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•Drosophila suzukii ovipositor pegs and sensilla have a mechanosensilla-like structure.•D. suzukii and Drosophila melanogaster ovipositor pegs are mono-innervated.•Terminalia gene ...expression overlaps across Drosophila species with different ovipositor shapes.•The D. suzukii ovipositor is likely involved in mechanotransduction.•This function is likely conserved among Drosophila species.
Drosophila suzukii is an invasive pest that prefers to lay eggs in ripening fruits, whereas most closely related Drosophila species exclusively use rotten fruit as oviposition site. This behaviour is allowed by an enlarged and serrated ovipositor that can pierce intact fruit skin, and by multiple contact sensory systems (mechanosensation and taste) that detect the optimal egg-laying substrates. Here, we tested the hypothesis that bristles present in the D. suzukii ovipositor tip contribute to these sensory modalities. Analysis of the bristle ultrastructure revealed that four different types of cuticular elements (conical pegs type 1 and 2, chaetic and trichoid sensilla) are present on the tip of each ovipositor plate. All of them have a poreless shaft and are innervated at their base by a single neuron that ends in a distal tubular body, thus resembling mechanosensitive structures. Fluorescent labelling in D. suzukii and D. melanogaster revealed that pegs located on the ventral side of the ovipositor tip are innervated by a single neuron in both species. RNA-sequencing profiled gene expression, notably sensory receptor genes of the terminalia of D. suzukii and of three other Drosophila species with changes in their ovipositor structure (from serrated to blunt ovipositor: Drosophila subpulchrella, Drosophila biarmipes and D. melanogaster). Our results revealed few species-specific transcripts and an overlapping expression of candidate mechanosensitive genes as well as the presence of some chemoreceptor transcripts. These experimental evidences suggest a mechanosensitive function for the D. suzukii ovipositor, which might be crucial across Drosophila species independently from ovipositor shape.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The fungus Ustilago maydis is a pathogen that establishes a biotrophic interaction with Zea mays. The interaction with the plant host is largely governed by more than 300 novel, secreted protein ...effectors, of which only four have been functionally characterized. Prerequisite to examine effector function is to know where effectors reside after secretion. Effectors can remain in the extracellular space, i.e. the plant apoplast (apoplastic effectors), or can cross the plant plasma membrane and exert their function inside the host cell (cytoplasmic effectors). The U. maydis effectors lack conserved motifs in their primary sequences that could allow a classification of the effectome into apoplastic/cytoplasmic effectors. This represents a significant obstacle in functional effector characterization. Here we describe our attempts to establish a system for effector classification into apoplastic and cytoplasmic members, using U. maydis for effector delivery.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Summary
The proteinase inhibitor II (pin2) gene family exhibits two different modes of expression. It is, on the one hand, constitutively expressed in flowers of potato and tomato plants, and in ...potato tubers. On the other hand, its expression is induced in the plant foliage by mechanical wounding. To define cis‐regulatory elements involved in pin2 promoter activity, deletion analysis of a potato pin2 promoter has been performed in stably and transiently transformed potato and tobacco plants. Two different elements, a quantitative enhancer and a regulatory element, are required for promoter activity. While functional promoter elements required for pin2 activity in tubers and wounded leaves could not be separated, its expression in flowers is mediated by different cis‐acting sequences. Induction of pin2 expression in leaves by treatment with the plant growth regulators abscisic acid and jasmonic acid, and the general metabolite sucrose, depends on the presence of the regulatory element involved in expression in tubers and wounded leaves. Thus, pin2 expression in tubers and wounded leaves apparently results from the action of similar hormonal signals on closely linked promoter elements, while a different signal pathway leads to its constitutive expression in flowers.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Coronary artery disease (CAD) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are the leading causes of death worldwide. Since only a subset of CAD patients develops myocardial infarction, it is likely that ...unique factors predispose to AMI. Circulating microRNAs represent diagnostic powerful biomarkers for detection of heart injuries and patients' risk stratification. Using an array-based approach, the expression of 84 circulating miRNAs was analyzed in plasma of pooled stable CAD patients (CAD; n = 5) and unstable CAD patients (AMI_T0; n = 5) enrolled within 24 hours from an AMI event. The array experiments showed 27 miRNAs differentially expressed with a two-fold up- or down-regulation (10 up- and 17 down-regulated miRNAs). Among them, miR-423-5p dis-regulation was confirmed in a larger case study (n = 99). Circulating miR-423-5p resulted to be significantly down-regulated within 24 hours from the AMI event (FC = -2, p≤0.05). Interestingly, miR-423-5p expression resulted to be increased (FC = +2; p≤0.005) in a subgroup of the same AMI patients (AMI_T1; n = 11) analyzed after 6 months from the acute event. We extended miR-423-5p expression study on PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells), confirming also in this tissue its up-regulation at 6 months post-AMI. Receiver operating characteristic analyses (ROC) were performed to detect the power of miR-423-5p to discriminate stable and unstable CAD. In plasma, miR-423-5p expression accurately distinguishes stable and unstable CAD patients (AUC = 0.7143, p≤0.005). Interestingly, the highest discriminatory value (AUC = 0.8529 p≤0.0005) was identified in blood cells, where miR-423-5p expression is able to differentiate unstable CAD patients during an acute event (AMI_T0) from those at six months post-AMI (AMI_T1). Furthermore, cellular miR-423-5p may discriminate also stable CAD patients from unstable CAD patients after six months post-AMI (AUC = 0.7355 p≤0.05). The results of this pilot-study suggest that miR-423-5p expression level both in plasma and blood cells, could represent a new promising biomarker for risk stratification of CAD patients.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this paper, we study how to detect the most influential users in the microblogging social network platform Twitter and their evolution over time. To this aim, we consider the
Dynamic Retweet Graph ...(DRG)
proposed in Amati et al. (
2016
) and partially analyzed in Amati et al. (IADIS Int J Comput Sci Inform Syst, 11(2)
2016
), Amati et al. (
2016
). The model of the evolution of the Twitter social network is based here on the retweet relationship. In a DRGs, the last time a tweet has been retweeted we delete all the edges representing this tweet. In this way we model the decay of tweet life in the social platform. To detect the influential users, we consider the central nodes in the network with respect to the following centrality measures:
degree, closeness, betweenness and PageRank-centrality
. These measures have been widely studied in the static case and we analyze them on the sequence of DRG temporal graphs with special regard to the distribution of the
75
%
most central nodes. We derive the following results: (a) in all cases, applying the closeness measure results into many nodes with high centrality, so it is useless to detect influential users; (b) for all other measures, almost all nodes have null or very low centrality and (c) the number of vertices with significant centrality are often the same; (d) the above observations hold also for the cumulative retweet graph and, (e) central nodes in the sequence of DRG temporal graphs have high centrality in cumulative graph.
Background
During COVID‐19 outbreak, Italy was the first country in Europe to be heavily affected with an intensive care unit mortality of 26%. In order to reduce this percentage, physicians should ...establish clear and objective criteria to stratify COVID‐19 patients at high risk of in‐hospital death. Thus, the aim has been to test a large spectrum of variables ranging from clinical evaluation to laboratory biomarkers to identify which parameter would best predict all‐cause in‐hospital mortality in COVID‐19 patients.
Design
observational study.
Results
Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that each 5 years of increase in age corresponded to a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.28 (95% CI 1.00‐1.65, P = .050); each increment of 803 ng/L of N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) corresponded to a HR of 1.24 (95% CI 1.11‐1.39, P < .001); each increment of 58 ng/L of interleukin (IL)‐6 corresponded to a HR of 1.23 (95% CI 1.09‐1.40, P < .001), and each increment of 250 U/L of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) corresponded to a HR of 1.23 (95% CI 1.10‐1.37, P < .001). According to the calculated cut‐points for age (≥70 years), NT‐proBNP (≥803 ng/L), IL‐6 (≥58 ng/L) and LDH (≥371 U/L) when 2 out of these 4 were overcome, the HR was 2.96 (95% CI 1.97‐4.45, P < .001).
Conclusion
In COVID‐19 patients, besides age, the evaluation of three biochemical parameters, available in few hours after hospital admission can predict in‐hospital mortality regardless of other comorbidities.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper reports an in situ study of the anodic behavior of a model solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) by means of near-ambient pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) combined with near ...edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) measurements. The focus is on the anodic surface chemistry of MnOx, a model anodic material already considered in cognate SOFC-related studies, during electrochemical operation in CO2, CO2/H2O and H2O ambients. The XPS and NEXAFS results we obtained, complemented by electrochemical measurements and SEM characterisation, reveal the chemical evolution of Mn under electrochemical control. MnO is the stable chemical form at open-circuit potential (OCP), while Mn3O4 forms under anodic polarisation in all the investigated gas ambients. Carbon deposits are present on the Mn electrode at OCP, but they are readily oxidised under anodic conditions. Prolonged operation of the MnOx anode leads to pitting of the Mn films, damaging of the triple-phase boundary region and also to formation of discontinuities in the Mn patch. This is accompanied by chemical transformations of the electrolyte and formation of ZrC without impact on the surface chemistry of the Mn-based anode.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Objectives
Seroprevalence studies to assess the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population and subgroups are key for evaluating mitigation and vaccination policies and for understanding ...the spread of the disease both on the national level and for comparison with the international community.
Methods
Corona Immunitas is a research program of coordinated, population-based, seroprevalence studies implemented by Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+). Over 28,340 participants, randomly selected and age-stratified, with some regional specificities will be included. Additional studies in vulnerable and highly exposed subpopulations are also planned. The studies will assess population immunological status during the pandemic.
Results
Phase one (first wave of pandemic) estimates from Geneva showed a steady increase in seroprevalence up to 10.8% (95% CI 8.2–13.9,
n
= 775) by May 9, 2020. Since June, Zurich, Lausanne, Basel City/Land, Ticino, and Fribourg recruited a total of 5973 participants for phase two thus far.
Conclusions
Corona Immunitas will generate reliable, comparable, and high-quality serological and epidemiological data with extensive coverage of Switzerland and of several subpopulations, informing health policies and decision making in both economic and societal sectors.
ISRCTN Registry:
https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN18181860
.
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FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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