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- ItemModified wavelet analysis of ECoG-pattern as promising tool for detection of the blood–brain barrier leakage([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Runnova, Anastasiya; Zhuravlev, Maksim; Ukolov, Rodion; Blokhina, Inna; Dubrovski, Alexander; Lezhnev, Nikita; Sitnikova, Evgeniya; Saranceva, Elena; Kiselev, Anton; Karavaev, Anatoly; Selskii, Anton; Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya, Oxana; Penzel, Thomas; Kurths, JurgenA new approach for detection oscillatory patterns and estimation of their dynamics based by a modified CWT skeleton method is presented. The method opens up additional perspectives for the analysis of subtle changes in the oscillatory activity of complex nonstationary signals. The method was applied to analyze unique experimental signals obtained in usual conditions and after the non-invasive increase in the blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability in 10 male Wistar rats. The results of the wavelet-analysis of electrocorticography (ECoG) recorded in a normal physiological state and after an increase in the BBB permeability of animals demonstrate significant changes between these states during wakefulness of animals and an essential smoothing of these differences during sleep. Sleep is closely related to the processes of observed changes in the BBB permeability.
- ItemTumor cytotoxicity and immunogenicity of a novel V-jet neon plasma source compared to the kINPen(London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Miebach, Lea; Freund, Eric; Horn, Stefan; Niessner, Felix; Sagwal, Sanjeev Kumar; von Woedtke, Thomas; Emmert, Steffen; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter; Clemen, Ramona; Schmidt, Anke; Gerling, Torsten; Bekeschus, SanderRecent research indicated the potential of cold physical plasma in cancer therapy. The plethora of plasma-derived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) mediate diverse antitumor effects after eliciting oxidative stress in cancer cells. We aimed at exploiting this principle using a newly designed dual-jet neon plasma source (Vjet) to treat colorectal cancer cells. A treatment time-dependent ROS/RNS generation induced oxidation, growth retardation, and cell death within 3D tumor spheroids were found. In TUM-CAM, a semi in vivo model, the Vjet markedly reduced vascularized tumors' growth, but an increase of tumor cell immunogenicity or uptake by dendritic cells was not observed. By comparison, the argon-driven single jet kINPen, known to mediate anticancer effects in vitro, in vivo, and in patients, generated less ROS/RNS and terminal cell death in spheroids. In the TUM-CAM model, however, the kINPen was equivalently effective and induced a stronger expression of immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD) markers, leading to increased phagocytosis of kINPen but not Vjet plasma-treated tumor cells by dendritic cells. Moreover, the Vjet was characterized according to the requirements of the DIN-SPEC 91315. Our results highlight the plasma device-specific action on cancer cells for evaluating optimal discharges for plasma cancer treatment.
- ItemClimatic windows for human migration out of Africa in the past 300,000 years([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2021) Beyer, Robert M.; Krapp, Mario; Eriksson, Anders; Manica, AndreaWhilst an African origin of modern humans is well established, the timings and routes of their expansions into Eurasia are the subject of heated debate, due to the scarcity of fossils and the lack of suitably old ancient DNA. Here, we use high-resolution palaeoclimate reconstructions to estimate how difficult it would have been for humans in terms of rainfall availability to leave the African continent in the past 300k years. We then combine these results with an anthropologically and ecologically motivated estimate of the minimum level of rainfall required by hunter-gatherers to survive, allowing us to reconstruct when, and along which geographic paths, expansions out of Africa would have been climatically feasible. The estimated timings and routes of potential contact with Eurasia are compatible with archaeological and genetic evidence of human expansions out of Africa, highlighting the key role of palaeoclimate variability for modern human dispersals.
- ItemRepeated exposure of the oral mucosa over 12 months with cold plasma is not carcinogenic in mice(London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Evert, K.; Kocher, T.; Schindler, A.; Müller, M.; Müller, K.; Pink, C.; Holtfreter, B.; Schmidt, A.; Dombrowski, F.; Schubert, A.; von Woedtke, T.; Rupf, S.; Calvisi, D. F.; Bekeschus, S.; Jablonowski, L.Peri-implantitis may result in the loss of dental implants. Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) was suggested to promote re-osseointegration, decrease antimicrobial burden, and support wound healing. However, the long-term risk assessment of CAP treatment in the oral cavity has not been addressed. Treatment with two different CAP devices was compared against UV radiation, carcinogen administration, and untreated conditions over 12 months. Histological analysis of 406 animals revealed that repeated CAP exposure did not foster non-invasive lesions or squamous cell carcinoma (SCCs). Carcinogen administration promoted non-invasive lesions and SCCs. Molecular analysis by a qPCR screening of 144 transcripts revealed distinct inflammatory profiles associated with each treatment regimen. Interestingly, CAP treatment of carcinogen-challenged mucosa did not promote but instead left unchanged or reduced the proportion of non-invasive lesions and SCC formation. In conclusion, repeated CAP exposure of murine oral mucosa was well tolerated, and carcinogenic effects did not occur, motivating CAP applications in patients for dental and implant treatments in the future.
- ItemGlobal data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties(London : Nature Publ. Group, 2021) Phillips, Helen R. P.; Bach, Elizabeth M.; Bartz, Marie L. C.; Bennett, Joanne M.; Beugnon, Rémy; Briones, Maria J. I.; Brown, George G.; Ferlian, Olga; Gongalsky, Konstantin B.; Guerra, Carlos A.; König-Ries, Birgitta; López-Hernández, Danilo; Loss, Scott R.; Marichal, Raphael; Matula, Radim; Minamiya, Yukio; Moos, Jan Hendrik; Moreno, Gerardo; Morón-Ríos, Alejandro; Motohiro, Hasegawa; Muys, Bart; Krebs, Julia J.; Neirynck, Johan; Norgrove, Lindsey; Novo, Marta; Nuutinen, Visa; Nuzzo, Victoria; Mujeeb Rahman, P.; Pansu, Johan; Paudel, Shishir; Pérès, Guénola; Pérez-Camacho, Lorenzo; Orgiazzi, Alberto; Ponge, Jean-François; Prietzel, Jörg; Rapoport, Irina B.; Rashid, Muhammad Imtiaz; Rebollo, Salvador; Rodríguez, Miguel Á.; Roth, Alexander M.; Rousseau, Guillaume X.; Rozen, Anna; Sayad, Ehsan; Ramirez, Kelly S.; van Schaik, Loes; Scharenbroch, Bryant; Schirrmann, Michael; Schmidt, Olaf; Schröder, Boris; Seeber, Julia; Shashkov, Maxim P.; Singh, Jaswinder; Smith, Sandy M.; Steinwandter, Michael; Russell, David J.; Szlavecz, Katalin; Talavera, José Antonio; Trigo, Dolores; Tsukamoto, Jiro; Uribe-López, Sheila; de Valença, Anne W.; Virto, Iñigo; Wackett, Adrian A.; Warren, Matthew W.; Webster, Emily R.; Schwarz, Benjamin; Wehr, Nathaniel H.; Whalen, Joann K.; Wironen, Michael B.; Wolters, Volkmar; Wu, Pengfei; Zenkova, Irina V.; Zhang, Weixin; Cameron, Erin K.; Eisenhauer, Nico; Wall, Diana H.; Brose, Ulrich; Decaëns, Thibaud; Lavelle, Patrick; Loreau, Michel; Mathieu, Jérôme; Mulder, Christian; van der Putten, Wim H.; Rillig, Matthias C.; Thakur, Madhav P.; de Vries, Franciska T.; Wardle, David A.; Ammer, Christian; Ammer, Sabine; Arai, Miwa; Ayuke, Fredrick O.; Baker, Geoff H.; Baretta, Dilmar; Barkusky, Dietmar; Beauséjour, Robin; Bedano, Jose C.; Birkhofer, Klaus; Blanchart, Eric; Blossey, Bernd; Bolger, Thomas; Bradley, Robert L.; Brossard, Michel; Burtis, James C.; Capowiez, Yvan; Cavagnaro, Timothy R.; Choi, Amy; Clause, Julia; Cluzeau, Daniel; Coors, Anja; Crotty, Felicity V.; Crumsey, Jasmine M.; Dávalos, Andrea; Cosín, Darío J. Díaz; Dobson, Annise M.; Domínguez, Anahí; Duhour, Andrés Esteban; van Eekeren, Nick; Emmerling, Christoph; Falco, Liliana B.; Fernández, Rosa; Fonte, Steven J.; Fragoso, Carlos; Franco, André L. C.; Fusilero, Abegail; Geraskina, Anna P.; Gholami, Shaieste; González, Grizelle; Gundale, Michael J.; López, Mónica Gutiérrez; Hackenberger, Branimir K.; Hackenberger, Davorka K.; Hernández, Luis M.; Hirth, Jeff R.; Hishi, Takuo; Holdsworth, Andrew R.; Holmstrup, Martin; Hopfensperger, Kristine N.; Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta; Huhta, Veikko; Hurisso, Tunsisa T.; Iannone, Basil V.; Iordache, Madalina; Irmler, Ulrich; Ivask, Mari; Jesús, Juan B.; Johnson-Maynard, Jodi L.; Joschko, Monika; Kaneko, Nobuhiro; Kanianska, Radoslava; Keith, Aidan M.; Kernecker, Maria L.; Koné, Armand W.; Kooch, Yahya; Kukkonen, Sanna T.; Lalthanzara, H.; Lammel, Daniel R.; Lebedev, Iurii M.; Le Cadre, Edith; Lincoln, Noa K.Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.
- ItemSkin tolerant inactivation of multiresistant pathogens using far-UVC LEDs([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Glaab, Johannes; Lobo-Ploch, Neysha; Cho, Hyun Kyong; Filler, Thomas; Gundlach, Heiko; Guttmann, Martin; Hagedorn, Sylvia; Lohan, Silke B.; Mehnke, Frank; Schleusener, Johannes; Sicher, Claudia; Sulmoni, Luca; Wernicke, Tim; Wittenbecher, Lucas; Woggon, Ulrike; Zwicker, Paula; Kramer, Axel; Meinke, Martina C.; Kneissl, Michael; Weyers, Markus; Winterwerber, Ulrike; Einfeldt, SvenMultiresistant pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cause serious postoperative infections. A skin tolerant far-UVC (< 240 nm) irradiation system for their inactivation is presented here. It uses UVC LEDs in combination with a spectral filter and provides a peak wavelength of 233 nm, with a full width at half maximum of 12 nm, and an irradiance of 44 µW/cm2. MRSA bacteria in different concentrations on blood agar plates were inactivated with irradiation doses in the range of 15–40 mJ/cm2. Porcine skin irradiated with a dose of 40 mJ/cm2 at 233 nm showed only 3.7% CPD and 2.3% 6-4PP DNA damage. Corresponding irradiation at 254 nm caused 11–14 times higher damage. Thus, the skin damage caused by the disinfectant doses is so small that it can be expected to be compensated by the skin's natural repair mechanisms. LED-based far-UVC lamps could therefore soon be used in everyday clinical practice to eradicate multiresistant pathogens directly on humans.
- ItemLabel-free multimodal imaging of infected Galleria mellonella larvae([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2022) Quansah, Elsie; Ramoji, Anuradha; Thieme, Lara; Mirza, Kamran; Goering, Bianca; Makarewicz, Oliwia; Heutelbeck, Astrid; Meyer-Zedler, Tobias; Pletz, Mathias W.; Schmitt, Michael; Popp, JürgenNon-linear imaging modalities have enabled us to obtain unique morpho-chemical insights into the tissue architecture of various biological model organisms in a label-free manner. However, these imaging techniques have so far not been applied to analyze the Galleria mellonella infection model. This study utilizes for the first time the strength of multimodal imaging techniques to explore infection-related changes in the Galleria mellonella larvae due to massive E. faecalis bacterial infection. Multimodal imaging techniques such as fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM), coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF), and second harmonic generation (SHG) were implemented in conjunction with histological HE images to analyze infection-associated tissue damage. The changes in the larvae in response to the infection, such as melanization, vacuolization, nodule formation, and hemocyte infiltration as a defense mechanism of insects against microbial pathogens, were visualized after Enterococcus faecalis was administered. Furthermore, multimodal imaging served for the analysis of implant-associated biofilm infections by visualizing biofilm adherence on medical stainless steel and ePTFE implants within the larvae. Our results suggest that infection-related changes as well as the integrity of the tissue of G. mellonella larvae can be studied with high morphological and chemical contrast in a label-free manner.
- ItemRapid and low-cost insect detection for analysing species trapped on yellow sticky traps(London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Böckmann, Elias; Pfaff, Alexander; Schirrmann, Michael; Pflanz, MichaelWhile insect monitoring is a prerequisite for precise decision-making regarding integrated pest management (IPM), it is time- and cost-intensive. Low-cost, time-saving and easy-to-operate tools for automated monitoring will therefore play a key role in increased acceptance and application of IPM in practice. In this study, we tested the differentiation of two whitefly species and their natural enemies trapped on yellow sticky traps (YSTs) via image processing approaches under practical conditions. Using the bag of visual words (BoVW) algorithm, accurate differentiation between both natural enemies and the Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Bemisia tabaci species was possible, whereas the procedure for B. tabaci could not be used to differentiate this species from T. vaporariorum. The decay of species was considered using fresh and aged catches of all the species on the YSTs, and different pooling scenarios were applied to enhance model performance. The best performance was reached when fresh and aged individuals were used together and the whitefly species were pooled into one category for model training. With an independent dataset consisting of photos from the YSTs that were placed in greenhouses and consequently with a naturally occurring species mixture as the background, a differentiation rate of more than 85% was reached for natural enemies and whiteflies.
- ItemUltra-strong bio-glue from genetically engineered polypeptides([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2021) Ma, Chao; Sun, Jing; Li, Bo; Feng, Yang; Sun, Yao; Xiang, Li; Wu, Baiheng; Xiao, Lingling; Liu, Baimei; Petrovskii, Vladislav S.; Zhang, Jinrui; Wang, Zili; Li, Hongyan; Zhang, Lei; Li, Jingjing; Wang, Fan; Gӧstl, Robert; Potemkin, Igor I.; Chen, Dong; Zeng, Hongbo; Zhang, Hongjie; Liu, Kai; Herrmann, AndreasThe development of biomedical glues is an important, yet challenging task as seemingly mutually exclusive properties need to be combined in one material, i.e. strong adhesion and adaption to remodeling processes in healing tissue. Here, we report a biocompatible and biodegradable protein-based adhesive with high adhesion strengths. The maximum strength reaches 16.5 ± 2.2 MPa on hard substrates, which is comparable to that of commercial cyanoacrylate superglue and higher than other protein-based adhesives by at least one order of magnitude. Moreover, the strong adhesion on soft tissues qualifies the adhesive as biomedical glue outperforming some commercial products. Robust mechanical properties are realized without covalent bond formation during the adhesion process. A complex consisting of cationic supercharged polypeptides and anionic aromatic surfactants with lysine to surfactant molar ratio of 1:0.9 is driven by multiple supramolecular interactions enabling such strong adhesion. We demonstrate the glue’s robust performance in vitro and in vivo for cosmetic and hemostasis applications and accelerated wound healing by comparison to surgical wound closures.
- ItemCharacterisation of S. aureus/MRSA CC1153 and review of mobile genetic elements carrying the fusidic acid resistance gene fusC([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Monecke, Stefan; Müller, Elke; Braun, Sascha D.; Armengol-Porta, Marc; Bes, Michèle; Boswihi, Samar; El-Ashker, Maged; Engelmann, Ines; Gawlik, Darius; Gwida, Mayada; Hotzel, Helmut; Nassar, Rania; Reissig, Annett; Ruppelt-Lorz, Antje; Senok, Abiola; Somily, Ali M.; Udo, Edet E.; Ehricht, RalfWhile many data on molecular epidemiology of MRSA are available for North America, Western Europe and Australia, much less is known on the distribution of MRSA clones elsewhere. Here, we describe a poorly known lineage from the Middle East, CC1153, to which several strains from humans and livestock belong. Isolates were characterised using DNA microarrays and one isolate from the United Arab Emirates was sequenced using Nanopore technology. CC1153 carries agr II and capsule type 5 genes. Enterotoxin genes are rarely present, but PVL is common. Associated spa types include t504, t903 and t13507. PVL-positive CC1153-MSSA were found in Egyptian cattle suffering from mastitis. It was also identified among humans with skin and soft tissue infections in Saudi Arabia, France and Germany. CC1153-MRSA were mainly observed in Arabian Gulf countries. Some isolates presented with a previously unknown SCCmec/SCCfus chimeric element in which a mec B complex was found together with the fusidic acid resistance gene fusC and accompanying genes including ccrA/B-1 recombinase genes. Other isolates carried SCCmec V elements that usually also included fusC. Distribution and emergence of CC1153-MRSA show the necessity of molecular characterization of MRSA that are resistant to fusidic acid. These strains pose a public health threat as they combine resistance to beta-lactams used in hospitals as well as to fusidic acid used in the community. Because of the high prevalence of fusC-positive MRSA in the Middle East, sequences and descriptions of SCC elements harbouring fusC and/or mecA are reviewed. When comparing fusC and its surrounding regions from the CC1153 strain to available published sequences, it became obvious that there are four fusC alleles and five distinct types of fusC gene complexes reminiscent to the mec complexes in SCCmec elements. Likewise, they are associated with different sets of ccrA/B recombinase genes and additional payload that might include entire mec complexes or SCCmec elements.