes, we tested the impact of LAT4 phosphorylation at Ser274 and Ser297 by expressing mutant constructs mimicking phosphorylated and dephosphorylated states. We then investigated the in vivo regulation of LAT4 in mouse small intestine using new phosphorylation site‐specific antibodies and a time‐restricted diet. In Xenopus oocytes, mimicking non‐phosphorylation of Ser274 led to an increase in affinity and apparent surface membrane localization of LAT4, stimulating its transport activity, while the same mutation of Ser297 decreased LAT4's apparent surface expression and transport rate. In wild‐type mice, LAT4 phosphorylation on Ser274 was uniform at the beginning of the inactive phase (ZT0). In contrast, at the beginning of the active phase (ZT12), corresponding to the anticipated feeding time, Ser274 phosphorylation was decreased and restricted to relatively large patches of cells, while Ser297 phosphorylation was increased. We conclude that phosphorylation of small intestinal LAT4 is under food‐entrained circadian control, leading presumably to an upregulation of LAT4 function at the anticipated feeding time.
Online Communication in Student Product Design Teams
Authors: Van de Zande Georgia D. , Wallace David R. 
Published: November 2018

New technological developments are changing how the product design community communicates in the workplace and in the classroom. Slack, an online communication application with some project management features, has become a popular communication tool among many workers and students. This paper examines the Slack conversation conducted by 16 student product development teams in a course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2.009: Product Engineering Processes. Following a typical product development process, co-located teams of 17–20 students each used the online communication tool in addition to face-to-face meetings to design new products in one semester.
The resulting conversations were analyzed for message count over the course of the semester, message count by day of the week and hour of the day, message count by user, and communication organization. It was observed that teams tended to increase their communication right before deadlines and decrease it right after. When viewing teams’ communication patterns by day of the week and the hour of the day, it was seen that many teams increased their communication in a short period after team meetings. In both of these cases, successful teams tended to have more consistent communication. There was little correlation (R2 = 2186) between the number of hours teams reported working on the class and their Slack activity by day. When looking at a team’s total volume of communication, high volumes may indicate team members are working well, but it may also indicate they are struggling. Teams with higher levels of success tended to have more organized communication structures than teams with lower levels of success, as assessed by instructors. In addition to the data collected in this work, further research is still needed to understand with more certainty how online communication patterns correlate to teams’ levels of success or team behaviors.
Acute Cardiometabolic Responses to Three Modes of Treadmill Exercise in Older Adults With Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Rigby Brandon R. , Davis Ronald W. , Avalos Marco A. , Levine Nicholas A. , Becker Kevin A. , Nichols David L. 
Published: October 2018

The purpose of this study was to compare acute cardiometabolic responses to 3 modes of treadmill exercise in adults diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Eight elderly adults with PD (67.9 ± 3.0 yr) completed 1 session each on a land, aquatic, and antigravity treadmill at 50% body weight. Participants walked from 1 to 3 mph in 0.5-mph increments at 0% grade for 5 min at each speed. Heart rate, energy expenditure, blood pressure, and rating of perceived exertion were measured at rest and during exercise. All variables except diastolic blood pressure increased with speed on all treadmills (p < .001). At all speeds except 1.5 mph, heart rate was higher on the land treadmill than the antigravity treadmill (p < .05). Exercising on an aquatic or antigravity treadmill elicits similar submaximal physiologic responses to exercise on a land treadmill in adults with PD.
Association of paternal age with perinatal outcomes between 2007 and 2016 in the United States: population based cohort study
Authors: Khandwala Yash S , Baker Valerie L , Shaw Gary M , Stevenson David K , Lu Ying , Eisenberg Michael L 
Published: October 2018

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of advanced paternal age on maternal and perinatal outcomes in the United States.DesignRetrospective, population based cohort study.SettingUS.Population40 529 905 documented live births between 2007 and 2016.Main outcome measuresPrimary perinatal outcomes were gestational age, birth weight, Apgar score at five minutes, admission to a neonatal intensive care unit, need for postpartum antibiotics, and seizures. Primary maternal outcomes were gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. Secondary outcome was the number of preventable perinatal events.ResultsHigher paternal age was associated with an increased risk of premature birth, low birth weight, and low Apgar score. After adjustment for maternal age, infants born to fathers aged 45 years or older had 14% higher odds of premature birth (odds ratio 1.14, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.15), independent of gestational age, and 18% higher odds of seizures (1.18, 0.97 to 1.44) compared with infants of fathers aged 25 to 34 years. The odds of gestational diabetes was 34% higher (1.34, 1.29 to 1.38) in mothers with the oldest partners. 13.2% (95% confidence interval 12.5% to 13.9%) of premature births and 18.2% (17.5% to 18.9%) of gestational diabetes in births associated with older fathers were estimated to be attributable to advanced paternal age.ConclusionsAdvanced paternal age is associated with negative effects on both mothers and offspring. Given the relatively low prevalence of advanced paternal age in the US, population level impacts are currently modest. Nevertheless, as advanced paternal age has doubled in the US over the past generation, further investigation is warranted of the impact on birth outcomes and public health.
Systems consultation for opioid prescribing in primary care: a qualitative study of adaptation
Authors: Jacobson Nora , Johnson Roberta , Deyo Bri , Alagoz Esra , Quanbeck Andrew 
Published: October 2018

BackgroundIn order to promote guideline-concordant opioid prescribing practices, a blended implementation strategy called systems consultation was pilot tested in four primary care clinics in one US health system.ObjectivesTo describe (1) how systems consultation worked during the pilot test and (2) the modifications necessary to adapt this implementation strategy to primary care.MethodsA team of investigators conducted observations (n=24), focus groups (n=4) and interviews (n=2). The team; kept contact logs documenting all interactions with the intervention clinics and preserved all work products resulting from the intervention. Initial analysis was concurrent with data collection and findings were used to modify the intervention in real time. At the conclusion of the pilot test, a pragmatic descriptive analysis of all data was performed to explore key modifications.ResultsTime constraints, entrenched hierarchical structures and a lack of quality improvement skills among clinical staff were the main barriers to implementing systems consultation. Modifications made to address these conditions included creating a consulting team, giving change teams more direction, revising process improvement tools, supporting the use of electronic health record (EHR) functionalities and providing opportunities for shared learning among clinics.Discussion and conclusionWith the lessons of this research in mind, our goal in future iterations of systems consultation is to give clinics a combination of clinical, organisational change and EHR expertise optimised according to their needs. We believe a streamlined process for assessing the key characteristics identified in this study can be used to develop a plan for this kind of optimisation, or tailoring, and we will be developing such a process as part of an upcoming clinical trial.
External validation of the Hospital Frailty Risk Score and comparison with the Hospital-patient One-year Mortality Risk Score to predict outcomes in elderly hospitalised patients: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: McAlister Finlay , van Walraven Carl 
Published: October 2018

ObjectiveFrailty is an important prognostic factor in hospitalised patients but typically requires face-to-face assessment by trained observers to detect. Thus, frail patients are not readily apparent from a systems perspective for those interested in implementing quality improvement measures to optimise their outcomes. This study was designed to externally validate and compare two recently described tools using administrative data as potential markers for frailty: the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) and the Hospital-patient One-year Mortality Risk (HOMR) Score.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingOntario, Canada.ParticipantsAll patients over 75 with at least one urgent non-psychiatric hospitalisation between 2004 and 2010.Main outcome measuresProlonged hospital length of stay (>10 days), 30-day mortality after admission and 30-day postdischarge rates of urgent readmission or emergency department (ED) visits.ResultsIn 452 785 patients (25.9% with intermediate or high-risk HFRS), increased HFRS was associated with higher Charlson scores, older age and decreased likelihood of baseline independence. Patients with high or intermediate HFRS had significantly increased risks of prolonged hospitalisation (70.0% (OR 8.64, 95%  CI 8.30 to 8.99) or 49.7% (OR 3.66, 95%  CI 3.60 to 3.71) vs 21.3% in low-risk HFRS group) and 30-day mortality (15.5% (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.33) or 16.8% (OR 1.39, 95%  CI 1.36 to 1.41) vs 12.7% in low-risk), but decreased risks of 30-day readmission (10.0% (OR 0.74, 95%  CI 0.69 to 0.79) and 11.2% (OR 0.84, 95%  CI 0.82 to 0.86) vs 13.1%) or ED visit (7.3% (OR 0.41, 95%  CI 0.38 to 0.45) and 11.1% (OR 0.66, 95%  CI 0.38 to 0.45) vs 16.0%). Although only loosely associated (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.265, p<0.0001), both the HFRS and HOMR Score were independently associated with each outcome—HFRS was more strongly associated with prolonged length of stay (C-statistic 0.71) and HOMR Score was more strongly associated with 30-day mortality (C-statistic 0.71). Both poorly predicted 30-day readmissions (C-statistics 0.52 for HFRS and 0.54 for HOMR Score).ConclusionsThe HFRS best identified hospitalised older patients at higher risk of prolonged length of stay and the HOMR score better predicted 30-day mortality. However, neither score was suitable for predicting risk of readmission or ED visit in the 30 days after discharge. Thus, a single score is inadequate to prognosticate for all outcomes associated with frailty.