UnidecNMR: automatic peak detection for NMR spectra in 1-4 dimensions.

To extract information from NMR experiments, users need to identify the number of resonances in the spectrum, together with characteristic features such as chemical shifts and intensities. In many applications, particularly those involving biomolecules, this procedure is typically a manual and laborious process. While many algorithms are available to tackle this problem, their performance tends to be inferior to that of an experienced user.

Correction: 400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

EUPRO - A reference database on project-based R&D collaboration networks.

The EUPRO database enables the analysis of participation patterns of organisations in and across different European R&D funding initiatives and the investigation of resulting collaborative R&D network structures and dynamics. The perimeter of EUPRO is currently more than 600,000 R&D projects funded by European (EU, transnational or national) research funding organisations, comprising systematic information about contents of the R&D projects, their participating organizations (including organisation type and location), and a number of additional characteristics (e.g.

Stringent Response of Cyanobacteria and Other Bacterioplankton during Different Stages of a Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom.

We conducted a field study to investigate the role of stringent response in cyanobacteria and coexisting bacterioplankton during nutrient-deprived periods at various stages of bloom in a freshwater lake (Utah Lake) for the first time. Using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics analyses, we examined the cyanobacterial ecology and expression of important functional genes related to stringent response, N and P metabolism, and regulation. Our findings mark a significant advancement in understanding the mechanisms by which toxic cyanobacteria survive and proliferate during nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitations.

400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States.

One of the core tenets of a well-functioning representative democracy is that the people who vote to elect government officials are representative of the public. Here we reinforce the idea that reality is far from this lofty ideal. We document the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded.

Interpretation and reporting of mixed DNA profiles by seven forensic laboratories in the UK and Ireland.

In 2014, the UK Forensic Science Regulator (FSR) commissioned a collaborative trial to assess the methods used by forensic service providers (FSPs) in the UK and Ireland for analysis, interpretation and reporting of mixed DNA profiles. Five different mixed samples of varying complexity with supporting mock case circumstances were tested using SGMPlus™ and the newly introduced DNA-17(+) multiplexes and reported by participating laboratories. The results demonstrated a high degree of consistency in analytical methods and allele designations, but some variation in the statistical evaluation and reporting of results.

Disabling de novo DNA methylation in embryonic stem cells allows an illegitimate fate trajectory.

Genome remethylation is essential for mammalian development but specific reasons are unclear. Here we examined embryonic stem (ES) cell fate in the absence of de novo DNA methyltransferases. We observed that ES cells deficient for both and are rapidly eliminated from chimeras.

Genome-wide methylation data improves dissection of the effect of smoking on body mass index.

Variation in obesity-related traits has a genetic basis with heritabilities between 40 and 70%. While the global obesity pandemic is usually associated with environmental changes related to lifestyle and socioeconomic changes, most genetic studies do not include all relevant environmental covariates, so the genetic contribution to variation in obesity-related traits cannot be accurately assessed. Some studies have described interactions between a few individual genes linked to obesity and environmental variables but there is no agreement on their total contribution to differences between individuals.

Capture of Mouse and Human Stem Cells with Features of Formative Pluripotency.

Pluripotent cells emerge as a naive founder population in the blastocyst, acquire capacity for germline and soma formation, and then undergo lineage priming. Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast-derived stem cells (EpiSCs) represent the initial naive and final primed phases of pluripotency, respectively. Here, we investigate the intermediate formative stage.

Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Support Acute Myeloid Leukemia Bioenergetics and Enhance Antioxidant Defense and Escape from Chemotherapy.

Like normal hematopoietic stem cells, leukemic stem cells depend on their bone marrow (BM) microenvironment for survival, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. We have studied the contribution of nestin BM mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) to MLL-AF9-driven acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development and chemoresistance in vivo. Unlike bulk stroma, nestin BMSC numbers are not reduced in AML, but their function changes to support AML cells, at the expense of non-mutated hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).

The participatory and partisan impacts of mandatory vote-by-mail.

Recently, mandatory vote-by-mail has received a great deal of attention as a means of administering elections in the United States. However, policy-makers disagree on the merits of this approach. Many of these debates hinge on whether mandatory vote-by-mail advantages one political party over the other.

Cyanotoxin impact on microbial-mediated nitrogen transformations at the interface of sediment-water column in surface water bodies.

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms produce lethal toxins in many aquatic ecosystems experiencing eutrophication. This manuscript presents results on the effects of cyanotoxins on the aerobic microbial communities residing at the interface of sediments and water columns with the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) as the model microbial community. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), a heavily researched cyanotoxin variant, was used as the model cyanotoxin.

Dredging activity and associated sound have negligible effects on adult Atlantic sturgeon migration to spawning habitat in a large coastal river.

Dredging is considered a major threat/impedance to anadromous fish migrating to spawning habitat. Due to the perceived threat caused by dredging, environmental windows that restrict dredge operations are enforced within many rivers along the east coast. However, it is generally unknown how anadromous fish react to encountering an active dredge during spawning migrations.

The Nucleosome Remodelling and Deacetylation complex suppresses transcriptional noise during lineage commitment.

Multiprotein chromatin remodelling complexes show remarkable conservation of function amongst metazoans, even though components present in invertebrates are often found as multiple paralogous proteins in vertebrate complexes. In some cases, these paralogues specify distinct biochemical and/or functional activities in vertebrate cells. Here, we set out to define the biochemical and functional diversity encoded by one such group of proteins within the mammalian Nucleosome Remodelling and Deacetylation (NuRD) complex: Mta1, Mta2 and Mta3.

High-throughput DNA sequencing reveals the dominance of pico- and other filamentous cyanobacteria in an urban freshwater Lake.

The current study presents findings related to algal blooms in a fresh water lake, which has been experiencing severe cyanobacterial blooms (CyanoHABs). Primarily, picocyanobacteria belonging to the genus Synechococcus and filamentous cyanobacterial group belonging to Aphanizomenon and Dolichospermum dominated top water column during non-bloom and bloom periods respectively. The dominance of Synechococcus in early summer informs that blooming in Utah Lake starts in early summer and then later is taken over by other bloom-forming cyanobacteria, such as species belonging to the genus Aphanizomenon.

Determination of an optimally sensitive and specific chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI quantification metric in relevant biological phantoms.

The purpose of this study was to develop realistic phantom models of the intracellular environment of metastatic breast tumour and naïve brain, and using these models determine an analysis metric for quantification of CEST MRI data that is sensitive to only labile proton exchange rate and concentration. The ability of the optimal metric to quantify pH differences in the phantoms was also evaluated. Novel phantom models were produced, by adding perchloric acid extracts of either metastatic mouse breast carcinoma cells or healthy mouse brain to bovine serum albumin.

Metabolic flux prediction in cancer cells with altered substrate uptake.

Proliferating cells, such as cancer cells, are known to have an unusual metabolism, characterized by an increased rate of glycolysis and amino acid metabolism. Our understanding of this phenomenon is limited but could potentially be used in order to develop new therapies. Computational modelling techniques, such as flux balance analysis (FBA), have been used to predict fluxes in various cell types, but remain of limited use to explain the unusual metabolic shifts and altered substrate uptake in human cancer cells.

China's landscape in oncology drug research: perspectives from research collaboration networks.

Objective: Better understanding of China's landscape in oncology drug research is of great significance for discovering anti-cancer drugs in future. This article differs from previous studies by focusing on Chinese oncology drug research communities in co-publication networks at the institutional level. Moreover, this research aims to explore structures and behaviors of relevant research units by thematic community analysis and to address policy recommendations.

Improved crystallization and diffraction of caffeine-induced death suppressor protein 1 (Cid1).

The post-transcriptional addition of uridines to the 3'-end of RNAs is an important regulatory process that is critical for coding and noncoding RNA stability. In fission yeast and metazoans this untemplated 3'-uridylylation is catalysed by a single family of terminal uridylyltransferases (TUTs) whose members are adapted to specific RNA targets. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe the TUT Cid1 is responsible for the uridylylation of polyadenylated mRNAs, targeting them for destruction.

Perceptions of business skill development by graduates of the University of Michigan Dental School.

Many graduating dentists leave dental school feeling that they are not prepared to start and run a dental practice. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the knowledge and perceptions dental graduates have in the area of practice management. A twenty-item survey was mailed in the fall of 2008 to nearly half of the University of Michigan dental school alumni who had graduated between the years of 1997 and 2007.

Detecting network communities by propagating labels under constraints.

We investigate the recently proposed label-propagation algorithm (LPA) for identifying network communities. We reformulate the LPA as an equivalent optimization problem, giving an objective function whose maxima correspond to community solutions. By considering properties of the objective function, we identify conceptual and practical drawbacks of the label-propagation approach, most importantly the disparity between increasing the value of the objective function and improving the quality of communities found.

Modularity and community detection in bipartite networks.

The modularity of a network quantifies the extent, relative to a null model network, to which vertices cluster into community groups. We define a null model appropriate for bipartite networks, and use it to define a bipartite modularity. The bipartite modularity is presented in terms of a modularity matrix B; some key properties of the eigenspectrum of B are identified and used to describe an algorithm for identifying modules in bipartite networks.

Multiple thresholds in a model system of noisy ion channels.

Voltage-activated ion channels vary randomly between open and closed states, influenced by the membrane potential and other factors. Signal transduction is enhanced by noise in a simple ion channel model. The enhancement occurs in a finite range of signals; the range can be extended using populations of channels.

Expression and characterization of a functional canine variant of cytochrome b5 reductase.

Cytochrome b5 reductase (cb5r), a member of the flavoprotein transhydrogenase family of oxidoreductase enzymes, catalyzes the transfer of reducing equivalents from the physiological electron donor, NADH, to two molecules of cytochrome b5. We have determined the correct nucleotide sequence for the putative full-length, membrane-associated enzyme from Canis familiaris, and have generated a heterologous expression system for production of a histidine-tagged variant of the soluble, catalytic diaphorase domain, comprising residues I33 to F300. Using a simple two-step chromatographic procedure, the recombinant diaphorase domain has been purified to homogeneity and demonstrated to be a simple flavoprotein with a molecular mass of 31,364 (m/z) that retained both NADH:ferricyanide reductase and NADH:cytochrome b5 reductase activities.