Distribution and diversity of palms in a tropical biodiversity hotspot (Thailand) assessed by species distribution modeling

Species distribution modeling has been widely used to address questions related to ecology, biogeography and species conservation on global and regional scales. Here, we study palms (Arecaceae) in a tropical biodiversity hotspot (Thailand) using species distribution modeling to assess range‐limiting factors and estimate distribution and diversity patterns based on a comprehensive compilation of occurrence records. We focused on palms as a model group due to their key‐stone importance for ecosystem functioning and socio‐economics. Different combinations of climatic, non‐climatic environmental and spatial predictors were used. The most accurate models as indicated by the ‘area under the receiver operating characteristic curve’ (AUC) statistic were those that combined all predictors. The four strongest single predictors of palm species distributions were, in decreasing order of importance, 1) latitude, 2) precipitation of driest quarter, 3) annual precipitation, and 4) minimum temperature of the coldest month, suggesting rainfall patterns and latitudinal spatial constraints as the main range determinants. Overlaying the predicted distributions revealed that potential palm hotspots are situated in the provinces of Satun and Yala in southern Thailand where vast areas remain relatively open to the discovery of new palm records and perhaps even new species.     

Neural activation and functional connectivity during motor imagery of bimanual everyday actions

Bimanual actions impose intermanual coordination demands not present during unimanual actions. We investigated the functional neuroanatomical correlates of these coordination demands in motor imagery (MI) of everyday actions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). For this, 17 participants imagined unimanual actions with the left and right hand as well as bimanual actions while undergoing fMRI. A univariate fMRI analysis showed no reliable cortical activations specific to bimanual MI, indicating that intermanual coordination demands in MI are not associated with increased neural processing. A functional connectivity analysis based on psychophysiological interactions (PPI), however, revealed marked increases in connectivity between parietal and premotor areas within and between hemispheres. We conclude that in MI of everyday actions intermanual coordination demands are primarily met by changes in connectivity between areas and only moderately, if at all, by changes in the amount of neural activity. These results are the first characterization of the neuroanatomical correlates of bimanual coordination demands in MI. Our findings support the assumed equivalence of overt and imagined actions and highlight the differences between uni- and bimanual actions. The findings extent our understanding of the motor system and may aid the development of clinical neurorehabilitation approaches based on mental practice.     

The plant glycosyltransferase clone collection for functional genomics

The glycosyltransferases (GTs) are an important and functionally diverse family of enzymes involved in glycan and glycoside biosynthesis. Plants have evolved large families of GTs which undertake the array of glycosylation reactions that occur during plant development and growth. Based on the Carbohydrate‐Active enZymes (CAZy) database, the genome of the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana codes for over 450 GTs, while the rice genome (Oryza sativa) contains over 600 members. Collectively, GTs from these reference plants can be classified into over 40 distinct GT families. Although these enzymes are involved in many important plant specific processes such as cell‐wall and secondary metabolite biosynthesis, few have been functionally characterized. We have sought to develop a plant GTs clone resource that will enable functional genomic approaches to be undertaken by the plant research community. In total, 403 (88%) of CAZy defined Arabidopsis GTs have been cloned, while 96 (15%) of the GTs coded by rice have been cloned. The collection resulted in the update of a number of Arabidopsis GT gene models. The clones represent full‐length coding sequences without termination codons and are Gateway^® compatible. To demonstrate the utility of this JBEI GT Collection, a set of efficient particle bombardment plasmids (pBullet) was also constructed with markers for the endomembrane. The utility of the pBullet collection was demonstrated by localizing all members of the Arabidopsis GT14 family to the Golgi apparatus or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Updates to these resources are available at the JBEI GT Collection website http://www.addgene.org/ .     

Which Urban Migrants Default from Tuberculosis Treatment in Shanghai,China?

Background

Migration is a major challenge to tuberculosis (TB) control worldwide. TB treatment requires multiple drugs for at least six months. Some TB patients default before completing their treatment regimen, which can lead to ongoing infectiousness and drug resistance.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 29,943 active TB cases among urban migrants that were reported between 2000 to 2008 in Shanghai, China. We used logistic regression models to identify factors independently associated with treatment defaults in TB patients among urban migrants during 2005-2008.

Results

Fifty-two percent of the total TB patients reported in Shanghai during the study period were among urban migrants. Three factors increased the odds of a treatment default: case management using self-administered therapy (OR, 5.84, 95% CI, 3.14-10.86, p<0.0005), being a retreatment case (OR, 1.47, 95% CI, 1.25-1.71, p<0.0005), and age >60 years old (OR, 1.33, 95% CI, 1.05-1.67, p=0.017). The presence of a cavity in the initial chest radiograph decreased the odds for a treatment default (OR, 0.87, 95% CI, 0.77-0.97, p=0.015), as did migration from central China (OR, 0.85, 95% CI, 0.73-0.99, p=0.042), case management by family members (OR, 0.73, 95% CI 0.66-0.81, p<0.0005), and the combination of case detection by a required physical exam and case management by health care staff (OR, 0.64, 95% CI, 0.45-0.93, p=0.019).

Conclusion

Among TB patients who were urban migrants in Shanghai, case management using self-administered therapy was the strongest modifiable risk factor that was independently associated with treatment defaults. Interventions that target retreated TB cases could also reduce treatment defaults among urban migrants. Health departments should develop effective measures to prevent treatment defaults among urban migrants, to ensure completion of therapy among urban migrants who move between cities and provinces, and to improve reporting of treatment outcomes.     

A Homogeneous,High-Throughput Assay for Phosphatidylinositol 5-Phosphate 4-Kinase with a Novel,Rapid Substrate Preparation

Phosphoinositide kinases regulate diverse cellular functions and are important targets for therapeutic development for diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. Preparation of the lipid substrate is crucial for the development of a robust and miniaturizable lipid kinase assay. Enzymatic assays for phosphoinositide kinases often use lipid substrates prepared from lyophilized lipid preparations by sonication, which result in variability in the liposome size from preparation to preparation. Herein, we report a homogeneous 1536-well luciferase-coupled bioluminescence assay for PI5P4Kα. The substrate preparation is novel and allows the rapid production of a DMSO-containing substrate solution without the need for lengthy liposome preparation protocols, thus enabling the scale-up of this traditionally difficult type of assay. The Z’-factor value was greater than 0.7 for the PI5P4Kα assay, indicating its suitability for high-throughput screening applications. Tyrphostin AG-82 had been identified as an inhibitor of PI5P4Kα by assessing the degree of phospho transfer of γ-³²P-ATP to PI5P; its inhibitory activity against PI5P4Kα was confirmed in the present miniaturized assay. From a pilot screen of a library of bioactive compounds, another tyrphostin, I-OMe tyrphostin AG-538 (I-OMe-AG-538), was identified as an ATP-competitive inhibitor of PI5P4Kα with an IC₅₀ of 1 µM, affirming the suitability of the assay for inhibitor discovery campaigns. This homogeneous assay may apply to other lipid kinases and should help in the identification of leads for this class of enzymes by enabling high-throughput screening efforts.     

The complete mitochondrial genome of human parasitic roundworm, Ascaris lumbricoides

The genome length of the Ascaris lumbricoides, human parasitic roundworm, is 14,281 bp with a nucleotide composition of 22.1% A, 49.8% T, 7.8% C, and 20.3% G. The genome consists of 12 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 1 control region.     

Rainfall manipulation experiments as simulated by terrestrial biosphere models: Where do we stand?

Changes in rainfall amounts and patterns have been observed and are expected to continue in the near future with potentially significant ecological and societal consequences. Modelling vegetation responses to changes in rainfall is thus crucial to project water and carbon cycles in the future. In this study, we present the results of a new model‐data intercomparison project, where we tested the ability of 10 terrestrial biosphere models to reproduce the observed sensitivity of ecosystem productivity to rainfall changes at 10 sites across the globe, in nine of which, rainfall exclusion and/or irrigation experiments had been performed. The key results are as follows: (a) Inter‐model variation is generally large and model agreement varies with timescales. In severely water‐limited sites, models only agree on the interannual variability of evapotranspiration and to a smaller extent on gross primary productivity. In more mesic sites, model agreement for both water and carbon fluxes is typically higher on fine (daily–monthly) timescales and reduces on longer (seasonal–annual) scales. (b) Models on average overestimate the relationship between ecosystem productivity and mean rainfall amounts across sites (in space) and have a low capacity in reproducing the temporal (interannual) sensitivity of vegetation productivity to annual rainfall at a given site, even though observation uncertainty is comparable to inter‐model variability. (c) Most models reproduced the sign of the observed patterns in productivity changes in rainfall manipulation experiments but had a low capacity in reproducing the observed magnitude of productivity changes. Models better reproduced the observed productivity responses due to rainfall exclusion than addition. (d) All models attribute ecosystem productivity changes to the intensity of vegetation stress and peak leaf area, whereas the impact of the change in growing season length is negligible. The relative contribution of the peak leaf area and vegetation stress intensity was highly variable among models.