bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pulse transit time in pregnancy: a new way to diagnose and classify sleep disordered breathing?
Authors: Link Brittany N , Eid Celine , Bublitz Maggie H , Pengo Martino F , Salameh Myriam , Ludwig Karin S , Millman Richard P , Dworkin Lance , Bourjeily Ghada 
Published: February 2019

Abstract

Study Objectives
There are significant discrepancies between the prevalence of snoring and that of objectively defined sleep disordered breathing among pregnant women, suggesting subtle airflow limitations that may not be captured by conventional scoring. This study examined the performance of pulse transit time, an indirect measure of arterial stiffness and sympathetic activation, in pregnancy.

Methods
Pregnant women with obesity and snoring and a group of controls without symptoms of sleep disordered breathing were recruited in the first trimester. Women underwent a level III in-laboratory sleep monitoring study including an electrocardiogram and pulse oximetry, and pulse transit time was measured. Sleep disordered breathing was defined as an apnea–hypopnea index at least five events per hour of sleep. Statistical analysis was performed using Spearman correlation, Fisher’s exact t-test, and univariate analysis.

Results
Of the 222 women, 38 met criteria for sleep disordered breathing. Pulse transit time drops were very prevalent (95% of participants with snoring had &gt; 5 drops per hour). Median apnea–hypopnea index was 0.7 (interquartile range [IQR]: 2.6) events per hour whereas median pulse transit time drop index was 20.70 (IQR: 35.90) events per hour. Pulse transit time index was significantly higher in snorers with apnea–hypopnea index less than five events per hours and participants with apnea–hypopnea index greater than five events per hour compared to controls. Examination of random epochs with pulse transit time drops showed that 95% of pulse transit time drops were associated with airflow limitation.

Conclusions
Pulse transit time ascertains frequent events of sympathetic activation in at-risk women with and without sleep disordered breathing beyond conventional apneas and hypopneas. Pulse transit time may be an important addition to the identification of clinically significant sleep disordered breathing in pregnant women, and may identify more sleep disordered breathing than apnea–hypopnea index.
Structural redundancy in supracellular actomyosin networks enables robust tissue folding
Authors: Yevick Hannah G. , Miller Pearson W. , Dunkel Jörn , Martin Adam C. 
Published: February 2019

SummaryTissue morphogenesis is strikingly reproducible. Yet, how tissues are robustly sculpted, even under challenging conditions, is unknown. Here, we combined network analysis, experimental perturbations, and computational modeling to determine how network connectivity between hundreds of contractile cells on the ventral side of theDrosophilaembryo ensures robust tissue folding. We identified two network properties that mechanically promote robustness. First, redundant supracellular cytoskeletal network paths ensure global connectivity, even with network degradation. By forming many more connections than are required, morphogenesis is not disrupted by local network damage, analogous to the way redundancy guarantees the large-scale function of vasculature and transportation networks. Second, directional stiffening of edges oriented orthogonal to the folding axis promotes furrow formation at lower contractility levels. Structural redundancy and directional network stiffening ensure robust tissue folding with proper orientation.
Maleness-on-the-Y(MoY) orchestrates male sex determination in major agricultural fruit fly pests
Authors: Meccariello Angela , Salvemini Marco , Primo Pasquale , Hall Brantley , Koskinioti Panagiota , Dalíková Martina , Gravina Andrea , Gucciardino Michela Anna , Forlenza Federica , Gregoriou Maria-Eleni , Ippolito Domenica , Monti Simona Maria , Petrella Valeria , Perrotta Maryanna Martina , Schmeing Stephan , Ruggiero Alessia , Scolari Francesca , Giordano Ennio , Tsoumani Konstantina T. , Marec Frantisek , Windbichler Nikolai , Nagaraju Javaregowda , Arunkumar Kallare P. , Bourtzis Kostas , Mathiopoulos Kostas D. , Ragoussis Jiannis , Vitagliano Luigi , Tu Zhijian , Papathanos Philippos Aris , Robinson Mark D. , Saccone Giuseppe 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn insects, rapidly evolving primary sex-determining signals are transduced by a conserved regulatory module producing sex-specific proteins that direct sex determination and sexual differentiation1-4. In the agricultural pestCeratitis capitata(medfly), a Y-linked maleness factor (M) is thought to repress the autoregulatory splicing oftransformer(Cctra), which is required in XX individuals to establish and maintain female sex determination5,6. Despite previous attempts of isolating Y-linked genes using the medfly whole genome, theMfactor has remained elusive7. Here, we report the identification of a Y-linked gene,Maleness-on the-Y(MoY), and show that it encodes a small novel protein which is both necessary and sufficient for medfly male sex determination. Transient silencing ofMoYin XY individuals leads to the development of fertile females while transient expression ofMoYin XX individuals results in fertile males. Notably, a cross between these sex reverted individuals gives rise to both fertile males and females indicating that a functionalMoYcan be maternally transmitted. In contrast to the diversity ofMfactors found in dipteran species8-11, we discoveredMoYorthologues in seven other Tephritid species spanning ∼111 millions of years of evolution (Mya). We confirmed their male determining function in the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) and the oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis). This unexpected conservation of the primaryMoYsignal in a large number of important agricultural pests12will facilitate the development of transferable genetic control strategies in these species, for example sterile male releases or sex-ratio-distorting gene drives.
Dynamics of cortical degeneration over a decade in Huntington’s Disease
Authors: Johnson E. B. , Ziegler G. , Penny W. , Rees G. , Tabrizi S. J. , Scahill R. I. , Gregory S. ,   the TRACK-HD and TrackOn-HD investigators
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe neurodegenerative process is typically slowly progressive and complex. While simple models of neurodegeneration suggest that brain changes progress at a near constant rate, previous research shows regional variation within the temporal progression of atrophy, indicating that over the course of neurodegeneration, different regions may undergo changing rates of atrophy. Characterization of long-term dynamic brain changes in neurodegeneration requires both extensive longitudinal MRI datasets and an advanced modeling framework. Until recently, both of these elements were not available. Here, we implement a novel dynamic systems approach to infer patterns of regional progression spatially and temporally in a unique longitudinal dataset with up to seven annual individual brain scans per participant from 49 Huntington’s Disease (HD) gene-carriers. We map participant-and group-level trajectories of cortical atrophy in HD using a decade of data that encompasses motor symptom onset and, for the first time, show that neurodegenerative brain changes exhibit complex temporal dynamics of atrophy with substantial regional variation in progressive cortical atrophy. Some fronto-occipital cortical areas show an almost constant rate of atrophy, while medial-inferior temporal areas undergo only minor change. Interestingly, cortical sensory-motor areas were found to show a noticeable acceleration of atrophy following HD diagnosis. Furthermore, we establish links between individual atrophy and genetic markers of HD (CAG repeat length), as well as showing that cortical motor network changes predict subsequent decline in task-based motor performance, demonstrating face-validity of the model. Our findings highlight the complex pattern of dynamic cortical change occurring in HD that can help to resolve the biological underpinnings of HD progression.
Possible Magneto-Mechanical and Magneto-Thermal Mechanisms of Ion Channel Activation by Iron-Loaded Ferritin in Magnetogenetics
Authors: Barbic Mladen 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe palette of tools for stimulation and regulation of neural activity is continually expanding. One of the new methods being introduced is magnetogenetics, where mechano-sensitive and thermo-sensitive ion channels are genetically engineered to be closely coupled to the iron-storage protein ferritin. Such genetic constructs could provide a powerful new way of non-invasively activating ion channels in-vivo using external magnetic fields that easily penetrate biological tissue. Initial reports that introduced this new technology have sparked a vigorous debate on the plausibility of physical mechanisms of ion channel activation by means of external magnetic fields. I argue that the initial criticisms leveled against magnetogenetics as being physically implausible were possibly based on the overly simplistic and unnecessarily pessimistic assumptions about the magnetic spin configurations of iron in ferritin protein. Additionally, all the possible magnetic-field-based mechanisms of ion channel activation in magnetogenetics might not have been fully considered. I present and propose several new magneto-mechanical and magneto-thermal mechanisms of ion channel activation by iron-loaded ferritin protein that may elucidate and clarify some of the mysteries that presently challenge our understanding of the reported biological experiments. Finally, I present some additional puzzles that will require further theoretical and experimental investigation.
Impact of Prior Cancer on Outcomes in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Authors: Zhou Huaqiang , Zhang Yaxiong , Liu Jiaqing , Fang Wenfeng , Yang Yunpeng , Hong Shaodong , Chen Gang , Zhao Shen , Shen Jiayi , Xian Wei , Zhang Zhonghan , Chen Xi , Zhao Hongyun , Huang Yan , Zhang Li 
Published: February 2019

AbstractBackgroundPrior cancer is a common exclusion criterion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) trials. However, whether a prior cancer diagnosis affects trial outcomes is still unknown. We aimed to determine the impact of prior cancer on survival in NPC.MethodsWe identified patients diagnosed with NPC between 2004 and 2009 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Variables were compared by chi-squared test and t-test as appropriate. Propensity score-adjusted Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the impact of prior cancer on overall survival (OS).ResultsAmong 3,131 eligible NPC patients, 349 (11.15%) patients had a history of prior cancer. The Kaplan-Meier curves did not show a statistically significantly different OS (p=0.19). Subgroup analyses stratified by timing of prior cancer and AJCC TNM stage of index cancer displayed the same tendency, prior cancer didn’t adversely affect OS compared with patients without prior cancer (p>0.05). Furthermore, in propensity score–adjusted COX models analysis, patients with prior cancer had the same/non-inferior OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.12, 95% confidence interval= 0.88 to 1.42).ConclusionsAmong patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, prior cancer does not convey an adverse effect on clinical outcomes, regardless of the timing of prior cancer and AJCC TNM stage of index cancer. Broader inclusion trial criteria could be adopted in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with a history of prior cancer. However, further studies are still needed to confirm.
Multi-allelic APRR2 Gene is Associated with Fruit Pigment Accumulation in Melon and Watermelon
Authors: Oren Elad , Tzuri Galil , Vexler Lea , Dafna Asaf , Meir Ayala , Saar Uzi , Faigenboim Adi , Kenigswald Merav , Portnoy Vitaly , Schaffer Arthur A , Levi Amnon , Buckler Edward S. , Katzir Nurit , Burger Joseph , Tadmor Yaakov , Gur Amit 
Published: February 2019

AbstractColor and pigment content are important aspects of fruit quality and consumer acceptance of cucurbit crops. Here, we describe the independent mapping and cloning of a common causative APRR2 gene regulating pigment accumulation in melon and watermelon. We initially show that the APRR2 transcription factor is causative for the qualitative difference between dark and light green rind in both crops. Further analyses establish the link between sequence or expression level variations in the CmAPRR2 gene and pigments content in the rind and flesh of mature melon fruits. GWAS of young fruit rind color in a panel composed of 177 diverse melon accessions did not result in any significant association, leading to an earlier assumption that multiple genes are involved in shaping the overall phenotypic variation at this trait. Through resequencing of 25 representative accessions and allelism tests between light rind accessions, we show that multiple independent SNPs in the CmAPRR2 gene are causative for the light rind phenotype. The multi-haplotypic nature of this gene explain the lack of detection power obtained through GBS-based GWAS and confirm the pivotal role of this gene in shaping fruit color variation in melon. This study demonstrates the power of combining bi- and multi-allelic designs with deep sequencing, to resolve lack of power due to high haplotypic diversity and low allele frequencies. Due to its central role and broad effect on pigment accumulation in fruits, the APRR2 gene is an attractive target for carotenoids bio-fortification of cucurbit crops.
BOLD activity during emotion reappraisal positively correlates with dietary self-control success
Authors: Maier Silvia U. , Hare Todd A. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractWe combined established emotion regulation and dietary choice tasks with fMRI to investigate behavioral and neural associations in self-regulation across the two domains in human participants. We found that increased BOLD activity during the successful reappraisal of positive and negative emotional stimuli was associated with dietary self-control success. This cross-task correlation was present in medial and lateral prefrontal cortex as well as the striatum. In contrast, BOLD activity during the food choice task was not associated with self-reported emotion regulation efficacy. These results suggest that neural processes utilized during the reappraisal of emotional stimuli may also facilitate dietary choices that override palatability in favor of healthfulness. In summary, our findings indicate that the neural systems supporting emotion reappraisal can generalize to other behavioral contexts that require reevaluation of rewarding stimuli and outcomes to promote choices that conform with the current goal.
Patterns of African and Asian admixture in the Afrikaner population of South Africa
Authors: Hollfelder N , Erasmus JC , Hammaren R , Vicente M , Jakobsson M , Greeff JM , Schlebusch CM 
Published: February 2019

ABSTRACTThe Afrikaner population of South Africa are the descendants of European colonists who started to colonize the Cape of Good Hope in the 1600’s. In the early days of the colony, mixed unions between European males and non-European females gave rise to admixed children who later became incorporated into either the Afrikaner or the “Coloured” populations of South Africa. Ancestry, social class, culture, sex ratio and geographic structure affected admixture patterns and caused different ancestry and admixture patterns in Afrikaner and Coloured populations. The Afrikaner population has a predominant European composition, whereas the Coloured population has more diverse ancestries. Genealogical records estimated the non-European contributions into the Afrikaners to 5.5%-7.2%. To investigate the genetic ancestry of the Afrikaner population today (11-13 generations after initial colonization) we genotyped ~5 million genome-wide markers in 77 Afrikaner individuals and compared their genotypes to populations across the world to determine parental source populations and admixture proportions. We found that the majority of Afrikaner ancestry (average 95.3%) came from European populations (specifically northwestern European populations), but that almost all Afrikaners had admixture from non-Europeans. The non-European admixture originated mostly from people who were brought to South Africa as slaves and, to a lesser extent, from local Khoe-San groups. Furthermore, despite a potentially small founding population, there is no sign of a recent bottleneck in the Afrikaner compared to other European populations. Admixture among diverse groups during early colonial times might have counterbalanced the effects of a founding population with a small census size.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAfrikaners are a southern African ethnic group primarily descended from colonial settlers (population ~2.8–3.5 million). Genome-wide studies might offer interesting insights into their ancestry, not the least due to South Africa’s history of segregationist laws known as “apartheid”, resulting in an expectation of low levels of admixture with other groups. Originating from a small founder population, their genetic diversity is also interesting. In our genome-wide study of 77 Afrikaners we found their majority ancestry (average 95.3%) came from Europeans, but almost all Afrikaners had admixture from non-Europeans (Africans and Asians). Despite their small founding population, we found no signs of decreased genetic diversity. Admixture among diverse groups during colonial times might have counterbalanced effects of a small founding population.
Transcriptome analysis ofPlasmodium bergheiduring exo-erythrocytic development
Authors: Caldelari Reto , Dogga Sunil , Schmid Marc W. , Franke-Fayard Blandine , Janse Chris J , Soldati-Favre Dominique , Heussler Volker 
Published: February 2019

SummaryThe complex life cycle of malaria parasites requires well-orchestrated stage specific gene expression. In the vertebrate host the parasites grow and multiply by schizogony in two different environments: within erythrocytes and within hepatocytes. Whereas erythrocytic parasites are rather well-studied in this respect, relatively little is known about the exo-erythrocytic stages. In an attempt to fill this gap, we performed genome wide RNA-seq analyses of various exo-erythrocytic stages ofPlasmodium bergheiincluding sporozoites, samples from a time-course of liver stage development and detached cells, which contain infectious merozoites and represent the final step in exo-erythrocytic development. The analysis represents the completion of the transcriptome of the entire life cycle ofP. bergheiparasites with temporal detailed analysis of the liver stage allowing segmentation of the transcriptome across the progression of the life cycle. We have used these RNA-seq data from different developmental stages to cluster genes with similar expression profiles, in order to infer their functions. A comparison with published data of other parasite stages confirmed stage-specific gene expression and revealed numerous genes that are expressed differentially in blood and exo-erythrocytic stages. One of the most exo-erythrocytic stage-specific genes was PBANKA_1003900, which has previously been annotated as a “gametocyte specific protein”. The promoter of this gene drove high GFP expression in exo-erythrocytic stages, confirming its expression profile seen by RNA-seq. The comparative analysis of the genome wide mRNA expression profiles of erythrocytic and different exo-erythrocytic stages improves our understanding of gene regulation ofPlasmodiumparasites and can be used to model exo-erythrocytic stage metabolic networks and identify differences in metabolic processes during schizogony in erythrocytes and hepatocytes.
Genome wide analysis ofGa1-smodifiers in maize
Authors: Hurst Preston , Liang Zhikai , Smith Christine , Yerka Melinda , Sigmon Brandi , Rodriguez Oscar , Schnable James C 
Published: February 2019

ABSTRACTA one way reproductive barrier exists between most popcorn varieties and dent corn varieties grown in the United States. This barrier is predominantly controlled by thega1locus. Using data from a diverse population of popcorn accessions pollinated by a dent corn tester, we found that the non-reciprocal pollination barrier conferred byga1is more complex than previously described. Individual accessions ranged from 0% to 100% compatible with dent corn pollen. Using conventional genotyping-by-sequencing data from 371 popcorn accessions carryingGa1-s, seven significant modifiers of dent pollen compatibility were identified on five chromosomes. One locus may either be a nonfunctionalga1allele present within popcorn, or second necessary gene for the reproductive barrier in genetic linkage withga1, while the other modifiers are clearly genetically unlinked. The existence ofga1modifiers segregating in a popcorn genetic background may indicate selective pressure to allow gene flow between populations, which should be incorporated into future models of the impact of genetic incompatibility loci on gene flow in natural and agricultural plant populations.
Salicylic acid-driven association of LENRV and NIMIN1/NIMIN2 binding domain regions in the C-terminus of tobacco NPR1 transduces SAR signal
Authors: Neeley David , Konopka Evelyn , Straub Anna , Maier Felix , Pfitzner Artur J. P. , Pfitzner Ursula M. 
Published: February 2019

SummaryNONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED (PR) GENES1 (NPR1) is the central regulator of salicylic acid (SA)-induced PR-1 gene expression and systemic acquired resistance (SAR). The mechanism how SA is transduced through NPR1 is discussed controversially. Previously, we showed that Arabidopsis and tobacco (Nt) NPR1 contain two domains in their C-terminal thirds with relevance to SA signaling. SA sensitivity of NPR1 relies on the arginine residue in the LENRV motif, and SA-induced NIM1-INTERACTING (NIMIN, N) proteins bind to a highly conserved sequence termed N1/N2 binding domain (BD).We demonstrate that LENRV and N1/N2BD regions of tobacco NPR1, separated from each other, interact in yeast, in vitro, in plant and in animal cells. Physical association of LENRV and N1/N2BD parts is enhanced considerably by SA and functional analogs, but not by a non-functional analog. Furthermore, physical association requires R431 and is most effective with intact LENRV and N1/N2BD interfaces.Association of separated LENRV and N1/N2BD parts by SA reconstitutes a functional NtNPR1 C-terminus, displaying transcription activity and able to interact with TGA transcription factors at two distinct sites.Tobacco NIMIN proteins can assemble LENRV and N1/N2BD parts into ternary complexes suggesting that NIMINs shape the NPR1 C-terminus to modulate SA signaling.