MIBiG 4.0: advancing biosynthetic gene cluster curation through global collaboration.

Specialized or secondary metabolites are small molecules of biological origin, often showing potent biological activities with applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine. Usually, the biosynthesis of these natural products is governed by sets of co-regulated and physically clustered genes known as biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). To share information about BGCs in a standardized and machine-readable way, the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) data standard and repository was initiated in 2015.

Shifting institutional culture to develop climate solutions with Open Science.

To address our climate emergency, "we must rapidly, radically reshape society"-Johnson & Wilkinson, All We Can Save. In science, reshaping requires formidable technical (cloud, coding, reproducibility) and cultural shifts (mindsets, hybrid collaboration, inclusion). We are a group of cross-government and academic scientists that are exploring better ways of working and not being too entrenched in our bureaucracies to do better science, support colleagues, and change the culture at our organizations.

Scintillation light detection in the 6-m drift-length ProtoDUNE Dual Phase liquid argon TPC.

DUNE is a dual-site experiment for long-baseline neutrino oscillation studies, neutrino astrophysics and nucleon decay searches. ProtoDUNE Dual Phase (DP) is a 6   6   6 m liquid argon time-projection-chamber (LArTPC) that recorded cosmic-muon data at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2019-2020 as a prototype of the DUNE Far Detector. Charged particles propagating through the LArTPC produce ionization and scintillation light.

A web-survey assessed attitudes toward evidence-based practice among psychotherapists in Austria.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) means integrating the best available scientific evidence with clinical experience and patient values. Although perceived as important by many psychotherapists, there still seems to be reluctance to use empirically supported therapies in clinical practice. We aimed to assess the attitudes of psychotherapists in Austria toward EBP in psychotherapy as well as factors influencing the implementation of EBP.

Noise resistant synchronization and collective rhythm switching in a model of animal group locomotion.

Biology is suffused with rhythmic behaviour, and interacting biological oscillators often synchronize their rhythms with one another. Colonies of some ant species are able to synchronize their activity to fall into coherent bursts, but models of this phenomenon have neglected the potential effects of intrinsic noise and interspecific differences in individual-level behaviour. We investigated the individual and collective activity patterns of two ant species.

The Effects of Autologous Fat Transfer in an In Vitro Model of Basal Joint Osteoarthritis.

Purpose: Basal joint osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent and debilitating condition. Recent clinical evidence suggests that autologous fat transfer (AFT) may be a promising, minimally invasive treatment for this condition. However, the mechanism of action is not fully understood.

Identification of coagulation factor IX variants with enhanced activity through ancestral sequence reconstruction.

Orthologous proteins contain sequence disparity guided by natural selection. In certain cases, species-specific protein functionality predicts pharmacological enhancement, such as greater specific activity or stability. However, immunological barriers generally preclude use of nonhuman proteins as therapeutics, and difficulty exists in the identification of individual sequence determinants among the overall sequence disparity.

Sources of intraspecific variation in the collective tempo and synchrony of ant societies.

Populations of independently oscillating agents can sometimes synchronize. In the context of animal societies, conspicuous synchronization of activity is known in some social insects. However, the causes of variation in synchrony within and between species have received little attention.

Colony size and initial conditions combine to shape colony reunification dynamics.

Group cohesion and collective decision-making are important for many social animals, like social insects, whose societies depend on the coordinated action of individuals to complete collective tasks. A useful model for understanding collective, consensus-driven decision-making is the fluid nest selection dynamics of ant colonies. Certain ant species oscillate between occupying multiple nests simultaneously (polydomy) and reuniting at a single location (monodomy), but little is known about how colonies achieve a consensus around these dynamics.

Vascular Function and Serum Lipids in Women with Spontaneous Preterm Delivery and Term Controls.

Spontaneous preterm delivery (sPTD) is associated with a twofold increased risk of future maternal cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that women with sPTD would demonstrate greater vascular dysfunction postpartum compared to women with term delivery. In a case-controlled, matched pilot study, we enrolled 20 women with sPTD (gestation ≤34 weeks), and 20 term control women (gestation ≥39 weeks) were matched for age (±5 years), parity, ethnicity, and route of delivery.

Collective behavior and colony persistence of social spiders depends on their physical environment.

The physical environment occupied by group-living animals can profoundly affect their cooperative social interactions and therefore their collective behavior and success. These effects can be especially apparent in human-modified habitats, which often harbor substantial variation in the physical environments available within them. For nest-building animal societies, this influence of the physical environment on collective behavior can be mediated by the construction of nests-nests could either buffer animal behavior from changes in the physical environment or facilitate shifts in behavior through changes in nest structure.

Habitat structure changes the relationships between predator behavior, prey behavior, and prey survival rates.

The individual behavioral traits of predators and prey sometimes determine the outcome of their interactions. Here, we examine whether changes to habitat complexity alter the effects of predator and prey behavior on their survival rates. Specifically, we test whether behavioral traits (activity level, boldness, and perch height) measured in predators and prey or multivariate behavioral volumes best predict the survival rates of both trophic levels in staged mesocosms with contrasting structural complexity.

Social tipping points in animal societies.

Animal social groups are complex systems that are likely to exhibit tipping points-which are defined as drastic shifts in the dynamics of systems that arise from small changes in environmental conditions-yet this concept has not been carefully applied to these systems. Here, we summarize the concepts behind tipping points and describe instances in which they are likely to occur in animal societies. We also offer ways in which the study of social tipping points can open up new lines of inquiry in behavioural ecology and generate novel questions, methods, and approaches in animal behaviour and other fields, including community and ecosystem ecology.

Social tipping points in animal societies in response to heat stress.

Living systems sometimes experience abrupt tipping points in response to stress. Here we investigate the factors contributing to the appearance of such abrupt state transitions in animal societies. We first construct a mathematical account of how the personality compositions of societies could alter their propensity to shift from calm to violent states in response to thermal stress.

Electrocardiographic Correlates of Acute Allograft Rejection Among Heart Transplant Recipients.

Background: Acute allograft rejection appears to be associated with increases in QT/QTc intervals.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between acute allograft rejection and electrocardiogram changes in patients undergoing an orthotopic heart transplant.

Methods: The study population comprised 220 adult patients undergoing heart transplant and enrolled in the NEW HEART study.

Congruence of the Medical Record and Subject Interview on Time of Symptom Onset in Patients Diagnosed With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Past research has shown discrepancies between the time of symptom onset for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) as documented in the medical record (MR) and patients' recall of the time assessed through subject interviews done later by researchers.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine if there were differences between the time of symptom onset documented in the MR and subject interview taking into consideration sex, age group, and recall period for patients admitted to the emergency department for symptoms suggestive of ACS.

Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the PROMOTION (Patient Response to Myocardial Infarction Following a Teaching Intervention Offered by Nurses) trial, a multicenter randomized clinical trial to reduce patient prehospital delay to treatment in ACS.

Electrocardiographic abnormalities in the first year after heart transplantation.

Study Aim: Describe ECG abnormalities in the first year following transplant surgery.

Methods: Analysis of 12-lead ECGs from heart transplant subjects enrolled in an ongoing multicenter clinical trial.

Results: 585 ECGs from 98 subjects showed few with abnormal cardiac rhythm (99% of ECGs were sinus rhythm/tachycardia).