Inducible Expression of as a Universal Tool for Studying Sporulation in .

remains a leading nosocomial pathogen, putting considerable strain on the healthcare system. The ability to form endospores, highly resistant to environmental insults, is key to its persistence and transmission. However, important differences exist between the sporulation pathways of and the model Gram-positive organism .

Heterogeneity in Pure Microbial Systems: Experimental Measurements and Modeling.

Cellular heterogeneity influences bioprocess performance in ways that until date are not completely elucidated. In order to account for this phenomenon in the design and operation of bioprocesses, reliable analytical and mathematical descriptions are required. We present an overview of the single cell analysis, and the mathematical modeling frameworks that have potential to be used in bioprocess control and optimization, in particular for microbial processes.

Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Doublecortin and BDNF Expression along the Dorso-Ventral Axis of the Dentate Gyrus.

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) in the dentate gyrus is known to respond to environmental enrichment, chronic stress, and many other factors. The function of AHN may vary across the septo-temporal axis of the hippocampus, as different subdivisions are responsible for different functions. The dorsal pole regulates cognitive-related behaviors, while the ventral pole mediates mood-related responses through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

The Structure and Measurement of Unusual Sensory Experiences in Different Modalities: The Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ).

Hallucinations and other unusual sensory experiences (USE) can occur in all modalities in the general population. Yet, the existing literature is dominated by investigations into auditory hallucinations ("voices"), while other modalities remain under-researched. Furthermore, there is a paucity of measures which can systematically assess different modalities, which limits our ability to detect individual and group differences across modalities.

AmiD Is a Novel Peptidoglycan Amidase in Endosymbionts of .

endobacteria are obligate intracellular bacteria with a highly reduced genome infecting many arthropod and filarial species, in which they manipulate arthropod reproduction to increase their transmission and are essential for nematode development and survival. The genome encodes all enzymes required for the synthesis of the cell wall building block lipid II, although a peptidoglycan-like structure has not been detected. Despite the ability to synthesize lipid II, from arthropods and nematodes have only a subset of genes encoding enzymes involved in the periplasmic processing of lipid II and peptidoglycan recycling, with arthropods having two more than nematodes.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Remote Sensing for Field-Based Crop Phenotyping: Current Status and Perspectives.

Phenotyping plays an important role in crop science research; the accurate and rapid acquisition of phenotypic information of plants or cells in different environments is helpful for exploring the inheritance and expression patterns of the genome to determine the association of genomic and phenotypic information to increase the crop yield. Traditional methods for acquiring crop traits, such as plant height, leaf color, leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll content, biomass and yield, rely on manual sampling, which is time-consuming and laborious. Unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing platforms (UAV-RSPs) equipped with different sensors have recently become an important approach for fast and non-destructive high throughput phenotyping and have the advantage of flexible and convenient operation, on-demand access to data and high spatial resolution.

A Mutant Isoform of ObgE Causes Cell Death by Interfering with Cell Division.

Cell division is a vital part of the cell cycle that is fundamental to all life. Despite decades of intense investigation, this process is still incompletely understood. Previously, the essential GTPase ObgE, which plays a role in a myriad of basic cellular processes (such as initiation of DNA replication, chromosome segregation, and ribosome assembly), was proposed to act as a cell cycle checkpoint in by licensing chromosome segregation.

Role of Mitochondrial Reverse Electron Transport in ROS Signaling: Potential Roles in Health and Disease.

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) can cause oxidative damage and have been proposed to be the main cause of aging and age-related diseases including cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Accordingly, mitochondria from old individuals have higher levels of ROS. However, ROS also participate in cellular signaling, are instrumental for several physiological processes and boosting ROS levels in model organisms extends lifespan.

Effects of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Physiological Responses, Cognitive Function, and Exercise Performance at Moderate and Very-High Simulated Altitude.

Nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is reduced during acute altitude exposure, contributing toward the decline in physiological and cognitive function in this environment. This study evaluated the effects of nitrate ([Formula: see text]) supplementation on NO bioavailability, physiological and cognitive function, and exercise performance at moderate and very-high simulated altitude. Ten males (mean (SD): [Formula: see text]: 60.

Metabolic Reprogramming in Glioma.

Many cancers have long been thought to primarily metabolize glucose for energy production-a phenomenon known as the Warburg Effect, after the classic studies of Otto Warburg in the early twentieth century. Yet cancer cells also utilize other substrates, such as amino acids and fatty acids, to produce raw materials for cellular maintenance and energetic currency to accomplish cellular tasks. The contribution of these substrates is increasingly appreciated in the context of glioma, the most common form of malignant brain tumor.

Understanding Epileptiform After-Discharges as Rhythmic Oscillatory Transients.

Electro-cortical activity in patients with epilepsy may show abnormal rhythmic transients in response to stimulation. Even when using the same stimulation parameters in the same patient, wide variability in the duration of transient response has been reported. These transients have long been considered important for the mapping of the excitability levels in the epileptic brain but their dynamic mechanism is still not well understood.

Personalized Medication Response Prediction for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Learning in the Model Space vs. Learning in the Data Space.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental health disorders amongst school-aged children with an estimated prevalence of 5% in the global population (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Stimulants, particularly methylphenidate (MPH), are the first-line option in the treatment of ADHD (Reeves and Schweitzer, 2004; Dopheide and Pliszka, 2009) and are prescribed to an increasing number of children and adolescents in the US and the UK every year (Safer et al., 1996; McCarthy et al.

Microbial and Isotopic Evidence for Methane Cycling in Hydrocarbon-Containing Groundwater from the Pennsylvania Region.

The Pennsylvania region hosts numerous oil and gas reservoirs and the presence of hydrocarbons in groundwater has been locally observed. However, these methane-containing freshwater ecosystems remain poorly explored despite their potential importance in the carbon cycle. Methane isotope analysis and analysis of low molecular weight hydrocarbon gases from 18 water wells indicated that active methane cycling may be occurring in methane-containing groundwater from the Pennsylvania region.

Encoding of Tactile Stimuli by Mechanoreceptors and Interneurons of the Medicinal Leech.

For many animals processing of tactile information is a crucial task in behavioral contexts like exploration, foraging, and stimulus avoidance. The leech, having infrequent access to food, developed an energy efficient reaction to tactile stimuli, avoiding unnecessary muscle movements: The local bend behavior moves only a small part of the body wall away from an object touching the skin, while the rest of the animal remains stationary. Amazingly, the precision of this localized behavioral response is similar to the spatial discrimination threshold of the human fingertip, although the leech skin is innervated by an order of magnitude fewer mechanoreceptors and each midbody ganglion contains only 400 individually identified neurons in total.

The Beat to Read: A Cross-Lingual Link between Rhythmic Regularity Perception and Reading Skill.

This work assesses one specific aspect of the relationship between auditory rhythm cognition and language skill: regularity perception. In a group of 26 adult participants, native speakers of 11 different native languages, we demonstrate a strong and significant correlation between the ability to detect a "roughly" regular beat and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as a measure of language skill (Spearman's rho, -0.47, p < 0.

Brain Bases of Working Memory for Time Intervals in Rhythmic Sequences.

Perception of auditory time intervals is critical for accurate comprehension of natural sounds like speech and music. However, the neural substrates and mechanisms underlying the representation of time intervals in working memory are poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the brain bases of working memory for time intervals in rhythmic sequences using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Microbial Communities in a High Arctic Polar Desert Landscape.

The High Arctic is dominated by polar desert habitats whose microbial communities are poorly understood. In this study, we used next generation sequencing to describe the α- and β-diversity of microbial communities in polar desert soils from the Kongsfjorden region of Svalbard. Ten phyla dominated the soils and accounted for 95% of all sequences, with the Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Chloroflexi being the major lineages.