Stress Heterogeneities in Sheared Type-I Collagen Networks Revealed by Boundary Stress Microscopy

Disordered fiber networks provide structural support to a wide range of important materials, and the combination of spatial and dynamic complexity may produce large inhomogeneities in mechanical properties, an effect that is largely unexplored experimentally. In this work, we introduce Boundary Stress Microscopy to quantify the non-uniform surface stresses in sheared collagen gels. We find local stresses exceeding average stresses by an order of magnitude, with variations over length scales much larger than the network mesh size. The strain stiffening behavior observed over a wide range of network mesh sizes can be parameterized by a single characteristic strain and associated stress, which describes both the strain stiffening regime and network yielding. The characteristic stress is approximately proportional to network density, but the peak boundary stress at both the characteristic strain and at yielding are remarkably insensitive to concentration.     

Impacts and Recovery from Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi on the Great Barrier Reef

Full recovery of coral reefs from tropical cyclone (TC) damage can take decades, making cyclones a major driver of habitat condition where they occur regularly. Since 1985, 44 TCs generated gale force winds (≥17 metres/second) within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). Of the hurricane strength TCs (≥H1—Saffir Simpson scale; ≥ category 3 Australian scale), TC Yasi (February, 2011) was the largest. In the weeks after TC Yasi crossed the GBRMP, participating researchers, managers and rangers assessed the extent and severity of reef damage via 841 Reef Health and Impact Surveys at 70 reefs. Records were scaled into five damage levels representing increasingly widespread colony-level damage (1, 2, 3) and reef structural damage (4, 5). Average damage severity was significantly affected by direction (north vs south of the cyclone track), reef shelf position (mid-shelf vs outer-shelf) and habitat type. More outer-shelf reefs suffered structural damage than mid-shelf reefs within 150 km of the track. Structural damage spanned a greater latitudinal range for mid-shelf reefs than outer-shelf reefs (400 vs 300 km). Structural damage was patchily distributed at all distances, but more so as distance from the track increased. Damage extended much further from the track than during other recent intense cyclones that had smaller circulation sizes. Just over 15% (3,834 km²) of the total reef area of the GBRMP is estimated to have sustained some level of coral damage, with ~4% (949 km²) sustaining a degree of structural damage. TC Yasi likely caused the greatest loss of coral cover on the GBR in a 24-hour period since 1985. Severely impacted reefs have started to recover; coral cover increased an average of 4% between 2011 and 2013 at re-surveyed reefs. The in situ assessment of impacts described here is the largest in scale ever conducted on the Great Barrier Reef following a reef health disturbance.     

Enhanced Mitochondrial Superoxide Scavenging Does Not Improve Muscle Insulin Action in the High Fat-Fed Mouse

Improving mitochondrial oxidant scavenging may be a viable strategy for the treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes. Mice overexpressing the mitochondrial matrix isoform of superoxide dismutase (sod2^tg mice) and/or transgenically expressing catalase within the mitochondrial matrix (mcat^tg mice) have increased scavenging of O₂˙ˉ and H₂O₂, respectively. Furthermore, muscle insulin action is partially preserved in high fat (HF)-fed mcat^tg mice. The goal of the current study was to test the hypothesis that increased O₂˙ˉ scavenging alone or in combination with increased H₂O₂ scavenging (mtAO mice) enhances in vivo muscle insulin action in the HF-fed mouse. Insulin action was examined in conscious, unrestrained and unstressed wild type (WT), sod2^tg, mcat^tg and mtAO mice using hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps (insulin clamps) combined with radioactive glucose tracers following sixteen weeks of normal chow or HF (60% calories from fat) feeding. Glucose infusion rates, whole body glucose disappearance, and muscle glucose uptake during the insulin clamp were similar in chow- and HF-fed WT and sod2^tg mice. Consistent with our previous work, HF-fed mcat^tg mice had improved muscle insulin action, however, an additive effect was not seen in mtAO mice. Insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in muscle from clamped mice was consistent with glucose flux measurements. These results demonstrate that increased O₂˙ˉ scavenging does not improve muscle insulin action in the HF-fed mouse alone or when coupled to increased H₂O₂ scavenging.     

Integrating Community-Based Interventions to Reverse the Convergent TB/HIV Epidemics in Rural South Africa

The WHO recommends integrating interventions to address the devastating TB/HIV co-epidemics in South Africa, yet integration has been poorly implemented and TB/HIV control efforts need strengthening. Identifying infected individuals is particularly difficult in rural settings. We used mathematical modeling to predict the impact of community-based, integrated TB/HIV case finding and additional control strategies on South Africa’s TB/HIV epidemics. We developed a model incorporating TB and HIV transmission to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating TB and HIV interventions in rural South Africa over 10 years. We modeled the impact of a novel screening program that integrates case finding for TB and HIV in the community, comparing it to status quo and recommended TB/HIV control strategies, including GeneXpert, MDR-TB treatment decentralization, improved first-line TB treatment cure rate, isoniazid preventive therapy, and expanded ART. Combining recommended interventions averted 27% of expected TB cases (95% CI 18–40%) 18% HIV (95% CI 13–24%), 60% MDR-TB (95% CI 34–83%), 69% XDR-TB (95% CI 34–90%), and 16% TB/HIV deaths (95% CI 12–29). Supplementing these interventions with annual community-based TB/HIV case finding averted a further 17% of TB cases (44% total; 95% CI 31–56%), 5% HIV (23% total; 95% CI 17–29%), 8% MDR-TB (68% total; 95% CI 40–88%), 4% XDR-TB (73% total; 95% CI 38–91%), and 8% TB/HIV deaths (24% total; 95% CI 16–39%). In addition to increasing screening frequency, we found that improving TB symptom questionnaire sensitivity, second-line TB treatment delays, default before initiating TB treatment or ART, and second-line TB drug efficacy were significantly associated with even greater reductions in TB and HIV cases. TB/HIV epidemics in South Africa were most effectively curtailed by simultaneously implementing interventions that integrated community-based TB/HIV control strategies and targeted drug-resistant TB. Strengthening existing TB and HIV treatment programs is needed to further reduce disease incidence.     

Consequences of variable larval dispersal pathways and resulting phenotypic mixtures to the dynamics of marine metapopulations

Larval dispersal can connect distant subpopulations, with important implications for marine population dynamics and persistence, biodiversity conservation and fisheries management. However, different dispersal pathways may affect the final phenotypes, and thus the performance and fitness of individuals that settle into subpopulations. Using otolith microchemical signatures that are indicative of ‘dispersive’ larvae (oceanic signatures) and ‘non-dispersive’ larvae (coastal signatures), we explore the population-level consequences of dispersal-induced variability in phenotypic mixtures for the common triplefin (a small reef fish). We evaluate lipid concentration and otolith microstructure and find that ‘non-dispersive’ larvae (i) have greater and less variable lipid reserves at settlement (and this variability attenuates at a slower rate), (ii) grow faster after settlement, and (iii) experience similar carry-over benefits of lipid reserves on post-settlement growth relative to ‘dispersive’ larvae. We then explore the consequences of phenotypic mixtures in a metapopulation model with two identical subpopulations replenished by variable contributions of ‘dispersive’ and ‘non-dispersive’ larvae and find that the resulting phenotypic mixtures can have profound effects on the size of the metapopulation. We show that, depending upon the patterns of connectivity, phenotypic mixtures can lead to larger metapopulations, suggesting dispersal-induced demographic heterogeneity may facilitate metapopulation persistence.     

Positive selection is the main driving force for evolution of citrus canker-causing Xanthomonas

Understanding the evolutionary history and potential of bacterial pathogens is critical to prevent the emergence of new infectious bacterial diseases. Xanthomonas axonopodis subsp. citri (Xac) (synonym X. citri subsp. citri), which causes citrus canker, is one of the hardest-fought plant bacterial pathogens in US history. Here, we sequenced 21 Xac strains (14 XacA, 3 XacA* and 4 XacA^w) with different host ranges from North America and Asia and conducted comparative genomic and evolutionary analyses. Our analyses suggest that acquisition of beneficial genes and loss of detrimental genes most likely allowed XacA to infect a broader range of hosts as compared with XacA^w and XacA*. Recombination was found to have occurred frequently on the relative ancient branches, but rarely on the young branches of the clonal genealogy. The ratio of recombination/mutation ρ/θ was 0.0790±0.0005, implying that the Xac population was clonal in structure. Positive selection has affected 14% (395 out of 2822) of core genes of the citrus canker-causing Xanthomonas. The genes affected are enriched in ‘carbohydrate transport and metabolism'' and ‘DNA replication, recombination and repair'' genes (P<0.05). Many genes related to virulence, especially genes involved in the type III secretion system and effectors, are affected by positive selection, further highlighting the contribution of positive selection to the evolution of citrus canker-causing Xanthomonas. Our results suggest that both metabolism and virulence genes provide advantages to endow XacA with higher virulence and a wider host range. Our analysis advances our understanding of the genomic basis of specialization by positive selection in bacterial evolution.