Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups.

Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals.

Standardization of hemoglobin A and hemoglobin F: Achievements and perspectives.

The establishment of reference systems for the standardization of hemoglobin A (HbA) and fetal hemoglobin (HbF), both critical for improving diagnostic accuracy in conditions such as β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease, are described. Efforts were led by the IFCC and other groups to address and reduce the variability in laboratory measurements of these hemoglobins. This document outlines the production of certified reference materials (CRMs) for HbA and the development of a reference measurement procedure using isotope dilution mass spectrometry.

MeTEor: an R Shiny app for exploring longitudinal metabolomics data.

Motivation: The availability of longitudinal omics data is increasing in metabolomics research. Viewing metabolomics data over time provides detailed insight into biological processes and fosters understanding of how systems react over time. However, the analysis of longitudinal metabolomics data poses various challenges, both in terms of statistical evaluation and visualization.

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.

Prediction of Perceived Exertion Ratings in National Level Soccer Players Using Wearable Sensor Data and Machine Learning Techniques.

This study aimed to identify relationships between external and internal load parameters with subjective ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). Consecutively, these relationships shall be used to evaluate different machine learning models and design a deep learning architecture to predict RPE in highly trained/national level soccer players. From a dataset comprising 5402 training sessions and 732 match observations, we gathered data on 174 distinct parameters, encompassing heart rate, GPS, accelerometer data and RPE (Borg's 0-10 scale) of 26 professional male professional soccer players.

A new species of colorful Platypelis (Amphibia: Microhylidae) from the Tsaratanàna and Bemanevika massifs in northern Madagascar.

Frogs of the genus Platypelis are known to have their center of species richness in the mountain massifs of northern Madagascar. We here formally describe a new species of Platypelis from this region. Platypelis saikamavo sp.

A new miniaturized species of leaf chameleon, genus Brookesia, from a littoral forest fragment in eastern Madagascar.

The number of species of miniaturized chameleons of the genus Brookesia, subgenus Evoluticauda, known to science has witnessed a dramatic increase over the past 15 years, due to the discovery of multiple microendemic species of very strong genetic divergence. So far, no described Evoluticauda species are known from the littoral forest of Madagascar's east coast, one of the most threatened habitat types of the island. Here, we report on the discovery of a new species of Evoluticauda occurring in the littoral forest at Ankanin'ny Nofy, a touristic site at about sea level and close to Vohibola forest where probably the same species occurs.

Taxonomizing a truly morphologically cryptic complex of dwarf geckos from Madagascar: molecular evidence for new species-level lineages within the Lygodactylus tolampyae complex.

The Lygodactylus tolampyae complex includes several deep genetic lineages of small diurnal geckos from the West and North West of Madagascar whose taxonomy is largely unsolved. We sequenced DNA fragments of one mitochondrial and four nuclear-encoded genes for up to 70 samples across the entire known range of these geckos. We find as many as 11 mitochondrial lineages differentiated by >4% pairwise distances in the 16S rRNA gene fragment, with >9% pairwise distance for the majority of lineage comparisons.

Taxonomy, ontogeny, and ecology of Tonnacypris stewarti (Daday 1908) comb. nov. (Ostracoda: Cyprididae) from Nam Co, Tibetan Plateau.

Taxonomic clarification of Tonnacypris stewarti comb. nov. (= Herpetocypris stewarti), a non-marine ostracod first described by Daday in 1908, was required due to the existence of various synonyms without detailed morphological descriptions.

Exquisite selectivity of griselimycin extends to beta subunit of DNA polymerases from Gram-negative bacterial pathogens.

Griselimycin, a cyclic depsidecapeptide produced by Streptomyces griseus, is a promising lead inhibitor of the sliding clamp component of bacterial DNA polymerases (β-subunit of Escherichia coli DNA pol III). It was previously shown to inhibit the Mycobacterium tuberculosis β-clamp with remarkably high affinity and selectivity - the peptide lacks any interaction with the human sliding clamp. Here, we used a structural genomics approach to address the prospect of broader-spectrum inhibition, in particular of β-clamps from Gram-negative bacterial targets.

Combining real-space and local range separation-The MH24 locally range-separated local hybrid functional.

In this work, the development of a new general-purpose exchange-correlation hybrid functional based on the recent locally range-separated local hybrid approach is presented. In particular, the new functional, denoted as MH24, combines a non-empirical treatment of the admixture of locally range-separated long-range exact exchange with a new real-space separation approach for the real-space exact-exchange admixture governed by the local mixing function (LMF) and a new empirical LYP-based approach for the correlation functional to enable a flexible description of same- and opposite-spin correlation effects. The nine empirical parameters of the MH24 model have been optimized using a state-of-the-art super-self-consistent-field approach, which exploits the sensitivity of specific properties, such as core ionization potentials, electron affinities, and atomization energies, to the exact-exchange admixture in specific regions in real space and the separation of the LMF into a core, valence, and asymptotic part.

Batrachopolyenes: Volatile Norsteroids from Femoral Scent Glands of Frogs.

Steroid hormones are C-C-sterane derivatives, featuring the typical 6-6-6-5 ring system. Here we report on a novel C-steroid ring system named batrachane with a contracted A-ring resulting in a 5-6-6-5 ring arrangement. The isolation, structural elucidation, and total synthesis of three members of the novel batrachopolyene family occurring in the tropical frog genus Odontobatrachus is reported.

Development of flip-chip technology for the optical drive of superconducting circuits.

We discuss the flip-chip mounting process of photodiodes and fiber sleeves on silicon substrates to meet the increasing demand for fabrication of highly integrated and hybrid quantum circuits for operation at cryogenic temperatures. To further increase the yield and success rate of the flip-chip procedure, the size of the gold stud bumps, and flip-chip parameters were optimized. Moreover, to connect optical fibers to the photodiodes in an optimal position, the fiber sleeves were aligned with specially fabricated alignment circles before applying thermocompression with the flip-chip machine.

Chemical quantification of N-acyl alanine methyl ester (NAME) production and impact on temporal gene expression patterns in Roseovarius tolerans EL-164.

Background: Previous studies have identified structurally diverse N-acyl amino acid methyl esters (NAMEs) in culture extracts of Roseovarius tolerans EL-164 (Roseobacteraceae). NAMEs are structural analogues of the common signaling compounds N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), but do not participate in AHL-mediated signaling. NAMEs show minor antialgal and antimicrobial activity, but whether this activity serves as the primary ecological role remains unclear.

Human Placenta in Premodern Europe-a Cultural and Pharmaceutical Agent.

This paper was prompted by some striking similarities between both the ritual and the medical use of placenta in Ming China and in premodern Europe. Contrary to most accounts, which focus either on the rise of chemiatric medicine or on the growing interest in "exotic" substances, the seventeenth century in Europe also reveals a revived interest in substances from animals, including materials from human bodies. The paper will analyse the use of words signifying the placenta, and follow the trace of vernacular knowledge about the placenta and its role in birth-giving, and in medieval medical texts on women's medicine.

New fluorogenic triacylglycerols as sensors for dynamic measurement of lipid oxidation.

Lipids are major constituents of food but are also highly relevant substructures of drugs and are increasingly applied for the development of lipid-based drug delivery systems. Lipids are prone to oxidative degradation, thus affecting the quality of food or medicines. Therefore, analytical methods or tools that enable the degree of lipid oxidation to be assessed are of utmost importance to guarantee food and drug safety.

In Vivo Activity Profiling of Biosynthetic Darobactin D22 against Critical Gram-Negative Pathogens.

In recent years, naturally occurring darobactins have emerged as a promising compound class to combat infections caused by critical Gram-negative pathogens. In this study, we describe the in vivo evaluation of derivative D22, a non-natural biosynthetic darobactin analogue with significantly improved antibacterial activity. We found D22 to be active in vivo against key critical Gram-negative human pathogens, as demonstrated in murine models of thigh infection, peritonitis/sepsis, and urinary tract infection (UTI).

Ultrasensitive Detection of Chemokines in Clinical Samples with Graphene-Based Field-Effect Transistors.

Due to their ultra-high sensitivity, solution-gated graphene-based field-effect transistors (SG-GFET) have been proposed for applications in bio-sensing. However, challenges regarding the functionalization of GFETs have prevented their applications in clinical diagnostics so far. Here GFET sensors based on van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures of single-layer graphene layered with a molecular ≈1 nm thick carbon nanomembrane (CNM) are presented.

[Experiences of Psychologists and Sport Therapists Conducting Open and Closed Therapy Groups].

Few studies compare differences between open and closed therapy groups. Different characteristics of both formats, which have been theoretically and practically substantiated to date, are presumably responsible for different therapeutically relevant effects. The present analysis documents and analyzes therapists' experiences with both open and closed group formats and provides information relevant to the selection of group format.