Novel, Deep-Branching Heterotrophic Bacterial Populations Recovered from Thermal Spring Metagenomes.

Thermal spring ecosystems are a valuable resource for the discovery of novel hyperthermophilic Bacteria and Archaea, and harbor deeply-branching lineages that provide insight regarding the nature of early microbial life. We characterized bacterial populations in two circumneutral (pH ~8) Yellowstone National Park thermal (T ~80°C) spring filamentous "streamer" communities using random metagenomic DNA sequence to investigate the metabolic potential of these novel populations. Four de novo assemblies representing three abundant, deeply-branching bacterial phylotypes were recovered.

Evolution of universal review and disclosure of MRI reports to research participants.

Background: Although incidental findings (IF) are commonly encountered in neuroimaging research, there is no consensus regarding what to do with them. Whether researchers are obligated to review scans for IF, or if such findings should be disclosed to research participants at all, is controversial. Objective data are required to inform reasonable research policy; unfortunately, such data are lacking in the published literature.

Genetic Susceptibility to Vitiligo: GWAS Approaches for Identifying Vitiligo Susceptibility Genes and Loci.

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease with a strong genetic component, characterized by areas of depigmented skin resulting from loss of epidermal melanocytes. Genetic factors are known to play key roles in vitiligo through discoveries in association studies and family studies. Previously, vitiligo susceptibility genes were mainly revealed through linkage analysis and candidate gene studies.

Isodicentric Philadelphia chromosome: an uncommon chromosomal abnormality in the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

An isodicentric Philadelphia chromosome is an uncommon finding previously described as a secondary chromosomal abnormality in accelerated- or blast-phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with resistance to imatinib mesylate or dasatinib. Here, we present a case with idic(Ph) chromosome identified at initial diagnosis in a patient with chronic-phase CML.

Actinobacterial Diversity in Volcanic Caves and Associated Geomicrobiological Interactions.

Volcanic caves are filled with colorful microbial mats on the walls and ceilings. These volcanic caves are found worldwide, and studies are finding vast bacteria diversity within these caves. One group of bacteria that can be abundant in volcanic caves, as well as other caves, is Actinobacteria.

Abnormal frontostriatal activity in recently abstinent cocaine users during implicit moral processing.

Investigations into the neurobiology of moral cognition are often done by examining clinical populations characterized by diminished moral emotions and a proclivity toward immoral behavior. Psychopathy is the most common disorder studied for this purpose. Although cocaine abuse is highly co-morbid with psychopathy and cocaine-dependent individuals exhibit many of the same abnormalities in socio-affective processing as psychopaths, this population has received relatively little attention in moral psychology.

Group-level component analyses of EEG: validation and evaluation.

Multi-subject or group-level component analysis provides a data-driven approach to study properties of brain networks. Algorithms for group-level data decomposition of functional magnetic resonance imaging data have been brought forward more than a decade ago and have significantly matured since. Similar applications for electroencephalographic data are at a comparatively early stage of development though, and their sensitivity to topographic variability of the electroencephalogram or loose time-locking of neuronal responses has not yet been assessed.

Application of ICA to realistically simulated (1)H-MRS data.

Introduction: (1)H-MRS signals from brain tissues capture information on in vivo brain metabolism and neuronal biomarkers. This study aims to advance the use of independent component analysis (ICA) for spectroscopy data by objectively comparing the performance of ICA and LCModel in analyzing realistic data that mimics many of the known properties of in vivo data.

Methods: This work identifies key features of in vivo (1)H-MRS signals and presents methods to simulate realistic data, using a basis set of 12 metabolites typically found in the human brain.

Does aberrant membrane transport contribute to poor outcome in adult acute myeloid leukemia?

Acute myeloid leukemia in adults is a highly heterogeneous disease. Gene expression profiling performed using unsupervised algorithms can be used to distinguish specific groups of patients within a large patient cohort. The identified gene expression signatures can offer insights into underlying physiological mechanisms of disease pathogenesis.

Quantity yields quality when it comes to creativity: a brain and behavioral test of the equal-odds rule.

The creativity research community is in search of a viable cognitive measure providing support for behavioral observations that higher ideational output is often associated with higher creativity (known as the equal-odds rule). One such measure has included divergent thinking: the production of many examples or uses for a common or single object or image. We sought to test the equal-odds rule using a measure of divergent thinking, and applied the consensual assessment technique to determine creative responses as opposed to merely original responses.

Dynamic optimization and conformity in health behavior and life enjoyment over the life cycle.

This article examines individual and social influences on investments in health and enjoyment from immediate consumption. Our lab experiment mimics the problem of health investment over a lifetime (Grossman, 1972a,b). Incentives to find the appropriate expenditures on life enjoyment and health are given by making in each period come period a function of previous health investments.

Multidimensional frequency domain analysis of full-volume fMRI reveals significant effects of age, gender, and mental illness on the spatiotemporal organization of resting-state brain activity.

Clinical research employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is often conducted within the connectionist paradigm, focusing on patterns of connectivity between voxels, regions of interest (ROIs) or spatially distributed functional networks. Connectivity-based analyses are concerned with pairwise correlations of the temporal activation associated with restrictions of the whole-brain hemodynamic signal to locations of a priori interest. There is a more abstract question however that such spatially granular correlation-based approaches do not elucidate: Are the broad spatiotemporal organizing principles of brains in certain populations distinguishable from those of others? Global patterns (in space and time) of hemodynamic activation are rarely scrutinized for features that might characterize complex psychiatric conditions, aging effects or gender-among other variables of potential interest to researchers.

Loss of tau rescues inflammation-mediated neurodegeneration.

Neuroinflammation is one of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related tauopathies. Activated microglia spatially coexist with microtubule-associated protein tau (Mapt or tau)-burdened neurons in the brains of human AD and non-AD tauopathies. Numerous studies have suggested that neuroinflammation precedes tau pathology and that induction or blockage of neuroinflammation via lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or anti-inflammatory compounds (such as FK506) accelerate or block tau pathology, respectively in several animal models of tauopathy.

Meta gene set enrichment analyses link miR-137-regulated pathways with schizophrenia risk.

Background: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within MIR137, the host gene for miR-137, has been identified repeatedly as a risk factor for schizophrenia. Previous genetic pathway analyses suggest that potential targets of this microRNA (miRNA) are also highly enriched in schizophrenia-relevant biological pathways, including those involved in nervous system development and function.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the schizophrenia risk of miR-137 target genes within these pathways.

Prolonged experimental drought reduces plant hydraulic conductance and transpiration and increases mortality in a piñon-juniper woodland.

Plant hydraulic conductance (k s) is a critical control on whole-plant water use and carbon uptake and, during drought, influences whether plants survive or die. To assess long-term physiological and hydraulic responses of mature trees to water availability, we manipulated ecosystem-scale water availability from 2007 to 2013 in a piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) woodland. We examined the relationship between k s and subsequent mortality using more than 5 years of physiological observations, and the subsequent impact of reduced hydraulic function and mortality on total woody canopy transpiration (E C) and conductance (G C).

Enhanced disease characterization through multi network functional normalization in fMRI.

Conventionally, structural topology is used for spatial normalization during the pre-processing of fMRI. The co-existence of multiple intrinsic networks which can be detected in the resting brain are well-studied. Also, these networks exhibit temporal and spatial modulation during cognitive task vs.

Assembly of root-associated bacteria communities: interactions between abiotic and biotic factors.

Nitrogen (N) deposition in many areas of the world is over an order of magnitude greater than it would be in absence of human activity. We ask how abiotic (N)and biotic (plant host and neighborhood) effects interact to influence root-associated bacterial (RAB)community assembly. Using 454 pyrosequencing, we examined RAB communities from two dominantal pine tundra plants, Geum rossii and Deschampsia cespitosa, under control, N addition and D.