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We report results on the ratio of midrapidity antiproton-to-proton yields in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV per nucleon pair as measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. Within the rapidity and transverse momentum range of | y|<0.5 and 0.4<pt<1.0 GeV/c, the ratio is essentially independent of either transverse momentum or rapidity, with an average of 0.65±0.01(stat)±0.07(syst) for minimum bias collisions. Within errors, no strong centrality dependence is observed. The results indicate that at this RHIC energy, although the p-p-bar pair production becomes important at midrapidity, a significant excess of baryons over antibaryons is still present.
Although a variety of genetic strategies have been developed to inhibit HIV replication, few direct comparisons of the efficacy of these inhibitors have been carried out. Moreover, most studies have not examined whether genetic inhibitors are able to induce a survival advantage that results in an expansion of genetically-modified cells following HIV infection. We evaluated the efficacy of three leading genetic strategies to inhibit HIV replication: 1) an HIV-1 tat/rev-specific small hairpin (sh) RNA; 2) an RNA antisense gene specific for the HIV-1 envelope; and 3) a viral entry inhibitor, maC46. In stably transduced cell lines selected such that >95% of cells expressed the genetic inhibitor, the RNA antisense envelope and viral entry inhibitor maC46 provided the strongest inhibition of HIV-1 replication. However, when mixed populations of transduced and untransduced cells were challenged with HIV-1, the maC46 fusion inhibitor resulted in highly efficient positive selection of transduced cells, an effect that was evident even in mixed populations containing as few as 1% maC46-expressing cells. The selective advantage of the maC46 fusion inhibitor was also observed in HIV-1-infected cultures of primary T lymphocytes as well as in HIV-1-infected humanized mice. These results demonstrate robust inhibition of HIV replication with the fusion inhibitor maC46 and the antisense Env inhibitor, and importantly, a survival advantage of cells expressing the maC46 fusion inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo. Evaluation of the ability of genetic inhibitors of HIV-1 replication to confer a survival advantage on genetically-modified cells provides unique information not provided by standard techniques that may be important in the in vivo efficacy of these genes.
Background: Pythium ultimum (P. ultimum) is a ubiquitous oomycete plant pathogen responsible for a variety of diseases on a broad range of crop and ornamental species. Results: The P. ultimum genome (42.8 Mb) encodes 15,290 genes and has extensive sequence similarity and synteny with related Phytophthora species, including the potato blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Whole transcriptome sequencing revealed expression of 86% of genes, with detectable differential expression of suites of genes under abiotic stress and in the presence of a host. The predicted proteome includes a large repertoire of proteins involved in plant pathogen interactions although surprisingly, the P. ultimum genome does not encode any classical RXLR effectors and relatively few Crinkler genes in comparison to related phytopathogenic oomycetes. A lower number of enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism were present compared to Phytophthora species, with the notable absence of cutinases, suggesting a significant difference in virulence mechanisms between P. ultimum and more host specific oomycete species. Although we observed a high degree of orthology with Phytophthora genomes, there were novel features of the P. ultimum proteome including an expansion of genes involved in proteolysis and genes unique to Pythium. We identified a small gene family of cadherins, proteins involved in cell adhesion, the first report in a genome outside the metazoans. Conclusions: Access to the P. ultimum genome has revealed not only core pathogenic mechanisms within the oomycetes but also lineage specific genes associated with the alternative virulence and lifestyles found within the pythiaceous lineages compared to the Peronosporaceae.
Investigators in the cognitive neurosciences have turned to Big Data to address persistent replication and reliability issues by increasing sample sizes, statistical power, and representativeness of data. While there is tremendous potential to advance science through open data sharing, these efforts unveil a host of new questions about how to integrate data arising from distinct sources and instruments. We focus on the most frequently assessed area of cognition - memory testing - and demonstrate a process for reliable data harmonization across three common measures. We aggregated raw data from 53 studies from around the world which measured at least one of three distinct verbal learning tasks, totaling N = 10,505 healthy and brain-injured individuals. A mega analysis was conducted using empirical bayes harmonization to isolate and remove site effects, followed by linear models which adjusted for common covariates. After corrections, a continuous item response theory (IRT) model estimated each individual subject’s latent verbal learning ability while accounting for item difficulties. Harmonization significantly reduced inter-site variance by 37% while preserving covariate effects. The effects of age, sex, and education on scores were found to be highly consistent across memory tests. IRT methods for equating scores across AVLTs agreed with held-out data of dually-administered tests, and these tools are made available for free online. This work demonstrates that large-scale data sharing and harmonization initiatives can offer opportunities to address reproducibility and integration challenges across the behavioral sciences.
Infectious diseases are an existential health threat, potentiated by emerging and re-emerging viruses and increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance. Targeted treatment of infectious diseases requires precision diagnostics, especially in cases where broad-range therapeutics such as antibiotics fail. There is thus an increasing need for new approaches to develop sensitive and specific in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests. Basic science and translational research are needed to identify key microbial molecules as diagnostic targets, to identify relevant host counterparts, and to use this knowledge in developing or improving IVD. In this regard, an overlooked feature is the capacity of pathogens to adhere specifically to host cells and tissues. The molecular entities relevant for pathogen–surface interaction are the so-called adhesins. Adhesins vary from protein compounds to (poly-)saccharides or lipid structures that interact with eukaryotic host cell matrix molecules and receptors. Such interactions co-define the specificity and sensitivity of a diagnostic test. Currently, adhesin-receptor binding is typically used in the pre-analytical phase of IVD tests, focusing on pathogen enrichment. Further exploration of adhesin–ligand interaction, supported by present high-throughput “omics” technologies, might stimulate a new generation of broadly applicable pathogen detection and characterization tools. This review describes recent results of novel structure-defining technologies allowing for detailed molecular analysis of adhesins, their receptors and complexes. Since the host ligands evolve slowly, the corresponding adhesin interaction is under selective pressure to maintain a constant receptor binding domain. IVD should exploit such conserved binding sites and, in particular, use the human ligand to enrich the pathogen. We provide an inventory of methods based on adhesion factors and pathogen attachment mechanisms, which can also be of relevance to currently emerging pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19.
Ishtarella Martens new genus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) and I. thailandica Martens new species are described and illustrated from Doi Phu Kha National Park, Nan Province, Thailand. The genus is assigned to the tribe Aphidiini, subtribe Trioxina. Based on morphology, Ishtarella appears most closely related to Binodoxys Mackauer. An updated checklist of the aphidiine fauna of Thailand, based on published records, is presented.
A checklist and classification of the species of Elateridae reported from mainland Ecuador are given. Anchastus boulardi Chassain, Cardiorhinus apicalis Golbach, Physorhinus marginatus Candèze, and P. sexnotatus Steinheil are reported from Ecuador for the first time. The recorded elaterid fauna of Ecuador is now represented by 140 species, 38 genera, and 9 subfamilies, which are low taxon richness numbers when compared to those of neighboring countries.
Two new species of Aulonothroscus Horn are described from The Bahamas and a third species is newly reported. Aulonothroscus inawa new species is described from Great Inagua and Aulonothroscus sibateo new species is described from Eleuthera. Aulonothroscus convergens (Horn) is reported from Andros, providing an island and new country record. These are the fi rst Aulonothroscus identifi ed to species from the Lucayan Archipelago and from a West Indies locality other than Guadeloupe. A key to the species of Bahamian Aulonothroscus is provided.
Seven species of Drapetes Megerle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) are recognized from northern North America. Drapetes chiricahua new species is described from southeastern Arizona and north-central New Mexico. Drapetes parallelus Van Dyke is a senior homonym of Drapetes paralellus Cobos by variant spelling, and a new synonym of Drapetes cylindricus Fall. Drapetes paralellus Cobos is replaced with Drapetes cobosi new name. Drapetes clarki Bonvouloir is not a North American species and is given a redesignated type locality in Brazil. Drapetes plagiatus (Boheman) is not a California species and is given a redesignated type locality in Panama. New state records are reported for Drapetes exstriatus (Say) from Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. A key to the species of the region is provided and each species is illustrated.