bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Competition for water induced by transnational land acquisitions for agriculture
Authors: Chiarelli Davide Danilo , D’Odorico Paolo , Müller Marc F. , Mueller Nathaniel D. , Davis Kyle Frankel , Dell’Angelo Jampel , Penny Gopal , Rulli Maria Cristina 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe ongoing agrarian transition from smallholder farming to large-scale commercial agriculture promoted by transnational large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) often aims to increase crop yields through the expansion of irrigation. LSLAs are playing an increasingly prominent role in this transition. Yet it remains unknown whether foreign LSLAs by agribusinesses target areas based on specific hydrological conditions and whether these investments compete with the water needs of existing local users. Here we combine process-based crop and hydrological modelling, agricultural statistics, and georeferenced information on individual transnational LSLAs to evaluate emergence of water scarcity associated with LSLAs. While conditions of blue water scarcity already existed prior to land acquisitions, these deals substantially exacerbate blue water scarcity through both the adoption of water-intensive crops and the expansion of irrigated cultivation. These effects lead to new rival water uses in 105 of the 160 studied LSLAs (67% of the acquired land). Combined with our findings that investors target land with preferential access to surface and groundwater resources to support irrigation, this suggests that LSLAs often appropriate water resources to the detriment of local users.
Mapping brain structural differences and neuroreceptor correlates in Parkinson’s disease visual hallucinations
Authors: Vignando Miriam , ffytche Dominic , Lewis Simon J. G. , Lee Phil Hyu , Chung Seok Jong , Weil Rimona S. , Hu Michele T. , Mackay Clare E. , Griffanti Ludovica , Pins Delphine , Dujardin Kathy , Jardri Renaud , Taylor John-Paul , Firbank Michael , McAlonan Grainne , Mak Henry K. F. , Ho Shu Leong , Mehta Mitul A. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractParkinson’s psychosis (PDP) describes a spectrum of symptoms that may arise in Parkinson’s disease (PD) including visual hallucinations (VH). Imaging studies investigating the neural correlates of PDP have been inconsistent in their findings, due to differences in study design and limitations of scale. Here we use empirical Bayes harmonisation to pool together structural imaging data from multiple research groups into a large-scale mega-analysis, allowing us to identify cortical regions and networks involved in VH and their relation to receptor binding. Differences of morphometrics analysed show a wider cortical involvement underlying VH than previously recognised, including primary visual cortex and surrounding regions, and the hippocampus, independent of its role in cognitive decline. Structural covariance analyses point to the involvement of the attentional control networks in PD-VH, while associations with receptor density maps suggest neurotransmitter loss may be linked to the cortical changes.
The MuvB complex binds and stabilizes nucleosomes downstream of the transcription start site of cell-cycle dependent genes
Authors: Asthana Anushweta , Ramanan Parameshwaran , Hirschi Alexander , Guiley Keelan Z. , Wijeratne Tilini U. , Shelansky Robert , Doody Michael J. , Narasimhan Haritha , Boeger Hinrich , Tripathi Sarvind , Müller Gerd A. , Rubin Seth M. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe chromatin architecture in promoters is thought to regulate gene expression, but it remains uncertain how most transcription factors (TFs) impact nucleosome position. The MuvB TF complex regulates cell-cycle dependent gene-expression and is critical for differentiation and proliferation during development and cancer. MuvB can both positively and negatively regulate expression, but the structure of MuvB and its biochemical function are poorly understood. Here we determine the overall architecture of MuvB assembly and the crystal structure of a subcomplex critical for MuvB function in gene repression. We find that the MuvB subunits LIN9 and LIN37 function as scaffolding proteins that arrange the other subunits LIN52, LIN54 and RBAP48 for TF, DNA, and histone binding, respectively. Biochemical and structural data demonstrate that MuvB binds nucleosomes through an interface that is distinct from LIN54-DNA consensus site recognition and that MuvB increases nucleosome occupancy in a reconstituted promoter. We find in arrested cells that MuvB primarily associates with a tightly positioned +1 nucleosome near the transcription start site (TSS) of MuvB-regulated genes. These results support a model that MuvB binds and stabilizes nucleosomes just downstream of the TSS on its target promoters to repress gene expression.
Defective humoral immunity disrupts bile acid homeostasis which promotes inflammatory disease of the small bowel
Authors: Mohammed Ahmed Dawood , Mohammed Zahraa , Roland Mary M. , Chatzistamou Ioulia , Jolly Amy , Schoettmer Lillian M. , Arroyo Mireya , Kakar Khadija , Tian Yuan , Patterson Andrew , Nagarkatti Mitzi , Nagarkatti Prakash , Kubinak Jason L. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractMucosal antibodies maintain gut homeostasis by promoting spatial segregation between host tissues and luminal microbes. Whether and how mucosal antibody responses influence gut health through modulation of microbiota composition is unclear. Here, we use a CD19−/− mouse model of antibody-deficiency to demonstrate that a relationship exists between dysbiosis, defects in bile acid homeostasis, and gluten-sensitive enteropathy of the small intestine. The gluten-sensitive small intestine enteropathy that develops in CD19−/− mice is associated with alterations to luminal bile acid composition in the SI, marked by significant reductions in the abundance of conjugated bile acids. Manipulation of bile acid availability, adoptive transfer of functional B cells, and ablation of bacterial bile salt hydrolase activity all influence the severity of small intestine enteropathy in CD19−/− mice. Collectively, results from our experiments support a model whereby mucosal humoral immune responses limit inflammatory disease of the small bowel by regulating bacterial BA metabolism.
The pollen virome of wild plants and its association with variation in floral traits and land use
Authors: Fetters Andrea M. , Cantalupo Paul G. , Wei Na , Robles Maria Teresa Sáenz , Stanley Aiden M. , Stephens Jessica D. , Pipas James M. , Ashman Tia-Lynn 
Published: January 2022

AbstractPollen is a unique vehicle for viral spread. Pollen-associated viruses hitchhike on or within pollen grains and are transported to other plants by pollinators. They are deposited on flowers and have a direct pathway into the plant and next generation via seeds. To discover the diversity of pollen-associated viruses and identify contributing landscape and floral features, we perform a species-level metagenomic survey of pollen from wild, visually asymptomatic plants, located in one of four regions in the United States of America varying in land use. We identify many known and novel pollen-associated viruses, half belonging to the Bromoviridae, Partitiviridae, and Secoviridae viral families, but many families are represented. Across the regions, species harbor more viruses when surrounded by less natural and more human-modified environments than the reverse, but we note that other region-level differences may also covary with this. When examining the novel connection between virus richness and floral traits, we find that species with multiple, bilaterally symmetric flowers and smaller, spikier pollen harbored more viruses than those with opposite traits. The association of viral diversity with floral traits highlights the need to incorporate plant-pollinator interactions as a driver of pollen-associated virus transport into the study of plant-viral interactions.
Amino acid gas phase circular dichroism and implications for the origin of biomolecular asymmetry
Authors: Meinert Cornelia , Garcia Adrien D. , Topin Jérémie , Jones Nykola C. , Diekmann Mira , Berger Robert , Nahon Laurent , Hoffmann Søren V. , Meierhenrich Uwe J. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractLife on Earth employs chiral amino acids in stereochemical l-form, but the cause of molecular symmetry breaking remains unknown. Chiroptical properties of amino acids – expressed in circular dichroism (CD) – have been previously investigated in solid and solution phase. However, both environments distort the intrinsic charge distribution associated with CD transitions. Here we report on CD and anisotropy spectra of amino acids recorded in the gas phase, where any asymmetry is solely determined by the genuine electromagnetic transition moments. Using a pressure- and temperature-controlled gas cell coupled to a synchrotron radiation CD spectropolarimeter, we found CD active transitions and anisotropies in the 130–280 nm range, which are rationalized by ab initio calculation. As gas phase glycine was found in a cometary coma, our data may provide insights into gas phase asymmetric photochemical reactions in the life cycle of interstellar gas and dust, at the origin of the enantiomeric selection of life’s l-amino acids.
An improved density peaks clustering algorithm based on grid screening and mutual neighborhood degree for network anomaly detection
Authors: Chen Liangchen , Gao Shu , Liu Baoxu 
Published: January 2022

AbstractWith the rapid development of network technologies and the increasing amount of network abnormal traffic, network anomaly detection presents challenges. Existing supervised methods cannot detect unknown attack, and unsupervised methods have low anomaly detection accuracy. Here, we propose a clustering-based network anomaly detection model, and then a novel density peaks clustering algorithm DPC-GS-MND based on grid screening and mutual neighborhood degree for network anomaly detection. The DPC-GS-MND algorithm utilizes grid screening to effectively reduce the computational complexity, improves the clustering accuracy through mutual neighborhood degree, and also defines a cluster center decision value for automatically selecting cluster centers. We implement complete experiments on two real-world datasets KDDCup99 and CIC-IDS-2017, and the experimental results demonstrated that the proposed DPC-GS-MND can detect network anomaly traffic with higher accuracy and efficiency. Together, it has a good application prospect in the network anomaly detection system in complex network environments.
Differential impact of government lockdown policies on reducing air pollution levels and related mortality in Europe
Authors: Schneider Rochelle , Masselot Pierre , Vicedo-Cabrera Ana M. , Sera Francesco , Blangiardo Marta , Forlani Chiara , Douros John , Jorba Oriol , Adani Mario , Kouznetsov Rostislav , Couvidat Florian , Arteta Joaquim , Raux Blandine , Guevara Marc , Colette Augustin , Barré Jérôme , Peuch Vincent-Henri , Gasparrini Antonio 
Published: January 2022

AbstractPrevious studies have reported a decrease in air pollution levels following the enforcement of lockdown measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these investigations were mostly based on simple pre-post comparisons using past years as a reference and did not assess the role of different policy interventions. This study contributes to knowledge by quantifying the association between specific lockdown measures and the decrease in NO2, O3, PM2.5, and PM10 levels across 47 European cities. It also estimated the number of avoided deaths during the period. This paper used new modelled data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) to define business-as-usual and lockdown scenarios of daily air pollution trends. This study applies a spatio-temporal Bayesian non-linear mixed effect model to quantify the changes in pollutant concentrations associated with the stringency indices of individual policy measures. The results indicated non-linear associations with a stronger decrease in NO2 compared to PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations at very strict policy levels. Differences across interventions were also identified, specifically the strong effects of actions linked to school/workplace closure, limitations on gatherings, and stay-at-home requirements. Finally, the observed decrease in pollution potentially resulted in hundreds of avoided deaths across Europe.
Risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection in south-west Burkina Faso: potential impact of expanding eligibility for seasonal malaria chemoprevention
Authors: Yaro Jean Baptiste , Tiono Alfred B. , Ouedraogo Alphonse , Lambert Ben , Ouedraogo Z. Amidou , Diarra Amidou , Traore Adama , Lankouande Malik , Soulama Issiaka , Sanou Antoine , Worrall Eve , Agboraw Efundem , Sagnon N’Fale , Ranson Hilary , Churcher Thomas S. , Lindsay Steve W. , Wilson Anne L. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBurkina Faso has one of the highest malaria burdens in sub-Saharan Africa despite the mass deployment of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and use of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in children aged up to 5 years. Identification of risk factors for Plasmodium falciparum infection in rural Burkina Faso could help to identify and target malaria control measures. A cross-sectional survey of 1,199 children and adults was conducted during the peak malaria transmission season in the Cascades Region of south-west Burkina Faso in 2017. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for microscopically confirmed P. falciparum infection. A malaria transmission dynamic model was used to determine the impact on malaria cases averted of administering SMC to children aged 5–15 year old. P. falciparum prevalence was 32.8% in the study population. Children aged 5 to < 10 years old were at 3.74 times the odds (95% CI = 2.68–5.22, P < 0.001) and children aged 10 to 15 years old at 3.14 times the odds (95% CI = 1.20–8.21, P = 0.02) of P. falciparum infection compared to children aged less than 5 years old. Administration of SMC to children aged up to 10 years is predicted to avert an additional 57 malaria cases per 1000 population per year (9.4% reduction) and administration to children aged up to 15 years would avert an additional 89 malaria cases per 1000 population per year (14.6% reduction) in the Cascades Region, assuming current coverage of pyrethroid-piperonyl butoxide ITNs. Malaria infections were high in all age strata, although highest in children aged 5 to 15 years, despite roll out of core malaria control interventions. Given the burden of infection in school-age children, extension of the eligibility criteria for SMC could help reduce the burden of malaria in Burkina Faso and other countries in the region.
Laboratory experiments reveal intrinsic self-sustained oscillations in ocean relevant rotating fluid flows
Authors: Pierini Stefano , de Ruggiero Paola , Negretti Maria Eletta , Schiller-Weiss Ilana , Weiffenbach Julia , Viboud Samuel , Valran Thomas , Dijkstra Henk A. , Sommeria Joël 
Published: January 2022

AbstractSeveral ocean Western Boundary Currents (WBCs) encounter a lateral gap along their path. Examples are the Kuroshio Current penetrating into the South China Sea through the Luzon Strait and the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current leaping from the Yucatan peninsula to Florida as part of the Gulf Stream system. Here, we present results on WBC relevant flows, generated in the world’s largest rotating platform, where the Earth’s sphericity necessary to support WBCs is realized by an equivalent topographic effect. The fluid is put in motion by a pump system, which produces a current that is stationary far from the gap. When the jet reaches the gap entrance, time-dependent patterns with complex spatial structures appear, with the jet leaking, leaping or looping through the gap. The occurrence of these intrinsic self-sustained periodic or aperiodic oscillations depending on current intensity is well known in nonlinear dynamical systems theory and occurs in many real systems. It has been observed here for the first time in real rotating fluid flows and is thought to be highly relevant to explain low-frequency variability in ocean WBCs.
Potential antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities of an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) from Bacillus subtilis isolated from a housefly
Authors: Zhang Lingxiu , Yi Huilan 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBacillus subtilis, a probiotic, has been applied in the medical, food, and feed industries among others. However, the mechanisms of its benefits to hosts are not yet fully understood. Here the characterization and bioactivities of an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) from Bacillus subtilis were investigated to reveal its partial mechanisms and provide the theoretical basics for further development and utilization of Bacillus subtilis. In this study, the novel strain Bacillus subtilis xztubd1 (GenBank: MG458322.1) was isolated from a housefly’s body, identified according to phenotypical and genotypical analyses, and found to produce large amounts of an EPS. Through ultraviolet spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR spectroscopy), the EPS was found to contain a variety of chemical functional groups, such as O–H groups, C=C, C=O, CH3, C–O–H and C–O–C bonds, and alpha-type pyranose. Furthermore, the in vitro antioxidant activity of the EPS on DPPH radicals at a concentration of 90 μg/ml was 62%; on the superoxide radical at a concentration of 90 μg/ml, this value was 75%; and on hydroxyl radicals at a concentration of 90 μg/ml, the activity was 54%. EPS also enhanced significantly phagocytosis, lysozyme activity in macrophages, IL-2 content in mice and inhibited dramatically the growth of HeLa cells. These results showed that the EPS with reductive groups have the strong capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), reinforce the immune system and inhibit the growth of cancer cell, which helps theirs hosts defence against many diseases, including inflammation and cancer. The EPS from Bacillus subtilis has the potential to be an anticancer and anti-inflammatory drug candidate in the pharmaceutical industries, which provide scientific evidence for the development and utilization of probiotic-derived medicines.
Multiple instance learning detects peripheral arterial disease from high-resolution color fundus photography
Authors: Mueller Simon , Wintergerst Maximilian W. M. , Falahat Peyman , Holz Frank G. , Schaefer Christian , Schahab Nadjib , Finger Robert P. , Schultz Thomas 
Published: January 2022

AbstractPeripheral arterial disease (PAD) is caused by atherosclerosis and is a common disease of the elderly leading to excess morbidity and mortality. Early PAD diagnosis is important, as the only available causal therapy is addressing risk factors like smoking, hypercholesterolemia or hypertension. However, current diagnostic techniques often do not detect early stages of PAD. We theorize that PAD’s underlying cause atherosclerosis can be detected on color fundus photography (CFP) images with a convolutional neural network architecture, which might aid earlier PAD diagnosis and improve disease monitoring. In this explorative study a deep attention-based Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) architecture is used to capture retinal imaging biomarkers on CFP images of 135 examinations. To capture subtle variations in vascular structures, higher image resolution can be utilized by partitioning the CFP into patches. Our architecture converts each patch into a feature vector, and determines its relative importance via an automatically computed attention weight. Our best model achieves an ROC AUC score of 0.890. Visualizing these attention weights provides insights about the network’s decision and suggests ocular involvement in PAD. Statistical analysis confirms that the optic disc and the temporal arcades are weighted significantly higher (p < 0.001) than retinal background. Our results support the feasibility of detecting the presence of PAD with a modern deep learning approach.
Intestinal microbiota profiles in a genetic model of colon tumorigenesis correlates with colon cancer biomarkers
Authors: Vitali Francesco , Tortora Katia , Di Paola Monica , Bartolucci Gianluca , Menicatti Marta , De Filippo Carlotta , Caderni Giovanna 
Published: January 2022

AbstractFaecal (FM) and colon mucosal associated microbiota (MAM) were studied in a model of colorectal cancer (CRC), the Apc-mutated Pirc rats, and in age-paired wt F344 rats. Principal Coordinates Analysis indicated that samples’ distribution was driven by age, with samples of young rats (1 month old; without tumours) separated from older ones (11-month-old; bearing tumours). Diversity analysis showed significant differences between FM and MAM in older Pirc rats, and between MAM of both Pirc and wt rats and the tumour microbiota, enriched in Enterococcus, Escherichia/Shigella, Proteus and Bifidobacteriaceae. In young animals, Pirc FM was enriched in the genus Delftia, while wt FM was enriched in Lactobacillus and Streptococcus. Some CRC biomarkers and faecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were also measured. Colon proliferation and DClK1 expression, a pro-survival mucosal marker, were higher in Pirc than in wt rats, while the mucin MUC2, was lower in Pirc rats. Branched SCFAs were higher in Pirc than in wt animals. By Spearman analysis CRC biomarkers correlated with FM (in both young and old rats) and with MAM (in young rats), suggesting a specific relationship between the gut microbiota profile and these functional mucosal parameters deserving further investigation.
Overexpression of the dystrophins Dp40 and Dp40L170P modifies neurite outgrowth and the protein expression profile of PC12 cells
Authors: García-Cruz César , Merino-Jiménez Candelaria , Aragón Jorge , Ceja Víctor , González-Assad Brenda , Reyes-Grajeda Juan Pablo , Montanez Cecilia 
Published: January 2022

AbstractDp40 is ubiquitously expressed including the central nervous system. In addition to being present in the nucleus, membrane, and cytoplasm, Dp40 is detected in neurites and postsynaptic spines in hippocampal neurons. Although Dp40 is expressed from the same promoter as Dp71, its role in the cognitive impairment present in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients is still unknown. Here, we studied the effects of overexpression of Dp40 and Dp40L170P during the neuronal differentiation of PC12 Tet-On cells. We found that Dp40 overexpression increased the percentage of PC12 cells with neurites and neurite length, while Dp40L170P overexpression decreased them compared to Dp40 overexpression. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis showed that the protein expression profile was modified in nerve growth factor-differentiated PC12-Dp40L170P cells compared to that of the control cells (PC12 Tet-On). The proteins α-internexin and S100a6, involved in cytoskeletal structure, were upregulated. The expression of vesicle-associated membrane proteins increased in differentiated PC12-Dp40 cells, in contrast to PC12-Dp40L170P cells, while neurofilament light-chain was decreased in both differentiated cells. These results suggest that Dp40 has an important role in the neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells through the regulation of proteins involved in neurofilaments and exocytosis of synaptic vesicles, functions that might be affected in PC12-Dp40L170P.