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Photosynthesis is fundamental for plant growth and yield. The cytochrome b

Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have opened the door to a wellspring of information regarding the composition of the gut microbiota. Leveraging NGS technology, early metagenomic studies revealed that several diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and myalgic encephalomyelitis, are characterized by alterations in the diversity of gut-associated microbes. More recently, interest has shifted toward understanding how these microbes impact their host, with a special emphasis on their interactions with the brain. Such interactions typically occur either systemically, through the production of small molecules in the gut that are released into circulation, or through signaling via the vagus nerves which directly connect the enteric nervous system to the central nervous system. Collectively, this system of communication is now commonly referred to as the gut-microbiota-brain axis. While equally important, little attention has focused on the causes of the alterations in the composition of gut microbiota. Although several factors can contribute, mucosal immunity plays a significant role in shaping the microbiota in both healthy individuals and in association with several diseases. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief overview of the components of mucosal immunity that impact the gut microbiota and then discuss how altered immunological conditions may shape the gut microbiota and consequently affect neuroimmune diseases, using a select group of common neuroimmune diseases as examples.

Photosynthesis is fundamental for plant growth and yield. The Cytochrome b6f complex catalyses a rate-limiting step in thylakoid electron transport and therefore represents an important point of regulation of photosynthesis. Here we show that overexpression of a single core subunit of Cytochrome b6f, the Rieske FeS protein, led to up to a 40% increase in the abundance of the complex in Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) and was accompanied by an enhanced in vitro Cytochrome f activity, indicating a full functionality of the complex. Analysis of transgenic plants overexpressing Rieske FeS by the light-induced fluorescence transients technique revealed a more oxidised primary quinone acceptor of Photosystem II (QA) and plastoquinone pool and a faster electron transport from the plastoquinone pool to Photosystem I upon changes in irradiance, compared to control plants. A faster establishing of qE, the energy-dependent component of non-photochemical quenching, in transgenic plants suggested a more rapid build-up of the transmembrane proton gradient, also supporting the increased in vivo Cytochrome b6f activity. However, there was no consistent increase in steady-state rates of electron transport or CO2 assimilation in plants overexpressing Rieske FeS grown in either laboratory conditions or in field trials, suggesting that the in vivo activity of the complex was only transiently increased upon changes in irradiance. Our results show that overexpression of Rieske FeS in tobacco enhances abundance of functional Cytochrome b6f and electron transport capacity and may have a potential to increase plant productivity if combined with other traits.One-sentence summaryIncreased abundance of Cytochrome b6f complex leads to transient increases in photosynthetic electron transport rate in tobacco.

Heightened aggression is characteristic of multiple neuropsychiatric disorders and can have various negative effects on patients, their families and the public. Recent studies in humans and animals have implicated brain reward circuits in aggression and suggest that, in subsets of aggressive individuals, domination of subordinate social targets is reinforcing. In this study, we showed that, in male mice, orexin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus activated a small population of glutamic acid decarboxylase 2 (GAD2)-expressing neurons in the lateral habenula (LHb) via orexin receptor 2 (OxR2) and that activation of these GAD2 neurons promoted male-male aggression and conditioned place preference for aggression-paired contexts. Moreover, LHb GAD2 neurons were inhibitory within the LHb and dampened the activity of the LHb as a whole. These results suggest that the orexin system is important for the regulation of inter-male aggressive behavior and provide the first functional evidence of a local inhibitory circuit within the LHb.

© 2020 Tam et al. Obesity and elevation of circulating free fatty acids are associated with an accumulation and proinflammatory polarization of macrophages within metabolically active tissues, such as adipose tissue, muscle, liver, and pancreas. Beyond macrophages, neutrophils also accumulate in adipose and muscle tissues during high-fat diets and contribute to a state of local inflammation and insulin resistance. However, the mechanisms by which neutrophils are recruited to these tissues are largely unknown. Here we used a cell culture system as proof of concept to show that, upon exposure to a saturated fatty acid, palmitate, macrophages release nucleotides that attract neutrophils. Moreover, we found that palmitate up-regulates pannexin-1 channels in macrophages that mediate the attraction of neutrophils, shown previously to allow transfer of nucleotides across membranes. These findings suggest that proinflammatory macrophages release nucleotides through pannexin-1, a process that may facilitate neutrophil recruitment into metabolic tissues during obesity.

We present a simple physical picture and precise model for the low-frequency acoustic modes of phononic crystals with multiple local resonances within each unit cell and their coupling to spatially separated resonators. The physical picture is a generalization of the widely quoted mass-in-a-box representation of resonant acoustic metamaterials. Our model consists of an array of frequency-dependent effective masses and moments of inertia coupled to near and distant neighbors by a wave-vector-dependent effective spring constant matrix. We demonstrate, using several two-dimensional models, that our simple representation accurately recaptures exact phononic band structure involving coupled translational and rotational modes. Our simplified but precise description is ideally suited for resonators consisting of multiple rigid cores and shells embedded in a softer elastic background. This enables a rich spectrum of acoustic modes and band gaps at audible frequencies, using millimeter to centimeter scale resonators. Our model is readily generalized to three-dimensional phononic crystals. It is suggested that suitable modifications of the spring tensor may enable description of disordered resonant acoustic media.

In humans, traumatic social experiences can contribute to psychiatric disorders1. It is suggested that social trauma impairs brain reward function such that social behaviour is no longer rewarding, leading to severe social avoidance2,3. In rodents, the chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) model has been used to understand the neurobiology underlying stress susceptibility versus resilience following social trauma, yet little is known regarding its impact on social reward4,5. Here we show that, following CSDS, a subset of male and female mice, termed susceptible (SUS), avoid social interaction with non-aggressive, same-sex juvenile C57BL/6J mice and do not develop context-dependent social reward following encounters with them. Non-social stressors have no effect on social reward in either sex. Next, using whole-brain Fos mapping, in vivo Ca2+ imaging and whole-cell recordings, we identified a population of stress/threat-responsive lateral septum neurotensin (NTLS) neurons that are activated by juvenile social interactions only in SUS mice, but not in resilient or unstressed control mice. Optogenetic or chemogenetic manipulation of NTLS neurons and their downstream connections modulates social interaction and social reward. Together, these data suggest that previously rewarding social targets are possibly perceived as social threats in SUS mice, resulting from hyperactive NTLS neurons that occlude social reward processing.

Social hierarchy formation is strongly evolutionarily conserved. Across species, rank within social hierarchy has large effects on health and behavior. To investigate the relationship between social rank and stress susceptibility, we exposed ranked male and female mice to social and non-social stressors and manipulated social hierarchy position. We found that rank predicts same sex social stress outcomes: dominance in males and females confers resilience while subordination confers susceptibility. Pre-existing rank does not predict non-social stress outcomes in females and weakly does so in males, but rank emerging under stress conditions reveals social interaction deficits in male and female subordinates. Both history of winning and rank of cage mates affect stress susceptibility in males: rising to the top rank through high mobility confers resilience and mice that lose dominance lose stress resilience, though gaining dominance over a subordinate animal does not confer resilience. Overall, we have demonstrated a relationship between social status and stress susceptibility, particularly when taking into account individual history of winning and the overall hierarchy landscape in male and female mice.

The objective of this thesis is to determine the technological and economic feasibility of asteroid mining. This thesis elaborates on why the key technological development should be further developing water extraction and manufacturing techniques. This secondary research was conducted with a survey of the technical and economic conclusions of many books, conference papers, and journal articles. Even though a mobile in-situ water extractor has demonstrated water extraction capabilities, the technology is not yet ready to be utilized in an actual asteroid mining architecture in the harsh climates of outer space. This thesis concludes that asteroid mining will be technologically feasible but will only be economically feasible upon further refinement of water manufacturing techniques on celestial bodies. This thesis recommends further investment into water extraction and manufacturing techniques from commercial companies and the government in order to increase the economic viability of asteroid mining. Lieutenant, United States Navy Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Chronic exposure to stress is a well-known risk factor for the development of mood and anxiety disorders. Promoting resilience to stress may prevent the development of these disorders, but resilience-enhancing compounds are not yet clinically available. One compound that has shown promise in the clinical setting is curcumin, a polyphenol compound found in the rhizome of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa) with known anti-inflammatory and antidepressant properties. Here, we tested the efficacy of 1.5% dietary curcumin at promoting resilience to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) in 129/SvEv mice, a strain that we show is highly susceptible to this type of stress. We found that administration of curcumin during CSDS produced a 4.5-fold increase in stress resilience, as measured by the social interaction test. Although the overall effects of curcumin were striking, we identified two distinct responses to curcumin. While 64% of defeated mice on curcumin were resilient (responders), the remaining 36% of mice were susceptible to the effects of stress (non-responders). Interestingly, responders released less corticosterone following acute restraint stress and had lower levels of peripheral IL-6 than nonresponders, implicating a role for the NF-κB pathway in treatment response. Importantly, curcumin also prevented anxiety-like behavior in both responders and non-responders in the elevated-plus maze and open field test. Collectively, our findings provide the first preclinical evidence that curcumin promotes resilience to CSDS and suggest that curcumin may prevent the emergence of a range of anxiety-like symptoms when given to individuals during exposure to chronic social stress.

In this paper, we report the effect of thermal treatment at different temperatures (523, 623, and 723 K) on the magnetic properties of an amorphous powder with composition Fe72.5Si12.5B15 obtained by gas atomization. Differential scanning calorimetry curves indicate that a significant structural rearrangement takes place during annealing before crystallization. As expected, the intrinsic coercivity decreases with the annealing temperature, being the most significant drop from 3.26 to 0.44 Oe for the powder with a particle size $ , non-annealed, and annealed at 723 K, respectively. An analysis of the effect of annealing on the anisotropy field distribution obtained directly from the magnetization curve is presented for both the non-annealed and the annealed sample with the lowest value of coercive field. The probability density function of the anisotropy field exhibits a lower applied field value at the maximum and is better fit by a Gaussian distribution after the heat treatment, which is a sign of better amorphicity after structural relaxation.

The gut-brain axis refers to the bidirectional communication between the enteric nervous system and the central nervous system. Mounting evidence supports the premise that the intestinal microbiota plays a pivotal role in its function and has led to the more common and perhaps more accurate term gut-microbiota-brain axis. Numerous studies have identified associations between an altered microbiome and neuroimmune and neuroinflammatory diseases. In most cases, it is unknown if these associations are cause or effect; notwithstanding, maintaining or restoring homeostasis of the microbiota may represent future opportunities when treating or preventing these diseases. In recent years, several studies have identified the diet as a primary contributing factor in shaping the composition of the gut microbiota and, in turn, the mucosal and systemic immune systems. In this review, we will discuss the potential opportunities and challenges with respect to modifying and shaping the microbiota through diet and nutrition in order to treat or prevent neuroimmune and neuroinflammatory disease.

Locally resonant acoustic materials were proposed to control sound using structures with feature size orders of magnitude smaller than the acoustic wavelength in air. We analytically derive the effective, frequency-dependent mass densities of resonant oscillators consisting of a heavy mass within a light shell, embedded in foam, in two dimensions, using a rigid core-shell approximation. The effective mass is expressible in closed form by elementary functions, enabling a mapping of the low-frequency physics to a simple one-dimensional model involving a point mass harmonically coupled within a box. The acoustic band structure of a two-dimensional square lattice of these oscillators is evaluated in the effective, frequency-dependent mass density model and compared with the exact solution. For the out-of-plane oscillation within this two-dimensional phononic crystal, the nonlinear eigenvalue equation resulting from the frequency-dependent density is solved with the Cutting Surface Method to yield the acoustic band structure. This agrees with the exact band structure obtained by finite element method calculations within $2%$ numerical error. For the in-plane oscillations involving internal translations or rotations within the core-shell resonators, the one-dimensional mass-in-a-box model recaptures the exact acoustic modes at only certain high-symmetry points of the two-dimensional Brillouin zone. The description of more complex resonances within acoustic metamaterials requires a fundamental generalization of current effective mass models.

Mechanical stimulation plays in an important role in regulating stem cell differentiation and their release of extracellular vesicles (EVs). In this study, effects of low magnitude hydrostatic pressure (HP) on the chondrogenic differentiation and microvesicle release from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human bone marrow stem cells (hBMSCs) are examined. hESCs were differentiated into chondroprogenitors and then embedded in fibrin gels and subjected to HP (270 kPa, 1 Hz, 5 days per week). hBMSC pellets were differentiated in chondrogenic media and subjected to the same regime. HP significantly enhanced ACAN expression in hESCs. It also led to a significant increase in DNA content, sGAG content and total sGAG/DNA level in hBMSCs. Furthermore, HP significantly increased microvesicle protein content released from both cell types. These results highlight the benefit of HP bioreactor in promoting chondrogenesis and EV production for cartilage tissue engineering.

Ketamine has rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, the underlying mechanisms of action are not well understood. There is increasing evidence that TRD is associated with a pro-inflammatory state and that ketamine may inhibit inflammatory processes. We thus investigated whole blood transcriptional profiles related to TRD and gene expression changes associated with treatment response to ketamine. Whole blood was collected at baseline (21 healthy controls [HC], 26 patients with TRD) and then again in patients with TRD 24 hours following a single intravenous infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg). We performed RNA-sequencing and analyzed (a) baseline transcriptional profiles between patients with TRD and HC, (b) responders vs. non-responders before ketamine treatment, and (c) gene expression signatures associated with clinical improvement. At baseline, patients with TRD compared to HC showed a gene expression signature indicative of interferon signaling pathway activation. Prior to ketamine administration, the metabotropic glutamate receptor gene GRM2 and the ionotropic glutamate receptor gene GRIN2D were upregulated in responders compared to non-responders. Response to ketamine was associated with a distinct transcriptional signature, however, we did not observe gene expression changes indicative of an anti-inflammatory effect. Future studies are needed to determine the role of the peripheral immune system in the antidepressant effect of ketamine.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder with a very high prevalence rate and a chronic disease course beginning in early childhood. Despite the tremendous burden of ASD, there are currently no disease-modifying treatments. Like many neuropsychiatric illnesses ASD has a complex pathophysiology driven by genetic and environmental factors. There is interest in identifying modifiable environmental factors as potential translational research strategies for development of therapeutics for ASD. A rapidly growing body of research demonstrates that the resident bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract, collectively the gut microbiome, have profound influence on brain and behavior. This gut-brain signaling pathway is highly relevant to ASD as the microbiome begins to form at birth, is heavily influenced by environmental factors throughout early life, and begins to stabilize at the same stage of development that symptoms of ASD begin to develop. To investigate potential gene x microbiome interactions in a model of ASD, we utilized mutant mice carrying a deletion of the ASD-associated Shank3 gene (Shank3KO), which clinically manifests as Phelan-McDermid syndrome, as a model for genetic risk of ASD. Analysis of the gut microbiome of Shank3KO mice demonstrated genotype effects on both microbiome composition and metabolite production. Behaviorally, Shank3KO mice demonstrate decreased social interactions and have altered anxiety and compulsive-like behaviors. Disruption of the microbiome with broad spectrum antibiotics lead to an exacerbation of all behavioral phenotypes in Shank3KO mice. Additionally, we found that Shank3KO mice had markedly increased changes in gene expression in the prefrontal cortex following microbiome depletion. Taken together, our results suggest a gene x microbiome interaction in this mouse model for ASD and raise the possibility that targeting the microbiome may be a valid translational research strategy in developing therapeutics for ASD.

We present the evolution of magnetic anisotropy obtained from the magnetization curve of (Fe0.76Si0.09B0.10P0.05)97.5Nb2.0Cu0.5 amorphous and nanocrystalline alloy produced by a gas atomization process. The material obtained by this process is a powder exhibiting amorphous character in the as-atomized state. Heat treatment at 480 °C provokes structural relaxation, while annealing the powder at 530 °C for 30 and 60 min develops a fine nanocrystalline structure. Magnetic anisotropy distribution is explained by considering dipolar effects and the modified random anisotropy model.

Previous studies have demonstrated that independent stimulation of either electron transport or RuBP regeneration can increase the rate of photosynthetic carbon assimilation and plant biomass. In this paper, we present evidence that a multi-gene approach to simultaneously manipulate these two processes provides a further stimulation of photosynthesis. We report on the introduction of the cyanobacterial bifunctional enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase or overexpression of the plant enzyme sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, together with expression of the red algal protein cytochromec6, and show that a further increase in biomass accumulation under both glasshouse and field conditions can be achieved. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the simultaneous stimulation of electron transport and RuBP regeneration can lead to enhanced intrinsic water use efficiency under field conditions.One sentence summarySimultaneous stimulation of RuBP regeneration and electron transport results in improvements in biomass yield in glasshouse and field grown tobacco.

Interesterified fats have largely replaced hydrogenated vegetable fat, which is rich in trans fatty acids, in the food industry as an economically viable alternative, generating interest to study their health effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect that interesterification of oils and fat has on lipid-induced metabolic dysfunction, hepatic inflammation and ER stress. Five week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three experimental groups, submitted to either normocaloric and normolipidic diet containing 10% of lipids from unmodified soybean oil (SO) or from interesterified soybean oil (ISO), and one more group submitted to a high fat diet (HFD) containing 60% of fat from lard as a positive control, for 8 or 16 weeks. Metabolic parameters and hepatic gene expression were evaluated. The HFD consumption led to increased body mass, adiposity and impaired glucose tolerance compared to SO and ISO at both time points of diet. However, the ISO group showed an increased body mass gain, retroperitoneal WAT mass, fasting glucose, and impaired glucose tolerance during ipGTT at 16 weeks compared to SO. Moreover, at 8 weeks, hepatic gene expression of Atf3 and Tnf were increased in the ISO group compared to the SO group. Thus, replacement of natural fat with interesterified fat on a normocaloric and normolipidic diet negatively modulated metabolic parameters and resulted in impaired glucose tolerance in rats.

Working memory training is an emergent field aimed at improving general cognitive abilities through targeted brain exercises. The prospect of improving cognitive abilities, such as attention control, comprehension, and reasoning, has piqued the interest of the scientific community and the general public alike. If cognitive abilities like working memory capacity can be improved, it is assumed that this improvement will result in benefits to a broad range of real-world abilities associated with working memory capacity, including reading comprehension, math performance, and attention control. Thus, the goal of working memory training is to demonstrate broad transfer to tasks that involve the same components of working memory that were targeted during training. Therefore, improvements should be observed on a broad range of tasks that tap the ability being trained. This is measured by observing the difference between pre- and posttest performance on cognitive tasks that subjects have not practiced. The aim of this chapter is to summarize the extant literature on working memory training and then to pose a series of questions to researchers investigating the efficacy of working memory training.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects ~20% of the world population and is characterized by strong sexual dimorphism with females being 2–3 times more likely to develop this disorder. Previously, we demonstrated that a combination therapy with dihydrocaffeic acid (DHCA) and malvidin-glucoside (Mal-gluc) to synergistically target peripheral inflammation and stress-induced synaptic maladaptation in the brain was effective in alleviating chronic social defeat stress (CSDS)-induced depression-like phenotype in male mice. Here, we test the combination therapy in a female CSDS model for depression and compared sex-specific responses to stress in the periphery and the central nervous system. Similar to male mice, the combination treatment is also effective in promoting resilience against the CSDS-induced depression-like behavior in female mice. However, there are sex-specific differences in peripheral immune responses and differential gene regulation in the prefrontal cortex to chronic stress and to the treatment. These data indicate that while therapeutic approaches to combat stress-related disorders may be effective in both sexes, the mechanisms underlying these effects differ, emphasizing the need for inclusion of both sexes in preclinical studies using animal models.

Background/Objectives Obesity is an important risk factor for the development of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia; however, a small number of individuals with long-standing obesity do not present with these cardiometabolic diseases. Such individuals are referred to as metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and potentially represent a subgroup of the general population with a protective genetic predisposition to obesity-related diseases. We hypothesized that individuals who were metabolically healthy but significantly obese (BMI ≥35 kg/m2) would represent a highly homogenous subgroup, with which to investigate potential genetic associations to obesity. We further hypothesized that such a cohort may lend itself well to investigate potential genotypes that are protective with respect to the development of cardiometabolic disease. Subjects/Methods In the present study, we implemented this novel selection strategy by screening 892 individuals diagnosed as Class 2 or Class 3 obese and identified 38 who presented without any manifestations of cardiometabolic disease. We then assessed these subjects for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that associated with this phenotype. Results Our analysis identified 89 SNPs that reach statistical significance (p

Despite decades of scholarship devoted to its importance, the cognitive drivers of creative behaviors and products remain poorly understood. Although previous research has proposed a relationship between the convergent processes of creativity and higher order cognition, studies investigating the relationship between divergent thinking and fluid intelligence have revealed little to no relationship between the two. In this article, we review the noteworthy scholars and debates in the field of creativity and the various methodological approaches used to define the construct. We propose that previous failures to find a relationship between intelligence and creativity are due, in part, to researchers’ emphasis on the differences between the two constructs instead of focusing on their commonality. In this study, we view the creativity construct through the lens of problem-solving across spatial and verbal domains. Using a simple scoring procedure that rates verbal and spatial creative responses, we show some of the most robust relationships between measures of creativity and intelligence to date. Further, our results demonstrate that creativity, verbal fluency, and fluid intelligence share many of the same cognitive processes.

Heightened aggression is characteristic of multiple neuropsychiatric disorders and can have a wide variety of negative effects on patients, their families, and the public. Recent studies in humans and animals have implicated brain reward circuits in aggression and suggest that, in subsets of aggressive individuals, repeated domination of subordinate social targets is reinforcing. Here, we show that orexin neurons originating from the lateral hypothalamus activate a small population of GABAergic interneurons in the lateral habenula (LHb) via orexin receptor 2 (OxR2) to promote aggression and conditioned place preference (CPP) for aggression-paired contexts. Our study suggests that the orexin system is a potential target for the development of novel therapies aimed at reducing aggressive behaviors and provides the first functional evidence of a local inhibitory circuit within the LHb.

We report a research describing a new route for the production of Fe-Si-B powders, which is the so-called gas atomisation technology, being one of the challenges to study the conditions under which the glass structure is achieved. There have been produced powders of five different compositions in the Fe-Si-B ternary system. The particles with a diameter below 10 μm of the alloy Fe70Si18B12 (at%) were completely amorphous, exhibiting an excellent soft magnetic behaviour (coercivity of around 7 Oe), which is, without any doubt, of significant scientific merit and supports the use of this new route to produce soft amorphous magnetic materials.

Mystery shopping is a common mode of improving customer service in retail and hospitality businesses, but researchers rarely utilize the methodology in academia. In these business entities, high-le...

The present work is focused on developing amorphisation capability criteria to predict regions with high amorphous forming ability (AFA) in the Fe-Si-B phase diagram. First, the AFA of Fe-Si-B alloy powders was evaluated by conventional empirical glass forming parameters, which eventually did not guide to the best AFA alloy. Then, AFA analysis was extended to the ternary phase diagram, calculated using CALPHAD, along with superimposed mathematical model based on topological instability factor (λ), estimated critical cooling rate (RC) and critical particle size (dC), to confine the phase diagram regions with larger AFA. The alloy with the highest AFA shows optimum atomic size mismatch when λ = 0.204. Furthermore, the optimal region in the phase diagram to design alloys with high AFA is where Fe2B is the first solid phase under equilibrium solidification. Within these two limits, the alloys with lower liquidus temperatures show the highest AFA for the gas-atomised powders.

A thermodynamics-based approach, Calculation of Phase Diagram (CALPHAD), combined with topological instability parameters are proposed and experimentally evaluated, in order to optimise in-situ nanocrystallisation of rapidly quenched CoFeB alloys and exploit their remarkable Bs = 1.57 T. The high Ms of the alloy is attributed to the precipitation of the metastable Co7Fe3 nanocrystalline phase dispersed heterogeneously in the amorphous matrix. High Ms of Co7Fe3 phase can also be inferred from the high hyperfine magnetic field of the Fe nuclei deduced from Mossbauer spectra. It is worth noting that the in-situ nanocrystallisation is a volume phenomenon, instead of surface crystallisation at the air-side of ribbons owning to lower cooling rates. We judge, based on nucleation theory, that the formation of the metastable phase is kinetically favoured, when compared to the equilibrium phases, hence promoting the high Ms, when compared with conventional Co-rich amorphous alloys. The local atomic order of nanocrystallised phase was confirmed by X-ray and electron diffraction techniques. Using Mossbauer spectroscopy and the extracted distribution of the hyperfine magnetic field, it is asserted that cobalt atoms form clusters, as they attract each other to form ordered structures, and boron atoms undergo only short-range ordering, likely due to covalent bond formation, governed by the size and electronegativity differences with the atoms in the amorphous matrix. We suggest the proposed CALPHAD-assisted design of nanostructured alloys, along with an in-situ nanocrystallisation, provides a practical scheme to develop novel functional alloys with the best possible balance of coercivity and saturation, exclusively aimed for a high-tech application.

Structural characterization (differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, and X-ray diffraction, XRD) and temperature dependence of the magnetization are reported in Ni80Si10B10 and Ni75Si15B10 alloy ribbons produced by rapid solidification. XDR and DSC measurements lead to confirm the amorphous character of Ni75Si15B10 alloy while the Ni80Si10B10 alloy presents a mixture of amorphous and crystalline (Nickel face-centered cubic) phase. Low-temperature magnetization dependencies were analyzed in terms of spin-wave excitation and fluctuations of the exchange interaction. While both mechanisms are relevant for the high Ni-content alloy, fluctuations of exchange could be ascribed as mechanism for low Ni-content alloy. The effect of annealing (523 and 623 K during 1 h) on the magnetic behavior is also presented. Thus, annealing of Ni75 sample at 623 K also results in appearance of highly magnetic Ni phase.

Computer-aided drug discovery and development approaches such as virtual screening, molecular docking, and in silico drug property calculations have been utilized in this effort to discover new lead compounds against tuberculosis. The enzyme 7,8-diaminopelargonic acid aminotransferase (BioA) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), primarily involved in the lipid biosynthesis pathway, was chosen as the drug target due to the fact that humans are not capable of synthesizing biotin endogenously. The computational screening of 4.5 million compounds from the Enamine REAL database has ultimately yielded 45 high-scoring, high-affinity compounds with desirable in silico absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity properties. Seventeen of the 45 compounds were subjected to bioactivity validation using the resazurin microtiter assay. Among the 4 actives, compound 7 ((Z)-N-(2-isopropoxyphenyl)-2-oxo-2-((3-(trifluoromethyl)cyclohexyl)amino)acetimidic acid) displayed inhibitory activity up to 83% at 10 μg/mL concentration against the growth of the Mtb H37Ra strain.

The Complex Span paradigm is one of the most influential and widely used instruments for measuring working memory capacity (WMC). We report the results of four experiments designed to explore the feasibility of obtaining valid estimates of WMC online. We explored the relationships between the Complex Span tasks and fluid intelligence (gF) in the lab and on the web using a new platform called the Online Working Memory Lab (the OWL). The OWL is universally accessible across all computer operating systems and functions in both local and remote contexts, allowing researchers to sample more diverse subjects from practically anywhere. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that the Complex Span failed to predict gF when the to-be-remembered stimuli were letters and the tests were taken online. We increased the predictive validity of the test battery in Experiments 3 and 4 by replacing the letters with memory stimuli that were more difficult to write down in an unproctored setting. This work describes our most recent attempts to measure working memory capacity in the wild.

Under suitable scaling, the structure of self-gravitating polytropes is described by the standard Lane-Emden equation (LEE), which is characterised by the polytropic index $n$. Here we use the known exact solutions of the LEE at $n=0$ and $1$ to solve the equation perturbatively. We first introduce a scaled LEE (SLEE) where polytropes with different polytropic indices all share a common scaled radius. The SLEE is then solved perturbatively as an eigenvalue problem. Analytical approximants of the polytrope function, the radius and the mass of polytropes as a function of $n$ are derived. The approximant of the polytrope function is well-defined and uniformly accurate from the origin down to the surface of a polytrope. The percentage errors of the radius and the mass are bounded by $8.1 \times 10^{-7}$ per cent and $8.5 \times 10^{-5}$ per cent, respectively, for $n\in[0,1]$. Even for $n\in[1,5)$, both percentage errors are still less than $2$ per cent.

Metabolic syndrome and major depression are two of the most common and debilitating disorders worldwide, occurring with significant rates of comorbidity. Recent studies have uncovered that each of these conditions is associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation. This is characterized by increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, altered leukocyte population frequencies in blood, accumulation of immune cells in tissues including the brain, and activation of these immune cells. Cytokines that become elevated during obesity can contribute to the progression of metabolic syndrome by directly causing insulin resistance. During chronic stress, there is evidence that these cytokines promote depression-like behavior by disrupting neurotransmitter synthesis and signal transduction. Animal models of obesity and depression have revealed a bi-directional relationship whereby high-fat feeding and chronic stress synergize and exacerbate metabolic dysregulation and behavioral abnormalities. Although far from conclusive, emerging evidence suggests that inflammation in the central and peripheral immune system may link metabolic syndrome to major depressive disorder. In this review, we will synthesize available data supporting this view and identify critical areas for future investigation.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the independent stimulation of either electron transport or RuBP regeneration can increase the rate of photosynthetic carbon assimilation and plant biomass. In this paper, we present evidence that a multigene approach to simultaneously manipulate these two processes provides a further stimulation of photosynthesis. We report on the introduction of the cyanobacterial bifunctional enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase or the overexpression of the plant enzyme sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, together with the expression of the red algal protein cytochrome c6, and show that a further increase in biomass accumulation under both glasshouse and field conditions can be achieved. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the stimulation of both electron transport and RuBP regeneration can lead to enhanced intrinsic water-use efficiency under field conditions.

Soft magnetic amorphous materials with ultra-low power loss are highly desirable for high-frequency drive applications. The present work demonstrates the high-frequency power loss performance and underlying loss mechanisms in ultra-thin amorphous alloys. This is achieved by rapid-quenching amorphous alloys of Co-, CoFe- and Fe-rich systems, investigating their amorphous atomic structure, quantifying the saturation magnetostriction constants (λs), imaging magnetic domains at remanent magnetization, analyzing magnetization reversal from various magnetization levels, and finally, investigating the material loss performance over a broad frequency range (f = 50 kHz–2 MHz) at various excitation levels (Bm = 25–100 mT). The ultra-high performance of ultra-thin Co-rich amorphous ribbons, as compared to CoFe- and Fe-rich alloys, was attributed to the significantly low eddy current loss, due to the reduced thickness, and a minimal amount of excess loss, owning to minimal magnetoelastic contributions and magnetization reversal by rotation. The underlying loss mechanisms were analyzed by decomposing material loss into primary components and identifying the magnetization reversal mechanisms using minor hysteresis loops. In the Co-rich amorphous alloys, we suggest that magnetization reversal by rotation dominates, at least at low excitations, while in CoFe- and Fe-rich alloys domain wall displacement prevails and contributes significantly to the excess loss up to the MHz frequency range. Magnetization reversal by rotation in Co-rich alloys could be attributed to the zero/near-zero λs, and eventually low residual stress, leading to a homogeneous magnetic domain structure, as compared to the inhomogeneous “fingerprint-like” complex domains in highly magnetostrictive CoFe-rich alloys.

espanolLa impresion 3D es un proceso de manufactura que se basa en la fabricacion de prototipos, partes y piezas funcionales. Existen diferentes metodos, en los cuales se utilizan distintos materiales en diversos formatos. Uno de los metodos mas utilizados es el Modelado por Deposicion Fundida (FDM). A pesar de las ventajas que posee con respecto a otros procesos de fabricacion, la impresion 3D no esta libre de dificultades o problemas. Una de las principales problematicas se presenta al momento de configurar una impresion y tiene relacion con la eleccion de los parametros de impresion. En ocasiones, la eleccion se realiza en funcion de la experiencia de los operadores, pero cuando se requieren propiedades especificas, no se conocen los parametros a elegir. En este trabajo, se analizo la influencia del porcentaje de relleno en la resistencia a la traccion de piezas fabricadas en ABS, con una impresora Makerbot Replicator 2X. Para ello, se imprimieron probetas para ensayos de traccion, variando el porcentaje de relleno, manteniendo los demas parametros constantes. Luego fueron ensayadas y de esta manera se logro obtener la propiedad mecanica de resistencia a la traccion. Ademas, se analizo el tiempo efectivo de impresion, logrando establecer un rango recomendado de impresion en funcion de este parametro combinado con la resistencia a la traccion. La maxima resistencia a la traccion promedio, se obtuvo con un porcentaje de relleno de 100% y fue de 34,57 [MPa] English3D printing is manufacturing process that consists of the fabrication of prototypes, parts and functional pieces. Several methods can be used, with different materials in different formats. One of the most popular techniques is the Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). This method has several advantages with respect to other manufacturing processes, although it also has some problems and difficulties. One of these problems arises when setting the printing parameters. Generally, the printing parameters are selected according to the user’s experience, although it is rather difficult to adapt the parameter settings in order to obtain specific mechanical properties of the printed parts. This work, analyzes the influence of infill on the tensile strength in parts printed with ABS, using a Makerbot Replicator 2X 3D printer. Test specimens were printed, modifying the infill, while maintaining the other parameters constant. Afterwards, the test specimens were tested in a traction test obtaining the tensile strength. In addition, the effective impression time was analyzed, in order to obtain a recommended infill ranges of impression time and tensile strength. Results showed that the maximum tensile strength was 34.57 [MPa] considering a 100% infill.

It is generally agreed upon that the mechanisms underlying task switching heavily depend on working memory, yet numerous studies have failed to show a strong relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and task-switching ability. We argue that this relationship does indeed exist but that the dependent variable used to measure task switching is problematic. To support our claim, we reanalyzed data from two studies with a new scoring procedure that combines reaction time (RT) and accuracy into a single score. The reanalysis revealed a strong relationship between task switching and WMC that was not present when RT-based switch costs were used as the dependent variable. We discuss the theoretical implications of this finding along with the potential uses and limitations of the scoring procedure we used. More broadly, we emphasize the importance of using measures that incorporate speed and accuracy in other areas of research, particularly in comparisons of subjects differing in cognitive and developmental levels.

The Pasig River system, which includes its major tributaries, the Marikina, Taguig-Pateros, and San Juan Rivers, is the most important river system in Metro Manila. It is known to be heavily polluted due to the dumping of domestic, industrial and solid wastes. Identification of microbial species present in the riverbed may be used to assess water and soil quality, and can help in assessing the river’s capability of supporting other flora and fauna. In this study, 16S rRNA gene or 16S rDNA sequences obtained from community bacterial DNA extracted from riverbed soil of Napindan (an upstream site along the Pasig River) and Vargas (which is along the Marikina River) were used to obtain a snapshot of the types of bacteria populating these sites. The 16S rDNA sequences of amplicons produced in PCR with total DNA extracted from soil samples as template were used to build clone libraries. Four positive clones were identified from each site and were sequenced. BLAST analysis revealed that none of the contiguous sequences obtained had complete sequence similarity to any known cultured bacterial species. Using the classification output of the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP) Classifier and DECIPHER programs, 16S rDNA sequences of closely related species were collated and used to construct a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree using MEGA6. Six out of the 8 cloned samples were found to belong to obligate anaerobe species, suggesting that these species live deep within the sediment layer and do not have access to dissolved oxygen. Three species were found to be associated with sulfate-reducing bacteria, which suggests an abundance of sulfur containing compounds in the riverbed. This is the first census report of the Pasig River microbial population using an approach that utilizes 16S rDNA sequences without culture nor isolation of bacteria. Further studies employing multiple composite samples and larger sample sizes are recommended for more comprehensive bacterial taxonomic profiles as well as evaluation of interactions between community members and bacterial response to environmental perturbations. Keywords—16S rDNA, metagenomics, Pasig River system, DNA sequence analysis, molecular phylogeny

Marburg virus (MARV) infection is a lethal hemorrhagic fever for which no licensed vaccines or therapeutics are available. Development of appropriate medical countermeasures requires a thorough understanding of the interaction between the host and the pathogen and the resulting disease course. In this study, 15 rhesus macaques were sequentially sacrificed following aerosol exposure to the MARV variant Angola, with longitudinal changes in physiology, immunology, and histopathology used to assess disease progression. Immunohistochemical evidence of infection and resulting histopathological changes were identified as early as day 3 postexposure (p.e.). The appearance of fever in infected animals coincided with the detection of serum viremia and plasma viral genomes on day 4 p.e. High (>10 7 PFU/ml) viral loads were detected in all major organs (lung, liver, spleen, kidney, brain, etc.) beginning day 6 p.e. Clinical pathology findings included coagulopathy, leukocytosis, and profound liver destruction as indicated by elevated liver transaminases, azotemia, and hypoalbuminemia. Altered cytokine expression in response to infection included early increases in Th2 cytokines such as interleukin 10 (IL-10) and IL-5 and late-stage increases in Th1 cytokines such as IL-2, IL-15, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). This study provides a longitudinal examination of clinical disease of aerosol MARV Angola infection in the rhesus macaque model. IMPORTANCE In this study, we carefully analyzed the timeline of Marburg virus infection in nonhuman primates in order to provide a well-characterized model of disease progression following aerosol exposure.

The mechanisms that limit the power loss performance in melt-spun amorphous ribbons have been investigated through DC and AC magnetic characterization methods. The measured total power loss is resolved into hysteresis, eddy current, and anomalous losses. The anomalous loss is found to account for more than 90% of the total loss, which significantly reduced by annealing in a transverse magnetic field. This is attributed to the reorientation of preferred magnetisation axis perpendicular to the length of ribbons. Transverse magnetic annealing promotes the relative contribution of domain rotation over domain wall motion during magnetisation reversal process. Magnetic annealing also causes a measurable decrease in the domain width, which promotes pinning and inhibits domain wall motion, thus further favoring coherent domain rotation as the primary mechanism of magnetization. This combination accounts for a 75% decrease in the total power loss in the so-processed ribbons and renders them attractive for applications in mid-and high-frequency power supplies and inverters.

The present work demonstrates the high-frequency core loss performance of Fe-based amorphous and nanocrystalline powder cores, initially produced by gas atomised powder, consolidated using sieved particles ≤20 µm, and isolated by a precise insulating layer of polymer to limit the inter- and intra-particle eddy currents to attain enhanced performance. The large glass forming ability (GFA) of the gas atomised powder, reflected by different glass forming instruments, such as the supercooled region (ΔTX = 54 °C) and the reduced glass transition temperature (Trg = 0.56), is consistent with the substantial amorphisation capability of the alloy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first-ever report to reveal a large ΔTX in the Finemet-type alloy powders, an essential parameter to gas-atomise the amorphous powders with significantly lower cooling rates compared to the melt-spun ribbons. Further, subsequent annealing of the amorphous powders, between the exothermic events guided by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), lead to the growth of a fine nanocrystalline structure of grains ≤15 nm, thanks to the positive enthalpy of mixing of Cu with the constituents to act as a nucleation agent, to retain the excellent soft magnetic properties. The DC soft magnetic properties of the powders were significantly improved on thermal annealing, confirmed by hysteretic loops, quantified by reduced coercivity HC

Heightened aggression is characteristic of multiple neuropsychiatric disorders and can have various negative effects on patients, their families and the public. Recent studies in humans and animals have implicated brain reward circuits in aggression and suggest that, in subsets of aggressive individuals, domination of subordinate social targets is reinforcing. In this study, we showed that, in male mice, orexin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus activated a small population of glutamic acid decarboxylase 2 (GAD2)-expressing neurons in the lateral habenula (LHb) via orexin receptor 2 (OxR2) and that activation of these GAD2 neurons promoted male-male aggression and conditioned place preference for aggression-paired contexts. Moreover, LHb GAD2 neurons were inhibitory within the LHb and dampened the activity of the LHb as a whole. These results suggest that the orexin system is important for the regulation of inter-male aggressive behavior and provide the first functional evidence of a local inhibitory circuit within the LHb.

Fe–Si–B–Nb–Cu alloy powders, with and without P additions, were produced by gas atomization. The particles smaller than 20 μm are fully amorphous, exhibiting good soft magnetic properties. The crystallization process was studied by differential scanning calorimetry, demonstrating that its kinetics changes dramatically with small variations in the composition. The (Fe0.76Si0.09B0.10P0.05)97.5Nb2.0Cu0.5 (at. %) alloy was annealed in the supercooled liquid region (480 °C) and at the first crystallization peak (530 °C). The structural characterization by means of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy provided information that explained the excellent soft magnetic properties. Annealing at 480 °C produced an amorphous relaxed structure with improved soft magnetic properties. At 530 °C, a two-phase material formed by nanocrystals with an average grain size of 16–17 nm embedded in an amorphous matrix was developed. Partial nanocrystallization increased the saturation magnetization from 139 to 144 emu/g and reduced the coercivity from 2.24 to 0.69 Oe. These results can be understood in terms of the algebraic contribution of both phases to the magnetization and the application of the random anisotropy model to nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials.

Insulin resistance (IR) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation. We have shown that nucleotide binding oligomerization domain (NOD)1, an intracellular pattern recognition receptor for bacterial wall peptidoglycans, is a factor linking the innate immune system to the development of high fat diet-induced IR. Although high fat diet may result in NOD1 activation via increased intestinal absorption of bacterial products, NOD1 has also been shown to be activated by saturated fatty acids in intestinal cells and adipocytes. We hypothesize that NOD1 plays a role in IR caused by chronic high levels of circulating free fatty acids (FFA) as found in obesity and T2D. Wild type (WT) and NOD1-/- mice were infused with ethylpalmitate (resulting in raised circulating palmitate) or ethanol vehicle as a control, for 48 hours to model prolonged elevation of circulating FFA in vivo. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp with tracer methodology was then used to assess peripheral and hepatic insulin sensitivity. WT mice treated with ethylpalmitate had decreased peripheral and hepatic insulin sensitivity expressed as stimulation of glucose utilization (Control= 123%±30 and Ethylpalmitate= 25%±25, p Disclosure S.L. Rivers: None. L. Yeung: None. K.L. Chan: None. Y. Mori: None. D. Philpott: None. A. Klip: None. A. Giacca: None.

Soft magnetic Fe-based Fe-Si-B amorphous alloys have been widely used as magnetic components in high frequency transformers, inductors, and sensors due to their magnetic behavior [1], [2]. These materials are typically produced by the “melt-spinning” technique, involving the rapid solidification process. It is important to remark that the amorphous ribbons obtained by the melt-spinning technique were widely introduced as soft magnetic materials in the 70s. One of the ways to advance in the research field of magnetic materials involves the exploration of new routes to fabricate them. Thus, a novel technique of rapid solidification that we have successfully used to produce soft magnetic amorphous alloys is gas atomization [3], which produces the material in powder form. In this technology, it is possible to reach average cooling rates of up to $10 ^{6}\mathrm {K} /\mathrm {s}$, depending on processing conditions and the atomizing gas. The soft magnetic character of gas atomized powders with composition Fe 70 Si 18 B 12 was reported by the authors in [3]. It was showed that particles $\lt 10 \mu \mathrm {m}$ were amorphous and exhibited a low coercive field of around 7 Oe. Recently, the authors have produced a gas atomized powder of composition Fe 72.5 Si 12.5 B 15 that is fully amorphous for the whole particle size distribution, whose 90th percentile is $48.7 \mu \mathrm {m}$. Particles with a diameter $\lt 20 \mu \mathrm {m}$ exhibit a coercivity of 3.26 Oe. It is well known that a thermal treatment below the crystallization temperature leads to structural relaxation with a significant improvement of the soft magnetic character [4]. In this work, we report the effect of the thermal treatment (at 250, 350, and $450 ^{o}\mathrm {C}$ for 0 and 1 h) on the magnetic behavior of amorphous powder Fe 72.5 Si 12.5 B 15 with a particle size $\lt 20 \mu \mathrm {m}$. The annealing time of 0 h means that the sample was heated up to the annealing temperature and immediately cooled down without any holding. After such thermal treatments, the amorphous character of the annealed alloys was checked by X-ray diffraction technique. Fig. 1 shows the hysteresis loops of the annealed samples measured at room temperature, denoting the soft magnetic character associated with a very low value of coercive field. In fact, coercive field significantly decreases (see Fig. 2) from 3.26 Oe (as-atomized) to 0.44 Oe (annealed at $450 ^{o}\mathrm {C})$. There is an influence of the annealing time in this drop, with lower values of coercivity in the samples treated for 1 hour, except for the samples treated at $450 ^{o}\mathrm {C}$, whose coercivity is practically the same. The above mentioned behavior of the coercivity should be ascribed to the structural relaxation associated with thermal annealing without crystallization, decreasing the internal stresses and leading to a significant reduction of the magnetoelastic anisotropy.