Arginase-II Deficiency Extends Lifespan in Mice.

The mitochondrial arginase type II (Arg-II) has been shown to interact with ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) and mitochondrial p66 and to promote cell senescence, apoptosis and inflammation under pathological conditions. However, the impact of Arg-II on organismal lifespan is not known. In this study, we demonstrate a significant lifespan extension in mice with Arg-II gene deficiency (Arg-II) as compared to wild type (WT) control animals.

Mycorrhizal Associations and Trophic Modes in Coexisting Orchids: An Ecological Continuum between Auto- and Mixotrophy.

Two distinct nutritional syndromes have been described in temperate green orchids. Most orchids form mycorrhizas with rhizoctonia fungi and are considered autotrophic. Some orchids, however, associate with fungi that simultaneously form ectomycorrhizas with surrounding trees and derive their carbon from these fungi.

Mining the Volatilomes of Plant-Associated Microbiota for New Biocontrol Solutions.

Microbial lifeforms associated with land plants represent a rich source for crop growth- and health-promoting microorganisms and biocontrol agents. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the plant microbiota have been demonstrated to elicit plant defenses and inhibit the growth and development of numerous plant pathogens. Therefore, these molecules are prospective alternatives to synthetic pesticides and the determination of their bioactivities against plant threats could contribute to the development of control strategies for sustainable agriculture.

Jagged1 Is Altered in Alzheimer's Disease and Regulates Spatial Memory Processing.

Notch signaling plays an instrumental role in hippocampus-dependent memory formation and recent evidence indicates a displacement of Notch1 and a reduction its activity in hippocampal and cortical neurons from Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. As Notch activation depends on ligand availability, we investigated whether Jagged1 expression was altered in brain specimen of AD patients. We found that Jagged1 expression was reduced in the CA fields and that there was a gradual reduction of Jagged1 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with the progression of dementia.

Processing Connectives with a Complex Form-Function Mapping in L2: The Case of French "En Effet".

Discourse connectives are often reported to be difficult for second language learners, yet the causes of these difficulties are still not fully understood. In this paper, we test the ability of German-speaking learners to process and understand a connective with a complex form-function mapping in their L2-French, namely "en effet," a connective that does not have an exact translation equivalent in their L1-German. We assess learners' competence both in an on-line processing experiment and an off-line judgment task.

Substantial Inter-Subject Variability in Blood Pressure Responses to Glucose in a Healthy, Non-obese Population.

A large inter-subject variability in the blood pressure (BP) response to glucose drinks has been reported. However, the underlying factors remain elusive and we hypothesized that accompanying changes in glucose metabolism affect these BP responses. Cardiovascular and glycemic changes in response to a standard 75 g oral-glucose-tolerance-test were investigated in 30 healthy, non-obese males.

Differences in Social Decision-Making between Proposers and Responders during the Ultimatum Game: An EEG Study.

The Ultimatum Game (UG) is a typical paradigm to investigate social decision-making. Although the behavior of humans in this task is already well established, the underlying brain processes remain poorly understood. Previous investigations using event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed three major components related to cognitive processes in participants engaged in the responder condition, the early ERP component P2, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and a late positive wave (late positive component, LPC).

Posture Allocation Revisited: Breaking the Sedentary Threshold of Energy Expenditure for Obesity Management.

There is increasing recognition that low-intensity physical activities of daily life play an important role in achieving energy balance and that their societal erosion through substitution with sedentary (mostly sitting) behaviors, whether occupational or for leisure, impact importantly on the obesity epidemic. This has generated considerable interest for better monitoring, characterizing, and promoting countermeasures to sedentariness through a plethora of low-level physical activities (e.g.

, an Evolutionary Dead-End Pathogen.

Full genome sequences of 20 strains of , the etiological agent of blackleg of cattle and sheep, isolated from four different continents over a period of 64 years (1951-2015) were determined and analyzed. The study reveals that the genome of the species is highly homogeneous compared to the closely related species , a widespread pathogen that affects human and many animal species. Analysis of the CRISPR locus is sufficient to differentiate most strains and is the most heterogenous region in the genome, containing in total 187 different spacer elements that are distributed as 30 - 77 copies in the various strains.

Molecular Surgery Concept from Bench to Bedside: A Focus on TRPV1+ Pain-Sensing Neurons.

"Molecular neurosurgery" is emerging as a new medical concept, and is the combination of two partners: (i) a molecular neurosurgery agent, and (ii) the cognate receptor whose activation results in the selective elimination of a specific subset of neurons in which this receptor is endogenously expressed. In general, a molecular surgery agent is a selective and potent ligand, and the target is a specific cell type whose elimination is desired through the molecular surgery procedure. These target cells have the highest innate sensitivity to the molecular surgery agent usually due to the highest receptor density being in their plasma membrane.

Posttranscriptional Regulation Controls Calretinin Expression in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

Calretinin (CALB2) is a diagnostic and prognostic marker in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). We previously reported that calretinin expression is regulated at the mRNA level. The presence of a medium-sized (573 nucleotide) 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) predicted to contain binding sites for miR-30a/b/c/d/e and miR-9 as well as an adenine/uridine-rich element (ARE) in all three transcripts arising from the gene, suggests that calretinin expression is regulated via posttranscriptional mechanisms.

Age- and Wavelength-Dependency of Larval Phototaxis and Behavioral Responses to Natural Lighting Conditions.

Animals use various environmental cues as key determinant for their behavioral decisions. Visual systems are hereby responsible to translate light-dependent stimuli into neuronal encoded information. Even though the larval eyes of the fruit fly are comparably simple, they comprise two types of photoreceptor neurons (PRs), defined by different Rhodopsin genes expressed.

Analyzing Dyadic Sequence Data-Research Questions and Implied Statistical Models.

The analysis of observational data is often seen as a key approach to understanding dynamics in romantic relationships but also in dyadic systems in general. Statistical models for the analysis of dyadic observational data are not commonly known or applied. In this contribution, selected approaches to dyadic sequence data will be presented with a focus on models that can be applied when sample sizes are of medium size ( = 100 couples or less).

Relation of Heart Rate and its Variability during Sleep with Age, Physical Activity, and Body Composition in Young Children.

Recent studies have claimed a positive effect of physical activity and body composition on vagal tone. In pediatric populations, there is a pronounced decrease in heart rate with age. While this decrease is often interpreted as an age-related increase in vagal tone, there is some evidence that it may be related to a decrease in intrinsic heart rate.

Neurons in Primate Visual Cortex Alternate between Responses to Multiple Stimuli in Their Receptive Field.

A fundamental question concerning representation of the visual world in our brain is how a cortical cell responds when presented with more than a single stimulus. We find supportive evidence that most cells presented with a pair of stimuli respond predominantly to one stimulus at a time, rather than a weighted average response. Traditionally, the firing rate is assumed to be a weighted average of the firing rates to the individual stimuli (response-averaging model) (Bundesen et al.

Genetic Targeting of Arginase-II in Mouse Prevents Renal Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Diet-Induced Obesity.

Obesity is associated with development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent evidence demonstrates that enhanced levels of the L-arginine:ureahydrolase, including the two isoenzymes arginase-I (Arg-I) and arginase-II (Arg-II) in vascular endothelial cells promote uncoupling of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), leading to increased superoxide radical anion and decreased NO production thereby endothelial dysfunction. Arg-II but not Arg-I is abundantly expressed in kidney and the role of Arg-II in CKD is uncertain and controversial.

The Nitrogen Availability Interferes with Mycorrhiza-Induced Resistance against in Tomato.

Mycorrhizal plants are generally quite efficient in coping with environmental challenges. It has been shown that the symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can confer resistance against root and foliar pathogens, although the molecular mechanisms underlying such mycorrhiza-induced resistance (MIR) are poorly understood. Tomato plants colonized with the AMF display enhanced resistance against the necrotrophic foliar pathogen .

Sizing Up Objects: The Effect of Diminutive Forms on Positive Mood, Value, and Size Judgments.

Language (e.g., structure, morphology, and wording) can direct our attention toward the specific properties of an object, in turn influencing the mental representation of that same object.

Re-presentation of Olfactory Exposure Therapy Success Cues during Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep did not Increase Therapy Outcome but Increased Sleep Spindles.

Exposure therapy induces extinction learning and is an effective treatment for specific phobias. Sleep after learning promotes extinction memory and benefits therapy success. As sleep-dependent memory-enhancing effects are based on memory reactivations during sleep, here we aimed at applying the beneficial effect of sleep on therapy success by cueing memories of subjective therapy success during non-rapid eye movement sleep after in vivo exposure-based group therapy for spider phobia.

Uninephrectomy-Induced Lipolysis and Low-Grade Inflammation Are Mimicked by Unilateral Renal Denervation.

Uninephrectomy (UniNX) in rats on a fixed food intake leads to increased lipolysis and a low-grade inflammation with an increased subset of circulating cytokines. Because UniNX ablates renal nerves on the side of the removed kidney, we tested the contribution of unilateral renal denervation in the phenotype of UniNX. We compared Sham-operated controls, left nephrectomy (UniNX) and unilateral left kidney denervation (uDNX) in rats 4 weeks after surgery.

Super Resolution Imaging of Genetically Labeled Synapses in Drosophila Brain Tissue.

Understanding synaptic connectivity and plasticity within brain circuits and their relationship to learning and behavior is a fundamental quest in neuroscience. Visualizing the fine details of synapses using optical microscopy remains however a major technical challenge. Super resolution microscopy opens the possibility to reveal molecular features of synapses beyond the diffraction limit.

Increasing Explicit Sequence Knowledge by Odor Cueing during Sleep in Men but not Women.

Sleep consolidates newly acquired memories. Beyond stabilizing memories, sleep is thought to reorganize memory representations such that invariant structures, statistical regularities and even new explicit knowledge are extracted. Whereas increasing evidence suggests that the stabilization of memories during sleep can be facilitated by cueing with learning-associated stimuli, the effect of cueing on memory reorganization is less well understood.

Gauging the Impact of Gender Grammaticization in Different Languages: Application of a Linguistic-Visual Paradigm.

Employing a linguistic-visual paradigm, we investigated whether the grammaticization of gender information impacts readers' gender representations. French and German were taken as comparative languages, taking into account the male gender bias associated to both languages, as well as the comparative gender biases associated to their plural determiners (French: les [generic] vs. German: die [morphologically feminine]).

No Evidence for Memory Decontextualization across One Night of Sleep.

Sleep after learning strengthens memory consolidation. According to the active system consolidation hypothesis, sleep supports the integration of newly acquired memories into cortical knowledge networks, presumably accompanied by a process of decontextualization of the memory trace (i.e.