bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Loneliness trajectories over three decades are associated with conspiracist worldviews in midlife
Authors: Bierwiaczonek Kinga , Fluit Sam , von Soest Tilmann , Hornsey Matthew J. , Kunst Jonas R. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIn the age of misinformation, conspiracy theories can have far-reaching consequences for individuals and society. Social and emotional experiences throughout the life course, such as loneliness, may be associated with a tendency to hold conspiracist worldviews. Here, we present results from a population-based sample of Norwegians followed for almost three decades, from adolescence into midlife (N = 2215). We examine participants’ life trajectories of loneliness using latent growth curve modeling. We show that people reporting high levels of loneliness in adolescence, and those who experience increasing loneliness over the life course, are more likely to endorse conspiracy worldviews in midlife.
HIV transmission dynamics and population-wide drug resistance in rural South Africa
Authors: Kemp Steven A. , Kamelian Kimia , Cuadros Diego F. ,   PANGEA Consortium,   Vukuzazi Team, Cheng Mark T. K. , Okango Elphas , Hanekom Willem , Ndung’u Thumbi , Pillay Deenan , Bonsall David , Wong Emily B. , Tanser Frank , Siedner Mark J. , Gupta Ravindra K. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractDespite expanded antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa, HIV-1 transmission persists. Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI) and long-acting injectables offer potential for superior viral suppression, but pre-existing drug resistance could threaten their effectiveness. In a community-based study in rural KwaZulu-Natal, prior to widespread INSTI usage, we enroled 18,025 individuals to characterise HIV-1 drug resistance and transmission networks to inform public health strategies. HIV testing and reflex viral load quantification were performed, with deep sequencing (20% variant threshold) used to detect resistance mutations. Phylogenetic and geospatial analyses characterised transmission clusters. One-third of participants were HIV-positive, with 21.7% having detectable viral loads; 62.1% of those with detectable viral loads were ART-naïve. Resistance to older reverse transcriptase (RT)-targeting drugs was found, but INSTI resistance remained low (<1%). Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) resistance, particularly to rilpivirine (RPV) even in ART-naïve individuals, was concerning. Twenty percent of sequenced individuals belonged to transmission clusters, with geographic analysis highlighting higher clustering in peripheral and rural areas. Our findings suggest promise for INSTI-based strategies in this setting but underscore the need for RPV resistance screening before implementing long-acting cabotegravir (CAB) + RPV. The significant clustering emphasises the importance of geographically targeted interventions to effectively curb HIV-1 transmission.
Land conversion to agriculture induces taxonomic homogenization of soil microbial communities globally
Authors: Peng Ziheng , Qian Xun , Liu Yu , Li Xiaomeng , Gao Hang , An Yining , Qi Jiejun , Jiang Lan , Zhang Yiran , Chen Shi , Pan Haibo , Chen Beibei , Liang Chunling , van der Heijden Marcel G. A. , Wei Gehong , Jiao Shuo 
Published: April 2024

AbstractAgriculture contributes to a decline in local species diversity and to above- and below-ground biotic homogenization. Here, we conduct a continental survey using 1185 soil samples and compare microbial communities from natural ecosystems (forest, grassland, and wetland) with converted agricultural land. We combine our continental survey results with a global meta-analysis of available sequencing data that cover more than 2400 samples across six continents. Our combined results demonstrate that land conversion to agricultural land results in taxonomic and functional homogenization of soil bacteria, mainly driven by the increase in the geographic ranges of taxa in croplands. We find that 20% of phylotypes are decreased and 23% are increased by land conversion, with croplands enriched inChloroflexi, Gemmatimonadota, Planctomycetota, Myxcoccota and Latescibacterota. Although there is no significant difference in functional composition between natural ecosystems and agricultural land, functional genes involved in nitrogen fixation, phosphorus mineralization and transportation are depleted in cropland. Our results provide a global insight into the consequences of land-use change on soil microbial taxonomic and functional diversity.
Antigen presentation plays positive roles in the regenerative response to cardiac injury in zebrafish
Authors: Cardeira-da-Silva João , Wang Qianchen , Sagvekar Pooja , Mintcheva Janita , Latting Stephan , Günther Stefan , Ramadass Radhan , Yekelchyk Michail , Preussner Jens , Looso Mario , Junker Jan Philipp , Stainier Didier Y. R. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIn contrast to adult mammals, adult zebrafish can fully regenerate injured cardiac tissue, and this regeneration process requires an adequate and tightly controlled immune response. However, which components of the immune response are required during regeneration is unclear. Here, we report positive roles for the antigen presentation-adaptive immunity axis during zebrafish cardiac regeneration. We find that following the initial innate immune response, activated endocardial cells (EdCs), as well as immune cells, start expressing antigen presentation genes. We also observe that T helper cells, a.k.a. Cd4+T cells, lie in close physical proximity to these antigen-presenting EdCs. We targeted Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class II antigen presentation by generatingcd74a; cd74bmutants, which display a defective immune response. In these mutants, Cd4+T cells and activated EdCs fail to efficiently populate the injured tissue and EdC proliferation is significantly decreased.cd74a; cd74bmutants exhibit additional defects in cardiac regeneration including reduced cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation and proliferation. Notably,Cd74also becomes activated in neonatal mouse EdCs following cardiac injury. Altogether, these findings point to positive roles for antigen presentation during cardiac regeneration, potentially involving interactions between activated EdCs, classical antigen-presenting cells, and Cd4+T cells.
Atypical heat shock transcription factor HSF5 is critical for male meiotic prophase under non-stress conditions
Authors: Yoshimura Saori , Shimada Ryuki , Kikuchi Koji , Kawagoe Soichiro , Abe Hironori , Iisaka Sakie , Fujimura Sayoko , Yasunaga Kei-ichiro , Usuki Shingo , Tani Naoki , Ohba Takashi , Kondoh Eiji , Saio Tomohide , Araki Kimi , Ishiguro Kei-ichiro 
Published: April 2024

AbstractMeiotic prophase progression is differently regulated in males and females. In males, pachytene transition during meiotic prophase is accompanied by robust alteration in gene expression. However, how gene expression is regulated differently to ensure meiotic prophase completion in males remains elusive. Herein, we identify HSF5 as a male germ cell-specific heat shock transcription factor (HSF) for meiotic prophase progression. Genetic analyzes and single-cell RNA-sequencing demonstrate that HSF5 is essential for progression beyond the pachytene stage under non-stress conditions rather than heat stress. Chromatin binding analysis in vivo and DNA-binding assays in vitro suggest that HSF5 binds to promoters in a subset of genes associated with chromatin organization. HSF5 recognizes a DNA motif different from typical heat shock elements recognized by other canonical HSFs. This study suggests that HSF5 is an atypical HSF that is required for the gene expression program for pachytene transition during meiotic prophase in males.
Sulfur oxidation and reduction are coupled to nitrogen fixation in the roots of the salt marsh foundation plant Spartina alterniflora
Authors: Rolando J. L. , Kolton M. , Song T. , Liu Y. , Pinamang P. , Conrad R. , Morris J. T. , Konstantinidis K. T. , Kostka J. E. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractHeterotrophic activity, primarily driven by sulfate-reducing prokaryotes, has traditionally been linked to nitrogen fixation in the root zone of coastal marine plants, leaving the role of chemolithoautotrophy in this process unexplored. Here, we show that sulfur oxidation coupled to nitrogen fixation is a previously overlooked process providing nitrogen to coastal marine macrophytes. In this study, we recovered 239 metagenome-assembled genomes from a salt marsh dominated by the foundation plant Spartina alterniflora, including diazotrophic sulfate-reducing and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Abundant sulfur-oxidizing bacteria encode and highly express genes for carbon fixation (RuBisCO), nitrogen fixation (nifHDK) and sulfur oxidation (oxidative-dsrAB), especially in roots stressed by sulfidic and reduced sediment conditions. Stressed roots exhibited the highest rates of nitrogen fixation and expression level of sulfur oxidation and sulfate reduction genes. Close relatives of marine symbionts from the Candidatus Thiodiazotropha genus contributed ~30% and ~20% of all sulfur-oxidizing dsrA and nitrogen-fixing nifK transcripts in stressed roots, respectively. Based on these findings, we propose that the symbiosis between S. alterniflora and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria is key to ecosystem functioning of coastal salt marshes.
Stress-shape misalignment in confluent cell layers
Authors: Nejad Mehrana R. , Ruske Liam J. , McCord Molly , Zhang Jun , Zhang Guanming , Notbohm Jacob , Yeomans Julia M. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIn tissue formation and repair, the epithelium undergoes complex patterns of motion driven by the active forces produced by each cell. Although the principles governing how the forces evolve in time are not yet clear, it is often assumed that the contractile stresses within the cell layer align with the axis defined by the body of each cell. Here, we simultaneously measured the orientations of the cell shape and the cell-generated contractile stresses, observing correlated, dynamic domains in which the stresses were systematically misaligned with the cell body. We developed a continuum model that decouples the orientations of contractile stress and cell body. The model recovered the spatial and temporal dynamics of the regions of misalignment in the experiments. These findings reveal that the cell controls its contractile forces independently from its shape, suggesting that the physical rules relating cell forces and cell shape are more flexible than previously thought.
A global meta-analysis on the drivers of salt marsh planting success and implications for ecosystem services
Authors: Liu Zezheng , Fagherazzi Sergio , He Qiang , Gourgue Olivier , Bai Junhong , Liu Xinhui , Miao Chiyuan , Hu Zhan , Cui Baoshan 
Published: April 2024

AbstractPlanting has been widely adopted to battle the loss of salt marshes and to establish living shorelines. However, the drivers of success in salt marsh planting and their ecological effects are poorly understood at the global scale. Here, we assemble a global database, encompassing 22,074 observations reported in 210 studies, to examine the drivers and impacts of salt marsh planting. We show that, on average, 53% of plantings survived globally, and plant survival and growth can be enhanced by careful design of sites, species selection, and novel planted technologies. Planting enhances shoreline protection, primary productivity, soil carbon storage, biodiversity conservation and fishery production (effect sizes = 0.61, 1.55, 0.21, 0.10 and 1.01, respectively), compared with degraded wetlands. However, the ecosystem services of planted marshes, except for shoreline protection, have not yet fully recovered compared with natural wetlands (effect size = −0.25, 95% CI −0.29, −0.22). Fortunately, the levels of most ecological functions related to climate change mitigation and biodiversity increase with plantation age when compared with natural wetlands, and achieve equivalence to natural wetlands after 5–25 years. Overall, our results suggest that salt marsh planting could be used as a strategy to enhance shoreline protection, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration.
Snail-inspired robotic swarms: a hybrid connector drives collective adaptation in unstructured outdoor environments
Authors: Zhao Da , Luo Haobo , Tu Yuxiao , Meng Chongxi , Lam Tin Lun 
Published: April 2024

AbstractTerrestrial self-reconfigurable robot swarms offer adaptable solutions for various tasks. However, most existing swarms are limited to controlled indoor settings, and often compromise stability due to their freeform connections. To address these issues, we present a snail robotic swarm system inspired by land snails, tailored for unstructured environments. Our system also employs a two-mode connection mechanism, drawing from the adhesive capabilities of land snails. The free mode, mirroring a snail’s natural locomotion, leverages magnet-embedded tracks for freeform mobility, thereby enhancing adaptability and efficiency. The strong mode, analogous to a snail’s response to disturbance, employs a vacuum sucker with directional polymer stalks for robust adhesion. By assigning specific functions to each mode, our system achieves a balance between mobility and secure connections. Outdoor experiments demonstrate the capabilities of individual robots and the exceptional synergy within the swarm. This research advances the real-world applications of terrestrial robotic swarms in unstructured environments.
Catalytic 1,1-diazidation of alkenes
Authors: Qiu Wangzhen , Liao Lihao , Xu Xinghua , Huang Hongtai , Xu Yang , Zhao Xiaodan 
Published: April 2024

AbstractCompared to well-developed catalytic 1,2-diazidation of alkenes to produce vicinal diazides, the corresponding catalytic 1,1-diazidation of alkenes to yield geminal diazides has not been realized. Here we report an efficient approach for catalytic 1,1-diazidation of alkenes by redox-active selenium catalysis. Under mild conditions, electron-rich aryl alkenes with Z or E or Z/E mixed configuration can undergo migratory 1,1-diazidation to give a series of functionalized monoalkyl or dialkyl geminal diazides that are difficult to access by other methods. The method is also effective for the construction of polydiazides. The formed diazides are relatively safe by TGA-DSC analysis and impact sensitivity tests, and can be easily converted into various valuable molecules. In addition, interesting reactivity that geminal diazides give valuable molecules via the geminal diazidomethyl moiety as a formal leaving group in the presence of Lewis acid is disclosed. Mechanistic studies revealed that a selenenylation-deselenenylation followed by 1,2-aryl migration process is involved in the reactions, which provides a basis for the design of new reactions.
Gut microbiome composition and metabolic activity in women with diverticulitis
Authors: Ma Wenjie , Wang Yiqing , Nguyen Long H. , Mehta Raaj S. , Ha Jane , Bhosle Amrisha , Mclver Lauren J. , Song Mingyang , Clish Clary B. , Strate Lisa L. , Huttenhower Curtis , Chan Andrew T. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe etiopathogenesis of diverticulitis, among the most common gastrointestinal diagnoses, remains largely unknown. By leveraging stool collected within a large prospective cohort, we performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing and untargeted metabolomics profiling among 121 women diagnosed with diverticulitis requiring antibiotics or hospitalizations (cases), matched to 121 women without diverticulitis (controls) according to age and race. Overall microbial community structure and metabolomic profiles differed in diverticulitis cases compared to controls, including enrichment of pro-inflammatory Ruminococcus gnavus, 1,7-dimethyluric acid, and histidine-related metabolites, and depletion of butyrate-producing bacteria and anti-inflammatory ceramides. Through integrated multi-omic analysis, we detected covarying microbial and metabolic features, such as Bilophila wadsworthia and bile acids, specific to diverticulitis. Additionally, we observed that microbial composition modulated the protective association between a prudent fiber-rich diet and diverticulitis. Our findings offer insights into the perturbations in inflammation-related microbial and metabolic signatures associated with diverticulitis, supporting the potential of microbial-based diagnostics and therapeutic targets.
Mitochondrial complex I deficiency stratifies idiopathic Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Flønes Irene H. , Toker Lilah , Sandnes Dagny Ann , Castelli Martina , Mostafavi Sepideh , Lura Njål , Shadad Omnia , Fernandez-Vizarra Erika , Painous Cèlia , Pérez-Soriano Alexandra , Compta Yaroslau , Molina-Porcel Laura , Alves Guido , Tysnes Ole-Bjørn , Dölle Christian , Nido Gonzalo S. , Tzoulis Charalampos 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIdiopathic Parkinson’s disease (iPD) is believed to have a heterogeneous pathophysiology, but molecular disease subtypes have not been identified. Here, we show that iPD can be stratified according to the severity of neuronal respiratory complex I (CI) deficiency, and identify two emerging disease subtypes with distinct molecular and clinical profiles. The CI deficient (CI-PD) subtype accounts for approximately a fourth of all cases, and is characterized by anatomically widespread neuronal CI deficiency, a distinct cell type-specific gene expression profile, increased load of neuronal mtDNA deletions, and a predilection for non-tremor dominant motor phenotypes. In contrast, the non-CI deficient (nCI-PD) subtype exhibits no evidence of mitochondrial impairment outside the dopaminergic substantia nigra and has a predilection for a tremor dominant phenotype. These findings constitute a step towards resolving the biological heterogeneity of iPD with implications for both mechanistic understanding and treatment strategies.
Highly efficient in crystallo energy transduction of light to work
Authors: Lin Jiawei , Zhou Jianmin , Li Liang , Tahir Ibrahim , Wu Songgu , Naumov Panče , Gong Junbo 
Published: April 2024

AbstractVarious mechanical effects have been reported with molecular materials, yet organic crystals capable of multiple dynamic effects are rare, and at present, their performance is worse than some of the common actuators. Here, we report a confluence of different mechanical effects across three polymorphs of an organic crystal that can efficiently convert light into work. Upon photodimerization, acicular crystals of polymorph I display output work densities of about 0.06–3.94 kJ m−3, comparable to ceramic piezoelectric actuators. Prismatic crystals of the same form exhibit very high work densities of about 1.5–28.5 kJ m−3, values that are comparable to thermal actuators. Moreover, while crystals of polymorph II roll under the same conditions, crystals of polymorph III are not photochemically reactive; however, they are mechanically flexible. The results demonstrate that multiple and possibly combined mechanical effects can be anticipated even for a simple organic crystal.
Serial founder effects slow range expansion in an invasive social insect
Authors: Hagan Thomas , Ding Guiling , Buchmann Gabriele , Oldroyd Benjamin P. , Gloag Rosalyn 
Published: April 2024

AbstractInvasive populations often experience founder effects: a loss of genetic diversity relative to the source population, due to a small number of founders. Even where these founder effects do not impact colonization success, theory predicts they might affect the rate at which invasive populations expand. This is because secondary founder effects are generated at advancing population edges, further reducing local genetic diversity and elevating genetic load. We show that in an expanding invasive population of the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana), genetic diversity is indeed lowest at range edges, including at the complementary sex determiner, csd, a locus that is homozygous-lethal. Consistent with lower local csd diversity, range edge colonies had lower brood viability than colonies in the range centre. Further, simulations of a newly-founded and expanding honey bee population corroborate the spatial patterns in mean colony fitness observed in our empirical data and show that such genetic load at range edges will slow the rate of population expansion.
Parallel wavelength-division-multiplexed signal transmission and dispersion compensation enabled by soliton microcombs and microrings
Authors: Liu Yuanbin , Zhang Hongyi , Liu Jiacheng , Lu Liangjun , Du Jiangbing , Li Yu , He Zuyuan , Chen Jianping , Zhou Linjie , Poon Andrew W. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe proliferation of computation-intensive technologies has led to a significant rise in the number of datacenters, posing challenges for high-speed and power-efficient datacenter interconnects (DCIs). Although inter-DCIs based on intensity modulation and direct detection (IM-DD) along with wavelength-division multiplexing technologies exhibit power-efficient and large-capacity properties, the requirement of multiple laser sources leads to high costs and limited scalability, and the chromatic dispersion (CD) restricts the transmission length of optical signals. Here we propose a scalable on-chip parallel IM-DD data transmission system enabled by a single-soliton Kerr microcomb and a reconfigurable microring resonator-based CD compensator. We experimentally demonstrate an aggregate line rate of 1.68 Tbit/s over a 20-km-long SMF. The extrapolated energy consumption for CD compensation of 40-km-SMFs is ~0.3 pJ/bit, which is calculated as being around 6 times less than that of the commercial 400G-ZR coherent transceivers. Our approach holds significant promise for achieving data rates exceeding 10 terabits.
In situ enzymatic control of colloidal phoresis and catalysis through hydrolysis of ATP
Authors: Shandilya Ekta , Rallabandi Bhargav , Maiti Subhabrata 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe ability to sense chemical gradients and respond with directional motility and chemical activity is a defining feature of complex living systems. There is a strong interest among scientists to design synthetic systems that emulate these properties. Here, we realize and control such behaviors in a synthetic system by tailoring multivalent interactions of adenosine nucleotides with catalytic microbeads. We first show that multivalent interactions of the bead with gradients of adenosine mono-, di- and trinucleotides (AM/D/TP) control both the phoretic motion and a proton-transfer catalytic reaction, and find that both effects are diminished greatly with increasing valence of phosphates. We exploit this behavior by using enzymatic hydrolysis of ATP to AMP, which downregulates multivalent interactivity in situ. This produces a sudden increase in transport of the catalytic microbeads (a phoretic jump), which is accompanied by increased catalytic activity. Finally, we show how this enzymatic activity can be systematically tuned, leading to simultaneous in situ spatial and temporal control of the location of the microbeads, as well as the products of the reaction that they catalyze. These findings open up new avenues for utilizing multivalent interaction-mediated programming of complex chemo-mechanical behaviors into active systems.