The Families of Non-LTR Transposable Elements within Neritimorpha and Other Gastropoda.

Repeated sequences, especially transposable elements (TEs), are known to be abundant in some members of the important invertebrate class Gastropoda. TEs that do not have long terminal repeated sequences (non-LTR TEs) are frequently the most abundant type but have not been well characterised in any gastropod. Despite this, sequences in draft gastropod genomes are often described as non-LTR TEs, but without identification to family type. This study was conducted to characterise non-LTR TEs in neritimorph snails, using genomic skimming surveys of three species and the recently published draft genome of Theodoxus fluviatilis. Multiple families of non-LTR TEs from the I, Jockey, L1, R2 and RTE superfamilies were found, although there were notably few representatives of the first of these, which is nevertheless abundant in other Gastropoda. Phylogenetic analyses of amino acid sequences of the reverse transcriptase domain from the elements ORF2 regions found considerable interspersion of representatives of the four neritimorph taxa within non-LTR families and sub-families. In contrast, phylogenetic analyses of sequences from the elements' ORF1 region resolved the representatives from individual species as monophyletic. However, using either region, members of the two species of the Neritidae were closely related, suggesting their potential for investigation of phyletic evolution at the family level.

Durga: An R package for effect size estimation and visualisation.

Statistical analysis and data visualisation are integral parts of science communication. One of the major issues in current data analysis practice is an over-dependency on - and misuse of - p-values. Researchers have been advocating for the estimation and reporting of effect sizes for quantitative research to enhance the clarity and effectiveness of data analysis. Reporting effect sizes in scientific publications has until now been mainly limited to numeric tables, even though effect size plotting is a more effective means of communicating results. We have developed the Durga R package for estimating and plotting effect sizes for paired and unpaired group comparisons. Durga allows users to estimate unstandardised and standardised effect sizes and bootstrapped confidence intervals of the effect sizes. The central functionality of Durga is to combine effect size visualisations with traditional plotting methods. Durga is a powerful statistical and data visualisation package that is easy to use, providing the flexibility to estimate effect sizes of paired and unpaired data using different statistical methods. Durga provides a plethora of options for plotting effect size, which allows users to plot data in the most informative and aesthetic way. Here, we introduce the package and its various functions. We further describe a workflow for estimating and plotting effect sizes using example data sets.

Nest excavators' learning walks in the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti.

The Australian red honey ant, Melophorus bagoti, stands out as the most thermophilic ant in Australia, engaging in all outdoor activities during the hottest periods of the day during summer months. This species of desert ants often navigates by means of path integration and learning landmark cues around the nest. In our study, we observed the outdoor activities of M. bagoti workers engaged in nest excavation, the maintenance of the nest structure, primarily by taking excess sand out of the nest. Before undertaking nest excavation, the ants conducted a single exploratory walk. Following their initial learning expedition, these ants then engaged in nest excavation activities. Consistent with previous findings on pre-foraging learning walks, after just one learning walk, the desert ants in our study demonstrated the ability to return home from locations 2 m away from the nest, although not from locations 4 m away. These findings indicate that even for activities like dumping excavated sand within a range of 5-10 cm outside the nest, these ants learn and utilize the visual landmark panorama around the nest.

Multimodal imaging with magnetization transfer and diffusion tensor imaging reveals evidence of myelin damage in children and youth treated for a brain tumor.

Background: The microstructural damage underlying compromise of white matter following treatment for pediatric brain tumors is unclear. We use multimodal imaging employing advanced diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) MRI methods to examine chronic microstructural damage to white matter in children and adolescents treated for pediatric brain tumor. Notably, MTI may be more sensitive to macromolecular content, including myelin, than DTI. Methods: Fifty patients treated for brain tumors (18 treated with surgery ± chemotherapy and 32 treated with surgery followed by cranial-spinal radiation; time from diagnosis to scan ~6 years) and 45 matched healthy children completed both MTI and DTI scans. Voxelwise and region-of-interest approaches were employed to compare white matter microstructure metrics (magnetization transfer ratio (MTR); DTI- fractional anisotropy [FA], radial diffusivity [RD], axial diffusivity [AD], mean diffusivity [MD]) between patients and healthy controls. Results: MTR was decreased across multiple white matter tracts in patients when compared to healthy children, P < .001. These differences were observed for both patients treated with radiation and those treated with only surgery, P < .001. We also found that children and adolescents treated for brain tumors exhibit decreased FA and increased RD/AD/MD compared to their healthy counterparts in several white matter regions, Ps < .02. Finally, we observed that MTR and DTI metrics were related to multiple white matter tracts in patients, Ps < .01, but not healthy control children. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that the white matter damage observed in patients years after treatment of pediatric posterior fossa tumors, likely reflects myelin disruption.

A case of babesiosis in a returning traveller.

Human babesiosis data in Africa is scarce. The clinical presentation and parasite morphology mimics falciparum malaria infection. Diagnostic confirmation is informed by adequate history and communication with the laboratory to activate appropriate testing. This case report describes the course of a returning traveller with persisting symptoms that resolved on tailored antimicrobial therapy following prompt collaborative diagnosis. Contribution: Case highlighting overlapping characteristics of Babesia and malaria infection, necessitating close clinical and laboratory correlation to confirm diagnosis.

Enhanced Mechanistic Understanding Through the Detection of Radical Intermediates in Organic Reactions.

Two applications of a radical trap based on a homolytic substitution reaction (SH2') are presented for the trapping of short-lived radical intermediates in organic reactions. The first example is a photochemical cyanomethylation catalyzed by a Ru complex. Two intermediate radicals in the radical chain propagation have been trapped and detected using mass spectrometry (MS), along with the starting materials, products and catalyst degradation fragments. Although qualitative, these results helped to elucidate the reaction mechanism. In the second example, the trapping method was applied to study the radical initiation catalyzed by a triethylboronoxygen mixture. In this case, the concentration of trapped radicals was sufficiently high to enable their detection by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Quantitative measurements made it possible to characterize the radical flux in the system under different reaction conditions (including variations of solvent, temperature and concentration) where modelling was complicated by chain reactions and heterogeneous mass transfer.

Morphological ant mimics: constrained to imperfection?

Adaptive evolution relies on both heritable variation and selection. Variation is the raw material upon which selection acts, so any mechanism that limits or prevents the generation of heritable variation reduces the power of selection to lead to adaptation. Such limitations are termed evolutionary constraints. While it is widely accepted that constraints play an important role in shaping evolutionary outcomes, their relative importance, as opposed to adaptation, in determining evolutionary outcomes remains a subject of debate. Evolutionary constraints are often evoked as the reason behind the persistence of inaccurate mimicry. Here, we compared the variation and accuracy of body-shape mimicry in ant-mimicking spiders with that of ant-mimicking insects, predicting greater constraints, and hence inaccuracy, in spiders mimicking ants, due to their evolutionary distance from the ant model. We found high inter-species variation in mimetic accuracy, but dorsally, no overall difference in mimetic accuracy between spider and insect mimics, which is inconsistent with a constraint causing inaccurate mimicry. Our study provides empirical evidence suggesting that imperfect mimicry in spiders and insects is predominantly shaped by adaptive processes rather than constraints or chance. Our findings contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying evolutionary diversity and the processes that shape phenotypic outcomes.

A Modular Strategy for the Synthesis of Macrocycles and Medium-Sized Rings via Cyclization/Ring Expansion Cascade Reactions.

Macrocycles and medium-sized rings are important in many scientific fields and technologies but are hard to make using current methods, especially on a large scale. Outlined herein is a strategy by which functionalized macrocycles and medium-sized rings can be prepared using cyclization/ring expansion (CRE) cascade reactions, without resorting to high dilution conditions. CRE cascade reactions are designed to operate exclusively via kinetically favorable 5-7-membered ring cyclization steps; this means that the problems typically associated with classical end-to-end macrocyclization reactions are avoided. A modular synthetic approach has been developed to facilitate the simple assembly of the requisite linear precursors, which can then be converted into an extremely broad range of functionalized macrocycles and medium-sized rings using one of nine CRE protocols.

Genomic landscape of NDM-1 producing multidrug-resistant Providencia stuartii causing burn wound infections in Bangladesh.

The increasing antimicrobial resistance in Providencia stuartii (P. stuartii) worldwide, particularly concerning for immunocompromised and burn patients, has raised concern in Bangladesh, where the significance of this infectious opportunistic pathogen had been previously overlooked, prompting a need for investigation. The two strains of P. stuartii (P. stuartii SHNIBPS63 and P. stuartii SHNIBPS71) isolated from wound swab of two critically injured burn patients were found to be multidrug-resistant and P. stuartii SHNIBPS63 showed resistance to all the 22 antibiotics tested as well as revealed the co-existence of blaVEB-6 (Class A), blaNDM-1 (Class B), blaOXA-10 (Class D) beta lactamase genes. Complete resistance to carbapenems through the production of NDM-1, is indicative of an alarming situation as carbapenems are considered to be the last line antibiotic to combat this pathogen. Both isolates displayed strong biofilm-forming abilities and exhibited resistance to copper, zinc, and iron, in addition to carrying multiple genes associated with metal resistance and the formation of biofilms. The study also encompassed a pangenome analysis utilizing a dataset of eighty-six publicly available P. stuartii genomes (n = 86), revealing evidence of an open or expanding pangenome for P. stuartii. Also, an extensive genome-wide analysis of all the P. stuartii genomes revealed a concerning global prevalence of diverse antimicrobial resistance genes, with a particular alarm raised over the abundance of carbapenem resistance gene blaNDM-1. Additionally, this study highlighted the notable genetic diversity within P. stuartii, significant informations about phylogenomic relationships and ancestry, as well as potential for cross-species transmission, raising important implications for public health and microbial adaptation across different environments.

Unveiling a high-risk epidemic clone (ST 357) of 'Difficult to Treat Extensively Drug-Resistant' (DT-XDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a burn patient in Bangladesh: A resilient beast revealing coexistence of four classes of beta lactamases.

OBJECTIVES: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) stands out as a key culprit in the colonization of burn wounds, instigating grave infections of heightened severity. In this study, we have performed comparative whole genome analysis of a difficult to treat extensively drug resistant P. aeruginosa isolated from a burn patient in order to elucidate genomic diversity, molecular patterns, mechanisms and genes responsible for conferring antimicrobial resistance and virulence. METHOD: P. aeruginosa SHNIBPS206 was isolated from an infected burn wound of a critically injured burn patient. Whole genome sequencing was carried out and annotated with Prokka. Sequence type, serotype, antimicrobial resistance genes and mechanisms, virulence genes, metal resistance genes and CRISPR/Cas systems were investigated. Later, pangenome analysis was carried out to find out genomic diversity. RESULT: P. aeruginosa SHNIBPS206 (MLST 357, Serotype O11) was resistant to 14 antibiotics including carbapenems and harboured all four classes of beta lactamase producing genes: Class A (blaPME-1, blaVEB-9), Class B (blaNDM-1), Class C (blaPDC-11) and Class D (blaOXA-846). Mutational analysis of Porin D gave valuable insights. Several efflux pump, virulence and metal resistance genes were also detected. Pangenome analysis revealed high genomic diversity among different strains of P. aeruginosa. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first report of an extensively drug resistant ST 357 P. aeruginosa from Bangladesh, which is an epidemic high-risk P. aeruginosa clone. Further research and in-depth comprehensive studies are required to investigate the prevalence of such high-risk clone of P. aeruginosa in Bangladesh.

Intraspecific body size variation and allometry of genitalia in the orb-web spider-Argiope lobata.

The current consensus is that sexual selection is responsible for the rapid and diverse evolution of genitalia, with several mutually exclusive mechanisms under debate, including non-antagonistic, antagonistic and stabilizing mechanisms. We used the orb-web spider, Argiope lobata (Araneidae), as a study model to quantify the allometric relationship between body size and genitalia, and to test for any impact of genital structures on male mating success or outcome in terms of copulation duration, leg loss or cannibalism. Our data do not support the 'one-size-fits-all' hypothesis that predicts a negative allometric slope between genitalia and body size. Importantly, we measured both male and female genitalia, and there was no sex specific pattern in allometric slopes. Unexpectedly, we found no predictor for reproductive success as indicated by copulation duration, cannibalism, and leg loss.

Does Mindfulness Improve Intergroup Bias, Internalized Bias, and Anti-Bias Outcomes?: A Meta-Analysis of the Evidence and Agenda for Future Research.

Whereas mindfulness has been shown to enhance personal well-being, studies suggest it may also benefit intergroup dynamics. Using an integrative conceptual model, this meta-analysis examined associations between mindfulness and (a) different manifestations of bias (implicit/explicit attitudes, affect, behavior) directed toward (b) different bias targets (outgroup or ingroup, e.g., internalized bias), by (c) intergroup orientation (toward bias or anti-bias). Of 70 samples, 42 (N = 3,229) assessed mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and 30 (N = 6,002) were correlational studies. Results showed a medium-sized negative effect of MBIs on bias outcomes, g = -0.56, 95% confidence interval [-0.72, -0.40]; I(2;3)2: 0.39; 0.48, and a small-to-medium negative effect between mindfulness and bias for correlational studies, r = -0.17 [-0.27, -0.03]; I(2;3)2: 0.11; 0.83. Effects were comparable for intergroup bias and internalized bias. We conclude by identifying gaps in the evidence base to guide future research.

Connected or Cutoff? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study of the Links Between Adolescents' Compulsive Internet Use and Social Support.

As the online world plays an increasing role in young peoples' lives, research on compulsive internet use (CIU) is receiving growing attention. Given the social richness of the online world, there is a need to better understand how CIU influences adolescents' social support and vice versa. Drawing on ecological systems theory, we examined the longitudinal links between adolescents' CIU and perceived social support from three sources (parents, teachers, and friends) across 4 critical years of adolescence (Grades 8-11). Using random intercept cross-lagged modeling, we found that CIU consistently preceded reduced social support from teachers, whereas social support from parents preceded increases in CIU over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for parents and schools seeking to support young people experiencing CIU.

Fast acrobatic maneuvers enable arboreal spiders to hunt dangerous prey.

Spiders, the most specious taxon of predators, have evolved an astounding range of predatory strategies, including group hunting, specialized silk traps, pheromone-loaded bolas, and aggressive mimicry. Spiders that hunt prey defended with behavioral, mechanical, or chemical means are under additional selection pressure to avoid injury and death. Ants are considered dangerous because they can harm or kill their predators, but some groups of spiders, such as the Theridiidae, have a very high diversification of ant-hunting species and strategies [J. Liu et al., Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 94, 658-675 (2016)]. Here, we provide detailed behavioral analyses of the highly acrobatic Australian ant-slayer spider, Euryopis umbilicata (Theridiidae), that captures much larger and defended Camponotus ants on vertical tree trunks. The hunting sequence consists of ritualized steps performed within split seconds, resulting in an exceptionally high prey capture success rate.

AnimalTraits - a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size.

Trait databases have become important resources for large-scale comparative studies in ecology and evolution. Here we introduce the AnimalTraits database, a curated database of body mass, metabolic rate and brain size, in standardised units, for terrestrial animals. The database has broad taxonomic breadth, including tetrapods, arthropods, molluscs and annelids from almost 2000 species and 1000 genera. All data recorded in the database are sourced from their original empirical publication, and the original metrics and measurements are included with each record. This allows for subsequent data transformations as required. We have included rich metadata to allow users to filter the dataset. The additional R scripts we provide will assist researchers with aggregating standardised observations into species-level trait values. Our goals are to provide this resource without restrictions, to keep the AnimalTraits database current, and to grow the number of relevant traits in the future.

Novel decorating behaviour of silk retreats in a challenging habitat.

Many ecological interactions of spiders with their potential prey and predators are affected by the visibility of their bodies and silk, especially in habitats with lower structural complexity that expose spiders. For instance, the surface of tree trunks harbours relatively limited structures to hide in and may expose residents to visual detection by prey and predators. Here we provide the first detailed description of the novel retreat building strategy of the tree trunk jumping spider Arasia mullion. Using fields surveys, we monitored and measured over 115 spiders and 554 silk retreats. These spiders build silk retreats on the exposed surface of tree trunks, where they remain as sedentary permanent residents. Furthermore, the spiders decorate the silk retreats with bark debris that they collect from the immediate surrounding. We discuss the role of silk decoration in the unusual sedentary behaviour of these spiders and the potential mechanisms that allow A. mullion to engineer their niche in a challenging habitat.

The consequences of compulsion: A 4-year longitudinal study of compulsive internet use and emotion regulation difficulties.

Little is known about how compulsive Internet use (CIU) relates developmentally to different aspects of emotion regulation. Do young people engage in CIU because they have difficulty regulating emotions (the "consequence" model), does CIU lead to emotion regulation problems (the "antecedent" model), or are there reciprocal influences? We examined the longitudinal relations between CIU and 6 facets of difficulties in emotion regulation. Adolescents (N = 2,809) across 17 Australian schools completed measures yearly from Grades 8 (MAge = 13.7) to 11. Structural equations modeling revealed that CIU preceded the development of some aspects of emotion dysregulation, such as difficulties setting goals and being clear about emotions, but not others (the antecedent model). We found no evidence that emotion regulation difficulties preceded the development of increases in CIU (the consequence model). Our findings indicate that teaching adolescents general emotion regulation skills may not be as effective in reducing CIU as more direct approaches of limiting Internet use. We discuss the implications of our findings for interventions designed to reduce CIU and highlight issues for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Design and Validation of a Sensor Fault-Tolerant Module for Real-Time High-Density EMG Pattern Recognition.

With the advancements in electronics technology, high-density (HD) EMG sensing systems have become available and have been investigated for their feasibility and performance in neural-machine interface (NMI) applications. Comparing to the traditional single channel-based targeted muscle sensing method, HD EMG sensing performs a sampling of the electrical activity over a larger surface area and has the promise of 1) providing richer neural information from one temporal and two spatial dimensions and 2) ease of wear in real life without the need of anatomically targeted electrode placement. To use HD EMG in real-time NMI applications, challenges including high computational burden and unreliability of EMG recordings over time need to be addressed. This paper presented an HD EMG PR based NMI which seamlessly integrates HD EMG PR with a Sensor Fault-Tolerant Module (SFTM) which aimed to provide robust PR in real time. Experimental results showed that the SFTM was able to recover the PR accuracies by 6%-22% from disturbances including contact artifacts and loose contacts. A Python-based implementation of the proposed HD EMG SFTM was developed and was demonstrated to be computationally efficient for real-time performance. These results have demonstrated the feasibility of a robust real-time HD EMG PR-based NMI.

Mimicry in motion and morphology: do information limitation, trade-offs or compensation relax selection for mimetic accuracy?

Many animals mimic dangerous or undesirable prey as a defence from predators. We would expect predators to reliably avoid animals that closely resemble dangerous prey, yet imperfect mimics are common across a wide taxonomic range. There have been many hypotheses suggested to explain imperfect mimicry, but comparative tests across multiple mimicry systems are needed to determine which are applicable, and which-if any-represent general principles governing imperfect mimicry. We tested four hypotheses on Australian ant mimics and found support for only one of them: the information limitation hypothesis. A predator with incomplete information will be unable to discriminate some poor mimics from their models. We further present a simple model to show that predators are likely to operate with incomplete information because they forage and make decisions while they are learning, so might never learn to properly discriminate poor mimics from their models. We found no evidence that one accurate mimetic trait can compensate for, or constrain, another, or that rapid movement reduces selection pressure for good mimicry. We argue that information limitation may be a general principle behind imperfect mimicry of complex traits, while interactions between components of mimicry are unlikely to provide a general explanation for imperfect mimicry.

Discovery and mechanism of action studies of 4,6-diphenylpyrimidine-2-carbohydrazides as utrophin modulators for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal disease with no cure, caused by lack of the cytoskeletal protein dystrophin. Upregulation of utrophin, a dystrophin paralogue, offers a potential therapy independent of mutation type. The failure of first-in-class utrophin modulator ezutromid/SMT C1100 in Phase II clinical trials necessitates development of compounds with better efficacy, physicochemical and ADME properties and/or complementary mechanisms. We have discovered and performed a preliminary optimisation of a novel class of utrophin modulators using an improved phenotypic screen, where reporter expression is derived from the full genomic context of the utrophin promoter. We further demonstrate through target deconvolution studies, including expression analysis and chemical proteomics, that this compound series operates via a novel mechanism of action, distinct from that of ezutromid.