Efficiency of spatio-temporal vaccination regimes in wildlife populations under different viral constraints

Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is considered an endemic disease in European wild boar populations. In view of the high economic impact of the introduction of the virus into domestic pig units, huge efforts are invested in the preventive control of CSF in wild boar populations. Recent European Community guidelines favour oral mass vaccination against CSF in wild boar populations. The guidelines are explicit on the temporal structure of the vaccination protocol, but little is known about the efficacy of different spatial application schemes, or how they relate to outbreak dynamics

Fungal Endophytes of Populus trichocarpa Alter Host Phenotype, Gene Expression, and Rhizobiome Composition.

Mortierella and Ilyonectria genera include common species of soil fungi that are frequently detected as root endophytes in many plants, including Populus spp. However, the ecological roles of these and other endophytic fungi with respect to plant growth and function are still not well understood. The functional ecology of two key taxa from the P. trichocarpa rhizobiome, M. elongata PMI93 and I. europaea PMI82, was studied by coupling forest soil bioassays with environmental metatranscriptomics. Using soil bioassay experiments amended with fungal inoculants, M. elongata was observed to promote the growth of P. trichocarpa. This response was cultivar independent. In contrast, I. europaea had no visible effect on P. trichocarpa growth. Metatranscriptomic studies revealed that these fungi impacted rhizophytic and endophytic activities in P. trichocarpa and induced shifts in soil and root microbial communities. Differential expression of core genes in P. trichocarpa roots was observed in response to both fungal species. Expression of P. trichocarpa genes for lipid signaling and nutrient uptake were upregulated, and expression of genes associated with gibberellin signaling were altered in plants inoculated with M. elongata, but not I. europaea. Upregulation of genes for growth promotion, downregulation of genes for several leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases, and alteration of expression of genes associated with plant defense responses (e.g., jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, and ethylene signal pathways) also suggest that M. elongata manipulates plant defenses while promoting plant growth

Meta-analysis of Inter-species Liver Co-expression Networks Elucidates Traits Associated with Common Human Diseases

Co-expression networks are routinely used to study human diseases like obesity and diabetes. Systematic comparison of these networks between species has the potential to elucidate common mechanisms that are conserved between human and rodent species, as well as those that are species-specific characterizing evolutionary plasticity. We developed a semi-parametric meta-analysis approach for combining gene-gene co-expression relationships across expression profile datasets from multiple species. The simulation results showed that the semi-parametric method is robust against noise. When applied to human, mouse, and rat liver co-expression networks, our method out-performed existing methods in identifying gene pairs with coherent biological functions. We identified a network conserved across species that highlighted cell-cell signaling, cell-adhesion and sterol biosynthesis as main biological processes represented in genome-wide association study candidate gene sets for blood lipid levels. We further developed a heterogeneity statistic to test for network differences among multiple datasets, and demonstrated that genes with species-specific interactions tend to be under positive selection throughout evolution. Finally, we identified a human-specific sub-network regulated by RXRG, which has been validated to play a different role in hyperlipidemia and Type 2 diabetes between human and mouse. Taken together, our approach represents a novel step forward in integrating gene co-expression networks from multiple large scale datasets to leverage not only common information but also differences that are dataset-specific

Blue phase liquid crystals stabilized by linear photo-polymerization

Stabilizing a photopolymer-embedded blue phase liquid crystal precursor with linearly polarized UV light is investigated experimentally. When the UV polarization axis is perpendicular to the stripe electrodes of an in-plane-switching cell, anisotropic polymer networks are formed through the linear photo-polymerization process and the electrostriction effect is suppressed. As a result, the measured hysteresis is dramatically reduced from 6.95% to 0.36% and the response time shortened by similar to 2x compared to unpolarized UV exposure. To induce larger anisotropy in polymer networks for mitigating the electrostriction effect, high-intensity linearly polarized UV exposure is preferred

A Manufacturing Process Simulation of Toughened Cyanate-Ester-Based Composite Structures with Respect to Stress Relaxation

The objectives of this study were to experimentally determine the effects of the stress relaxation of a cyanate-ester-based composite, derive and integrate constitutive equations into commercial FEM software, and apply this approach to understand the formation of residual stress in a typical aerospace structure—namely, a stiffened panel. In preliminary studies, a cyanate-ester-based composite with increased fracture toughness for high-temperature applications was developed. High curing temperatures up to 260 °C will inevitably lead to high process-induced stresses. To assess the magnitude of impact on the development of internal stresses, the relaxation behavior of the neat resin was measured and characterized. The system was toughened, and the effect of stress relaxation increased as the temperature got closer to the glass transition temperature of the toughener, which was approximately 240 °C. With the use of an incremental linear viscoelastic model, the relaxation behavior was integrated into a process model with a holistic approach. A stiffened panel was manufactured and used as the validation use case. The displacement field was validated with an optical 3D measuring system, and good agreement was found between the simulated and experimental results. The maximum difference between the elastic and the viscoelastic solution was found to be 15%. Furthermore, the stress magnitude in the transverse material direction resulted in a more critical value higher than the material strength

Establishment and metabolic analysis of a model microbial community for understanding trophic and electron accepting interactions of subsurface anaerobic environments

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Communities of microorganisms control the rates of key biogeochemical cycles, and are important for biotechnology, bioremediation, and industrial microbiological processes. For this reason, we constructed a model microbial community comprised of three species dependent on trophic interactions. The three species microbial community was comprised of <it>Clostridium cellulolyticum</it>, <it>Desulfovibrio vulgaris </it>Hildenborough, and <it>Geobacter sulfurreducens </it>and was grown under continuous culture conditions. Cellobiose served as the carbon and energy source for <it>C. cellulolyticum</it>, whereas <it>D. vulgaris </it>and <it>G. sulfurreducens </it>derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products of cellobiose fermentation and were provided with sulfate and fumarate respectively as electron acceptors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>qPCR monitoring of the culture revealed <it>C. cellulolyticum </it>to be dominant as expected and confirmed the presence of <it>D. vulgaris </it>and <it>G. sulfurreducens</it>. Proposed metabolic modeling of carbon and electron flow of the three-species community indicated that the growth of <it>C. cellulolyticum </it>and <it>D. vulgaris </it>were electron donor limited whereas <it>G. sulfurreducens </it>was electron acceptor limited.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results demonstrate that <it>C. cellulolyticum</it>, <it>D. vulgaris</it>, and <it>G. sulfurreducens </it>can be grown in coculture in a continuous culture system in which <it>D. vulgaris </it>and <it>G. sulfurreducens </it>are dependent upon the metabolic byproducts of <it>C. cellulolyticum </it>for nutrients. This represents a step towards developing a tractable model ecosystem comprised of members representing the functional groups of a trophic network.</p

Strong Expression of Chemokine Receptor CXCR4 by Renal Cell Carcinoma Correlates with Advanced Disease

Diverse chemokines and their receptors have been associated with tumor growth, tumor dissemination, and local immune escape. In different tumor entities, the level of chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression has been linked with tumor progression and decreased survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of CXCR4 expression on the progression of human renal cell carcinoma. CXCR4 expression of renal cell carcinoma was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 113 patients. Intensity of CXCR4 expression was correlated with both tumor and patient characteristics. Human renal cell carcinoma revealed variable intensities of CXCR4 expression. Strong CXCR4 expression of renal cell carcinoma was significantly associated with advanced T-status (P = .039), tumor dedifferentiation (P = .0005), and low hemoglobin (P = .039). In summary, strong CXCR4 expression was significantly associated with advanced dedifferentiated renal cell carcinoma

Anticipated climate and land-cover changes reveal refuge areas for Borneo's orang-utans

Habitat loss and climate change pose a double jeopardy for many threatened taxa, making the identification of optimal habitat for the future a conservation priority. Using a case study of the endangered Bornean orang-utan, we identify environmental refuges by integrating bioclimatic models with projected deforestation and oil-palm agriculture suitability from the 1950s to 2080s. We coupled a maximum entropy algorithm with information on habitat needs to predict suitable habitat for the present day and 1950s. We then projected to the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s in models incorporating only land-cover change, climate change or both processes combined. For future climate, we incorporated projections from four model and emission scenario combinations. For future land cover, we developed spatial deforestation predictions from 10 years of satellite data. Refuges were delineated as suitable forested habitats identified by all models that were also unsuitable for oil palm – a major threat to tropical biodiversity. Our analyses indicate that in 2010 up to 260 000 km2 of Borneo was suitable habitat within the core orang-utan range; an 18–24% reduction since the 1950s. Land-cover models predicted further decline of 15–30% by the 2080s. Although habitat extent under future climate conditions varied among projections, there was majority consensus, particularly in northeastern and western regions. Across projections habitat loss due to climate change alone averaged 63% by 2080, but 74% when also considering land-cover change. Refuge areas amounted to 2000–42 000 km2 depending on thresholds used, with 900–17 000 km2 outside the current species range. We demonstrate that efforts to halt deforestation could mediate some orang-utan habitat loss, but further decline of the most suitable areas is to be expected given projected changes to climate. Protected refuge areas could therefore become increasingly important for ongoing translocation efforts. We present an approach to help identify such areas for highly threatened species given environmental changes expected this century

GIT2 Acts as a Potential Keystone Protein in Functional Hypothalamic Networks Associated with Age-Related Phenotypic Changes in Rats

The aging process affects every tissue in the body and represents one of the most complicated and highly integrated inevitable physiological entities. The maintenance of good health during the aging process likely relies upon the coherent regulation of hormonal and neuronal communication between the central nervous system and the periphery. Evidence has demonstrated that the optimal regulation of energy usage in both these systems facilitates healthy aging. However, the proteomic effects of aging in regions of the brain vital for integrating energy balance and neuronal activity are not well understood. The hypothalamus is one of the main structures in the body responsible for sustaining an efficient interaction between energy balance and neurological activity. Therefore, a greater understanding of the effects of aging in the hypothalamus may reveal important aspects of overall organismal aging and may potentially reveal the most crucial protein factors supporting this vital signaling integration. In this study, we examined alterations in protein expression in the hypothalami of young, middle-aged, and old rats. Using novel combinatorial bioinformatics analyses, we were able to gain a better understanding of the proteomic and phenotypic changes that occur during the aging process and have potentially identified the G protein-coupled receptor/cytoskeletal-associated protein GIT2 as a vital integrator and modulator of the normal aging process