Sovereign Digital Consent through Privacy Impact Quantification and Dynamic Consent

Digitization is becoming more and more important in the medical sector. Through electronic health records and the growing amount of digital data of patients available, big data research finds an increasing amount of use cases. The rising amount of data and the imposing privacy risks can be overwhelming for patients, so they can have the feeling of being out of control of their data. Several previous studies on digital consent have tried to solve this problem and empower the patient. However, there are no complete solution for the arising questions yet. This paper presents the concept of Sovereign Digital Consent by the combination of a consent privacy impact quantification and a technology for proactive sovereign consent. The privacy impact quantification supports the patient to comprehend the potential risk when sharing the data and considers the personal preferences regarding acceptance for a research project. The proactive dynamic consent implementation provides an implementation for fine granular digital consent, using medical data categorization terminology. This gives patients the ability to control their consent decisions dynamically and is research friendly through the automatic enforcement of the patients’ consent decision. Both technologies are evaluated and implemented in a prototypical application. With the combination of those technologies, a promising step towards patient empowerment through Sovereign Digital Consent can be made

Improvement in the decadal prediction skill of the North Atlantic extratropical winter circulation through increased model resolution

In this study the latest version of the MiKlip decadal hindcast system is analyzed, and the effect of an increased horizontal and vertical resolution on the prediction skill of the extratropical winter circulation is assessed. Four different metrics – the storm track, blocking, cyclone and windstorm frequencies – are analyzed in the North Atlantic and European region. The model bias and the deterministic decadal hindcast skill are evaluated in ensembles of five members in a lower-resolution version (LR, atm: T63L47, ocean: 1.5∘ L40) and a higher-resolution version (HR, atm: T127L95, ocean: 0.4∘ L40) of the MiKlip system based on the Max Planck Institute Earth System model (MPI-ESM). The skill is assessed for the lead winters 2–5 in terms of the anomaly correlation of the quantities' winter averages using initializations between 1978 and 2012. The deterministic predictions are considered skillful if the anomaly correlation is positive and statistically significant. While the LR version shows common shortcomings of lower-resolution climate models, e.g., a storm track that is too zonal and southward displaced as well as a negative bias of blocking frequencies over the eastern North Atlantic and Europe, the HR version counteracts these biases. Cyclones, i.e., their frequencies and characteristics like strength and lifetime, are particularly better represented in HR. As a result, a chain of significantly improved decadal prediction skill between all four metrics is found with the increase in the spatial resolution. While the skill of the storm track is significantly improved primarily over the main source region of synoptic activity – the North Atlantic Current – the other extratropical quantities experience a significant improvement primarily downstream thereof, i.e., in regions where the synoptic systems typically intensify. Thus, the skill of the cyclone frequencies is significantly improved over the central North Atlantic and northern Europe, the skill of the blocking frequencies is significantly improved over the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and eastern Europe, and the skill of the windstorms is significantly improved over Newfoundland and central Europe. Not only is the skill improved with the increase in resolution, but the HR system itself also exhibits significant skill over large areas of the North Atlantic and European sector for all four circulation metrics. These results are particularly promising regarding the high socioeconomic impact of European winter windstorms and blocking situations

Earth Virtualization Engines (EVE)

To manage Earth in the Anthropocene, new tools, new institutions, and new forms of international cooperation will be required. Earth Virtualization Engines is proposed as an international federation of centers of excellence to empower all people to respond to the immense and urgent challenges posed by climate change

Earth Virtualization Engines (EVE)

To manage Earth in the Anthropocene, new tools, new institutions, and new forms of international cooperation will be required. Earth Virtualization Engines is proposed as an international federation of centers of excellence to empower all people to respond to the immense and urgent challenges posed by climate change

Ionotropic Chemosensory Receptors Mediate the Taste and Smell of Polyamines

The ability to find and consume nutrient-rich diets for successful reproduction and survival is fundamental to animal life. Among the nutrients important for all animals are polyamines, a class of pungent smelling compounds required in numerous cellular and organismic processes. Polyamine deficiency or excess has detrimental effects on health, cognitive function, reproduction, and lifespan. Here, we show that a diet high in polyamine is beneficial and increases reproductive success of flies, and we unravel the sensory mechanisms that attract Drosophila to polyamine-rich food and egg-laying substrates. Using a combination of behavioral genetics and in vivo calcium imaging, we demonstrate that Drosophila uses multisensory detection to find and evaluate polyamines present in overripe and fermenting fruit, their favored feeding and egg-laying substrate. In the olfactory system, two coexpressed ionotropic receptors (IRs), IR76b and IR41a, mediate the long-range attraction to the odor. In the gustatory system, multimodal taste sensation by IR76b receptor and GR66a bitter receptor neurons is used to evaluate quality and valence of the polyamine providing a mechanism for the fly's high attraction to polyamine-rich and sweet decaying fruit. Given their universal and highly conserved biological roles, we propose that the ability to evaluate food for polyamine content may impact health and reproductive success also of other animals including humans

Correction: Ionotropic Chemosensory Receptors Mediate the Taste and Smell of Polyamines.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002454.]

New Taste-Active 3‑(<i>O</i>‑β‑d‑Glucosyl)-2-oxoindole-3-acetic Acids and Diarylheptanoids in <i>Cimiciato</i>-Infected Hazelnuts

Activity-guided fractionation in combination with sensory analytics, LC-TOF-MS, and 1D/2D-NMR spectroscopy enabled the identification of the bitter tasting diarylheptanoids asadanin, giffonin P, and the previously not reported (<i>E</i>)-7,9,10,13-tetrahydroxy-1,7-bis­(2-hydroxyphenyl)­hept-9-en-11-one and 4,12,16-trihydroxy-2-oxatricyclo­[13.3.1.1^3,7]-nonadeca-1­(18),3,5,7­(20),8,15,17-heptaen as well as the yet unknown astringent compounds 2-(3-hydroxy-2-oxoindolin-3-yl) acetic acid 3-<i>O</i>-6′-galactopyranosyl-2″-(2″oxoindolin-3″yl) acetate and 3-(<i>O</i>-β-d-glycosyl) dioxindole-3-acetic acid in Cimiciato-infected hazelnuts exhibiting a bitter off-taste. Quantitative LC–MS/MS studies, followed by dose/activity considerations confirmed for the first time asadanin to be the key contributor to the bitter taste of Cimiciato-infected hazelnuts. Furthermore, quantitative studies demonstrated that neither the physical damage alone nor a general microbial infection is able to initiate a stress-induced asadanin generation, but most likely either specific Cimiciato-specific microorganisms associated with the bugs or specific chemical stimulants in the bugs’ saliva is the cause triggering asadanin biosynthesis. Finally, also germination was found for the first time to activate diarylheptanoid biosynthesis, resulting in higher contents of bitter tasting phytochemicals and development of the bitter off-taste

Oviposition site choice requires IR76b and bitter taste neurons.

<p>(A) Schematic drawing of the oviposition assay setup (bottom) and a sample plate used to calculate the oviposition preference (top). <i>D</i>. <i>melanogaster</i> evaluates polyamine levels during egg-laying choices. The egg-laying plate halves contain 1% low melting agarose alone or agarose supplemented with a specific polyamine (purple/green boxes) in all cases with the exception of Fig 3D. (B–J) Box plots show oviposition PI of flies. <i>y</i>-axis value of 0 indicates indifference, while positive values indicate the degree of attraction and negative values indicate aversion. (B) Oviposition assay using plain agarose versus agarose + different polyamines at 1 mM. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). (C) Same assay as in B with single females showing group-independent decision-making to polyamines. (<i>n</i> = 30, 1 ♀ flies/trial). (D) Polyamines increase attractiveness of fruit. Oviposition PI of females for putrescine or cadaverine (grey plate) versus apple juice (red plate). While apple juice is more attractive than plain putrescine or cadaverine, apple juice supplemented with polyamine is more attractive than apple juice alone. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). (E) Oviposition assay (agarose versus putrescine or cadaverine) with females missing either antennae, wings, different tarsae (legs), or labellum compared to intact flies (control). Flies missing the labellum show no preference, while all other ablations had no effect on the PI. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). (F) Oviposition PI of loss of function <i>Poxn</i> females (<i>Poxn</i>^<i>-/-</i>) and <i>Poxn</i> rescue construct (SuperA-158 (53)) for putrescine and cadaverine. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). (G) Expression of GR66a (<i>GR66a-Gal4;UAS-mCD8GFP</i>, green) and IR76b (<i>IR76b-QF;QUAS-mtdTomato-3xHA</i>, magenta) in the AL, SEZ, labellum and legs. GR66a and IR76b are not expressed in the same taste neurons but innervate neighboring areas in the SEZ (arrow). (H) <i>IR76</i>b mutants lose their preference behavior to polyamine taste (<i>IR76b</i>^<i>05</i>, <i>IR76b</i>^{<i>MB00216</i>}, <i>IR76b</i>^<i>1</i>, <i>IR76b</i>^<i>2</i>), <i>IR76b-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>, and appropriate genetic controls. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). (I) Two taste receptors mediate oviposition preference. Oviposition PI of silenced sweet tasting GRs (<i>GR5a-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i> and <i>GR64f-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>), and inactivated bitter tasting receptor neurons (<i>GR66a-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>) and appropriate controls. Silencing of bitter neurons makes polyamines attractive, while silencing sweet neurons has no effect. This attractiveness is dependent on the activity of IR76b neurons as <i>GR66a-Gal4</i>,<i>IR76b-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i> flies show no preference behavior. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). (J) IR76b is required to mediate the behavioral response to polyamine odor. IR76b was re-expressed in the <i>IR76b</i> mutant background using <i>IR76b-Gal4</i>, <i>IR41a-Gal4 or GR66a-Gal4</i>. While <i>IR76b</i> mutants show no preference behavior to putrescine, re-expression of IR76b in IR76b but not in IR41a or GR66a neurons fully rescued this defect. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀/trial). All <i>p</i>-values were calculated via two-way ANOVA with the Bonferroni multiple comparison posthoc test (ns > 0.05, *<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05, **<i>p</i> ≤ 0.01, ***<i>p</i> ≤ 0.001). In all figures, asterisks above bars refer to <i>p</i>-values of comparison to wild type control (first bar of the panel). Lines joining two bars or groups of bars denote all other comparisons.</p

Females detect odor and taste of polyamines during oviposition site selection.

<p>(A) Scheme of the video-tracking position-oviposition assay. (B) Females spend more time on the polyamine-rich site but avoid pure polyamines for egg laying. Position (solid line) and oviposition (dashed line) preference of Canton S to putrescine and cadaverine over time in position–oviposition assay. <i>y</i>-axis shows position and oviposition PI. <i>x</i>-axis shows total time (min) of the assay. The female’s position–oviposition behavior was quantified in 30 min intervals. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀ flies/trial, total time of assay of 3 h. (C) Position and oviposition preference of loss of function mutant of <i>Poxn</i> (<i>Poxn</i>^<i>-/-</i>) and <i>Poxn</i> full rescue (rescue superA) to putrescine in position–oviposition assay. Red lines indicate behavior of <i>Poxn</i>^<i>-/-</i> females, while black lines designate behavior of <i>Poxn</i> rescue SuperA. Loss of sense of taste does affect oviposition but not position preference. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀ flies/trial). (D) Position and oviposition preference of <i>IR41a-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>, <i>IR76b-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>, <i>Gr66a-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>, and <i>Gr66a-Gal4</i>,<i>IR76b-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i> and their respective genetic controls to putrescine over time in position–oviposition assay. Position preference is mediated by IR41a olfactory neurons, while taste neurons trigger oviposition avoidance. Red lines indicate <i>receptor-Gal4;UAS-Kir2</i>.<i>1</i>, while black lines indicate controls. Box plots show median and upper/lower quartiles (<i>n</i> = 8, 60 ♀ flies/trial). All <i>p</i>-values were calculated via two-way ANOVA with the Bonferroni multiple comparison posthoc test (ns > 0.05, *<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05, **<i>p</i> ≤ 0.01, ***<i>p</i> ≤ 0.001).</p