Increased coverage and high confidence in suspect screening of emerging contaminants in global environmental samples.

Suspect screening using liquid chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry provides an opportunity for expanding the detection coverage of emerging contaminants in the environment. Screening workflows may suffer from high frequency of false positives or insufficient confidence in the identification of compounds; however, stringent criteria could lead to high false negatives. A workflow must have a balanced criteria, both selective and sensitive, to be able to identify real features without missing low abundant features traceable to analytes of interest.

Putative Roles of Astrocytes in General Anesthesia.

General anesthetics are a mainstay of modern medicine, and although much progress has been made towards identifying molecular targets of anesthetics and neural networks contributing to endpoints of general anesthesia, our understanding of how anesthetics work remains unclear. Reducing this knowledge gap is of fundamental importance to prevent unwanted and life-threatening side-effects associated with general anesthesia. General anesthetics are chemically diverse, yet they all have similar behavioral endpoints, and so for decades, research has sought to identify a single underlying mechanism to explain how anesthetics work.

Microbial community changes in a female rat model of Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder that is predominantly caused by alterations of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene. Disease severity and the presence of comorbidities such as gastrointestinal distress vary widely across affected individuals. The gut microbiome has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a regulator of disease severity and gastrointestinal comorbidities.

Harnessing Tissue Engineering Tools to Interrogate Host-Microbiota Crosstalk in Cancer.

Recent studies have begun to highlight the diverse and tumor-specific microbiomes across multiple cancer types. We believe this work raises the important question of whether the classical "Hallmarks of Cancer" should be expanded to include tumor microbiomes. To answer this question, the causal relationships and co-evolution of these microbiotic tumor ecosystems must be better understood.

The effect of inner-sphere reorganization on charge separated state lifetimes at sensitized TiO interfaces.

Improving the efficiency of photo-electrocatalytic cells depends on controlling the rates of interfacial electron transfer to promote the formation of long-lived charge separated states. Ultimately, for efficient catalytic assemblies to see widespread implementation, repeated electron transfer in the absence of charge recombination needs to be realized. In this study, a series of manganese-based transition metal complexes known to undergo charge transfer-induced spin crossover are employed to study how significant increases in inner-sphere reorganization energy affect the rates of interfacial electron transfer.

Improved reference genome of the arboviral vector Aedes albopictus.

Background: The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is globally expanding and has become the main vector for human arboviruses in Europe. With limited antiviral drugs and vaccines available, vector control is the primary approach to prevent mosquito-borne diseases. A reliable and accurate DNA sequence of the Ae.

A systems biology approach to discovering pathway signaling dysregulation in metastasis.

Total metastatic burden is the primary cause of death for many cancer patients. While the process of metastasis has been studied widely, much remains to be understood. Moreover, few agents have been developed that specifically target the major steps of the metastatic cascade.

Isoflurane inhibits a Kir4.1/5.1-like conductance in neonatal rat brainstem astrocytes and recombinant Kir4.1/5.1 channels in a heterologous expression system.

All inhalation anesthetics used clinically including isoflurane can suppress breathing; since this unwanted side effect can persist during the postoperative period and complicate patient recovery, there is a need to better understand how isoflurane affects cellular and molecular elements of respiratory control. Considering that astrocytes in a brainstem region known as the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) contribute to the regulation of breathing in response to changes in CO/H (i.e.

The Diffusion of Discrete Event Simulation Approaches in Health Care Management in the Past Four Decades: A Comprehensive Review.

This study systematically examines the diffusion of the discrete event simulation (DES) approach in health services and health care management by examining relevant factors such as research areas, channels with the objective of promoting the application of DES in the health field. We examined 483 journal papers referencing this approach that were published in 230 journals during 1981 to 2014. The application of DES has extended from health service operational research evaluation to the assessment of interventions in diverse health arenas.

Effects of Sodium Alginate on the Flotation Separation of Molybdenite From Chalcopyrite Using Kerosene as Collector.

In this paper, the effect of sodium alginate (SA) on the flotation separation of molybdenite (MoS) from chalcopyrite using kerosene as collector was systematically investigated. The results of single-mineral micro-flotation tests indicated that SA exhibited strong depression on chalcopyrite flotation while it imposed no impact on the floatability of molybdenite. However, in the chalcopyrite-molybdenite mixed-mineral flotation system, the presence of chalcopyrite significantly increased the depressing effect of SA on molybdenite flotation, leading to a considerable reduction in the flotation selectivity.

Structural Variation of the X Chromosome Heterochromatin in the Complex.

Heterochromatin is identified as a potential factor driving diversification of species. To understand the magnitude of heterochromatin variation within the complex of malaria mosquitoes, we analyzed metaphase chromosomes in , , , , and . Using fluorescence hybridization (FISH) with ribosomal DNA (rDNA), a highly repetitive fraction of DNA, and heterochromatic Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) clones, we established the correspondence of pericentric heterochromatin between the metaphase and polytene X chromosomes of .

Linked-read sequencing identifies abundant microinversions and introgression in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti.

Background: Aedes aegypti is the principal mosquito vector of Zika, dengue, and yellow fever viruses. Two subspecies of Ae. aegypti exhibit phenotypic divergence with regard to habitat, host preference, and vectorial capacity.

Deep high-temperature hydrothermal circulation in a detachment faulting system on the ultra-slow spreading ridge.

Coupled magmatic and tectonic activity plays an important role in high-temperature hydrothermal circulation at mid-ocean ridges. The circulation patterns for such systems have been elucidated by microearthquakes and geochemical data over a broad spectrum of spreading rates, but such data have not been generally available for ultra-slow spreading ridges. Here we report new geophysical and fluid geochemical data for high-temperature active hydrothermal venting at Dragon Horn area (49.

DNA methylation: A mechanism for sustained alteration of KIR4.1 expression following central nervous system insult.

Kir4.1, a glial-specific inwardly rectifying potassium channel, is implicated in astrocytic maintenance of K homeostasis. Underscoring the role of Kir4.

Multitasking additional-to-driving: Prevalence, structure, and associated risk in SHRP2 naturalistic driving data.

Objective: This paper 1) analyzes the extent to which drivers engage in multitasking additional-to-driving (MAD) under various conditions, 2) specifies odds ratios (ORs) of crashing associated with MAD, and 3) explores the structure of MAD.

Methods: Data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study (SHRP2 NDS) was analyzed to quantify the prevalence of MAD in normal driving as well as in safety-critical events of various severity level and compute point estimates and confidence intervals for the corresponding odds ratios estimating the risk associated with MAD compared to no task engagement. Sensitivity analysis in which secondary tasks were re-defined by grouping similar tasks was performed to investigate the extent to which ORs are affected by the specific task definitions in SHRP2.

Voiced stops in the command performance of Southern US English.

Four self-identified code-switchers from Southwest Virginia and six actors who did not identify as having Southern accents each recorded two sets of stimuli in which they aimed to produce a more Southern and a more Standardized US accent. An analysis of the Voice Onset Time (VOT) of phrase and word initial voiced stops revealed that both groups of speakers produced more tokens with prevoicing (lead or negative lag voicing) when speaking in the Southern versus the Standard guise, and that in the Standard guise, the Southern speakers produced more prevoiced tokens than the actors. These findings support fairly recent descriptions of lead voicing as a feature of Southern US English.

The blueprint of RNA storages relative to oocyte developmental competence in cattle (Bos taurus).

From the time oocytes leave quiescence, there are constant microenvironmental influences contributing to development, thus acquiring developmental competence is not a simple, linear phenomenon. During folliculogenesis, oocytes experience many morphological and cytological changes that contribute toward the acquisition of developmental competence, a process defined by an oocyte's ability to progress through folliculogenesis, be fertilized, undergo cleavage, and develop into an embryo. Many factors, such as ovarian follicle size, cow age, and the morphology of the cumulus-oocyte complex, have been extensively investigated to understand this process.

Climatic vulnerabilities and ecological preferences of soil invertebrates across biomes.

Unlike plants and vertebrates, the ecological preferences, and potential vulnerabilities of soil invertebrates to environmental change, remain poorly understood in terrestrial ecosystems globally. We conducted a cross-biome survey including 83 locations across six continents to advance our understanding of the ecological preferences and vulnerabilities of the diversity of dominant and functionally important soil invertebrate taxa, including nematodes, arachnids and rotifers. The diversity of invertebrates was analyzed through amplicon sequencing.

Astrocyte morphogenesis is dependent on BDNF signaling via astrocytic TrkB.T1.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a critical growth factor involved in the maturation of the CNS, including neuronal morphology and synapse refinement. Herein, we demonstrate astrocytes express high levels of BDNF's receptor, TrkB (in the top 20 of protein-coding transcripts), with nearly exclusive expression of the truncated isoform, TrkB.T1, which peaks in expression during astrocyte morphological maturation.

Glial Dysfunction in MeCP2 Deficiency Models: Implications for Rett Syndrome.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare, X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder typically affecting females, resulting in a range of symptoms including autistic features, intellectual impairment, motor deterioration, and autonomic abnormalities. RTT is primarily caused by the genetic mutation of the Mecp2 gene. Initially considered a neuronal disease, recent research shows that glial dysfunction contributes to the RTT disease phenotype.