The 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) plays a crucial role in determining mRNA stability, localisation, translation and degradation. Cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE), a method for the detection of capped 5' ends of mRNAs, additionally reveals a large number of apparently 5' capped RNAs derived from locations within the body of the transcript, including 3'UTRs. Here, we provide direct evidence that these 3'UTR-derived RNAs are indeed capped and widespread in mammalian cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Ecol Evol
November 2024
Habitat fragmentation is a major threat to biodiversity, but existing literature largely ignores naturally patchy ecosystems in favor of forests, where deforestation creates spatially distinct fragments. Here, we use savannas to highlight the problems with applying forest fragmentation principles to spatially patchy ecosystems. Identifying fragmentation using landscape functionality, specifically connectivity, enables better understanding of ecosystem dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScavenging is a key process for the cycling of nutrients in ecosystems, yet it is still neglected in the ecological literature. Apart from the importance of specific groups of animals in scavenging, there have been few ecological studies that compare them. Furthermore, the ecological studies on scavenging have mainly focused on vertebrates despite the crucial importance of invertebrates in this process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFunctional redundancy, the potential for the functional role of one species to be fulfilled by another, is a key determinant of ecosystem viability. Scavenging transfers huge amount of energy through ecosystems and is, therefore, crucial for ecosystem viability and healthy ecosystem functioning. Despite this, relatively few studies have examined functional redundancy in scavenger communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcross Africa, vast areas of nonforest are threatened by inappropriate restoration in the form of tree planting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci
September 2023
Here, we combined the use of 2 technologies that have not previously been used together-a positively pressurized isolator IVC (IsoIVC-P) and a modular isolator with integrated vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) technology???to develop highly tractable and scalable methods to support long-term maintenance of germfree mouse colonies and the concurrent use of germfree and gnotobiotic mice in the same room. This space-efficient system increases the practicality of microbiome studies. Specifically, the exterior surfaces of microbially similar IsoIVC-P were sterilized by using VHP prior to opening the cages and handling the mice therein.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals are integrated into the wider ecosystem via their foraging and behavior. The compensation hypothesis predicts that animals target their foraging efforts (i) toward nutrients that are scarce in the environment and (ii) toward nutrients that are not present in the usual diet of species, which varies across trophic levels. Understanding how foraging for resources varies locally, such as across habitat strata, and trophic levels will help to elucidate the links between the local environment and communities to the ecological functions that animals mediate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWithin the scope of the FANTOM6 consortium, we perform a large-scale knockdown of 200 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and systematically characterize their roles in self-renewal and pluripotency. We find 36 lncRNAs (18%) exhibiting cell growth inhibition. From the knockdown of 123 lncRNAs with transcriptome profiling, 36 lncRNAs (29.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany companies have made zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) to reduce carbon emissions and biodiversity losses linked to tropical commodities. However, ZDCs conserve areas primarily based on tree cover and aboveground carbon, potentially leading to the unintended consequence that agricultural expansion could be encouraged in biomes outside tropical rainforest, which also support important biodiversity. We examine locations suitable for zero-deforestation expansion of commercial oil palm, which is increasingly expanding outside the tropical rainforest biome, by generating empirical models of global suitability for rainfed and irrigated oil palm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeadwood is a large global carbon store with its store size partially determined by biotic decay. Microbial wood decay rates are known to respond to changing temperature and precipitation. Termites are also important decomposers in the tropics but are less well studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcological niche differences are necessary for stable species coexistence but are often difficult to discern. Models of dietary niche differentiation in large mammalian herbivores invoke the quality, quantity, and spatiotemporal distribution of plant tissues and growth forms but are agnostic toward food plant species identity. Empirical support for these models is variable, suggesting that additional mechanisms of resource partitioning may be important in sustaining large-herbivore diversity in African savannas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence shows poor adherence to strategies for reducing morbidity and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving mechanical ventilation globally. Best practice management relies on training all members of the interprofessional ICU team, each with complementary roles in patient management.
Objectives: To develop and evaluate a novel two-phase, train-the-trainer, interprofessional and multicultural "Best Practice Management of the Ventilated ICU Patient" multimodality, simulation-enhanced curriculum for Thai education leaders in critical care.
Invertebrates constitute the majority of animal species and are critical for ecosystem functioning and services. Nonetheless, global invertebrate biodiversity patterns and their congruences with vertebrates remain largely unknown. We resolve the first high-resolution (~20-km) global diversity map for a major invertebrate clade, ants, using biodiversity informatics, range modeling, and machine learning to synthesize existing knowledge and predict the distribution of undiscovered diversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-allelic recombination between homologous repetitive elements contributes to evolution and human genetic disorders. Here, we combine short- and long-DNA read sequencing of repeat elements with a new bioinformatics pipeline to show that somatic recombination of Alu and L1 elements is widespread in the human genome. Our analysis uncovers tissue-specific non-allelic homologous recombination hallmarks; moreover, we find that centromeres and cancer-associated genes are enriched for retroelements that may act as recombination hotspots.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth consequences that persist beyond the acute infection phase of COVID-19, termed post-COVID-19 condition (also commonly known as long COVID), vary widely and represent a growing global health challenge. Research on post-COVID-19 condition is expanding but, at present, no agreement exists on the health outcomes that should be measured in people living with the condition. To address this gap, we conducted an international consensus study, which included a comprehensive literature review and classification of outcomes for post-COVID-19 condition that informed a two-round online modified Delphi process followed by an online consensus meeting to finalise the core outcome set (COS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnts (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusocial and colonial organisms-their lifecycle is built on the labor of sterile worker ants who support a small number of reproductive individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe most diverse and abundant family of termites, the Termitidae, evolved in African tropical forests. They have since colonised grassy biomes such as savannas. These open environments have more extreme conditions than tropical forests, notably wider extremes of temperature and lower precipitation levels and greater temporal fluctuations (of both annual and diurnal variation).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground The Zwolle Risk Score was designed to identify the risk of complications in patients with ST-segment‒elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Its utility following PCI in STEMI treated with thrombolysis is unknown. The objective was to evaluate the safety of using the Zwolle Risk Score to triage patients with STEMI following PCI, including patients receiving thrombolysis.
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