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The current trends in the development of methods for non-invasive prediction of premature birth based on the electromyogram of the uterus, i.e., electrohysterogram (EHG), suggest an ever-increasing use of large number of features, complex models, and deep learning approaches. These "black-box" approaches rarely provide insights into the underlying physiological mechanisms and are not easily explainable, which may prevent their use in clinical practice. Alternatively, simple methods using meaningful features, preferably using a single feature (biomarker), are highly desirable for assessing the danger of premature birth. To identify suitable biomarker candidates, we performed feature selection using the stabilized sequential-forward feature-selection method employing learning and validation sets, and using multiple standard classifiers and multiple sets of the most widely used features derived from EHG signals. The most promising single feature to classify between premature EHG records and EHG records of all other term delivery modes evaluated on the test sets appears to be Peak Amplitude of the normalized power spectrum (PA) of the EHG signal in the low frequency band (0.125-0.575 Hz) which closely matches the known Fast Wave Low (FWL) frequency band. For classification of EHG records of the publicly available TPEHG DB, TPEHGT DS, and ICEHG DS databases, using the Partition-Synthesis evaluation technique, the proposed single feature, PA, achieved Classification Accuracy (CA) of 76.5% (AUC of 0.81). In combination with the second most promising feature, Median Frequency (MF) of the power spectrum in the frequency band above 1.0 Hz, which relates to the maternal resting heart rate, CA increased to 78.0% (AUC of 0.86). The developed method in this study for the prediction of premature birth outperforms single-feature and many multi-feature methods based on the EHG, and existing non-invasive chemical and molecular biomarkers. The developed method is fully automatic, simple, and the two proposed features are explainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is one of the most important food crops, breeding salt-tolerant soybean varieties is of great significance to alleviate soybean shortage. In this study, the F-box protein family homologous gene GmFBX322 was cloned from the soybean variety Williams 82 and overexpressed in the Shennong 9 soybean variety to further study and explore the physiological mechanism of soybean salt tolerance. GmFBX322 was constructed on the vector pTF101:35S, and integrated into the genome of Shennong 9 soybean variety by Agrobacterium EHA101-mediated cotyledonary node transformation technology, and 4 overexpressed transgenic lines were obtained, molecular assays were performed on the transformed plants. The expression of GmFBX322 was detected by qRT-PCR and it was found that the leaves of the 4 transgenic lines increased by 2.49, 2.46, 2.77, 2.95 times compared with the wild type; after salt treatment for 12 hours, it was found that the expression of wild type Shennong 9 Inducible expression of GmFBX322. After 72 hours of salt treatment, the leaves of wild-type Shennong 9 soybean plants showed obvious wilting and chlorosis, while the leaves of GmFBX322 plants overexpressing GmFBX322 showed no obvious changes. The leaves were taken at 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours of salt stress to determine the antioxidant activity. Ability and osmotic adjustment level, etc. The results showed that the catalase activity in the leaves of the transgenic lines 2265, 2267, 2269, and 2271 was 2.47, 2.53, 3.59, 2.96 times that of the wild-type plant after 48 hours of salt treatment; the soluble sugar content was 1.22, 1.14, and 1.22 of the wild-type plant. 1.14, 1.57 times; the proline content is 2.20, 1.83, 1.65, 1.84 times of the wild type. After comparing the physiological indicators determined by the experiment, the transgenic lines performed better than the control group, indicating that overexpression of GmFBX322 can enhance the salt tolerance of soybean plants. To verify the function of GmFBX322 gene related to stress resistance, add it to the candidate gene of stress resistance, and provide scientific basis for the selection and breeding of salt-tolerant varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 50:50 blend of two Bacillus subtilis strains positively impacted the productivity of finishing pigs. Given this observed effect, we hypothesized that each strain has distinct effects on weight gain and their influence on gut microbiota. In a 16-week test, 160 pigs were divided into four groups: basal diet, B. subtilis ps4100, B. subtilis ps4060, and 50:50 mixture supplemented. Subsequently, we compared body weight and fecal microbiota. Among the supplements, ps4100, ps4060, and the 50:50 mix yielded respective average daily weight gains (ADG) of 3.6%, 4.6%, and 3.9% by the 6th week. The weight difference was maintained through the 16th week. At the 11th week, the difference in α-diversity among the fecal microbiota was marginal, and 17 of 229 genera showed differential abundance between the control and either of the treatment groups. A total of 12 of the 17 genera, including Lactobacillus, showed differential abundance between the ps4100 and ps4060-fed groups, and only Eubacterium consistently decreased in abundance in both the ps4100 and ps4060 groups. In comparison, microbial diversity was significantly different at the 16th week (p < 0.05), with 96 out of 229 genera exhibiting differential abundance. A total of 42 of the 96 genera exhibited similar patterns in both the ps4100 and ps4060 groups compared to the control group. Additionally, 236 of 687 microbial enzymes with differential abundance deduced from 16S rRNA reads showed similar differential abundance in both groups compared to the control group. We concluded that the overall microbial balance, rather than the dominance or significant decrease of a few specific genera, likely caused the enhanced ADG until the 11th week. Substantial changes in microbiota manifested at the 16th week did not cause dramatically increased ADG but were a consequence of weight gain and could positively affect animal physiology and health afterward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between electroencephalography (EEG) rhythms, brain functions, and behavioral correlates is well-established. Some physiological mechanisms underlying rhythm generation are understood, enabling the replication of brain rhythms in silico. This offers a pathway to explore connections between neural oscillations and specific neuronal circuits, potentially yielding fundamental insights into the functional properties of brain waves. Information theory frameworks, such as Integrated information Decomposition (Φ-ID), relate dynamical regimes with informational properties, providing deeper insights into neuronal dynamic functions. Here, we investigate wave emergence in an excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balanced network of integrate and fire neurons with short-term synaptic plasticity. This model produces a diverse range of EEG-like rhythms, from low δ waves to high-frequency oscillations. Through Φ-ID, we analyze the network's information dynamics and its relation with different emergent rhythms, elucidating the system's suitability for functions such as robust information transfer, storage, and parallel operation. Furthermore, our study helps to identify regimes that may resemble pathological states due to poor informational properties and high randomness. We found, e.g., that in silicoβ and δ waves are associated with maximum information transfer in inhibitory and excitatory neuron populations, respectively, and that the coexistence of excitatory θ, α, and β waves is associated to information storage. Additionally, we observed that high-frequency oscillations can exhibit either high or poor informational properties, potentially shedding light on ongoing discussions regarding physiological versus pathological high-frequency oscillations. In summary, our study demonstrates that dynamical regimes with similar oscillations may exhibit vastly different information dynamics. Characterizing information dynamics within these regimes serves as a potent tool for gaining insights into the functions of complex neuronal networks. Finally, our findings suggest that the use of information dynamics in both model and experimental data analysis, could help discriminate between oscillations associated with cognitive functions and those linked to neuronal disorders. Author summary: Electroencephalography (EEG) records cortical brain activity and is widely used in neuroscience for identifying cognitive states and diagnosing brain pathologies. However, the relationship between functional brain states and specific rhythms is sometimes unclear. Traditional methods combined with computational models often fail to link dynamical regimes to their possible functions. To address this, we used a computational model that generates in silico EEG-like signals in a neuron population. Instead of only analyzing spectral features, we focused our study on information flow in the neuron population between small groups of inhibitory and excitatory neurons during the emergence of different rhythms. We found that in some regimes, the system exhibits enhanced computational properties, with excitatory neurons maintaining parallel processing capacities, inhibitory neurons showing high robustness, or populations maximizing information transfer. In other regimes, low information flow results in more random behavior. Our work highlights the utility of informational dynamic analysis for understanding the relationship between emerging neuronal waves and functions in in silico neuronal populations, a fact that stimulates extending the present study to neuronal cultures and in vivo EEG time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exercise intensity is prone to be self-regulated in horses exercising freely. The main drivers include social, feeding and escape behaviors, as well as the operant conditioning. We hypothesized that self-regulated exercise intensity may increase due to the presence of another horse exercising ahead. Seven horses were assigned to a 2x2 crossover trial following treadmill familiarization. Video images of a trotting horse were displayed on the wall in front of the experimental unit (Visual), which was positioned in the treadmill. Physiological and behavioral markers were further compared with a control visual stimulus (Co), comprising a racetrack image without horses. Horses were sampled during a constant load exercise test (1) at rest (baseline), (2) after the warm-up (0 – 10th minute) and (3) after visual stimulation or control (10th– 12th minutes of the SET) to quantify plasma lactate and glucose concentration, heart rate, head angle, as well as behavioral markers. Following visual stimulation, heart rate (130.8 ± 27.8 b.p.m.) was higher than control (84.7 ± 15.1 b.p.m., P =.017), as was plasma lactate (Visual ‐ 5.28 ± 1.48 mg/dl; Co -3.27 ± 1.24 mg/dl, P =.042) and head angle (Visual ‐ 36.43 ± 3.69°; Co -25.14 ± 4.88°, P =.003). The prevalence of "ears forward" behavior was also higher following Visual (100% - 7/7) than Co (14% - 1/7, P =.004). These results suggest that visual stimulus (1) was safe and well tolerated and (2) prompted the anaerobic lactic pathways and shifted the behavior to a vigilant state. In conclusion, horses were able to perceive and adapt to a social environment. Our findings validate the use of social facilitation of trotting to encourage horses to move forward avoiding the use of the whip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In animals, mitosis involves the breakdown of the nuclear envelope and the sorting of individualized, condensed chromosomes. During mitotic exit, emerging nuclei reassemble a nuclear envelope around a single mass of interconnecting chromosomes. The molecular mechanisms of nuclear reassembly are incompletely understood. Moreover, the cellular and physiological consequences of defects in this process are largely unexplored. Here, we have characterized a mechanism essential for nuclear reassembly in Drosophila. We show that Ankle2 promotes the PP2A-dependent recruitment of BAF and Lamin at reassembling nuclei, and that failures in this mechanism result in severe nuclear defects after mitosis. We then took advantage of perturbations in this mechanism to investigate the physiological responses to nuclear reassembly defects during tissue development in vivo. Partial depletion of Ankle2, BAF, or Lamin in imaginal wing discs results in wing development defects accompanied by apoptosis. We found that blocking apoptosis strongly enhances developmental defects. Blocking p53 does not prevent apoptosis but enhances defects due to the loss of a cell cycle checkpoint. Our results suggest that apoptotic and p53-dependent responses play a crucial role in safeguarding tissue development in response to sporadic nuclear reassembly defects. How cells respond to defects in nuclear reassembly after mitosis is unknown. A study in Drosophila shows that damaged cells are either removed by apoptosis or activate a p53-dependent cell cycle checkpoint to maintain tissue integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with single ventricle heart disease typically require a series of three operations, (1) Norwood, (2) Glenn, and (3) Fontan, which ultimately results in complete separation of the pulmonary and systemic circuits to improve pulmonary/systemic circulation. In the last stage, the Fontan operation, the inferior vena cava (IVC) is connected to the pulmonary arteries (PAs), allowing the remainder of deoxygenated blood to passively flow to the pulmonary circuit. It is hypothesized that optimizing the Fontan anatomy would lead to decreased power loss and more balanced hepatic flow distribution. One approach to optimizing the geometry is to create a patient-specific digital twin to simulate various configurations of the Fontan conduit, which requires a computational model of the proximal PA anatomy and resistance, as well as the distal Pulmonary Vascular Resistance (PVR), at the Glenn stage. To that end, an optimization pipeline was developed using 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and 0D lumped parameter (LP) simulations to iteratively refine the PVR of each lung by minimizing the simulated flow and pressure error relative to patients' cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and catheterization (CATH) data. While the PVR can also be estimated directly by computing the ratio of pressure gradients and flow from CATH and CMR data, the computational approach can separately identify the different components of PVR along the Glenn pathway, allowing for a more detailed depiction of the Glenn vasculature. Results indicate good correlation between the optimized PVR of the CFD and LP models (n = 16), with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.998 (p = 0.976) and 0.991 (p = 0.943) for the left and right lung, respectively. Furthermore, compared to CMR flow and CATH pressure data, the optimized PVR estimates result in mean outlet flow and pressure errors of less than 5%. The optimized PVR estimates also agree well with the computed PVR estimates from CATH pressure and CMR flow for both lungs, yielding a mean difference of less than 4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma is the leading cause of death in individuals up to 45 years of age. Alterations in platelet function are a critical component of trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC), yet these changes and the potential resulting dysfunction is incompletely understood. The lack of clinical assays available to explore platelet function in this patient population has hindered detailed understanding of the role of platelets in TIC. The objective of this study was to assess trauma patient ex vivo flow-dependent platelet hemostatic capacity in a microfluidic model. We hypothesized that trauma patients would have flow-regime dependent alterations in platelet function. Blood was collected from trauma patients with level I activations (N = 34) within 60 min of hospital arrival, as well as healthy volunteer controls (N = 10). Samples were perfused through a microfluidic model of injury at venous and arterial shear rates, and a subset of experiments were performed after incubation with fluorescent anti-CD41 to quantify platelets. Complete blood counts were performed as well as plasma-based assays to quantify coagulation times, fibrinogen, and von Willebrand factor (VWF). Exploratory correlation analyses were employed to identify relationships with microfluidic hemostatic parameters. Trauma patients had increased microfluidic bleeding times compared to healthy controls. While trauma patient samples were able to deposit a substantial amount of clot in the model injury site, the platelet contribution to microfluidic hemostasis was attenuated. Trauma patients had largely normal hematology and plasma-based coagulation times, yet had elevated D-Dimer and VWF. Venous microfluidic bleeding time negatively correlated with VWF, D-Dimer, and mean platelet volume (MPV), while arterial microfluidic bleeding time positively correlated with oxygenation. Arterial clot growth rate negatively correlated with red cell count, and positively with mean corpuscular volume (MCV). We observed changes in clot composition in trauma patient samples reflected by significantly diminished platelet contribution, which resulted in reduced hemostatic function in a microfluidic model of vessel injury. We observed a reduction in platelet clot contribution under both venous and arterial flow ex vivo in trauma patient samples. While our population was heterogenous and had relatively mild injury severity, microfluidic hemostatic parameters correlated with different patient-specific data depending on the flow setting, indicating potentially differential mechanistic pathways contributing to platelet hemostatic capacity in the context of TIC. These data were generated with the goal of identifying key features of platelet dysfunction in bleeding trauma patients under conditions of flow and to determine if these features correlate with clinically available metrics, thus providing preliminary surrogate markers of physiological platelet dysfunction to be further studied across larger cohorts. Future studies will continue to explore those relationships and further define mechanisms of TIC and their relationship with patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ADAMTS (a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin motifs) family metalloprotease MIG-17 plays a crucial role in the migration of gonadal distal tip cells (DTCs) in Caenorhabditis elegans. MIG-17 is secreted from the body wall muscle cells and localizes to the basement membranes (BMs) of various tissues including the gonadal BM where it regulates DTC migration through its catalytic activity. Missense mutations in the BM protein genes, let-2/collagen IV a2 and fbl-1/fibulin-1, have been identified as suppressors of the gonadal defects observed in mig-17 mutants. Genetic analyses indicate that LET-2 and FBL-1 act downstream of MIG-17 to regulate DTC migration. In addition to the control of DTC migration, MIG-17 also plays a role in healthspan, but not in lifespan. Here, we examined whether let-2 and fbl-1 alleles can suppress the age-related phenotypes of mig-17 mutants. let-2(k196) fully and fbl-1(k201) partly, but not let-2(k193) and fbl-1(k206), suppressed the senescence defects of mig-17. Interestingly, fbl-1(k206), but not fbl-1(k201) or let-2 alleles, exhibited an extended lifespan compared to the wild type when combined with mig-17. These results reveal allele specific interactions between let-2 or fbl-1 and mig-17 in age-related phenotypes, indicating that basement membrane physiology plays an important role in organismal aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dianthus barbatus linn. is widely used in gardens, mainly as flower beds and flower borders. The effects of different gradients of P on the growth and root morphology of Dianthus barbatus were studied to explore its morphological and physiological responses and adaptive strategies. Hence, this study provides a theoretical basis and practical guidance for D. barbatus production. Two soil substrates, namely loess and vegetable soil, and five phosphorus concentration gradients were set; no phosphorus application was used as the control. The morphology and physiology of D. barbatus were also investigated. Low-to-medium- and low-phosphorus treatments promoted the growth of D. barbatus in the above and underground parts of the plants grown on both substrates. Chlorophyll content, flower quantity, and acid phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere soil were significantly increased in the H1 and H2 treatments of loess and in the C4 treatment of vegetable soil. Thus, D. barbatus seems to reduce the damage caused by phosphorus stress by increasing chlorophyll content and root acid phosphatase activity. The latter was significantly higher in vegetable soil than in loess. Vegetable soil was more conducive to D. barbatus growth than loess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that predominantly affects movement and currently has no cure. Alongside medication, non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) may be used as an adjunct therapy to attenuate the motor symptoms experienced by people with PD. However, there is considerable heterogeneity in the evidence exploring the effects of NIBS for improving aspects of physical function in people with PD. Therefore, this protocol paper will outline the objectives, structure and procedure of a proposed umbrella review which will comprehensively summarise and map the current body evidence on the effectiveness of NIBS for improving physical function in people with PD. Methods and analysis: This study will adhere to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) reviewer's manual and the PRISMA guidelines for conducting an umbrella review. The protocol is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022380544). The population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) method will be used to guide the search strategies and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Systematic reviews, with or without meta-analyses, based on quantitative or mixed-methods studies, will be searched for, and then critically evaluated by two authors using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR2) tool. If the data allows, we will run a random effects pooled meta-analysis using standardized mean differences (SMDs), with heterogeneity and publication bias reported using the I2 statistic. We will determine the level of evidence using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations) tool. Overlap in studies across reviews will be assessed using citation matrices and corrected covered areas (CCAs). Lastly, visual bubble plots will display the effects and strength of evidence from each review. Discussion: This umbrella review will be the first to examine the collective evidence on the effectiveness of NIBS in improving physical outcomes for individuals with PD. It aims to provide an overall understanding of the relationship between NIBS and motor function changes, discuss underlying physiological mechanisms, and identify future therapeutic strategies. Trial registration: PROSPERO registration number:CRD42022380544. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological and evolutionary benefits of energy-saving in collective behaviors are rooted in the physical principles and physiological mechanisms underpinning animal locomotion. We propose a turbulence sheltering hypothesis that collective movements of fish schools in turbulent flow can reduce the total energetic cost of locomotion by shielding individuals from the perturbation of chaotic turbulent eddies. We test this hypothesis by quantifying energetics and kinematics in schools of giant danio (Devario aequipinnatus) and compared that to solitary individuals swimming under laminar and turbulent conditions over a wide speed range. We discovered that, when swimming at high speeds and high turbulence levels, fish schools reduced their total energy expenditure (TEE, both aerobic and anaerobic energy) by 63% to 79% compared to solitary fish (e.g., 228 versus 48 kj kg−1). Solitary individuals spend approximately 22% more kinematic effort (tail beat amplitude•frequency: 1.7 versus 1.4 BL s−1) to swim in turbulence at higher speeds than in laminar conditions. Fish schools swimming in turbulence reduced their three-dimensional group volume by 41% to 68% (at higher speeds, approximately 103 versus 33 cm3) and did not alter their kinematic effort compared to laminar conditions. This substantial energy saving highlights that schooling behaviors can mitigate turbulent disturbances by sheltering fish (within schools) from the eddies of sufficient kinetic energy that can disrupt locomotor gaits. Therefore, providing a more desirable internal hydrodynamic environment could be one of the ecological drivers underlying collective behaviors in a dense fluid environment. What are the benefits of collective behavior? This study tests the "turbulence sheltering hypothesis," finding that the collective movement of fish schools substantially reduces the energetic cost of locomotion in turbulent conditions compared to that of swimming alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic functional connectivity investigates how the interactions among brain regions vary over the course of an fMRI experiment. Such transitions between different individual connectivity states can be modulated by changes in underlying physiological mechanisms that drive functional network dynamics, e.g., changes in attention or cognitive effort. In this paper, we develop a multi-subject Bayesian framework where the estimation of dynamic functional networks is informed by time-varying exogenous physiological covariates that are simultaneously recorded in each subject during the fMRI experiment. More specifically, we consider a dynamic Gaussian graphical model approach where a non-homogeneous hidden Markov model is employed to classify the fMRI time series into latent neurological states. We assume the state-transition probabilities to vary over time and across subjects as a function of the underlying covariates, allowing for the estimation of recurrent connectivity patterns and the sharing of networks among the subjects. We further assume sparsity in the network structures via shrinkage priors, and achieve edge selection in the estimated graph structures by introducing a multi-comparison procedure for shrinkage-based inferences with Bayesian false discovery rate control. We evaluate the performances of our method vs alternative approaches on synthetic data. We apply our modeling framework on a resting-state experiment where fMRI data have been collected concurrently with pupillometry measurements, as a proxy of cognitive processing, and assess the heterogeneity of the effects of changes in pupil dilation on the subjects' propensity to change connectivity states. The heterogeneity of state occupancy across subjects provides an understanding of the relationship between increased pupil dilation and transitions toward different cognitive states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Susceptibility to morbidity and mortality is increased in early life, yet proactive measures, such as breastfeeding and weaning practices, can be taken through specific investments from parents and wider society. The extent to which such biosocialcultural investment was achieved within 1st millennium BCE Etruscan society, of whom little written sources are available, is unkown. This research investigates life histories in non-adults and adults from Pontecagnano (southern Italy, 730–580 BCE) in order to track cross-sectional and longitudinal breastfeeding and weaning patterns and to characterize the diet more broadly. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of incrementally-sampled deciduous and permanent dentine (n = 15), bulk bone collagen (n = 38), and tooth enamel bioapatite (n = 21) reveal the diet was largely based on C3 staple crops with marginal contributions of animal protein. Millet was found to play a role for maternal diet and trajectories of breastfeeding and feeding for some infants and children at the site. The combination of multiple isotope systems and tissues demonstrates exclusive breastfeeding was pursued until 0.6 years, followed by progressive introduction of proteanocius supplementary foods during weaning that lasted between approximately 0.7 and 2.6 years. The combination of biochemical data with macroscopic skeletal lesions of infantile metabolic diseases and physiological stress markers showed high δ15Ndentine in the months prior to death consistent with the isotopic pattern of opposing covariance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive Arousal, frequently elicited by environmental stressors that exceed personal coping resources, manifests in measurable physiological markers, notably in galvanic skin responses. This effect is prominent in cognitive tasks such as composition, where fluctuations in these biomarkers correlate with individual expressiveness. It is crucial to understand the nexus between cognitive arousal and expressiveness. However, there has not been a concrete study that investigates this inter-relation concurrently. Addressing this, we introduce an innovative methodology for simultaneous monitoring of these elements. Our strategy employs Bayesian analysis in a multi-state filtering format to dissect psychomotor performance (captured through typing speed), galvanic skin response or skin conductance (SC), and heart rate variability (HRV). This integrative analysis facilitates the quantification of expressive behavior and arousal states. At the core, we deploy a state-space model connecting one latent psychological arousal condition to neural activities impacting sweating (inferred through SC responses) and another latent state to expressive behavior during typing. These states are concurrently evaluated with model parameters using an expectation-maximization algorithms approach. Assessments using both computer-simulated data and experimental data substantiate the validity of our approach. Outcomes display distinguishable latent state patterns in expressive typing and arousal across different computer software used in office management, offering profound implications for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and productivity analysis. This research marks a significant advancement in decoding human productivity dynamics, with extensive repercussions for optimizing performance in telecommuting scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. service members maintain constant situational awareness (SA) due to training and experience operating in dynamic and complex environments. Work examining how military experience impacts SA during visual search of a complex naturalistic environment, is limited. Here, we compare Active Duty service members and Civilians' physiological behavior during a navigational visual search task in an open-world virtual environment (VE) while cognitive load was manipulated. We measured eye-tracking and electroencephalogram (EEG) outcomes from Active Duty (N = 21) and Civilians (N = 15) while they navigated a desktop VE at a self-regulated pace. Participants searched and counted targets (N = 15) presented among distractors, while cognitive load was manipulated with an auditory Math Task. Results showed Active Duty participants reported significantly greater/closer to the correct number of targets compared to Civilians. Overall, Active Duty participants scanned the VE with faster peak saccade velocities and greater average saccade magnitudes compared to Civilians. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) response (EEG P-300) was significantly weighted more to initial fixations for the Active Duty group, showing reduced attentional resources on object refixations compared to Civilians. There were no group differences in fixation outcomes or overall CNN response when comparing targets versus distractor objects. When cognitive load was manipulated, only Civilians significantly decreased their average dwell time on each object and the Active Duty group had significantly fewer numbers of correct answers on the Math Task. Overall, the Active Duty group explored the VE with increased scanning speed and distance and reduced cognitive re-processing on objects, employing a different, perhaps expert, visual search strategy indicative of increased SA. The Active Duty group maintained SA in the main visual search task and did not appear to shift focus to the secondary Math Task. Future work could compare how a stress inducing environment impacts these groups' physiological or cognitive markers and performance for these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical illness (CI) scoring using visual observation is the most widely applied method of detecting respiratory disease in cattle but has limited effectiveness in practice. In contrast, body-mounted sensor technology effectively facilitates disease detection. To evaluate whether a combination of movement behavior and CI scoring is effective for disease detection, cattle were vaccinated to induce a temporary inflammatory immune response. Cattle were evaluated before and after vaccination to identify the CI variables that are most indicative of sick cattle. Respiratory rate (H2 = 43.08, P < 0.0001), nasal discharge (H2 = 8.35, P = 0.015), and ocular discharge (H2 = 16.38, P = 0.0003) increased after vaccination, and rumen fill decreased (H2 = 20.10, P < 0.0001). Locomotor activity was measured via leg-mounted sensors for the four days preceding and seven days following vaccination. A statistical model that included temperature, steps, lying time, respiratory rate, rumen fill, head position, and excess saliva was developed to distinguish between scores from before and after vaccination with a sensitivity of 0.898 and specificity of 0.915. Several clinical illness signs were difficult to measure in practice. Binoculars were required for scoring respiratory rate and eye-related metrics, and cattle had to be fitted with colored collars for individual identification. Scoring each animal took up to three minutes in a small research pen; therefore, technologies that can automate both behavior monitoring and identification of clinical illness signs are key to improving capacity for BRD detection and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysosomes are degradation centers of cells and intracellular hubs of signal transduction, nutrient sensing, and autophagy regulation. Dysfunction of lysosomes contributes to a variety of diseases, such as lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) and neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms are not well understood. Altering lysosomal activity and examining its impact on the occurrence and development of disease is an important strategy for studying lysosome-related diseases. However, methods to dynamically regulate lysosomal function in living cells or animals are still lacking. Here, we constructed lysosome-localized optogenetic actuators, named lyso-NpHR3.0, lyso-ArchT, and lyso-ChR2, to achieve optogenetic manipulation of lysosomes. These new actuators enable light-dependent control of lysosomal membrane potential, pH, hydrolase activity, degradation, and Ca2+ dynamics in living cells. Notably, lyso-ChR2 activation induces autophagy through the mTOR pathway, promotes Aβ clearance in an autophagy-dependent manner in cellular models, and alleviates Aβ-induced paralysis in the Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer's disease. Our lysosomal optogenetic actuators supplement the optogenetic toolbox and provide a method to dynamically regulate lysosomal physiology and function in living cells and animals. Lysosomes are cellular degradation centers, critical for maintaining homeostasis. Selective modulation of lysosomal activity has remained a challenge to date; this study reports the development of lysosome-targeted optogenetic tools for the light-inducible manipulation of lysosomal physiology in cells and in C. elegans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of microbiome in animal physiology is well appreciated, but characterization of animal-microbe symbiosis in marine environments remains a growing need. This study characterizes the microbial communities associated with the moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea, first isolated from the East Pacific Ocean and has since been utilized as an experimental system. We find that the microbiome of this Pacific Aurelia culture is dominated by two taxa, a Mollicutes and Rickettsiales. The microbiome is stable across life stages, although composition varies. Mining the host sequencing data, we assembled the bacterial metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). The bacterial MAGs are highly reduced, and predict a high metabolic dependence on the host. Analysis using multiple metrics suggest that both bacteria are likely new species. We therefore propose the names Ca. Mariplasma lunae (Mollicutes) and Ca. Marinirickettsia aquamalans (Rickettsiales). Finally, comparison with studies of Aurelia from other geographical populations suggests the association with Ca. Mariplasma lunae occurs in Aurelia from multiple geographical locations. The low-diversity microbiome of Aurelia provides a relatively simple system to study host-microbe interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste is a routine and increasingly growing global concern that has drawn significant attention from policymakers, climate change activists and health practitioners. Amid the plurality of discourses on food waste-health linkages, however, the health risks from food waste induced emissions have remained under explored. This lack of evidence is partly because of the lack of complete understanding of the effects of food waste emissions from household food waste on human health either directly through physiological mechanisms or indirectly through environmental exposure effects. Thus, this systematic review contributes to the literature by synthesizing available evidence to highlight gaps and offers a comprehensive baseline inventory of food waste emissions and their associated impacts on human health to support public health decision-making. Four database searches: Web of Science, OVID(Medline), EMBASE, and Scopus, were searched from inception to 3 May 2023. Pairs of reviewers screened 2189 potentially eligible studies that addressed food waste emissions from consumers and how the emissions related to human health. Following PRISMA guidelines, 26 articles were eligible for data extraction for the systematic review. Findings indicate that emissions from food waste, such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, and volatile organic carbons, can affect human endocrine, respiratory, nervous, and olfactory systems. The severity of the human health effects depends on the gaseous concentration, but range from mild lung irritation to cancer and death. This study recommends emission capture technologies, food diversion programs, and biogas technologies to reduce food waste emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminium (Al) is toxic to most plants, but recent research has suggested that Al addition may stimulate growth and nutrient uptake in some species capable of accumulating high tissue Al concentrations. The physiological basis of this growth response is unknown, but it may be associated with processes linked to the regulation of carbon assimilation and partitioning by Al supply. To test alternative hypotheses for the physiological mechanism explaining this response, we examined the effects of increasing Al concentrations in the growth medium on tissue nutrient concentrations and carbon assimilation in two populations of the Al-accumulator Melastoma malabathricum. Compared to seedlings grown in a control nutrient solution containing no Al, mean rates of photosynthesis and respiration increased by 46% and 27%, respectively, total non-structural carbohydrate concentrations increased by 45%, and lignin concentration in roots decreased by 26% when seedlings were grown in a nutrient solution containing 2.0 mM Al. The concentrations of P, Ca and Mg in leaves and stems increased by 31%, 22%, and 26%, respectively, in response to an increase in nutrient solution Al concentration from 0 to 2.0 mM. Elemental concentrations in roots increased for P (114%), Mg (61%) and K (5%) in response to this increase in Al concentration in the nutrient solution. Plants derived from an inherently faster-growing population had a greater relative increase in final dry mass, net photosynthetic and respiration rates and total non-structural carbohydrate concentrations in response to higher external Al supply. We conclude that growth stimulation by Al supply is associated with increases in photosynthetic and respiration rates and enhanced production of non-structural carbohydrates that are differentially allocated to roots, as well as stimulation of nutrient uptake. These responses suggest that internal carbon assimilation is up-regulated to provide the necessary resources of non-structural carbohydrates for uptake, transport and storage of Al in Melastoma malabathricum. This physiological mechanism has only been recorded previously in one other plant species, Camellia sinensis, which last shared a common ancestor with M. malabathricum more than 120 million years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traditionally Momordica charantia (Bitter gourd) is known for its blood glucose lowering potential. This has been validated by many previous studies based on rodent models but human trials are less convincing and the physiological mechanisms underlying the bioactivity of Bitter gourd are still unclear. The present study compared the effects of whole fruit or stems-leaves from five different Bitter gourd cultivars on metabolic control in adult diabetic obese Göttingen Minipigs. Methods: Twenty streptozotocin-induced diabetic (D) obese Minipigs (body weight ~85 kg) were subdivided in mildly and overtly D pigs and fed 500 g of obesogenic diet per day for a period of three weeks, supplemented with 20 g dried powdered Bitter gourd or 20 g dried powdered grass as isoenergetic control in a cross-over, within-subject design. Results: Bitter gourd fruit from the cultivars "Palee" and "Good healthy" reduced plasma fructosamine concentrations in all pigs combined (from 450±48 to 423±53 and 490±50 to 404±48 μmol/L, both p<0.03, respectively) indicating improved glycemic control by 6% and 17%. These effects were statistically confirmed in mildly D pigs but not in overtly D pigs. In mildly D pigs, the other three cultivars of fruit showed consistent numerical but no significant improvements in glycemic control. The composition of Bitter gourd fruit was studied by metabolomics profiling and analysis identified three metabolites from the class of triterpenoids (Xuedanoside H, Acutoside A, Karaviloside IX) that were increased in the cultivars "Palee" (>3.9-fold) and "Good healthy" (>8.9-fold) compared to the mean of the other three cultivars. Bitter gourd stems and leaves from the cultivar "Bilai" increased plasma insulin concentrations in all pigs combined by 28% (from 53±6 to 67±9 pmol/L, p<0.03). The other two cultivars of stems and leaves showed consistent numerical but no significant increases in plasma insulin concentrations. The effects on plasma insulin concentrations were confirmed in mildly D pigs but not in overtly D pigs. Conclusions: Fruits of Bitter gourd improve glycemic control and stems-leaves of Bitter gourd increase plasma insulin concentrations in an obese pig model for mild diabetes. The effects of Bitter gourd fruit on glycemic control seem consistent but relatively small and cultivar specific which may explain the varying results of human trials reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western diet has undergone a massive switch since the second half of the 20th century, with the massive increase of the consumption of refined carbohydrate associated with many adverse health effects. The physiological mechanisms linked to this consumption, such as hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinemia, may impact non medical traits such as facial attractiveness. To explore this issue, the relationship between facial attractiveness and immediate and chronic refined carbohydrate consumption estimated by glycemic load was studied for 104 French subjects. Facial attractiveness was assessed by opposite sex raters using pictures taken two hours after a controlled breakfast. Chronic consumption was assessed considering three high glycemic risk meals: breakfast, afternoon snacking and between-meal snacking. Immediate consumption of a high glycemic breakfast decreased facial attractiveness for men and women while controlling for several control variables, including energy intake. Chronic refined carbohydrate consumption had different effects on attractiveness depending on the meal and/or the sex. Chronic refined carbohydrate consumption, estimated by the glycemic load, during the three studied meals reduced attractiveness, while a high energy intake increased it. Nevertheless, the effect was reversed for men concerning the afternoon snack, for which a high energy intake reduced attractiveness and a high glycemic load increased it. These effects were maintained when potential confounders for facial attractiveness were controlled such as age, age departure from actual age, masculinity/femininity (perceived and measured), BMI, physical activity, parental home ownership, smoking, couple status, hormonal contraceptive use (for women), and facial hairiness (for men). Results were possibly mediated by an increase in age appearance for women and a decrease in perceived masculinity for men. The physiological differences between the three meals studied and the interpretation of the results from an adaptive/maladaptive point of view in relation to our new dietary environment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic profiling (metabolomics) aims at measuring small molecules (metabolites) in complex samples like blood or urine for human health studies. While biomarker-based assessment often relies on a single molecule, metabolic profiling combines several metabolites to create a more complex and more specific fingerprint of the disease. However, in contrast to genomics, there is no unique metabolomics setup able to measure the entire metabolome. This challenge leads to tedious and resource consuming preliminary studies to be able to design the right metabolomics experiment. In that context, computer assisted metabolic profiling can be of strong added value to design metabolomics studies more quickly and efficiently. We propose a constraint-based modelling approach which predicts in silico profiles of metabolites that are more likely to be differentially abundant under a given metabolic perturbation (e.g. due to a genetic disease), using flux simulation. In genome-scale metabolic networks, the fluxes of exchange reactions, also known as the flow of metabolites through their external transport reactions, can be simulated and compared between control and disease conditions in order to calculate changes in metabolite import and export. These import/export flux differences would be expected to induce changes in circulating biofluid levels of those metabolites, which can then be interpreted as potential biomarkers or metabolites of interest. In this study, we present SAMBA (SAMpling Biomarker Analysis), an approach which simulates fluxes in exchange reactions following a metabolic perturbation using random sampling, compares the simulated flux distributions between the baseline and modulated conditions, and ranks predicted differentially exchanged metabolites as potential biomarkers for the perturbation. We show that there is a good fit between simulated metabolic exchange profiles and experimental differential metabolites detected in plasma, such as patient data from the disease database OMIM, and metabolic trait-SNP associations found in mGWAS studies. These biomarker recommendations can provide insight into the underlying mechanism or metabolic pathway perturbation lying behind observed metabolite differential abundances, and suggest new metabolites as potential avenues for further experimental analyses. Author summary: Associating diseases and other metabolic disruptions with physiological markers is key for diagnostic and personalised medicine. These markers can be metabolites—small molecules involved in every living being's metabolism, and can be measured in biofluids such as blood or urine using metabolic profiling (metabolomics). Nevertheless, this experimental metabolomics design needs to be tailor made for each disease to ensure that most relevant metabolites will be detected. The selection of metabolites to analyse for future experiments can be time-consuming and expensive. In this paper, we build upon an existing computational method for simulating metabolite changes in a human model. This provides a prediction of the change in biofluid abundance of every known metabolite involved in human metabolism in a potentially large number of metabolic situations. The newly introduced method produces a change score and a rank for each metabolite in each condition. We show the strong potential of the approach by comparing predictions with experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota maintains a deeply symbiotic relationship with host physiology, intricately engaging with both internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) factors. Anurans, especially those in temperate regions, face the dual challenges of significant external influences like hibernation and complex internal variances tied to different life histories. In our research, we sought to determine whether different life stages (juvenile versus adult) of the Japanese wrinkled frog (Glandirana rugosa) lead to distinct shifts in gut bacterial communities during winter (hibernation) and its subsequent transition to spring. As hypothesized, we observed a more pronounced variability in the gut bacterial diversity and abundance in juvenile frogs compared to their adult counterparts. This suggests that the gut environment may be more resilient or stable in adult frogs during their hibernation period. However, this pronounced difference was confined to the winter season; by spring, the diversity and abundance of gut bacteria in both juvenile and adult frogs aligned closely. Specifically, the variance in gut bacterial diversity and composition between winter and spring appears to mirror the frogs' ecological adaptations. During the hibernation period, a dominance of Proteobacteria suggests an emphasis on supporting intracellular transport and maintaining homeostasis, as opposed to active metabolism in the frogs. Conversely, come spring, an uptick in bacterial diversity coupled with a dominance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes points to an upsurge in metabolic activity post-hibernation, favoring enhanced nutrient assimilation and energy metabolism. Our findings highlight that the relationship between the gut microbiome and its host is dynamic and bidirectional. However, the extent to which changes in gut bacterial diversity and composition contribute to enhancing hibernation physiology in frogs remains an open question, warranting further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep deprivation has an ever-increasing impact on individuals and societies. Yet, to date, there is no quick and objective test for sleep deprivation. Here, we used automated acoustic analyses of the voice to detect sleep deprivation. Building on current machine-learning approaches, we focused on interpretability by introducing two novel ideas: the use of a fully generic auditory representation as input feature space, combined with an interpretation technique based on reverse correlation. The auditory representation consisted of a spectro-temporal modulation analysis derived from neurophysiology. The interpretation method aimed to reveal the regions of the auditory representation that supported the classifiers' decisions. Results showed that generic auditory features could be used to detect sleep deprivation successfully, with an accuracy comparable to state-of-the-art speech features. Furthermore, the interpretation revealed two distinct effects of sleep deprivation on the voice: changes in slow temporal modulations related to prosody and changes in spectral features related to voice quality. Importantly, the relative balance of the two effects varied widely across individuals, even though the amount of sleep deprivation was controlled, thus confirming the need to characterize sleep deprivation at the individual level. Moreover, while the prosody factor correlated with subjective sleepiness reports, the voice quality factor did not, consistent with the presence of both explicit and implicit consequences of sleep deprivation. Overall, the findings show that individual effects of sleep deprivation may be observed in vocal biomarkers. Future investigations correlating such markers with objective physiological measures of sleep deprivation could enable "sleep stethoscopes" for the cost-effective diagnosis of the individual effects of sleep deprivation. Author summary: Sleep deprivation has an ever-increasing impact on individuals and societies, from accidents to chronic conditions costing billions to health systems. Yet, to date, there is no quick and objective test for sleep deprivation. We show that sleep deprivation can be detected at the individual level with voice recordings. Importantly, we focused on interpretability, which allowed us to identify two independent effects of sleep deprivation on the voice: changes in prosody and changes in voice quality or timbre. The results also revealed a striking variability in individual reactions to the same deprivation, further confirming the need to consider the effects of sleep deprivation at the individual level. Vocal markers could be correlated to specific underlying physiological factors in future studies, outlining possible cost-effective and non-invasive "sleep stethoscopes". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite attempts to unify the different theoretical accounts of the mismatch negativity (MMN), there is still an ongoing debate on the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying this complex brain response. On one hand, neuronal adaptation to recurrent stimuli is able to explain many of the observed properties of the MMN, such as its sensitivity to controlled experimental parameters. On the other hand, several modeling studies reported evidence in favor of Bayesian learning models for explaining the trial-to-trial dynamics of the human MMN. However, direct comparisons of these two main hypotheses are scarce, and previous modeling studies suffered from methodological limitations. Based on reports indicating spatial and temporal dissociation of physiological mechanisms within the timecourse of mismatch responses in animals, we hypothesized that different computational models would best fit different temporal phases of the human MMN. Using electroencephalographic data from two independent studies of a simple auditory oddball task (n = 82), we compared adaptation and Bayesian learning models' ability to explain the sequential dynamics of auditory deviance detection in a time-resolved fashion. We first ran simulations to evaluate the capacity of our design to dissociate the tested models and found that they were sufficiently distinguishable above a certain level of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In subjects with a sufficient SNR, our time-resolved approach revealed a temporal dissociation between the two model families, with high evidence for adaptation during the early MMN window (from 90 to 150-190 ms post-stimulus depending on the dataset) and for Bayesian learning later in time (170-180 ms or 200-220ms). In addition, Bayesian model averaging of fixed-parameter models within the adaptation family revealed a gradient of adaptation rates, resembling the anatomical gradient in the auditory cortical hierarchy reported in animal studies. Author summary: The ability to detect and adapt to changes in the environment is an essential feature for survival of living beings. Two main theories have been proposed to explain how the brain performs such an automatic task in the auditory domain. The first one, adaptation, emphasizes the ability of auditory cortical and sub-cortical neurons to attenuate their response to repeated stimuli, which renders the brain more sensitive to deviations from expected sensory inputs. The second one, Bayesian learning, further involves higher-level cortical regions which would update their predictions about incoming stimuli, depending on their performance at predicting previous ones. These two views may not be mutually exclusive, but few experimental works compared them directly. We used computational models inspired from both accounts to assess which view may provide a better fit of two independent electrophysiological datasets from similar auditory experiments. Evidence from a large sample of 82 human subjects provided a complex picture, with adaptation processes seemingly dominating the early phase of auditory brain response, and Bayesian learning processes appearing later on. Our results converge with other recent works in animals and points to the necessary reconciliation of those two theories for a better understanding of auditory perception and statistical learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential sterilizing effects of the atmospheric cold plasma on the carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was studied under laboratory conditions by means of life history experimentation. The results showed that the population growth parameters of the carob moth decreased in all periods of 15 to 60 sec of plasma treatments applied on 1 –day–old eggs. Overall, 19.5% and 23.8% of reproduced eggs were fertile when the experimental males and females mated with normal moths in indirect treatments of 15 and 30 sec, respectively. The highest intrinsic rate of population increase, r, was in control (0.11 day-1) and the highest decrease in this parameter was in the 30 sec direct treatment (- 0.073 day-1). The results showed that cold plasma had an acceptable potential to sterilize the pest if plasma was applied at egg stage. This potential will be explored from the perspective of insect sterility technique and the genetical / physiological mechanisms involved should be studied in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease hallmarked by aberrant ion transport that results in delayed mucus clearance, chronic infection, and progressive lung function decline. Several animal models have been developed to study the airway anatomy and mucus physiology in CF, but they are costly and difficult to maintain, making them less accessible for many applications. A more available CFTR−/− rat model has been developed and characterized to develop CF airway abnormalities, but consistent dosing of pharmacologic agents and longitudinal evaluation remain a challenge. In this study, we report the development and characterization of a novel ex vivo trachea model that utilizes both wild type (WT) and CFTR−/− rat tracheae cultured on a porcine gelatin matrix. Here we show that the ex vivo tracheae remain viable for weeks, maintain a CF disease phenotype that can be readily quantified, and respond to stimulation of mucus and fluid secretion by cholinergic stimulation. Furthermore, we show that ex vivo tracheae may be used for well-controlled pharmacological treatments, which are difficult to perform on freshly excised trachea or in vivo models with this degree of scrutiny. With improved interrogation possible with a durable trachea, we also established firm evidence of a gland secretion defect in CFTR−/− rat tracheae compared to WT controls. Finally, we demonstrate that the ex vivo tracheae can be used to generate high mucus protein yields for subsequent studies, which are currently limited by in vivo mucus collection techniques. Overall, this study suggests that the ex vivo trachea model is an effective, easy to set up culture model to study airway and mucus physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Toll receptor signaling pathway is an important innate immune response of insects to pathogen infection; its extracellular signal transduction involves serine protease cascade activation. However, excessive or constitutive activation of the Toll pathway can be detrimental. Hence, the balance between activation and inhibition of the extracellular protease cascade must be tightly regulated to achieve favorable outcomes. Previous studies have shown that serpins—serine protease inhibitors—negatively regulate insect innate immunity by inhibiting extracellular protease cascade signaling. Although the roles of serpins in insect innate immunity are well described, the physiological mechanisms underlying their synergistic effects remain poorly understand. Here, we characterize the molecular mechanism by which serpin-1a and serpin-6 synergistically maintain immune homeostasis of the silkworm Toll pathway under physiological and pathological conditions. Through in vitro biochemical assays and in vivo bioassays, we demonstrate that clip-domain serine protease 2 (CLIP2), as the Toll cascade-activating terminal protease, is responsible for processing proSpätzle1 to induce the expression of antimicrobial peptides. Further biochemical and genetic analyses indicate that constitutively expressed serpin-1a and inducible serpin-6 synergistically target CLIP2 to maintain homeostasis of the silkworm Toll pathway under physiological and pathological conditions. Taken together, this study provides new insights into the precise regulation of Toll cascade activation signals in insect innate immune responses and highlights the importance and complexity of insect immune homeostasis regulation. Author summary: Like other invertebrates, insects rely on their innate immune system to respond effectively to immune challenge. The insect Toll signaling pathway mediates resistance to bacterial infections by regulating the expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The Toll pathway-activating signals transduced by the serine protease cascade are regulated by serpin. In this study, we show that CLIP2 functions as an extracellular terminal protease of the domestic silkworm Toll pathway, stimulating the expression of AMPs by processing proSpätzle1 and enhancing the antibacterial activity of hemolymph. Our results indicate that serpin-1a and serpin-6 can form covalent complexes with CLIP2 to inhibit proSpätzle1 cleavage, thereby reducing the expression of gloverin2. Serpin-1a and serpin-6 synergistically target CLIP2 in silkworm hemolymph under physiological or pathological conditions. Moreover, knocking out serpin-1 increases CLIP2 abundance and background expression levels of AMPs in the absence of immune challenge. Meanwhile, immune stimulation after serpin-1 knockout causes compensatory serpin-6 expression, which in turn leads to the expression level of AMPs and resistance to pathogens being close to that of wild-type individuals. In summary, our results reveal the synergistic regulatory mechanism of serpin-1a and serpin-6 in maintaining the immune homeostasis of the Toll pathway in silkworms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atlantic cod is a keystone species that remains among the most economically important demersal fish in the North Atlantic. Throughout its distribution range, Atlantic cod is composed of populations with varying environmental preferences and migratory propensities. This life-history variation is likely to have contributed to the niche width and large population sizes of Atlantic cod, and its relative resilience to environmental change and exploitation. The Icelandic cod stock is currently managed as a single unit, but early research indicates population variation by depth and temperature and distinct offshore and inshore spawning components. Pelagic 0-group juveniles from different spawning grounds coexist in nursery areas around Iceland, but their genetic composition or habitat partitioning had not been examined post benthic settlement. In the current study we examine the genetic composition of Atlantic cod juvenile aggregations at nearshore nursery grounds in NW-Iceland and report distinct segregation by the depth of offshore and inshore juvenile cod. The physiological mechanism of this segregation is not known, but the pattern demonstrates the need to consider population structure at nursery grounds in the application of marine spatial planning and other area-based conservation tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epilepsy is a serious neurological disorder characterised by a tendency to have recurrent, spontaneous, seizures. Classically, seizures are assumed to occur at random. However, recent research has uncovered underlying rhythms both in seizures and in key signatures of epilepsy—so-called interictal epileptiform activity—with timescales that vary from hours and days through to months. Understanding the physiological mechanisms that determine these rhythmic patterns of epileptiform discharges remains an open question. Many people with epilepsy identify precipitants of their seizures, the most common of which include stress, sleep deprivation and fatigue. To quantify the impact of these physiological factors, we analysed 24-hour EEG recordings from a cohort of 107 people with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. We found two subgroups with distinct distributions of epileptiform discharges: one with highest incidence during sleep and the other during day-time. We interrogated these data using a mathematical model that describes the transitions between background and epileptiform activity in large-scale brain networks. This model was extended to include a time-dependent forcing term, where the excitability of nodes within the network could be modulated by other factors. We calibrated this forcing term using independently-collected human cortisol (the primary stress-responsive hormone characterised by circadian and ultradian patterns of secretion) data and sleep-staged EEG from healthy human participants. We found that either the dynamics of cortisol or sleep stage transition, or a combination of both, could explain most of the observed distributions of epileptiform discharges. Our findings provide conceptual evidence for the existence of underlying physiological drivers of rhythms of epileptiform discharges. These findings should motivate future research to explore these mechanisms in carefully designed experiments using animal models or people with epilepsy. Author summary: 65 million people have epilepsy worldwide. Many of these people report specific triggers that make their seizures (the primary symptom of epilepsy) more likely. Here, we use a mathematical model to understand the relationship between possible triggers and rhythms in epileptiform activity observed across the day. The mathematical model describes the activity of connected brain regions, and how the excitability of these regions can change in response to different stimuli. Based on data collected from people with idiopathic generalized epilepsy, we identify transitions between sleep stages and variation in concentration of the stress-hormone cortisol as candidate factors that influence how likely it is for epileptiform activity to occur. By including those factors into the model, we show they can explain most of the daily variability. More broadly, our approach provides a framework for better understanding what factors drive the occurrence of epileptiform activity and offers the potential to suggest experiments that can validate model predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The medfly Ceratitis capitata is one of the most damaging fruit pests with quarantine significance due to its extremely wide host range. The use of entomopathogenic fungi constitutes a promising approach with potential applications in integrated pest management. Furthermore, developing insect control methods can involve the use of fungal machinery to cause metabolic disruption, which may increase its effectiveness by impairing insect development. Insect species, including C. capitata, relies on reproduction potential, nutrient reserves, metabolic activities, and immune response for survival. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of the entomopathogenic fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum on C. capitata pre-mortality. The medfly V8 strain was subjected to laboratory bioassays, which consisted on determining the virulence of P. lilacinum on the medfly. Purpureocillium lilacinum was applied on abdominal topical of 5-day-old males and females. Following the fungal inoculation, we have confirmed (i) a significant increase in tissue sugar content, (ii) a significant decrease in carbohydrase activities, digestive glycosyl hydrolase, and proteinase activities in whole midguts of treated flies, (iii) the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) genes expression profile was significantly influenced by fly gender, fly status (virgin, mature, and mated), and time after infection, but infection itself had no discernible impact on the AMPs for the genes that were examined. This study provides the first insight into how P. lilacinum could affect C. capitata physiological mechanisms and provides the foundation for considering P. lilacinum as a novel, promising biocontrol agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TAIMAN (TAI), the only insect ortholog of mammalian Steroid Receptor Coactivators (SRCs), is a critical modulator of ecdysone and juvenile hormone (JH) signaling pathways, which govern insect development and reproduction. The modulatory effect is mediated by JH-dependent TAI's heterodimerization with JH receptor Methoprene-tolerant and association with the Ecdysone Receptor complex. Insect hormones regulate insect physiology and development in concert with abiotic cues, such as photo- and thermoperiod. Here we tested the effects of JH and ecdysone signaling on the circadian clock by a combination of microsurgical operations, application of hormones and hormone mimics, and gene knockdowns in the linden bug Pyrrhocoris apterus males. Silencing taiman by each of three non-overlapping double-strand RNA fragments dramatically slowed the free-running period (FRP) to 27–29 hours, contrasting to 24 hours in controls. To further corroborate TAIMAN's clock modulatory function in the insect circadian clock, we performed taiman knockdown in the cockroach Blattella germanica. Although Blattella and Pyrrhocoris lineages separated ~380 mya, B. germanica taiman silencing slowed the FRP by more than 2 hours, suggesting a conserved TAI clock function in (at least) some insect groups. Interestingly, the pace of the linden bug circadian clock was neither changed by blocking JH and ecdysone synthesis, by application of the hormones or their mimics nor by the knockdown of corresponding hormone receptors. Our results promote TAI as a new circadian clock modulator, a role described for the first time in insects. We speculate that TAI participation in the clock is congruent with the mammalian SRC-2 role in orchestrating metabolism and circadian rhythms, and that TAI/SRCs might be conserved components of the circadian clock in animals. Author summary: Most living creatures need to synchronize their rhythmic biological functions with the 24-hour day/night cycle of Earth. Instead of pocket watches or cell phones, they use intracellular molecular clocks to anticipate the daily recurring changes. Those circadian clocks are at the genetic level remarkably conserved among mammals and insects. Here, for the first time in insects, we introduce the protein TAIMAN as a new modulator of the circadian clock. The removal of TAIMAN from the adult linden bug Pyrrhocoris apterus or the German cockroach Blattella germanica males slows the clock by 2–4 hours. Circadian clocks often adjust animals' physiology through various hormones and neuropeptides. Insect endocrinology is dominated by the steroid and steroid-like hormones, ecdysone, and juvenile hormone: and TAIMAN is closely engaged in both juvenile hormone and ecdysone receptor signaling. However, the circadian role of TAIMAN presented here modulates the clock in a hormone-independent way. Importantly, TAIMAN is related to the mammalian SRC-2 protein, which is involved in regulating circadian clock machinery in mice. Thus, the novel role we describe for TAIMAN in insects may have a counterpart in mammalian physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conserved transcription factor Myc regulates cell growth, proliferation and apoptosis, and its deregulation has been associated with human pathologies. Although specific miRNAs have been identified as fundamental components of the Myc tumorigenic program, how Myc regulates miRNA biogenesis remains controversial. Here we showed that Myc functions as an important regulator of miRNA biogenesis in Drosophila by influencing both miRNA gene expression and processing. Through the analysis of ChIP-Seq datasets, we discovered that nearly 56% of Drosophila miRNA genes show dMyc binding, exhibiting either the canonical or non-canonical E-box sequences within the peak region. Consistently, reduction of dMyc levels resulted in widespread downregulation of miRNAs gene expression. dMyc also modulates miRNA processing and activity by controlling Drosha and AGO1 levels through direct transcriptional regulation. By using in vivo miRNA activity sensors we demonstrated that dMyc promotes miRNA-mediated silencing in different tissues, including the wing primordium and the fat body. We also showed that dMyc-dependent expression of miR-305 in the fat body modulates Dmp53 levels depending on nutrient availability, having a profound impact on the ability of the organism to respond to nutrient stress. Indeed, dMyc depletion in the fat body resulted in extended survival to nutrient deprivation which was reverted by expression of either miR-305 or a dominant negative version of Dmp53. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized function of dMyc as an important regulator of miRNA biogenesis and suggests that Myc-dependent expression of specific miRNAs may have important tissue-specific functions. Author summary: Myc is a conserved transcription factor that regulates the expression of a large number of genes, and has long been recognized as a major driver of human tumorigenesis. In addition to well-described Myc target genes such as those involved in ribosome biogenesis, Myc is also able to regulate the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs). Both Myc and miRNAs have been shown to influence cell proliferation, and their deregulation has been associated with different human pathologies. Indeed, specific miRNAs have been identified as fundamental components of the Myc tumorigenic program. In this work, we find that Drosophila Myc (dMyc) regulates the expression of a large number of miRNAs through direct transcriptional regulation. We also find that Myc-dependent expression of specific miRNAs may have important tissue-specific functions. Through the regulation of miR305 in the adipose tissue, dMyc maintain low p53 levels under normal conditions. In contrast, under nutrient stress, reduced dMyc levels alleviates miR305-mediated repression of p53. Once activated, p53 promotes metabolic homeostasis and organismal survival to nutrient stress. Given the role of dMyc and miRNAs in human pathologies, our findings will be important in understanding the complex regulatory mechanisms of physiological and pathological responses in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen that leads to significant disease through multiple routes of infection. We recently published a transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) screen in a mouse acute pneumonia model and identified a hypothetical gene (SAUSA300_1902, pgl) with similarity to a lactonase of Escherichia coli involved in the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) that was conditionally essential. Limited studies have investigated the role of the PPP in physiology and pathogenesis of S. aureus. We show here that mutation of pgl significantly impacts ATP levels and respiration. RNA-seq analysis of the pgl mutant and parent strains identified compensatory changes in gene expression for glucose and gluconate as well as reductions in the pyrimidine biosynthesis locus. These differences were also evident through unbiased metabolomics studies and 13C labeling experiments that showed mutation of pgl led to reductions in pyrimidine metabolism including decreases in ribose-5P, UMP and GMP. These nucleotide reductions impacted the amount of extracellular DNA in biofilms and reduced biofilm formation. Mutation also limited the capacity of the strain to resist oxidant damage induced by hydrogen peroxide and paraquat and subsequent intracellular survival inside macrophages. Changes in wall teichoic acid impacted susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide. We demonstrated the importance of these changes on virulence in three different models of infection, covering respiratory, skin and septicemia, demonstrating the need for proper PPP function in all models. This work demonstrates the multifaceted role metabolism can play in multiple aspects of S. aureus pathogenesis. Author summary: Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of a variety of diseases. Due to its propensity to be resistant to antibiotics and the absence of a vaccine, studies to understand its fundamental physiology are important identify potential new avenues for treatment. In this study we investigated the role of one aspect of S. aureus metabolism: the pentose phosphate pathway. We demonstrated that decreased carbon flux through this pathway not only led to disruptions in the ability of the bacteria to generate energy but also influence multiple facets of its ability to cause infection. We confirmed the impact of these changes in multiple models of infection to reflect the varied diseases S. aureus can cause. This work demonstrated that metabolism does not merely impact the energy requirements of bacteria but can impact important functions that play direct roles in the organism's ability to cause disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress has a detrimental effect on animal fertility, particularly testicular functions, including reduced sperm output and quality, which causes an economic loss in the production of rabbits. The present trial investigated the efficacy of dietary Spirulina (SP) (Arthrospira platensis), selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs), and their combination (SP-SeNPs) on semen quality, haemato-biochemical, oxidative stress, immunity, and sperm quality of heat-stressed (HS) rabbit bucks. Sixty mature bucks (APRI line) were distributed into 6 groups of ten replicates under controlled conditions. Bucks in the 1st group (control-NC) were kept under normal conditions (11–22°C; 40–45% RH% = relative humidity), while the 2nd group (control-HS) was kept under heat stress conditions (32±0.50°C; 60–66% RH %). The control groups were fed a commercial pelleted diet and the other four heat-stressed groups were fed a commercial pelleted diet with 1 g SP, 25 mg SeNPs, 1 g SP+25 mg SeNPs, and 1 g SP+50 mg SeNPs per kg diet, respectively. The dietary inclusion of SP, SeNPs, and their combinations significantly increased hemoglobin, platelets, total serum protein, high-density lipoproteins, glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and seminal plasma testosterone while decreased triglycerides, total cholesterol, urea, creatinine, and malondialdehyde compared with the control-HS. Red blood cells, packed cell volume, serum albumin, and testosterone significantly increased, while SeNPs, SP+SeNPs25, and SP+SeNPs50 significantly decreased low-density lipoproteins, aspartate, and alanine amino transferees. Total antioxidant capacity substantially increased in serum and seminal plasma, while seminal plasma malondialdehyde decreased in 25 or 50 mg of SeNPs+SP/kg groups. All supplements significantly improved libido, sperm livability, concentration, intact acrosome, membrane integrity, total output in fresh semen, and sperm quality in cryopreserved semen. SP-SeNPs50 had higher synergistic effect than SP-SeNPs25 on most different variables studied. In conclusion, the dietary inclusion of SP plus SeNPs50 has a synergistic effect and is considered a suitable dietary supplement for improving reproductive efficiency, health, oxidative stress, and immunity of bucks in the breeding strategy under hot climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many animals display innate preferences for some odors, but the physiological mechanisms underlying these preferences are poorly understood. Here, with behavioral tests, we establish a model system well suited to investigating olfactory mechanisms, the locust Schistocerca americana. We conducted open field tests in an arena designed to provide only olfactory cues to guide navigation choices. We found that newly hatched locusts navigated toward, and spent more time near, the odor of wheat grass than humidified air. In similar tests, we found that hatchlings avoided moderate concentrations of major individual components of the food blend odor, 1-hexanol (1% v/v) and hexanal (0.9% v/v) diluted in mineral oil relative to control presentations of unscented mineral oil. Hatchlings were neither attracted nor repelled by a lower concentration (0.1% v/v) of 1-hexanol but were moderately attracted to a low concentration (0.225% v/v) of hexanal. We quantified the behavior of the animals by tracking their positions with the Argos software toolkit. Our results establish that hatchlings have a strong, innate preference for food odor blend, but the valence of the blend's individual components may be different and may change depending on the concentration. Our results provide a useful entry point for an analysis of physiological mechanisms underlying innate sensory preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmembrane channel-like protein 1 (TMC1) is a transmembrane protein forming mechano-electrical transduction (MET) channel, which transduces mechanical stimuli into electrical signals at the top of stereocilia of hair cells in the inner ear. As an unexpected phenomenon, we found that the cytosolic N-terminal (Nt) region of heterologously-expressed mouse TMC1 (mTMC1) was localized in nuclei of a small population of the transfected HEK293 cells. This raised the possibility that the Nt region of heterologously-expressed mTMC1 was cleaved and transported into the nucleus. To confirm the cleavage, we performed western blot analyses. The results revealed that at least a fragment of the Nt region was produced from heterologously-expressed mTMC1. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments identified amino acid residues which were required to produce the fragment. The accumulation of the heterologously-expressed Nt fragment into the nuclei depended on nuclear localization signals within the Nt region. Furthermore, a structural comparison showed a similarity between the Nt region of mTMC1 and basic region leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors. However, transcriptome analyses using a next-generation sequencer showed that the heterologously-expression of the Nt fragment of mTMC1 hardly altered expression levels of genes. Although it is still unknown what is the precise mechanism and the physiological significance of this cleavage, these results showed that the cytosolic Nt region of heterologously-expressed mTMC1 could be cleaved in HEK293 cells. Therefore, it should be taken into account that the cleavage of Nt region might influence the functional analysis of TMC1 by the heterologous-expression system using HEK293 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit color is an important economic character of blueberry, determined by the amount of anthocyanin content. Anthocyanin synthesis within the blueberry fruits is significantly affected by light. To reveal the physiological response mechanism of anthocyanin synthesis in blueberry fruits in different light intensities, four light intensities (100% (CK), 75%, 50% and 25%) were set for the 'O'Neal' southern highbush blueberry as the experimental material in our study. The relationship between endogenous hormones content, associated enzyme activities, and variations with the anthocyanin content in blueberry fruits under various light intensities during the white fruit stage (S1), purple fruit stage (S2), and blue fruit stage (S3) were studied. The results showed that adequate light could significantly promote anthocyanin synthesis in blueberry fruits (P < 0.05). Blueberry fruits had an anthocyanin content that was 1.76~24.13 times higher under 100% light intensity than it was under non-full light intensity. Different light intensities significantly affected the content of endogenous hormones and the activity of associated enzymes in anthocyanin synthesis pathway (P < 0.05). Among them, the JA (jasmonic acid) content and PAL (phenylalanine ammonia lyase) activity of fruits under 100% light intensity were 2.49%~41.83% and 2.47%~48.48% higher than those under other light intensity, respectively. And a significant correlation was found between the variations in anthocyanin content in fruits and the content or activities of JA, ABA (abscisic acid), ETH (ethylene), GA3 (gibberellin 3), IAA (indoleacetic acid), PAL, CHI (chalcone isomerase), DFR (dihydroflavonol reductase) and UFGT (UDP-glucose: flavonoid 3-glucosyltransferase) (P < 0.05). It indicated that 100% light intensity significantly promoted anthocyanin synthesis in blueberry fruits by affecting endogenous hormones content and associated enzyme activities in the anthocyanin synthesis pathway. This study will lay a foundation for further research on the molecular mechanism of light intensity regulating anthocyanin synthesis in blueberry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

XIAP is an endogenous inhibitor of cell death and inactivating mutations of XIAP are responsible for X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP-2) and primary immunodeficiency, but the mechanism(s) behind these contradictory outcomes have been unclear. We report that during infection of macrophages and dendritic cells with various intracellular bacteria, XIAP restricts cell death and secretion of IL-1β but promotes increased activation of NFκB and JNK which results in elevated secretion of IL-6 and IL-10. Poor secretion of IL-6 by Xiap-deficient antigen presenting cells leads to poor expansion of recently activated CD8 T cells during the priming phase of the response. On the other hand, Xiap-deficient CD8 T cells displayed increased proliferation and effector function during the priming phase but underwent enhanced contraction subsequently. Xiap-deficient CD8 T cells underwent skewed differentiation towards short lived effectors which resulted in poor generation of memory. Consequently Xiap-deficient CD8 T cells failed to provide effective control of bacterial infection during re-challenge. These results reveal the temporal impact of XIAP in promoting the fitness of activated CD8 T cells through cell extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms and provide a mechanistic explanation of the phenotype observed in XLP-2 patients. Author summary: Death of host cells is an important physiological mechanism to promote health of an organism, however overt death of host cells can lead to tissue toxicity. X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) is an endogenous inhibitor of cell death that inhibits various enzymes (caspases) that are involved in cell death. In humans, inactivating mutations of XIAP result in X-linked lymphoproliferative disease-2 (XLP-2) which is characterized by a state of lymphoproliferation and immunodeficiency, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. In this report we have tested the role of XIAP in innate and acquired immune response against two intracellular bacteria and show that XIAP promotes the development of acquired immune response through separate effects on the innate and acquired immune system. While XIAP promotes the expression of IL-6 by cells of the innate immune system which promotes the survival of activated T cells, XIAP also inhibits the culling of activated T cells through a cell intrinsic mechanism. These results provide a new insight into the mechanisms that lead to the development of XLP-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is not yet known whether the years after peak height velocity (PHV) are associated with the physiological mechanisms of muscle strength and power in Juniors rowers. Objective: To identify the association between years post PHV (YPPHV) with muscle power and strength in Juniors rowers. Methods: We tested 235 Brazilian rowing athletes (male: 171, female: 64, Juniors category). We measured: power (indoor rowing over 100-m, 500-m, 2,000-m and 6,000-m) and muscle strength (one repetition maximum (1RM) test in squat, deadlift, bench press and bent row on the bench). Biological maturation was index by age of PHV. The sample was divided into groups considering YPPHV recent (2.5 to 3.9), median (2.51 to 4.9) and veteran (>4.9). We use a Baysian approach to data handling. Results: When compared to their peers in the recent and median post PHV groups, the male veteran group were superior in muscle power (Absolute: 100-m (BF10: 2893.85), 500-m (BF10: 553.77) and 6,000-m (BF10: 22.31). Relative: (100-m (BF10: 49.9)) and strength (BF10≥10.0 in squat, bench press and deadlift), and in the female the veteran group were superior in test time (500-m, BF10: 88.4). Conclusion: In elite Juniors rowers the increasing YPPHV are associated with muscle power performance in both sexes and muscle strength performance in males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current agricultural practices facilitate emergence and spread of plant diseases through the wide use of monocultures. Host mixtures are a promising alternative for sustainable plant disease control. Their effectiveness can be partly explained by priming-induced cross-protection among plants. Priming occurs when plants are challenged with non-infective pathogen genotypes, resulting in increased resistance to subsequent infections by infective pathogen genotypes. We developed an epidemiological model to explore how mixing two distinct resistant varieties can reduce disease prevalence. We considered a pathogen population composed of three genotypes infecting either one or both varieties. We found that host mixtures should not contain an equal proportion of resistant plants, but a biased ratio (e.g. 80 : 20) to minimize disease prevalence. Counter-intuitively, the optimal ratio of resistant varieties should contain a lower proportion of the costliest resistance for the pathogen to break. This benefit is amplified by priming. This strategy also prevents the invasion of pathogens breaking all resistances. Author summary: This study addresses the optimal design of mixtures of resistant hosts to reduce disease prevalence, and prevent the emergence and invasion of multi-virulent pathogen genotypes. Specifically, we investigated how pathogen mediated plant-plant interaction, through immune priming of host defences, influences the optimal proportion of each resistant host in such mixtures. We thus designed a mathematical model explicitly accounting for immune priming in mixtures of two resistant plant varieties. We showed, through analysis and simulation, that the optimal ratio is not 50:50, as commonly done in practice, but should be biased towards the variety that is the least costly for the pathogen to break. We also showed that this bias depends on immune priming effectiveness, and is enhanced when virulence costs are high. This somewhat counter-intuitive outcome finds its explanation in the complex interplay of ecological and physiological mechanisms acting in cultivar mixtures, and is of major relevance for the application of mixtures in agricultural practice. This model therefore provides new clues to best manage and exploit plant biodiversity for sustainable plant health. It also provides new insights into how host heterogeneity and immunity can prevent the evolutionary emergence of pathogens capable of breaking several resistances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian funnel-web spiders are iconic species, characterized as being the most venomous spiders in the world. They are also valued for the therapeutics and natural bioinsecticides potentially hidden in their venom molecules. Although numerous biochemical and molecular structural approaches have tried to determine the factors driving venom complexity, these approaches have not considered behaviour, physiology and environmental conditions collectively, which can play a role in the evolution, complexity, and function of venom components in funnel-webs. This study used a novel interdisciplinary approach to understand the relationships between different behaviours (assessed in different ecological contexts) and morphophysiological variables (body condition, heart rate) that may affect venom composition in four species of Australian funnel-web spiders. We tested defensiveness, huddling behaviour, frequency of climbing, and activity for all species in three ecological contexts: i) predation using both indirect (puff of air) and direct (prodding) stimuli; ii) conspecific tolerance; and iii) exploration of a new territory. We also assessed morphophysiological variables and venom composition of all species. For Hadronyche valida, the expression of some venom components was associated with heart rate and defensiveness during the predation context. However, we did not find any associations between behavioural traits and morphophysiological variables in the other species, suggesting that particular associations may be species-specific. When we assessed differences between species, we found that the species separated out based on the venom profiles, while activity and heart rate are likely more affected by individual responses and microhabitat conditions. This study demonstrates how behavioural and morphophysiological traits are correlated with venom composition and contributes to a broader understanding of the function and evolution of venoms in funnel-web spiders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connectivity of coral reef fish populations relies on successful dispersal of a pelagic larval phase. Pelagic larvae must exhibit high swimming abilities to overcome ocean and reef currents, but once settling onto the reef, larvae transition to endure habitats that become hypoxic at night. Therefore, coral reef fish larvae must rapidly and dramatically shift their physiology over a short period of time. Taking an integrative, physiological approach, using swimming respirometry, and examining hypoxia tolerance and transcriptomics, we show that larvae of cinnamon anemonefish (Amphiprion melanopus) rapidly transition between "physiological extremes" at the end of their larval phase. Daily measurements of swimming larval anemonefish over their entire early development show that they initially have very high mass-specific oxygen uptake rates. However, oxygen uptake rates decrease midway through the larval phase. This occurs in conjunction with a switch in haemoglobin gene expression and increased expression of myoglobin, cytoglobin, and neuroglobin, which may all contribute to the observed increase in hypoxia tolerance. Our findings indicate that critical ontogenetic changes in the gene expression of oxygen-binding proteins may underpin the physiological mechanisms needed for successful larval recruitment to reefs. Connectivity of coral reef fish populations relies on successful dispersal of a pelagic larval phase. This study shows that anemonefish larvae exhibit physiological and transcriptomic changes associated with swimming, oxygen uptake and hypoxia tolerance; these changes potentially support dispersal and connectivity among coral reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is well established that secondary bacterial pneumonia plays a significant role in the morbidity and mortality of patients with severe respiratory viral infections, bacteria are not the only threat for these patients. Viral infection "aftershocks" Many of the physiologic and immunologic outcomes in the lung resulting from respiratory viral infection, especially with influenza viruses, are well established as to their role in secondary bacterial infection susceptibility and beginning to be elucidated for secondary fungal infections. I fumigatus i infection in mice post-influenza resulted in increased susceptibility [[21]], but others have not observed this in mice [[22]] or humans [[5], [23]], suggesting further defects in antifungal immunity must exist following viral infection. [Extracted from the article]

Journals can substantially influence the quality of research reports by including responsible reporting practices in their Instructions to Authors. We assessed the extent to which 100 journals in neuroscience and physiology required authors to report methods and results in a rigorous and transparent way. For each journal, Instructions to Authors and any referenced reporting guideline or checklist were downloaded from journal websites. Twenty-two questions were developed to assess how journal Instructions to Authors address fundamental aspects of rigor and transparency in five key reporting areas. Journal Instructions to Authors and all referenced external guidelines and checklists were audited against these 22 questions. Of the full sample of 100 Instructions to Authors, 34 did not reference any external reporting guideline or checklist. Reporting whether clinical trial protocols were pre-registered was required by 49 journals and encouraged by 7 others. Making data publicly available was encouraged by 64 journals; making (processing or statistical) code publicly available was encouraged by ∼30 of the journals. Other responsible reporting practices were mentioned by less than 20 of the journals. Journals can improve the quality of research reports by mandating, or at least encouraging, the responsible reporting practices highlighted here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial genome diversity is influenced by prophages, which are viral genomes integrated into the bacterial chromosome. Most prophage genes are silent but those that are expressed can provide unexpected properties to their host. Using as a model E. coli K-12 that carries 9 defective prophages in its genome, we aimed at highlighting the impact of genes encoded by prophages on host physiology. We focused our work on AppY, a transcriptional regulator encoded on the DLP12 prophage. By performing RNA-Seq experiments, we showed that AppY production modulates the expression of more than 200 genes. Among them, 11 were identified by ChIP-Seq as direct AppY targets. AppY directly and positively regulates several genes involved in the acid stress response including the master regulator gene gadE but also nhaR and gadY, two genes important for biofilm formation. Moreover, AppY indirectly and negatively impacts bacterial motility by favoring the degradation of FlhDC, the master regulator of the flagella biosynthesis. As a consequence of these regulatory effects, AppY increases acid stress resistance and biofilm formation while also causing a strong defect in motility. Our research shed light on the importance to consider the genetic interactions occurring between prophages and bacteria to fully understand bacterial physiology. It also highlights how a prophage-encoded transcriptional regulator integrates in a complex manner into the host regulatory network and how it benefits its host, allowing it to cope with changing environmental conditions. Author summary: Bacteriophages (or phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. Some of them have the ability to integrate their DNA into the bacterial chromosome, leading to the acquisition of new genes for bacteria. When expressed, these genes confer new properties to the host such as better fitness or increased stress resistance. Here, we study the function of AppY, a prophage-encoded transcriptional regulator in Escherichia coli. We found that AppY directly regulates 11 genes in E. coli and more broadly modulates the expression of more than 200 genes. These regulations lead to an increased survival of E. coli when the pH is low but also decrease bacterial motility and favor biofilm formation, a multicellular protective structure for bacteria. Overall, our work shows how a prophage-encoded protein modifies its bacterial host behavior to help coping with adverse conditions. Given the high number of viral genes present in bacteria and eukaryotic organisms, we anticipate a huge regulatory network between viral genes and those of the host, leading to major physiological changes. It is therefore crucial to uncover the new properties brought by viruses to bacterial hosts to combat the ever increasing number of bacteria resistant to many stresses including antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Zinc (Zn) deficiency and source-dependent Zn fertilization to achieve optimum Zn levels in rice and wheat grains remain global concern for human nutrition, especially in developing countries. To-date, little is known about the effectiveness of bioactive Zn-coated urea (BAZU) to enhance the concentration, uptake, and recovery of Zn in relation to agronomic efficiency in paddy and wheat grains. Results: Field experiments were carried out during 2020–21 on the rice-wheat system at Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, and Multan, Punjab, Pakistan using four treatments viz.T1 (Urea 46% N @ 185 kg ha-1 + zero Zn), T2 (Urea 46% N @ 185 kg ha-1 + ZnSO4 33% Zn @ 15 kg ha-1), T3 (BAZU 42% N @ 103 kg ha-1 + Urea 46% N @ 62 kg ha-1 + 1% bioactive Zn @ 1.03 kg ha-1) and T4 (BAZU 42% N @ 125 kg ha-1 + Urea 46% N @ 62 kg ha-1 + 1% bioactive Zn @ 1.25 kg ha-1) in quadruplicate under Randomized Complete Block Design. Paddy yield was increased by 13, 11, 12, and 11% whereas wheat grain yield was enhanced by 12, 11, 11, and 10% under T4 at Multan, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, and Lahore, respectively, compared to T1. Similarly, paddy Zn concentration was increased by 58, 67, 65 and 77% (32.4, 30.7, 31.1, and 34.1 mg kg-1) in rice whereas grain Zn concentration was increased by 90, 87, 96 and 97% (46.2, 43.9, 46.7 and 44.9 mg kg-1) in wheat by the application of BAZU (T4) at Multan, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, and Lahore, respectively, in comparison to T1. Zinc recovery was about 9-fold and 11-fold higher in paddy and wheat grains, respectively, under BAZU (T4) treatment relative to T2 while, the agronomic efficiency was enhanced up to 130% and 141% in rice and wheat respectively as compared to T2. Conclusion: Thus, T4 application at the rate of 125 kg ha-1 could prove effective in enhancing the rice paddy and wheat grain yield along with their Zn biofortification (∼34 mg kg-1 and ∼47 mg kg-1, respectively) through increased agronomic and Zn recovery efficiencies, the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms of which can be further explored in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Elderly and sedentary individuals are particularly vulnerable to heat related illness. Short-term heat acclimation (STHA) can decrease both the physical and mental stress imposed on individuals performing tasks in the heat. However, the feasibility and efficacy of STHA protocols in an older population remains unclear despite this population being particularly vulnerable to heat illness. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of STHA protocols (≤twelve days, ≥four days) undertaken by participants over fifty years of age. Methods: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, APA PsycInfo, and SPORTDiscus were searched for peer reviewed articles. The search terms were; (heat* or therm*) N3 (adapt* or acclimati*) AND old* or elder* or senior* or geriatric* or aging or ageing. Only studies using primary empirical data and which included participants ≥50 years of age were eligible. Extracted data includes participant demographics (sample size, gender, age, height, weight, BMI and V.O2max), acclimation protocol details (acclimation activity, frequency, duration and outcome measures taken) and feasibility and efficacy outcomes. Results: Twelve eligible studies were included in the systematic review. A total of 179 participants took part in experimentation, 96 of which were over 50 years old. Age ranged from 50 to 76. All twelve of the studies involved exercise on a cycle ergometer. Ten out of twelve protocols used a percentage of V.O2max or V.O2peak to determine the target workload, which ranged from 30% to 70%. One study-controlled workload at 6METs and one implemented an incremental cycling protocol until Tre was reached +0.9°C. Ten studies used an environmental chamber. One study compared hot water immersion (HWI) to an environmental chamber while the remaining study used a hot water perfused suit. Eight studies reported a decrease in core temperature following STHA. Five studies demonstrated post-exercise changes in sweat rates and four studies showed decreases in mean skin temperature. The differences reported in physiological markers suggest that STHA is viable in an older population. Conclusion: There remains limited data on STHA in the elderly. However, the twelve studies examined suggest that STHA is feasible and efficacious in elderly individuals and may provide preventative protection to heat exposures. Current STHA protocols require specialised equipment and do not cater for individuals unable to exercise. Passive HWI may provide a pragmatic and affordable solution, however further information in this area is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]