Mechanisms Preserving Insulin Action during High Dietary Fat Intake

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Ant genomics sheds light on the molecular regulation of social organization

Ants are powerful model systems for the study of cooperation and sociality. In this review, we discuss how recent advances in ant genomics have contributed to our understanding of the evolution and organization of insect societies at the molecular level.     

Design and synthesis of 4-[3,5-dioxo-11-oxa-4,9-diazatricyclo[5.3.1.02,6]undec-4-yl]-2-trifluoromethyl-benzonitriles as androgen receptor antagonists

A novel series of 4-[3,5-dioxo-11-oxa-4,9-diazatricyclo[5.3.1.0^2,6]undec-4-yl]-2-trifluoromethyl-benzonitriles has been synthesized. The ability of these compounds to act as antagonists of the androgen receptor was investigated and several were found to have potent activity in vitro and in vivo.     

Estimating and Analyzing Savannah Phenology with a Lagged Time Series Model

Savannah regions are predicted to undergo changes in precipitation patterns according to current climate change projections. This change will affect leaf phenology, which controls net primary productivity. It is of importance to study this since savannahs play an important role in the global carbon cycle due to their areal coverage and can have an effect on the food security in regions that depend on subsistence farming. In this study we investigate how soil moisture, mean annual precipitation, and day length control savannah phenology by developing a lagged time series model. The model uses climate data for 15 flux tower sites across four continents, and normalized difference vegetation index from satellite to optimize a statistical phenological model. We show that all three variables can be used to estimate savannah phenology on a global scale. However, it was not possible to create a simplified savannah model that works equally well for all sites on the global scale without inclusion of more site specific parameters. The simplified model showed no bias towards tree cover or between continents and resulted in a cross-validated r² of 0.6 and root mean squared error of 0.1. We therefore expect similar average results when applying the model to other savannah areas and further expect that it could be used to estimate the productivity of savannah regions.     

Structural characterization of the O-specific polysaccharide from the lipopolysaccharide of the fish pathogen Aeromonas bestiarum strain P1S

The O-specific polysaccharide obtained by mild-acid degradation of lipopolysaccharide of Aeromonas bestiarum P1S was studied by sugar and methylation analyses along with ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The sequence of the sugar residues was determined using ¹H,¹H NOESY and ¹H,¹³C HMBC experiments. The O-specific polysaccharide was found to be a high-molecular-mass polysaccharide composed of tetrasaccharide repeating units of the structureSince small amounts of a terminal Quip3N residue were identified in methylation analysis, it was assumed that the elucidated structure also represented the biological repeating unit of the O-specific polysaccharide.