bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Soil Transmitted Helminthes (STHs)Among Pupils of Community Primary Schools in Nkpor and Mgbodohia, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria
Authors: Gboeloh LeBari Barine , Ndamzi Ike-Ihunwo Chikaire 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTSoil transmitted helminthes (STHs) are common public health concern among children in Sub saharan Africa. A study to determine the prevalence and intensity of these parasites among pupils of two primary schools in Nkpor and Mgbodohia communities, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria was conducted. The formo-ether concentration technique was used to concentrate and separate the eggs and cysts from the faeces. Out of 107 pupils (56males and 51 females) investigated, 81 (75.7 %) were positive for at least one gastrointestinal helminth. The parasites identified included Ascaris lumbricoide(58.0%), Hookworms(28.4%), Trichirus trichiura(13.6%) and A.lumbricoide + T. trichiura (6.3%). Ascaris lumbricoide was significantly (P<0.05) higher in prevalence than other parasites. Although more females (54.3%) were infected than males (45.7%), there was no significance(P>0.05) difference in the prevalence in relation to sex. Of the 44 males infected, 24(54.5%), 5 (11.4%), 13(29.5%) and 2(4.5%) haboured A. lumbricoide, T. trichiura, Hookworms and mixed infection (A. lumbricoide + T. trichiura) repectively. Out of the 37 females infected, 21 (56.8%), 3(8.1%), 10(27.0%) and 3(8.1%) haboured A. lumbricoide, T. trichiura, Hookworms and mixed infection (A. lumbricoide + T. trichiura) repectively. There was no significance difference in the prevalence of A. lumbricoide and Hookworms between males (54.5%) and females (56.8%). There was significant difference in prevalence among two major age groups (5-10years-45% and 11-15years-41.9%). Children within the age group of 16-20years had the least infection (9.9%). The intensities of A.lumbricoide, T.trichiura and hookworm were 246.5, 107.5 and 187 Epg respectively. The intensity of A. lumbricoide was significantly difference than other parasites identified.Soil transmited helminthes remain a public health concern among children in the study area. Provision of portable water, toilet facilities, good education on the epidemiology of STHs and regular de-worming will enhance control measures.
The association between weight at birth and breast cancer risk revisited using Mendelian randomisation
Authors: Kar Siddhartha P. , Andrulis Irene L. , Brenner Hermann , Burgess Stephen , Chang-Claude Jenny , Considine Daniel , Dörk Thilo , Evans D. Gareth R. , Gago-Domínguez Manuela , Giles Graham G. , Hartman Mikael , Huo Dezheng , Kaaks Rudolf , Li Jingmei , Lophatananon Artitaya , Margolin Sara , Milne Roger L. , Muir Kenneth R. , Olsson Håkan , Punie Kevin , Radice Paolo , Simard Jacques , Tamimi Rulla M. , Nieuwenhuysen Els Van , Wendt Camilla , Zheng Wei , Pharoah Paul D. P. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractObservational studies suggest that higher birth weight (BW) is associated with increased risk of breast cancer in adult life. We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) study to assess whether this association is causal. Sixty independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) known to be associated at P < 5 × 10-8 with BW were used to construct (1) a 41-SNP instrumental variable (IV) for univariable MR after removing SNPs with pleiotropic associations with other breast cancer risk factors and (2) a 49-SNP IV for multivariable MR after filtering SNPs for data availability. BW predicted by the 41-SNP IV was not associated with overall breast cancer risk in inverse-variance weighted (IVW) univariable MR analysis of genetic association data from 122,977 breast cancer cases and 105,974 controls (odds ratio = 0.86 per 500 g higher BW; 95% confidence interval: 0.73—1.01). Sensitivity analyses using four alternative methods and three alternative IVs, including an IV with 59 of the 60 BW-associated SNPs, yielded similar results. Multivariable MR adjusting for the effects of the 49-SNP IV on birth length, adult height, adult body mass index, age at menarche, and age at menopause using IVW and MR-Egger methods provided estimates consistent with univariable analyses. Results were also similar when all analyses were repeated after restricting to estrogen receptor-positive or -negative breast cancer cases. Point estimates of the odds ratios from most analyses performed indicated an inverse relationship between genetically-predicted BW and breast cancer. Thus, there is little evidence from MR to suggest that the previously observed association between higher BW and increased risk of breast cancer in adult life is causal.
High-Resolution, Long-Term Trends in Relative Abundance from Spatial Modeling of Continent-Wide Bird Counts
Authors: Meehan Timothy D. , Michel Nicole L. , Rue Håvard 
Published: November 2018

AbstractContinent-wide bird counts by community volunteers provide valuable information about the conservation needs of many bird species. The statistical modeling techniques commonly used to analyze these counts provide robust long-term trend estimates from heterogeneous community science data at regional, national, and continental scales. Here we present a novel modeling framework that increases the spatial resolution of trend estimates, and reduces the computational burden of trend estimation, each by an order of magnitude. We demonstrate the approach with data for the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) from Audubon Christmas Bird Counts conducted between 1966 and 2017, and show that aggregate regional trend estimates from the proposed method align well with those from the current standard method. Thus, it appears that the proposed technique can provide reasonable large-scale trend estimates for users concerned with general patterns, while also providing higher resolution estimates for others examining correlates of abundance trends at finer spatial scales.
A Phylogenomic Framework, Evolutionary Timeline, and Genomic Resources for Comparative Studies of Decapod Crustaceans
Authors: Wolfe Joanna M. , Breinholt Jesse W. , Crandall Keith A. , Lemmon Alan R. , Lemmon Emily Moriarty , Timm Laura E. , Siddall Mark E. , Bracken-Grissom Heather D. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractComprising over 15,000 living species, decapods (crabs, shrimp, and lobsters) are the most instantly recognizable crustaceans, representing a considerable global food source. Although decapod systematics have received much study, limitations of morphological and Sanger sequence data have yet to produce a consensus for higher-level relationships. Here we introduce a new anchored hybrid enrichment kit for decapod phylogenetics designed from genomic and transcriptomic sequences that we used to capture new high-throughput sequence data from 94 species, including 58 of 179 extant decapod families, and 11 of 12 major lineages. The enrichment kit yields 410 loci (>86,000 bp) conserved across all lineages of Decapoda, eight times more molecular data than any prior study. Phylogenomic analyses recover a robust decapod tree of life strongly supporting the monophyly of all infraorders, and monophyly of each of the reptant, ‘lobster’, and ‘crab’ groups, with some results supporting pleocyemate monophyly. We show that crown decapods diverged in the Late Ordovician and most crown lineages diverged in the Triassic-Jurassic, highlighting a cryptic Paleozoic history, and post-extinction diversification. New insights into decapod relationships provide a phylogenomic window into morphology and behavior, and a basis to rapidly and cheaply expand sampling in this economically and ecologically significant invertebrate clade.
Confidence predicts speed-accuracy tradeoff for subsequent decisions
Authors: Desender Kobe , Boldt Annika , Verguts Tom , Donner Tobias H. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractWhen external feedback about decision outcomes is lacking, agents need to adapt their decision policies based on an internal estimate of the correctness of their choices (i.e., decision confidence). We hypothesized that agents use confidence to continuously update the tradeoff between the speed and accuracy of their decisions: When confidence is low in one decision, the agent needs more evidence before committing to a choice in the next decision, leading to slower but more accurate decisions. We tested this hypothesis by fitting a bounded accumulation decision model to behavioral data from three different perceptual choice tasks. Decision bounds indeed depended on the reported confidence on the previous trial, independent of objective accuracy. This increase in decision bound was predicted by a centro-parietal EEG component sensitive to confidence. We conclude that the brain uses internally computed confidence signals for the ongoing adjustment of decision policies.
Evidence for allocentric boundary and goal direction information in the human entorhinal cortex and subiculum
Authors: Shine J. P. , Valdés-Herrera J. P. , Tempelmann C. , Wolbers T. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn rodents, cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (EC) and subiculum code for the allocentric direction to environment boundaries, which is an important prerequisite for accurate positional coding. Although in humans boundary-related signals have been reported, there is no evidence that they contain allocentric direction information. Furthermore, it has not been possible to separate boundary versus goal direction signals in the EC/subiculum. To address these important questions, participants learned a virtual environment containing four unique boundaries, after which they underwent fMRI scanning where they made judgments about the allocentric direction of a cue object. Using multivariate decoding, we found information regarding allocentric boundary direction in posterior EC and subiculum, whereas in anterior EC and subiculum we could decode allocentric goal direction. These data provide the first evidence of allocentric boundary coding in humans, and are consistent with recent conceptualisations of a division of labour within the EC.
Contextual interference effect is independent of retroactive inhibition but variable practice is not always beneficial
Authors: Thürer Benjamin , Gedemer Sarah , Focke Anne , Stein Thorsten 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPositive effects of variable practice conditions on subsequent motor memory consolidation and generalization are widely accepted and described as the contextual interference effect (CIE). However, the general benefits of CIE are low and these benefits might even depend on decreased retest performances in the blocked-practicing control group, caused by retroactive inhibition. The aim of this study was to investigate if CIE represents a true learning phenomenon or possibly reflects confounding effects of retroactive inhibition. We tested 48 healthy human participants adapting their reaching movements to three different force field magnitudes. Subjects practiced the force fields in either a Blocked (B), Random (R), or Constant (C) schedule. In addition, subjects of the Blocked group performed either a retest schedule that did (Blocked-Matched; BM) or did not (Blocked-Unmatched; BU) control for retroactive inhibition. Results showed that retroactive inhibition did not affect the results of the BU group much and that the Random group showed a better consolidation performance compared to both Blocked groups. However, compared to the Constant group, the Random group showed only slight benefits in its memory consolidation of the mean performance across all force field magnitudes and no benefits in absolute performance values. This indicates that CIE reflects a true motor learning phenomenon, which is independent of retroactive inhibition. However, random practice is not always beneficial over constant practice.
Multiple Duration Priors Within and Across the Senses
Authors: Rhodes Darren , Seth Anil K. , Roseboom Warrick 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPerception can be understood as an active process in which sensory samples are combined with prior expectations to shape perceptual content. A prominent example of the influence of priors on perception is that manually reproduced temporal durations are biased towards the mean of previously experienced durations. However, little is known about how prior expectations are acquired and maintained in environments in which multiple competing cues may indicate whether a given prior should be applied in that specific context. We tested whether human participants could acquire and maintain multiple priors for duration, dependent on the sensory signal in which the duration was presented. Human participants were presented with visual flashes or auditory tones, high or low pitch tones, or white noise versus pure tone audio. In each case, the presented duration on a given trial was drawn from a distribution that was, on average, shorter for tones than for flashes, or vice versa. Our participants’ timing reports were consistent with having acquired distinct duration priors dependent on the sensory signal in which the duration was presented (e.g. auditory or visual). Moreover, this was true whether signals differed across, or within, sensory modality. We account for our findings within a Bayesian framework in which duration priors are iteratively updated depending on determination of a common or distinct origin between successive events. Overall, these results show that the human brain can acquire and maintain multiple perceptual priors based on differences in stimulus properties both within and across the senses.
Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells Grown in Neurogenic Media Differentiate into Endothelial Cells and Promote Neovasculogenesis in the Mouse Brain
Authors: Luzuriaga J. , Pastor-Alonso O. , Encinas J.M. , Unda F. , Ibarretxe G. , Pineda JR. 
Published: November 2018

SUMMARYDental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) have a demonstrated capacity to acquire neuronal-like phenotypes, suggesting their use in brain cell therapies. In the present work, we wanted to address the phenotypic fate of adult DPSCs cultured in Neurocult media (Stem Cell Technologies), a cell culture medium without serum routinely used for the expansion of adult neural stem cells (NSCs). Our results showed for the first time, that non-genetically modified adult DPSCs cultured with Neurocult generated neurosphere-like dentospheres expressing the NSC markers Nestin and GFAP, but also the vascular endothelial cell marker CD31. One month post-intracranial graft into athymic nude mice, human CD31+ or Nestin+ DPSC-derived cells were found tightly associated with brain blood vessels increasing their laminin staining. These results suggest that DPSCs integrated and contributed to an increased generation of neovasculature within brain tissue and that Neurocult medium constituted a fast and efficient way to obtain endothelial cells from human DPSCs.
Ensemble projections of global ocean animal biomass with climate change
Authors: Lotze Heike K. , Tittensor Derek P. , Bryndum-Buchholz Andrea , Eddy Tyler D. , Cheung William W. L. , Galbraith Eric D. , Barange Manuel , Barrier Nicolas , Bianchi Daniele , Blanchard Julia L. , Bopp Laurent , Büchner Matthias , Bulman Catherine , Carozza David A. , Christensen Villy , Coll Marta , Dunne John , Fulton Elizabeth A. , Jennings Simon , Jones Miranda , Mackinson Steve , Maury Olivier , Niiranen Susa , OliverosRamos Ricardo , Roy Tilla , Fernandes José A. , Schewe Jacob , Shin Yunne-Jai , Silva Tiago A. M. , Steenbeek Jeroen , Stock Charles A. , Verley Philippe , Volkholz Jan , Walker Nicola D. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractClimate change is shifting the abundance and distribution of marine species with consequences for ecosystem functioning, seafood supply, management and conservation. Several approaches for future projection exist but these have never been compared systematically to assess their variability. We conducted standardized ensemble projections including 6 global fisheries and marine ecosystem models, forced with 2 Earth-system models and 4 emission scenarios in a fished and unfished ocean, to derive average trends and associated uncertainties. Without fishing, mean global animal biomass decreased by 5% (±4%) under low and 17% (±11%) under high emissions by 2100, primarily driven by increasing temperature and decreasing primary production. These climate-change effects were slightly weaker for larger animals and in a fished ocean. Considerable regional variation ranged from strong biomass increases in high latitudes to strong decreases in mid-low latitudes, with good model agreement on the direction of change but variable magnitude. Uncertainties due to differences among ecosystem or Earth-system models were similar, suggesting equal need for model improvement. Our ensemble projections provide the most comprehensive outlook on potential climate-driven ecological changes in the ocean to date. Realized future trends will largely depend on how fisheries and management adapt to these changes in a changing climate.
Linking Branch Lengths Across Loci Provides the Best Fit for Phylogenetic Inference
Authors: Duchêne David A. , Tong K. Jun , Foster Charles S. P. , Duchêne Sebastián , Lanfear Robert , Ho Simon Y. W. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractEvolution leaves heterogeneous patterns of nucleotide variation across the genome, with different loci subject to varying degrees of mutation, selection, and drift. Appropriately modelling this heterogeneity is important for reliable phylogenetic inference. One modelling approach in statistical phylogenetics is to apply independent models of molecular evolution to different groups of sites, where the groups are usually defined by locus, codon position, or combinations of the two. The potential impacts of partitioning data for the assignment of substitution models are well appreciated. Meanwhile, the treatment of branch lengths has received far less attention. In this study, we examined the effects of linking and unlinking branch-length parameters across loci. By analysing a range of empirical data sets, we find that the best-fitting model for phylogenetic inference is consistently one in which branch lengths are proportionally linked: gene trees have the same pattern of branch-length variation, but with varying absolute tree lengths. This model provided a substantially better fit than those that either assumed identical branch lengths across gene trees or that allowed each gene tree to have its own distinct set of branch lengths. Using simulations, we show that the fit of the three different models of branch lengths varies with the length of the sequence alignment and with the number of taxa in the data set. Our findings suggest that a model with proportionally linked branch lengths across loci is likely to provide the best fit under the conditions that are most commonly seen in practice. In future work, improvements in fit might be afforded by models with levels of complexity intermediate to proportional and free branch lengths. The results of our study have implications for model selection, computational efficiency, and experimental design in phylogenomics.
Rapid task-dependent tuning of the mouse olfactory bulb
Authors: Koldaeva Anzhelika , Schaefer Andreas T , Fukunaga Izumi 
Published: November 2018

AbstractAdapting neural representation to rapidly changing behavioural demands is a key challenge for the nervous system. Here, we demonstrate that the output of the primary olfactory area, the mouse olfactory bulb, is already a target of dynamic and reproducible modulation. The modulation depends on the stimulus tuning of a given neuron, making olfactory responses more discriminable through selective amplification in a demand-specific way.
Penaeidins are a novel family of antiviral effectors against WSSV in shrimp
Authors: Xiao Bang , Fu Qihui , Niu Shengwen , Li Haoyang , Lǚ Kai , Wang Sheng , Yin Bin , Weng Shaoping , Li Chaozheng , He Jianguo 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPenaeidins are members of a family of key effectors with broad anti-bacterial activities in penaeid shrimp. However, the function of penaeidins in antiviral immunity is rarely reported and remains largely unknown. Herein, we uncovered that penaeidins are a novel family of antiviral effectors against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Firstly, RNAi in vivo mediated knockdown of each penaeidin from four identified penaeidins from Litopenaeus vannamei resulted in elevated viral loads and rendered shrimp more susceptible to WSSV, whilst the phenotype of survival rate in penaeidin-silenced shrimp can be rescued via the injection of recombinant penaeidin proteins. Moreover, pull-down assays demonstrated the conserved PEN domain of penaeidin was able to interact with WSSV structural proteins. Furthermore, we observed that colloidal gold-labeled penaeidins were located on the outer surface of the WSSV virion. By infection-blocking assay, we observed that hemocytes had lower viral infection rates in the group of WSSV preincubated with penaeidins than those of control group. Phagocytic activity analysis further showed that penaeidins were able to inhibit phagocytic activity of hemocytes against WSSV Taken together, these results suggest that penaeidins specifically binds to WSSV virion by interacting with its structural proteins, thus preventing viral infection that confers host against WSSV. In addition, dual-luciferase assay and EMSA assay demonstrated that penaeidins were regulated by Dorsal and Relish, two transcription factors of the canonical Toll and IMD pathway, respectively. To our best knowledge, this is the first report on uncovering the antiviral function of penaeidins in the innate immune system of shrimp.ImportancesWhite spot syndrome, caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), is the most serious disease in shrimp aquaculture, which has long been a scourge of cultured shrimp industry. Herein, we provided some substantial evidences to indicate that penaeidins are a novel family of effectors with antiviral activity against WSSV in shrimp. Penaeidins such as BigPEN, PEN2 and PEN3 were able to interact with the outer surface of WSSV virion via binding to viral structural proteins, and thus preventing viral entry host cells. In addition, we demonstrated that the Toll and IMD signaling pathways can regulate the transcriptional expression of penaeidins, which may suggest an important role of the conserved innate signaling pathways in antiviral immunity. This is the first report of the antiviral mechanism of penaeidins in shrimp, which may provide some new insights into strategies to control WSSV infection in shrimp farms.
Evolutionary dynamics of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii circulating in Chilean hospitals
Authors: Opazo-Capurro Andrés , Martín Iván San , Quezada-Aguiluz Mario , Morales Felipe , Domínguez-Yévenes Mariana , Lima Celia A. , Esposito Fernanda , Cerdeira Louise , Bello-Toledo Helia , Lincopan Nilton , González-Rocha Gerardo 
Published: November 2018

AbstractWe analyze the evolutionary dynamics of ninety carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) isolates collected between 1990 and 2015 in Chile. CRAB were identified at first in an isolate collected in 2005, which harbored the ISAba1-blaOXA-69 arrangement. Later, OXA-58- and OXA-23-producing A. baumannii strains emerged in 2007 and 2009, respectively. This phenomenon was associated with variations in the epidemiology of OXA-type carbapenemases, linked to nosocomial lineages belonging to ST109 (CC1), ST162 (CC79), ST15 (CC15) and ST318 (CC15).