Desiccation resistance in tropical insects: causes and mechanisms underlying variability in a Panama ant community.

Desiccation resistance, the ability of an organism to reduce water loss, is an essential trait in arid habitats. Drought frequency in tropical regions is predicted to increase with climate change, and small ectotherms are often under a strong desiccation risk. We tested hypotheses regarding the underexplored desiccation potential of tropical insects.

Lack of fibroblast growth factor 21 accelerates metabolic liver injury characterized by steatohepatities in mice.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) concentrations are increased in human subjects who either have type 2 diabetes or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). While excessive fat in the liver promotes the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, NAFLD progresses from steatosis to non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a more aggressive form of hepatic damage, and lastly toward cirrhosis and HCC. In our previous study, loss of FGF21 is associated with hyper-proliferation, aberrant p53, and HCC development in diabetes mice.

F. novicida-Infected A. castellanii Does Not Enhance Bacterial Virulence in Mice.

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium that causes tularemia in humans and animals. Epidemiology of tularemia worldwide is often associated with water-borne transmission, which includes mosquitoes and amoebae as the potential host reservoirs of the bacteria in water environment. In vitro studies showed intracellular replication of F.

Studying Autism Spectrum Disorder with Structural and Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Survey.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities have emerged as powerful means that facilitate non-invasive clinical diagnostics of various diseases and abnormalities since their inception in the 1980s. Multiple MRI modalities, such as different types of the sMRI and DTI, have been employed to investigate facets of ASD in order to better understand this complex syndrome. This paper reviews recent applications of structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to study autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Local and Long-Distance Calling: Conversations between the Gut Microbiota and Intra- and Extra-Gastrointestinal Tract Infections.

Preservation of health from infectious diseases depends upon both mucosal and systemic immunity via the collaborative effort of innate and adaptive immune responses. The proficiency of host immunity stems from robust defense mechanisms--physical barriers and specialized immune cells--and a failure of these mechanisms leads to pathology. Intriguingly, immunocompetence to pathogens can be shaped by the gut microbiome as recent publications highlight a dynamic interplay between the gut microbiome and host susceptibility to infection.

Ablation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Prevents Cardiomyocytes Contractile Dysfunction in Diabetics.

Elevated expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) and decreased contractility of cardiomyocytes are documented in diabetic hearts. However, it is unclear whether MMP is involved in the regulation of contractility of cardiomyocytes in diabetic hearts. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that MMP9 regulates contractility of cardiomyocytes in diabetic hearts, and ablation of MMP9 prevents impaired contractility of cardiomyocytes in diabetic hearts.

Real-Time Enrollment Dashboard For Multisite Clinical Trials.

Objective: Achieving patient recruitment goals are critical for the successful completion of a clinical trial. We designed and developed a web-based dashboard for assisting in the management of clinical trial screening and enrollment.

Materials And Methods: We use the dashboard to assist in the management of two observational studies of community-acquired pneumonia.

Relative Power of Specific EEG Bands and Their Ratios during Neurofeedback Training in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Neurofeedback is a mode of treatment that is potentially useful for improving self-regulation skills in persons with autism spectrum disorder. We proposed that operant conditioning of EEG in neurofeedback mode can be accompanied by changes in the relative power of EEG bands. However, the details on the change of the relative power of EEG bands during neurofeedback training course in autism are not yet well explored.

Thalamic Circuit Diversity: Modulation of the Driver/Modulator Framework.

The idea that dorsal thalamic inputs can be divided into "drivers", which provide the primary excitatory drive for the relay of information to cortex, and "modulators", which alter the gain of signal transmission, has provided a valuable organizing principle for the study of thalamic function. This view further promoted the identification of "first order" and "higher order" thalamic nuclei, based on the origin of their driving inputs. Since the introduction of this influential terminology, a number of studies have revealed the existence of a wide variety of thalamic organizational schemes.

A2B adenosine receptor activation switches differentiation of bone marrow cells to a CD11c(+)Gr-1(+) dendritic cell subset that promotes the Th17 response.

Adenosine is one of the major molecules associated with inflammation. We have previously reported that an adenosine receptor (AR) agonist has an enhancing effect on Th17 autoimmune responses, even though it suppressed Th1 responses. To determine the mechanism involved, we have examined the effect of AR agonists on mouse bone marrow dendritic cell (BMDC) differentiation and function.

Comprehensive identification of virulence factors required for respiratory melioidosis using Tn-seq mutagenesis.

Respiratory melioidosis is a disease presentation of the biodefense pathogen, Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is frequently associated with a lethal septicemic spread of the bacteria. We have recently developed an improved respiratory melioidosis model to study the pathogenesis of Burkholderia pseudomallei in the lung (intubation-mediated intratracheal [IMIT] inoculation), which more closely models descriptions of human melioidosis, including prominent septicemic spread from the lung and reduced involvement of the upper respiratory tract. We previously demonstrated that the Type 3 Secretion System cluster 3 (T3SS3) is a critical virulence determinant for B.

A porcine model system of BRCA1 driven breast cancer.

BRCA1 is a breast and ovarian tumor suppressor. Hereditary mutations in BRCA1 result in a predisposition to breast cancer, and BRCA1 expression is down-regulated in ~30% of sporadic cases. The function of BRCA1 remains poorly understood, but it appears to play an important role in DNA repair and the maintenance of genetic stability.

Loss of FGF21 in diabetic mouse during hepatocellular carcinogenetic transformation.

Diabetes associated metabolic syndrome has been shown to be an independent risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Cirrhosis, in fact, was not always a prerequisite of HCC development and this might particularly apply to the metabolic abnormality associated HCC. This study was to investigate diabetes associated HCC and the potential role of FGF21 during carcinogenetic transformation of HCC.

Evolutionary perspective of cancer: myth, metaphors, and reality.

The evolutionary perspective of cancer (which origins and dynamics result from evolutionary processes) has gained significant international recognition over the past decade and generated a wave of enthusiasm among researchers. In this context, several authors proposed that insights into evolutionary and adaptation dynamics of cancers can be gained by studying the evolutionary strategies of organisms. Although this reasoning is fundamentally correct, in our opinion, it contains a potential risk of excessive adaptationism, potentially leading to the suggestion of complex adaptations that are unlikely to evolve among cancerous cells.

Cancer: an emergent property of disturbed resource-rich environments? Ecology meets personalized medicine.

For an increasing number of biologists, cancer is viewed as a dynamic system governed by evolutionary and ecological principles. Throughout most of human history, cancer was an uncommon cause of death and it is generally accepted that common components of modern culture, including increased physiological stresses and caloric intake, favor cancer development. However, the precise mechanisms for this linkage are not well understood.

High rate and durable, binder free anode based on silicon loaded MoO3 nanoplatelets.

In order to make fast-charging batteries a reality for electric vehicles, durable, more energy dense and high-current density resistant anodes need to be developed. With such purpose, a low lithiation potential of 0.2 V vs.

Exercise ameliorates high fat diet induced cardiac dysfunction by increasing interleukin 10.

Increasing evidence suggests that a sedentary lifestyle and a high fat diet (HFD) leads to cardiomyopathy. Moderate exercise ameliorates cardiac dysfunction, however underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Increased inflammation due to induction of pro-inflammatory cytokine such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and attenuation of anti-inflammatory cytokine such as interleukin 10 (IL-10) contributes to cardiac dysfunction in obese and diabetics.

Epigenetic reprogramming and re-differentiation of a Ewing sarcoma cell line.

Developmental reprogramming techniques have been used to generate induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from both normal and malignant cells. The derivation of iPS cells from cancer has the potential to provide a unique scientific tool to overcome challenges associated with the establishment of cell lines from primary patient samples and a readily expandable source of cells that may be used to model the initial disease. In the current study we developmentally reprogrammed a metastatic Ewing sarcoma (EWS) cell line to a meta-stable embryonic stem (ES)-like state sharing molecular and phenotypic features with previously established ES and iPS cell lines.