Assessing current genetic status of the Hainan gibbon using historical and demographic baselines: implications for conservation management of species of extreme rarity

Evidence-based conservation planning is crucial for informing management decisions for species of extreme rarity, but collection of robust data on genetic status or other parameters can be extremely challenging for such species. The Hainan gibbon, possibly the world's rarest mammal, consists of a single population of c.25 individuals restricted to one protected area on Hainan Island, China, and has persisted for over 30 years at exceptionally low population size. Analysis of genotypes at 11 microsatellite loci from faecal samples for 36% of the current global population and tissue samples from 62% of existing historical museum specimens demonstrates limited current genetic diversity (Na=2.27, Ar=2.24, He =0.43); diversity has declined since the 19th century and even further within the last 30 years, representing declines of c.30% from historical levels (Na=3.36, Ar=3.29, He =0.63). Significant differentiation is seen between current and historical samples (FST =0.156, P=0.0315), and the current population exhibits extremely small Ne (current Ne =2.16). There is evidence for both a recent population bottleneck and an earlier bottleneck, with population size already reasonably low by the late 19th century (historical Ne =1162.96). Individuals in the current population are related at the level of half- to full-siblings between social groups, and full-siblings or parent-offspring within a social group, suggesting that inbreeding is likely to increase in the future. The species' current reduced genetic diversity must be considered during conservation planning, particularly for expectations of likely population recovery, indicating that intensive, carefully planned management is essential

Demon-like Algorithmic Quantum Cooling and its Realization with Quantum Optics

The simulation of low-temperature properties of many-body systems remains one of the major challenges in theoretical and experimental quantum information science. We present, and demonstrate experimentally, a universal cooling method which is applicable to any physical system that can be simulated by a quantum computer. This method allows us to distill and eliminate hot components of quantum states, i.e., a quantum Maxwell's demon. The experimental implementation is realized with a quantum-optical network, and the results are in full agreement with theoretical predictions (with fidelity higher than 0.978). These results open a new path for simulating low-temperature properties of physical and chemical systems that are intractable with classical methods.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, plus supplementarity material

Successful bone marrow transplantation in a patient with Diamond-Blackfan anemia with co-existing Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Diamond-Blackfan anemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy are two rare congenital anomalies. Both anomalies occurring in the same child is extremely rare. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a well-established therapy for Diamond-Blackfan anemia. However, in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, stem cell therapy still remains experimental.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a nine-year-old boy of north Indian descent with Diamond-Blackfan anemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy who underwent successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. He is transfusion-independent, and his Duchenne muscular dystrophy has shown no clinical deterioration over the past 45 months. His creatine phosphokinase levels have significantly decreased to 300 U/L from 14,000 U/L pre-transplant. The patient is 100% donor chimera in the hematopoietic system, and his muscle tissue has shown 8% to 10.4% cells of donor origin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our patient's Diamond-Blackfan anemia was cured by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The interesting clinical observation of a possible benefit in Duchenne muscular dystrophy cannot be ruled out. However, further clinical follow-up with serial muscle biopsies and molecular studies are needed to establish this finding.</p

Research priorities for neuroimmunology: identifying the key research questions to be addressed by 2030

Neuroimmunology in the broadest sense is the study of interactions between the nervous and the immune systems. These interactions play important roles in health from supporting neural development, homeostasis and plasticity to modifying behaviour. Neuroimmunology is increasingly recognised as a field with the potential to deliver a significant positive impact on human health and treatment for neurological and psychiatric disorders. Yet, translation to the clinic is hindered by fundamental knowledge gaps on the underlying mechanisms of action or the optimal timing of an intervention, and a lack of appropriate tools to visualise and modulate both systems. Here we propose ten key disease-agnostic research questions that, if addressed, could lead to significant progress within neuroimmunology in the short to medium term. We also discuss four cross-cutting themes to be considered when addressing each question: i) bi-directionality of neuroimmune interactions; ii) the biological context in which the questions are addressed (e.g. health vs disease vs across the lifespan); iii) tools and technologies required to fully answer the questions; and iv) translation into the clinic. We acknowledge that these ten questions cannot represent the full breadth of gaps in our understanding; rather they focus on areas which, if addressed, may have the most broad and immediate impacts. By defining these neuroimmunology priorities, we hope to unite existing and future research teams, who can make meaningful progress through a collaborative and cross-disciplinary effort

The frontline antibiotic vancomycin induces a zinc starvation response in bacteria by binding to Zn(II).

Vancomycin is a front-line antibiotic used for the treatment of nosocomial infections, particularly those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Despite its clinical importance the global effects of vancomycin exposure on bacterial physiology are poorly understood. In a previous transcriptomic analysis we identified a number of Zur regulon genes which were highly but transiently up-regulated by vancomycin in Streptomyces coelicolor. Here, we show that vancomycin also induces similar zinc homeostasis systems in a range of other bacteria and demonstrate that vancomycin binds to Zn(II) in vitro. This implies that vancomycin treatment sequesters zinc from bacterial cells thereby triggering a Zur-dependent zinc starvation response. The Kd value of the binding between vancomycin and Zn(II) was calculated using a novel fluorometric assay, and NMR was used to identify the binding site. These findings highlight a new biologically relevant aspect of the chemical property of vancomycin as a zinc chelator.This work was supported by funding from the Royal Society, UK (516002.K5877/ROG), the Medical Research Council, UK (G0700141). A.Z. was supported from the Said foundation and Cambridge Trust.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep1960

Structure and phase stability of nanocrystalline Ce1−xLnxO2−x/2−δ (Ln = Yb, Lu) in oxidizing and reducing atmosphere

The structure and phase evolution of nanocrystalline Ce1−xLnxO2−x/2−δ (Ln = Yb, Lu, x = 0 − 1) oxides upon heating in H2 was studied for the first time. Up to 950 °C the samples were single-phase, with structure changing smoothly with x from fluorite type (F) to bixbyite type (C). For the Lu-doped samples heated at 1100 °C in the air and H2, phase separation into coexisting F- and C-type structures was observed for ~0.40 < x < ~0.70 and ~0.25 < x < ~0.70, respectively. It was found also that addition of Lu3+ and Yb3+ strongly hinders the crystallite growth of ceria during heat treatment at 800 and 950 °C in both atmospheres. Valency of Ce and Yb in Ce0.1Lu0.9O1.55−δ and Ce0.95Yb0.05O1.975−δ samples heated at 1100 °C was studied by XANES and magnetic measurements. In the former Ce was dominated by Ce4+, with small contribution of Ce3+ after heating in H2. In the latter, Yb existed exclusively as 3+ in both O2 and H2

Monoubiquitination of syntaxin 3 leads to retrieval from the basolateral plasma membrane and facilitates cargo recruitment to exosomes

Syntaxin 3 (Stx3), a SNARE protein located and functioning at the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells, is required for epithelial polarity. A fraction of Stx3 is localized to late endosomes/lysosomes, although how it traffics there and its function in these organelles is unknown. Here we report that Stx3 undergoes monoubiquitination in a conserved polybasic domain. Stx3 present at the basolateral—but not the apical—plasma membrane is rapidly endocytosed, targeted to endosomes, internalized into intraluminal vesicles (ILVs), and excreted in exosomes. A nonubiquitinatable mutant of Stx3 (Stx3-5R) fails to enter this pathway and leads to the inability of the apical exosomal cargo protein GPRC5B to enter the ILV/exosomal pathway. This suggests that ubiquitination of Stx3 leads to removal from the basolateral membrane to achieve apical polarity, that Stx3 plays a role in the recruitment of cargo to exosomes, and that the Stx3-5R mutant acts as a dominant-negative inhibitor. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) acquires its membrane in an intracellular compartment and we show that Stx3-5R strongly reduces the number of excreted infectious viral particles. Altogether these results suggest that Stx3 functions in the transport of specific proteins to apical exosomes and that HCMV exploits this pathway for virion excretion

Synthesis of titanium decorated graphene for renewable energy applications

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was prepared from natural graphite by Hummers method. Few layers graphene was decorated with titanium by an incipient wetness impregnation method. The pristine graphene shows hydrogen storage capacity equal to 1.3 wt % while graphene decorated by titanium (RGO-Ti) enhanced hydrogen storage capacity to 1.4 wt%. We showed that titanium addition improved hydrogen storage capacity by chemical interactions. These interactions can be used for fabrication of different graphene-based materials as potential candidates for developing new absorbents for energy application

Discovery of Porcine microRNAs and Profiling from Skeletal Muscle Tissues during Development

MiRNAs (microRNAs) play critical roles in many important biological processes such as growth and development in mammals. In this study, we identified hundreds of porcine miRNA candidates through in silico prediction and analyzed their expression in developing skeletal muscle using microarray. Microarray screening using RNA samples prepared from a 33-day whole embryo and an extra embryo membrane validated 296 of the predicted candidates. Comparative expression profiling across samples of longissimus muscle collected from 33-day and 65-day post-gestation fetuses, as well as adult pigs, identified 140 differentially expressed miRNAs amongst the age groups investigated. The differentially expressed miRNAs showed seven distinctive types of expression patterns, suggesting possible involvement in certain biological processes. Five of the differentially expressed miRNAs were validated using real-time PCR. In silico analysis of the miRNA-mRNA interaction sites suggested that the potential mRNA targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs may play important roles in muscle growth and development