A robotic falcon induces similar collective escape responses in different bird species.

Patterns of collective escape of a bird flock from a predator are fascinating, but difficult to study under natural conditions because neither prey nor predator is under experimental control. We resolved this problem by using an artificial predator (RobotFalcon) resembling a peregrine falcon in morphology and behaviour. We imitated hunts by chasing flocks of corvids, gulls, starlings and lapwings with the RobotFalcon, and compared their patterns of collective escape to those when chased by a conventional drone and, in case of starlings, hunted by wild peregrine falcons.

Evaluation of Hydrogen Gettering Rates Correlated to Surface Composition and Texture of Nickel-Plated Zircaloy Getters of Different Heat Treatment Procedures.

Coatings of metal specimens are known to have an impact on hydrogen gettering (hydrogen absorption). The coating can have one or more functions, such as enhancing gettering, preventing gettering and/or preventing oxidation of the metal substrate. It is known that contaminants and surface texture can impact hydrogen gettering/absorption performance, but has not previously been thoroughly explored.

Deterrence of birds with an artificial predator, the RobotFalcon.

Collisions between birds and airplanes can damage aircrafts, resulting in delays and cancellation of flights, costing the international civil aviation industry more than 1.4 billion US dollars annually. Driving away birds is therefore crucial, but the effectiveness of current deterrence methods is limited.

Absence of "selfish herd" dynamics in bird flocks under threat.

The "selfish herd" hypothesis provides a potential mechanism to explain a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature: that of non-kin aggregations. Individuals in selfish herds are thought to benefit by reducing their own risk at the expense of conspecifics by attracting toward their neighbors' positions or central locations in the aggregation. Alternatively, increased alignment with their neighbors' orientation could reduce the chance of predation through information sharing or collective escape.

Complex patterns of collective escape in starling flocks under predation.

Abstract: Collective behaviour of animals has been a main focus of recent research, yet few empirical studies deal with this issue in the context of predation, a major driver of social complexity in many animal species. When starling () flocks are under attack by a raptor, such as a peregrine falcon (), they show a great diversity of patterns of collective escape. The corresponding structural complexity concerns rapid variation in density and shape of the flock over time.

The Opportunistic Pathogen Produces Outer Membrane Vesicles in a Spatially Distinct Manner Related to Capsular Polysaccharide.

, a bacterial species that inhabits brackish waters, is an opportunistic pathogen of humans. infections can cause acute gastroenteritis, invasive septicemia, tissue necrosis, and potentially death. Virulence factors associated with include the capsular polysaccharide (CPS), lipopolysaccharide, flagellum, pili, and outer membrane vesicles (OMVs).

Correlated fluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron tomography of virus-infected or transfected mammalian cells.

Correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) combines spatiotemporal information from fluorescence light microscopy (fLM) with high-resolution structural data from cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). These technologies provide opportunities to bridge knowledge gaps between cell and structural biology. Here we describe our protocol for correlated cryo-fLM, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and cryo-ET (i.

Reprint of: Preclinical characterization of DUOC-01, a cell therapy product derived from banked umbilical cord blood for use as an adjuvant to umbilical cord blood transplantation for treatment of inherited metabolic diseases.

Background Aims: Cord blood (CB) transplantation slows neurodegeneration during certain inherited metabolic diseases. However, the number of donor cells in the brain of patients does not appear to be sufficient to provide benefit until several months after transplant. We developed the cell product DUOC-01 to provide therapeutic effects in the early post-transplant period.

Preclinical characterization of DUOC-01, a cell therapy product derived from banked umbilical cord blood for use as an adjuvant to umbilical cord blood transplantation for treatment of inherited metabolic diseases.

Background Aims: Cord blood (CB) transplantation slows neurodegeneration during certain inherited metabolic diseases. However, the number of donor cells in the brain of patients does not appear to be sufficient to provide benefit until several months after transplant. We developed the cell product DUOC-01 to provide therapeutic effects in the early post-transplant period.

Enhancement of synthetic Trichoderma-based enzyme mixtures for biomass conversion with an alternative family 5 glycosyl hydrolase from Sporotrichum thermophile.

Enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic materials to fermentable sugars is a limiting step in the production of biofuels from biomass. We show here that combining enzymes from different microbial sources is one way to identify superior enzymes. Extracts of the thermophilic fungus Sporotrichum thermophile (synonym Myceliophthora thermophila) gave synergistic release of glucose (Glc) and xylose (Xyl) from pretreated corn stover when combined with an 8-component synthetic cocktail of enzymes from Trichoderma reesei.

Development of a pyrG mutant of Aspergillus oryzae strain S1 as a host for the production of heterologous proteins.

The ease with which auxotrophic strains and genes that complement them can be manipulated, as well as the stability of auxotrophic selection systems, are amongst the advantages of using auxotrophic markers to produce heterologous proteins. Most auxotrophic markers in Aspergillus oryzae originate from chemical or physical mutagenesis that may yield undesirable mutations along with the mutation of interest. An auxotrophic A.

Cloning and enzymatic characterization of four thermostable fungal endo-1,4-β-xylanases.

Endo-1,4-β-xylanases (EC 3.2.1.

Expression of a library of fungal β-glucosidases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the development of a biomass fermenting strain.

Converting cellulosic biomass to ethanol involves the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and the fermentation of the resulting glucose. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is naturally ethanologenic, but lacks the enzymes necessary to degrade cellulose to glucose. Towards the goal of engineering S.

Synthetic biosystems for the production of high-value plant metabolites.

Plants display an immense diversity of specialized metabolites, many of which have been important to humanity as medicines, flavors, fragrances, pigments, insecticides and other fine chemicals. Apparently, much of the variation in plant specialized metabolism evolved through events of gene duplications followed by neo- or sub-functionalization. Most of the catalytic diversity of plant enzymes is unexplored since previous biochemical and genomics efforts have focused on a relatively small number of species.

Comparative genomic analysis of the thermophilic biomass-degrading fungi Myceliophthora thermophila and Thielavia terrestris.

Thermostable enzymes and thermophilic cell factories may afford economic advantages in the production of many chemicals and biomass-based fuels. Here we describe and compare the genomes of two thermophilic fungi, Myceliophthora thermophila and Thielavia terrestris. To our knowledge, these genomes are the first described for thermophilic eukaryotes and the first complete telomere-to-telomere genomes for filamentous fungi.

Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of n.c.a. iodoquine: a novel radiotracer with high uptake in cells with high ALDH1 expression.

Purpose: Chloroquine has demonstrated high affinity for aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1), an enzyme expressed in the highly tumorigenic CD133+ brain tumor initiating subpopulation. The purpose of this study is to report the novel synthesis of a chloroquine analogue, n.c.

Increased numbers of total nucleated and CD34+ cells in blood group O cord blood: an analysis of neonatal innate factors in the Korean population.

Background: We analyzed neonatal factors that could affect hematopoietic variables of cord blood (CB) donated from Korean neonates.

Study Design And Methods: The numbers of total nucleated cells (TNCs), CD34+ cells, and CD34+ cells/TNCs of CB in neonates were compared according to sex, gestational age, birth weight, birth weight centile for gestational age, and ABO blood group.

Results: With 11,098 CB units analyzed, blood group O CB showed an increased number of TNCs, CD34+ cells, and CD34+ cells/TNCs compared with other blood groups.

Recombinant expression, activity screening and functional characterization identifies three novel endo-1,4-β-glucanases that efficiently hydrolyse cellulosic substrates.

The hydrolysis of cellulose into fermentable sugars is a costly and rate-limiting step in the production of biofuels from renewable feedstocks. Developing new cellulase systems capable of increased cellulose hydrolysis rates would reduce biofuel production costs. With this in mind, we screened 55 fungal endoglucanases for their abilities to be expressed at high levels by Aspergillus niger and to hydrolyze amorphous cellulose at rates significantly greater than that obtained with TrCel5A, one of the major endoglucanases in the Trichoderma reesei cellulase system.

Feasibility of low-dose interleukin-2 therapy following T-cell-depleted nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from HLA-matched or -mismatched family member donors.

Introduction: High relapse rates and infections remain primary causes of failure in nonmyeloablative transplantation. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) may stimulate the immune system and improve outcomes. The primary objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of administering IL-2 following a T-cell-depleted nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Progenitor cell dose determines the pace and completeness of engraftment in a xenograft model for cord blood transplantation.

Two critical concerns in clinical cord blood transplantation are the initial time to engraftment and the subsequent restoration of immune function. These studies measured the impact of progenitor cell dose on both the pace and strength of hematopoietic reconstitution by transplanting nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency/interleukin-2 receptor-gamma-null (NSγ) mice with lineage-depleted aldehyde dehydrogenase-bright CD34(+) human cord blood progenitors. The progress of each transplant was monitored over an extended time course by repeatedly analyzing the peripheral blood for human hematopoietic cells.

Human umbilical cord blood endothelial progenitor cells decrease vein graft neointimal hyperplasia in SCID mice.

Aims: Vein graft endothelial damage is a key step in the development of neointimal hyperplasia, leading to vein graft failure. We sought to determine whether exogenous endothelial progenitor cells could promote vein graft re-endothelialization, and thereby ameliorate neointimal hyperplasia.

Methods And Results: Carotid artery interposition grafting was performed with syngeneic inferior vena cavae in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

Natural killer cell-enriched donor lymphocyte infusions from A 3-6/6 HLA matched family member following nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Infusing natural killer (NK) cells following transplantation may allow less infections and relapse with little risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). We delivered 51 total NK cell-enriched donor lymphocyte infusions (DLIs) to 30 patients following a 3-6/6 HLA matched T cell-depleted nonmyeloablative allogeneic transplant. The primary endpoint of this study was feasibility and safety.

Inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase expands hematopoietic stem cells with radioprotective capacity.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are enriched for aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity and ALDH is a selectable marker for human HSCs. However, the function of ALDH in HSC biology is not well understood. We sought to determine the function of ALDH in regulating HSC fate.

Targeting aldehyde dehydrogenase: a potential approach for cell labeling.

Introduction: To advance the science and clinical application of stem cell therapy, the availability of a highly sensitive, quantitative and translational method for tracking stem cells would be invaluable. Because hematopoetic stem cells express high levels of the cytosolic enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase-1A1 (ALDH1), we sought to develop an agent that is specific to ALDH1 and thus to cells expressing the enzyme. Such an agent might be also helpful in identifying tumors that are resistant to cyclophosphomide chemotherapy because ALDH1 is known to be responsible for this resistance.

A role for E2F activities in determining the fate of Myc-induced lymphomagenesis.

The phenotypic heterogeneity that characterizes human cancers reflects the enormous genetic complexity of the oncogenic process. This complexity can also be seen in mouse models where it is frequently observed that in addition to the initiating genetic alteration, the resulting tumor harbors additional, somatically acquired mutations that affect the tumor phenotype. To investigate the role of genetic interactions in the development of tumors, we have made use of the Emu-myc model of pre-B and B cell lymphoma.