Political conservatism predicts asymmetries in emotional scene memory

Variation in political ideology has been linked to differences in attention to and processing of emotional stimuli, with stronger responses to negative versus positive stimuli (negativity bias) the more politically conservative one is. As memory is enhanced by attention, such findings predict that memory for negative versus positive stimuli should similarly be enhanced the more conservative one is. The present study tests this prediction by having participants study 120 positive, negative, and neutral scenes in preparation for a subsequent memory test. On the memory test, the same 120 scenes were presented along with 120 new scenes and participants were to respond whether a scene was old or new. Results on the memory test showed that negative scenes were more likely to be remembered than positive scenes, though, this was true only for political conservatives. That is, a larger negativity bias was found the more conservative one was. The effect was sizeable, explaining 45% of the variance across subjects in the effect of emotion. These findings demonstrate that the relationship between political ideology and asymmetries in emotion processing extend to memory and, furthermore, suggest that exploring the extent to which subject variation in interactions among emotion, attention, and memory is predicted by conservatism may provide new insights into theories of political ideology

Transcriptomic analysis of field-droughted sorghum from seedling to maturity reveals biotic and metabolic responses.

Drought is the most important environmental stress limiting crop yields. The C4 cereal sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a critical food, forage, and emerging bioenergy crop that is notably drought-tolerant. We conducted a large-scale field experiment, imposing preflowering and postflowering drought stress on 2 genotypes of sorghum across a tightly resolved time series, from plant emergence to postanthesis, resulting in a dataset of nearly 400 transcriptomes. We observed a fast and global transcriptomic response in leaf and root tissues with clear temporal patterns, including modulation of well-known drought pathways. We also identified genotypic differences in core photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species scavenging pathways, highlighting possible mechanisms of drought tolerance and of the delayed senescence, characteristic of the stay-green phenotype. Finally, we discovered a large-scale depletion in the expression of genes critical to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, with a corresponding drop in AM fungal mass in the plants' roots

Intermediate follow-up following intravascular stenting for treatment of coarctation of the aorta

Background : We report a multiinstitutional study on intermediate-term outcome of intravascular stenting for treatment of coarctation of the aorta using integrated arch imaging (IAI) techniques. Methods and Results : Medical records of 578 patients from 17 institutions were reviewed. A total of 588 procedures were performed between May 1989 and Aug 2005. About 27% (160/588) procedures were followed up by further IAI of their aorta (MRI/CT/repeat cardiac catheterization) after initial stent procedures. Abnormal imaging studies included: the presence of dissection or aneurysm formation, stent fracture, or the presence of reobstruction within the stent (instent restenosis or significant intimal build-up within the stent). Forty-one abnormal imaging studies were reported in the intermediate follow-up at median 12 months (0.5–92 months). Smaller postintervention of the aorta (CoA) diameter and an increased persistent systolic pressure gradient were associated with encountering abnormal follow-up imaging studies. Aortic wall abnormalities included dissections ( n = 5) and aneurysm ( n = 13). The risk of encountering aortic wall abnormalities increased with larger percent increase in CoA diameter poststent implant, increasing balloon/coarc ratio, and performing prestent angioplasty. Stent restenosis was observed in 5/6 parts encountering stent fracture and neointimal buildup ( n = 16). Small CoA diameter poststent implant and increased poststent residual pressure gradient increased the likelihood of encountering instent restenosis at intermediate follow-up. Conclusions : Abnormalities were observed at intermediate follow-up following IS placement for treatment of native and recurrent coarctation of the aorta. Not exceeding a balloon:coarctation ratio of 3.5 and avoidance of prestent angioplasty decreased the likelihood of encountering an abnormal follow-up imaging study in patients undergoing intravascular stent placement for the treatment of coarctation of the aorta. We recommend IAI for all patients undergoing IS placement for treatment of CoA. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57392/1/21191_ftp.pd

Ancestral absence of electron transport chains in Patescibacteria and DPANN

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Beam, J. P., Becraft, E. D., Brown, J. M., Schulz, F., Jarett, J. K., Bezuidt, O., Poulton, N. J., Clark, K., Dunfield, P. F., Ravin, N. V., Spear, J. R., Hedlund, B. P., Kormas, K. A., Sievert, S. M., Elshahed, M. S., Barton, H. A., Stott, M. B., Eisen, J. A., Moser, D. P., Onstott, T. C., Woyke, T., & Stepanauskas, R. Ancestral absence of electron transport chains in Patescibacteria and DPANN. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, (2020): 1848, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.01848.Recent discoveries suggest that the candidate superphyla Patescibacteria and DPANN constitute a large fraction of the phylogenetic diversity of Bacteria and Archaea. Their small genomes and limited coding potential have been hypothesized to be ancestral adaptations to obligate symbiotic lifestyles. To test this hypothesis, we performed cell–cell association, genomic, and phylogenetic analyses on 4,829 individual cells of Bacteria and Archaea from 46 globally distributed surface and subsurface field samples. This confirmed the ubiquity and abundance of Patescibacteria and DPANN in subsurface environments, the small size of their genomes and cells, and the divergence of their gene content from other Bacteria and Archaea. Our analyses suggest that most Patescibacteria and DPANN in the studied subsurface environments do not form specific physical associations with other microorganisms. These data also suggest that their unusual genomic features and prevalent auxotrophies may be a result of ancestral, minimal cellular energy transduction mechanisms that lack respiration, thus relying solely on fermentation for energy conservation.This work was funded by the USA National Science Foundation grants 1441717, 1826734, and 1335810 (to RS); and 1460861 (REU site at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences). RS was also supported by the Simons Foundation grant 510023. TW, FS, and JJ were funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. NR group was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (grant 19-14-00245). SS was funded by USA National Science Foundation grants OCE-0452333 and OCE-1136727. BH was funded by NASA Exobiology grant 80NSSC17K0548

Severe Community-acquired Pneumonia Due to Staphylococcus aureus, 2003–04 Influenza Season

S. aureus community-acquired pneumonia has been reported from 9 states

The Genome of Deep-Sea Vent Chemolithoautotroph Thiomicrospira crunogena XCL-2

Presented here is the complete genome sequence of Thiomicrospira crunogena XCL-2, representative of ubiquitous chemolithoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. This gammaproteobacterium has a single chromosome (2,427,734 base pairs), and its genome illustrates many of the adaptations that have enabled it to thrive at vents globally. It has 14 methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein genes, including four that may assist in positioning it in the redoxcline. A relative abundance of coding sequences (CDSs) encoding regulatory proteins likely control the expression of genes encoding carboxysomes, multiple dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphate transporters, as well as a phosphonate operon, which provide this species with a variety of options for acquiring these substrates from the environment. Thiom. crunogena XCL-2 is unusual among obligate sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in relying on the Sox system for the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds. The genome has characteristics consistent with an obligately chemolithoautotrophic lifestyle, including few transporters predicted to have organic allocrits, and Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle CDSs scattered throughout the genome

The role of historical and contemporary processes on phylogeographic structure and genetic diversity in the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

Background Earth history events such as climate change are believed to have played a major role in shaping patterns of genetic structure and diversity in species. However, there is a lag between the time of historical events and the collection of present-day samples that are used to infer contemporary population structure. During this lag phase contemporary processes such as dispersal or non-random mating can erase or reinforce population differences generated by historical events. In this study we evaluate the role of both historical and contemporary processes on the phylogeography of a widespread North American songbird, the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis. Results Phylogenetic analysis revealed deep mtDNA structure with six lineages across the species\u27 range. Ecological niche models supported the same geographic breaks revealed by the mtDNA. A paleoecological niche model for the Last Glacial Maximum indicated that cardinals underwent a dramatic range reduction in eastern North America, whereas their ranges were more stable in México. In eastern North America cardinals expanded out of glacial refugia, but we found no signature of decreased genetic diversity in areas colonized after the Last Glacial Maximum. Present-day demographic data suggested that population growth across the expansion cline is positively correlated with latitude. We propose that there was no loss of genetic diversity in areas colonized after the Last Glacial Maximum because recent high-levels of gene flow across the region have homogenized genetic diversity in eastern North America. Conclusion We show that both deep historical events as well as demographic processes that occurred following these events are critical in shaping genetic pattern and diversity in C. cardinalis. The general implication of our results is that patterns of genetic diversity are best understood when information on species history, ecology, and demography are considered simultaneously

The role of historical and contemporary processes on phylogeographic structure and genetic diversity in the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Earth history events such as climate change are believed to have played a major role in shaping patterns of genetic structure and diversity in species. However, there is a lag between the time of historical events and the collection of present-day samples that are used to infer contemporary population structure. During this lag phase contemporary processes such as dispersal or non-random mating can erase or reinforce population differences generated by historical events. In this study we evaluate the role of both historical and contemporary processes on the phylogeography of a widespread North American songbird, the Northern Cardinal, <it>Cardinalis cardinalis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Phylogenetic analysis revealed deep mtDNA structure with six lineages across the species' range. Ecological niche models supported the same geographic breaks revealed by the mtDNA. A paleoecological niche model for the Last Glacial Maximum indicated that cardinals underwent a dramatic range reduction in eastern North America, whereas their ranges were more stable in México. In eastern North America cardinals expanded out of glacial refugia, but we found no signature of decreased genetic diversity in areas colonized after the Last Glacial Maximum. Present-day demographic data suggested that population growth across the expansion cline is positively correlated with latitude. We propose that there was no loss of genetic diversity in areas colonized after the Last Glacial Maximum because recent high-levels of gene flow across the region have homogenized genetic diversity in eastern North America.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We show that both deep historical events as well as demographic processes that occurred following these events are critical in shaping genetic pattern and diversity in <it>C. cardinalis</it>. The general implication of our results is that patterns of genetic diversity are best understood when information on species history, ecology, and demography are considered simultaneously.</p