2-Benzyl-myo-inositol monohydrate

The title structure, C13H18O6·H2O, contains two independent 2-benzyl-myo-inositol and water mol­ecules. In the crystal, the mol­ecules are strongly hydrogen bonded into an infinite two dimensional network utilizing all OH protons

(Re)discovering the Gaulcross Hoard

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Charles and Helen Gray for permitting access to the land and for support in the excavation of the hoard. Thanks also to Bruce Mann and the Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service for advice and supporting the radiocarbon dating. Fraser Hunter and Tanja Romankiewicz assisted during a very cold excavation. Fraser and Alice Blackwell kindly read and commented on drafts of this paper. The fieldwork was funded through a donation to the University of Aberdeen's Development Trust and undertaken as part of the Northern Picts project, in association with the Tarbat Discovery Centre.Peer reviewedPostprin

The Vα14 invariant natural killer T cell TCR forces microbial glycolipids and CD1d into a conserved binding mode

The first crystal structures of iNKT cell TCRs bound to complexes of CD1d and microbe-derived glycolipids provide insight into the structural basis of iNKT cell microbial antigen recognition

Volcanic Contribution to Decadal Changes in Tropospheric Temperature

Despite continued growth in atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, global mean surface and tropospheric temperatures have shown slower warming since 1998 than previously. Possible explanations for the slow-down include internal climate variability, external cooling influences and observational errors. Several recent modelling studies have examined the contribution of early twenty-first-century volcanic eruptions to the muted surface warming. Here we present a detailed analysis of the impact of recent volcanic forcing on tropospheric temperature, based on observations as well as climate model simulations. We identify statistically significant correlations between observations of stratospheric aerosol optical depth and satellite-based estimates of both tropospheric temperature and short-wave fluxes at the top of the atmosphere. We show that climate model simulations without the effects of early twenty-first-century volcanic eruptions overestimate the tropospheric warming observed since 1998. In two simulations with more realistic volcanic influences following the 1991 Pinatubo eruption, differences between simulated and observed tropospheric temperature trends over the period 1998 to 2012 are up to 15% smaller, with large uncertainties in the magnitude of the effect. To reduce these uncertainties, better observations of eruption-specific properties of volcanic aerosols are needed, as well as improved representation of these eruption-specific properties in climate model simulations

Soluble CD36 Ectodomain Binds Negatively Charged Diacylglycerol Ligands and Acts as a Co-Receptor for TLR2

BACKGROUND:Cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in many biological processes, such as platelet biology, angiogenesis and in the aetiopathology of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the most important receptors of the innate immune system. Their main function is the recognition of conserved structure of microorganisms. This recognition triggers signaling pathways that activate transcription of cytokines and co-stimulatory molecules which participate in the generation of an immune response against microbes. In particular, TLR2 has been shown to recognize a broad range of ligands. Recently, we showed that CD36 serves as a co-receptor for TLR2 and enhances recognition of specific diacylglycerides derived from bacteria. METHODOLOGY/ PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here, we investigate the mechanism by which CD36 contributes to ligand recognition and activation of TLR2 signaling pathway. We show that the ectodomain of murine CD36 (mCD36ED) directly interacts with negatively charged diacylglycerol ligands, which explains the specificity and selectivity of CD36 as a TLR2 co-receptor. We also show that mCD36ED amplifies the pro-inflammatory response to lipoteichoic acid in macrophages of wild-type mice and restores the pro-inflammatory response of macrophages from mice deficient in CD36 (oblivious), but not from mice deficient in cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) (heedless). CONCLUSION/ SIGNIFICANCE: These data indicate that the CD36 ectodomain is the only relevant domain for activation of TLR2 signaling pathway and that CD36 and CD14 have a non-redundant role for loading ligands onto TLR2 in the plasma-membrane. The pro-inflammatory role of soluble CD36 can be relevant in the activation of the immune response against pathogens, as well as in the progression of chronic diseases. Therefore, an increased level of soluble forms of CD36, which has been reported to be increased in type II diabetic patients, could accelerate atherosclerosis by increasing the pro-inflammatory response to diacylglycerol ligands

Analysis of the CD1 Antigen Presenting System in Humanized SCID Mice

CD1 molecules are glycoproteins that present lipids and glycolipids for recognition by T cells. CD1-dependent immune activation has been implicated in a wide range of immune responses, however, our understanding of the role of this pathway in human disease remains limited because of species differences between humans and other mammals: whereas humans express five different CD1 gene products (CD1a, CD1b, CD1c, CD1d, and CD1e), muroid rodents express only one CD1 isoform (CD1d). Here we report that immune deficient mice engrafted with human fetal thymus, liver, and CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells develop a functional human CD1 compartment. CD1a, b, c, and d isoforms were highly expressed by human thymocytes, and CD1a+ cells with a dendritic morphology were present in the thymic medulla. CD1+ cells were also detected in spleen, liver, and lungs. APCs from spleen and liver were capable of presenting bacterial glycolipids to human CD1-restricted T cells. ELISpot analyses of splenocytes demonstrated the presence of CD1-reactive IFN-γ producing cells. CD1d tetramer staining directly identified human iNKT cells in spleen and liver samples from engrafted mice, and injection of the glycolipid antigen α-GalCer resulted in rapid elevation of human IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in the blood indicating that the human iNKT cells are biologically active in vivo. Together, these results demonstrate that the human CD1 system is present and functionally competent in this humanized mouse model. Thus, this system provides a new opportunity to study the role of CD1-related immune activation in infections to human-specific pathogens

Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust

Enhanced atmospheric input of dust-borne nutrients and minerals to the remote surface ocean can potentially increase carbon uptake and sequestration at depth. Nutrients can enhance primary productivity, and mineral particles act as ballast, increasing sinking rates of particulate organic matter. Here we present a two-year time series of sediment trap observations of particulate organic carbon flux to 3,000 m depth, measured directly in two locations: the dust-rich central North Atlantic gyre and the dust-poor South Atlantic gyre. We find that carbon fluxes are twice as high and a higher proportion of primary production is exported to depth in the dust-rich North Atlantic gyre. Low stable nitrogen isotope ratios suggest that high fluxes result from the stimulation of nitrogen fixation and productivity following the deposition of dust-borne nutrients. Sediment traps in the northern gyre also collected intact colonies of nitrogen-fixing Trichodesmium species. Whereas ballast in the southern gyre is predominantly biogenic, dust-derived mineral particles constitute the dominant ballast element during the enhanced carbon fluxes in the northern gyre. We conclude that dust deposition increases carbon sequestration in the North Atlantic gyre through the fertilization of the nitrogen-fixing community in surface waters and mineral ballasting of sinking particles

Migration and Evolution of giant ExoPlanets (MEEP) I: Nine Newly Confirmed Hot Jupiters from the TESS Mission

Hot Jupiters were many of the first exoplanets discovered in the 1990s, but in the decades since their discovery, the mysteries surrounding their origins remain. Here, we present nine new hot Jupiters (TOI-1855 b, TOI-2107 b, TOI-2368 b, TOI-3321 b, TOI-3894 b, TOI-3919 b, TOI-4153 b, TOI-5232 b, and TOI-5301 b) discovered by NASA's TESS mission and confirmed using ground-based imaging and spectroscopy. These discoveries are the first in a series of papers named the Migration and Evolution of giant ExoPlanets (MEEP) survey and are part of an ongoing effort to build a complete sample of hot Jupiters orbiting FGK stars, with a limiting Gaia $G$-band magnitude of 12.5. This effort aims to use homogeneous detection and analysis techniques to generate a set of precisely measured stellar and planetary properties that is ripe for statistical analysis. The nine planets presented in this work occupy a range of masses (0.55 Jupiter masses (M$_{\rm{J}}$) $<$ M$_{\rm{P}}$ $<$ 3.88 M$_{\rm{J}}$) and sizes (0.967 Jupiter radii (R$_{\rm{J}}$) $<$ R$_{\rm{P}}$ $<$ 1.438 R$_{\rm{J}}$) and orbit stars that range in temperature from 5360 K $<$ Teff $<$ 6860 K with Gaia $G$-band magnitudes ranging from 11.1 to 12.7. Two of the planets in our sample have detectable orbital eccentricity: TOI-3919 b ($e = 0.259^{+0.033}_{-0.036}$) and TOI-5301 b ($e = 0.33^{+0.11}_{-0.10}$). These eccentric planets join a growing sample of eccentric hot Jupiters that are consistent with high-eccentricity tidal migration, one of the three most prominent theories explaining hot Jupiter formation and evolution.Comment: 35 pages, 7 tables, and 14 figures. Submitted to AAS Journals on 2023 Dec 2

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms