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Τρίτη 25 Ιουνίου 2019

Correction for McKenzie et al., Caspase-1 inhibition prevents glial inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in models of multiple sclerosis [Correction]
NEUROSCIENCE Correction for “Caspase-1 inhibition prevents glial inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in models of multiple sclerosis,” by Brienne A. McKenzie, Manmeet K. Mamik, Leina B. Saito, Roobina Boghozian, Maria Chiara Monaco, Eugene O. Major, Jian-Qiang Lu, William G. Branton, and Christopher Power, which was first published June 12, 2018; 10.1073/pnas.1722041115...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Correction for Wolfe et al., Mapping hydroxyl variability throughout the global remote troposphere via synthesis of airborne and satellite formaldehyde observations [Correction]
EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES Correction for “Mapping hydroxyl variability throughout the global remote troposphere via synthesis of airborne and satellite formaldehyde observations,” by Glenn M. Wolfe, Julie M. Nicely, Jason M. St. Clair, Thomas F. Hanisco, Jin Liao, Luke D. Oman, William B. Brune, David Miller, Alexander Thames, Gonzalo...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Correction to Supporting Information for Yu et al., Childhood trauma history is linked to abnormal brain connectivity in major depression [SI Correction]
NEUROSCIENCE Correction to Supporting Information for “Childhood trauma history is linked to abnormal brain connectivity in major depression,” by Meichen Yu, Kristin A. Linn, Russell T. Shinohara, Desmond J. Oathes, Philip A. Cook, Romain Duprat, Tyler M. Moore, Maria A. Oquendo, Mary L. Phillips, Melvin McInnis, Maurizio Fava, Madhukar H....
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Molecular basis for branched steviol glucoside biosynthesis [Plant Biology]
Steviol glucosides, such as stevioside and rebaudioside A, are natural products roughly 200-fold sweeter than sugar and are used as natural, noncaloric sweeteners. Biosynthesis of rebaudioside A, and other related stevia glucosides, involves formation of the steviol diterpenoid followed by a series of glycosylations catalyzed by uridine diphosphate (UDP)-dependent glucosyltransferases....
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Genome sequencing and transcriptome analyses of the Siberian hamster hypothalamus identify mechanisms for seasonal energy balance [Physiology]
Synthesis of triiodothyronine (T3) in the hypothalamus induces marked seasonal neuromorphology changes across taxa. How species-specific responses to T3 signaling in the CNS drive annual changes in body weight and energy balance remains uncharacterized. These experiments sequenced and annotated the Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) genome, a model organism for seasonal...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
bHLH-PAS protein RITMO1 regulates diel biological rhythms in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum [Plant Biology]
Periodic light–dark cycles govern the timing of basic biological processes in organisms inhabiting land as well as the sea, where life evolved. Although prominent marine phytoplanktonic organisms such as diatoms show robust diel rhythms, the mechanisms regulating these processes are still obscure. By characterizing a Phaeodactylum tricornutum bHLH-PAS nuclear protein,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Endothelial cell Piezo1 mediates pressure-induced lung vascular hyperpermeability via disruption of adherens junctions [Medical Sciences]
Increased pulmonary microvessel pressure experienced in left heart failure, head trauma, or high altitude can lead to endothelial barrier disruption referred to as capillary “stress failure” that causes leakage of protein-rich plasma and pulmonary edema. However, little is known about vascular endothelial sensing and transduction of mechanical stimuli inducing endothelial...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Shear stress regulation of miR-93 and miR-484 maturation through nucleolin [Medical Sciences]
Pulsatile shear (PS) and oscillatory shear (OS) elicit distinct mechanotransduction signals that maintain endothelial homeostasis or induce endothelial dysfunction, respectively. A subset of microRNAs (miRs) in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) are differentially regulated by PS and OS, but the regulation of the miR processing and its implications in EC biology...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Neutralization of rhesus cytomegalovirus IL-10 reduces horizontal transmission and alters long-term immunity [Microbiology]
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) causes severe disease in infants and immunocompromised people. There is no approved HCMV vaccine, and vaccine development strategies are complicated by evidence of both persistent infection and reinfection of people with prior immunity. The greatest emphasis has been placed on reducing transmission to seronegative pregnant women to...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
An endosomal LAPF is required for macrophage endocytosis and elimination of bacteria [Immunology and Inflammation]
Macrophages can internalize the invading pathogens by raft/caveolae and/or clathrin-dependent endocytosis and elicit an immune response against infection. However, the molecular mechanism for macrophage endocytosis remains elusive. Here we report that LAPF (lysosome-associated and apoptosis-inducing protein containing PH and FYVE domains) is required for caveolae-mediated endocytosis. Lapf-deficient macrophages have impaired...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Inositol polyphosphates promote T cell-independent humoral immunity via the regulation of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase [Immunology and Inflammation]
T cell-independent (TI) B cell response is critical for the early protection against pathogen invasion. The regulation and activation of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) is known as a pivotal step of B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling in TI humoral immunity, as observed in patients with X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) experiencing...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Intracellular iron deficiency in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells induces pulmonary arterial hypertension in mice [Physiology]
Iron deficiency augments hypoxic pulmonary arterial pressure in healthy individuals and exacerbates pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients, even without anemia. Conversely, iron supplementation has been shown to be beneficial in both settings. The mechanisms underlying the effects of iron availability are not known, due to lack of understanding of...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h

Loss of the HIF pathway in a widely distributed intertidal crustacean, the copepod Tigriopus californicus [Evolution]
Hypoxia is a major physiological constraint for which multicellular eukaryotes have evolved robust cellular mechanisms capable of addressing dynamic changes in O2 availability. In animals, oxygen sensing and regulation is primarily performed by the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway, and the key components of this pathway are thought to be highly...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Exploratory locomotion, a predictor of addiction vulnerability, is oligogenic in rats selected for this phenotype [Neuroscience]
Artificially selected model organisms can reveal hidden features of the genetic architecture of the complex disorders that they model. Addictions are disease phenotypes caused by different intermediate phenotypes and pathways and thereby are potentially highly polygenic. High responder (bHR) and low responder (bLR) rat lines have been selectively bred (b)...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Global ensemble projections reveal trophic amplification of ocean biomass declines with climate change [Ecology]
While the physical dimensions of climate change are now routinely assessed through multimodel intercomparisons, projected impacts on the global ocean ecosystem generally rely on individual models with a specific set of assumptions. To address these single-model limitations, we present standardized ensemble projections from six global marine ecosystem models forced with...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Early snowmelt projected to cause population decline in a subalpine plant [Ecology]
How climate change influences the dynamics of plant populations is not well understood, as few plant studies have measured responses of vital rates to climatic variables and modeled the impact on population growth. The present study used 25 y of demographic data to analyze how survival, growth, and fecundity respond...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Climatic shifts drove major contractions in avian latitudinal distributions throughout the Cenozoic [Ecology]
Many higher level avian clades are restricted to Earth’s lower latitudes, leading to historical biogeographic reconstructions favoring a Gondwanan origin of crown birds and numerous deep subclades. However, several such “tropical-restricted” clades (TRCs) are represented by stem-lineage fossils well outside the ranges of their closest living relatives, often on northern...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Humboldt’s Tableau Physique revisited [Ecology]
Alexander von Humboldt’s Tableau Physique (1807) has been one of the most influential diagrams in the history of environmental sciences. In particular, detailed observations of the altitudinal distribution of plant species in the equatorial Andes, depicted on a cross-section of Mt. Chimborazo, allowed Humboldt to establish the concept of vegetation...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Drought suppresses soil predators and promotes root herbivores in mesic, but not in xeric grasslands [Ecology]
Precipitation changes among years and locations along gradients of mean annual precipitation (MAP). The way those changes interact and affect populations of soil organisms from arid to moist environments remains unknown. Temporal and spatial changes in precipitation could lead to shifts in functional composition of soil communities that are involved...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Persistence of learning-induced synapses depends on neurotrophic priming of glucocorticoid receptors [Neuroscience]
Stress can either promote or impair learning and memory. Such opposing effects depend on whether synapses persist or decay after learning. Maintenance of new synapses formed at the time of learning upon neuronal network activation depends on the stress hormone-activated glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and neurotrophic factor release. Whether and how...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
PRCD is essential for high-fidelity photoreceptor disc formation [Neuroscience]
Progressive rod-cone degeneration (PRCD) is a small protein residing in the light-sensitive disc membranes of the photoreceptor outer segment. Until now, the function of PRCD has remained enigmatic despite multiple demonstrations that its mutations cause blindness in humans and dogs. Here, we generated a PRCD knockout mouse and observed a...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Lineage tracing and targeting of IL17RB+ tuft cell-like human colorectal cancer stem cells [Medical Sciences]
Cancer stem cell (CSC)-specific markers may be potential therapeutic targets. We previously identified that Dclk1, a tuft cell marker, marks tumor stem cells (TSCs) in mouse intestinal adenomas. Based on the analysis of mouse Dclk1+ tumor cells, we aimed to identify a CSC-specific cell surface marker in human colorectal cancers...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Symptomatic plant viroid infections in phytopathogenic fungi [Microbiology]
Viroids are pathogenic agents that have a small, circular noncoding RNA genome. They have been found only in plant species; therefore, their infectivity and pathogenicity in other organisms remain largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate whether plant viroids can replicate and induce symptoms in filamentous fungi. Seven plant viroids...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
BMP controls dorsoventral and neural patterning in indirect-developing hemichordates providing insight into a possible origin of chordates [Evolution]
A defining feature of chordates is the unique presence of a dorsal hollow neural tube that forms by internalization of the ectodermal neural plate specified via inhibition of BMP signaling during gastrulation. While BMP controls dorsoventral (DV) patterning across diverse bilaterians, the BMP-active side is ventral in chordates and dorsal...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Oxidation of PKGI{alpha} mediates an endogenous adaptation to pulmonary hypertension [Medical Sciences]
Chronic hypoxia causes pulmonary hypertension (PH), vascular remodeling, right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy, and cardiac failure. Protein kinase G Iα (PKGIα) is susceptible to oxidation, forming an interprotein disulfide homodimer associated with kinase targeting involved in vasodilation. Here we report increased disulfide PKGIα in pulmonary arteries from mice with hypoxic PH...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
QTL x environment interactions underlie adaptive divergence in switchgrass across a large latitudinal gradient [Evolution]
Local adaptation is the process by which natural selection drives adaptive phenotypic divergence across environmental gradients. Theory suggests that local adaptation results from genetic trade-offs at individual genetic loci, where adaptation to one set of environmental conditions results in a cost to fitness in alternative environments. However, the degree to...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Transfer of complex regional pain syndrome to mice via human autoantibodies is mediated by interleukin-1-induced mechanisms [Neuroscience]
Neuroimmune interactions may contribute to severe pain and regional inflammatory and autonomic signs in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a posttraumatic pain disorder. Here, we investigated peripheral and central immune mechanisms in a translational passive transfer trauma mouse model of CRPS. Small plantar skin–muscle incision was performed in female C57BL/6...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
TNF-{alpha} inhibits glucocorticoid receptor-induced gene expression by reshaping the GR nuclear cofactor profile [Genetics]
Glucocorticoid resistance (GCR) is defined as an unresponsiveness to the therapeutic effects, including the antiinflammatory ones of glucocorticoids (GCs) and their receptor, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). It is a problem in the management of inflammatory diseases and can be congenital as well as acquired. The strong proinflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha (TNF)...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Apelin protects against abdominal aortic aneurysm and the therapeutic role of neutral endopeptidase resistant apelin analogs [Medical Sciences]
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) remains the second most frequent vascular disease with high mortality but has no approved medical therapy. We investigated the direct role of apelin (APLN) in AAA and identified a unique approach to enhance APLN action as a therapeutic intervention for this disease. Loss of APLN potentiated...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Human NK cell receptor KIR2DS4 detects a conserved bacterial epitope presented by HLA-C [Immunology and Inflammation]
Natural killer (NK) cells have an important role in immune defense against viruses and cancer. Activation of human NK cell cytotoxicity toward infected or tumor cells is regulated by killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) that bind to human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I). Combinations of KIR with HLA-I are genetically...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
TMEM16A controls EGF-induced calcium signaling implicated in pancreatic cancer prognosis [Medical Sciences]
Pancreatic cancer typically spreads rapidly and has poor survival rates. Here, we report that the calcium-activated chloride channel TMEM16A is a biomarker for pancreatic cancer with a poor prognosis. TMEM16A is up-regulated in 75% of cases of pancreatic cancer and high levels of TMEM16A expression are correlated with low patient...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
CDK7 inhibition suppresses aberrant hedgehog pathway and overcomes resistance to smoothened antagonists [Medical Sciences]
The aberrant hedgehog (Hh) pathway plays important roles in multiple cancer types, therefore serving as a promising drug target. Current clinically available hedgehog-targeted drugs act mostly by antagonizing the upstream component smoothened; however, both primary and acquired resistance to FDA-approved smoothened inhibitor (SMOi) drugs have been described. We have recently...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h

Second type of criticality in the brain uncovers rich multiple-neuron dynamics [Neuroscience]
Cortical networks that have been found to operate close to a critical point exhibit joint activations of large numbers of neurons. However, in motor cortex of the awake macaque monkey, we observe very different dynamics: massively parallel recordings of 155 single-neuron spiking activities show weak fluctuations on the population level....
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Elevated dopamine signaling from ventral tegmental area to prefrontal cortical parvalbumin neurons drives conditioned inhibition [Neuroscience]
Conditioned inhibition is an important process to suppress learned responses for optimal adaptation, but its underlying biological mechanism is poorly understood. Here we used safety learning (SL)/fear discrimination after fear conditioning as a conditioned inhibition model because it demonstrates the essential properties of summation and retardation. Activity of the dorsomedial...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Evolution of sex ratio through gene loss [Evolution]
The maintenance of males at intermediate frequencies is an important evolutionary problem. Several species of Caenorhabditis nematodes have evolved a mating system in which selfing hermaphrodites and males coexist. While selfing produces XX hermaphrodites, cross-fertilization produces 50% XO male progeny. Thus, male mating success dictates the sex ratio. Here, we...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Common neural code for reward and information value [Psychological and Cognitive Sciences]
Adaptive information seeking is critical for goal-directed behavior. Growing evidence suggests the importance of intrinsic motives such as curiosity or need for novelty, mediated through dopaminergic valuation systems, in driving information-seeking behavior. However, valuing information for its own sake can be highly suboptimal when agents need to evaluate instrumental benefit...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Correction for Amundson and Biardeau, Opinion: Soil carbon sequestration is an elusive climate mitigation tool [Correction]
OPINION Correction for “Opinion: Soil carbon sequestration is an elusive climate mitigation tool,” by Ronald Amundson and Léopold Biardeau, which was first published November 13, 2018; 10.1073/pnas.1815901115 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115, 11652–11656). The authors note that, on page 11652, left column, line 9, “10 Gt CO2” should instead...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
2-hydroxyglutarate inhibits MyoD-mediated differentiation by preventing H3K9 demethylation [Cell Biology]
Oncogenic IDH1/2 mutations produce 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), resulting in competitive inhibition of DNA and protein demethylation. IDH-mutant cancer cells show an inability to differentiate but whether 2HG accumulation is sufficient to perturb differentiation directed by lineage-specifying transcription factors is unknown. A MyoD-driven model was used to study the role of IDH...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Exploration of the chemical space and its three historical regimes [Chemistry]
Chemical research unveils the structure of chemical space, spanned by all chemical species, as documented in more than 200 y of scientific literature, now available in electronic databases. Very little is known, however, about the large-scale patterns of this exploration. Here we show, by analyzing millions of reactions stored in...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
{beta}-Actin mRNA interactome mapping by proximity biotinylation [Cell Biology]
The molecular function and fate of mRNAs are controlled by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Identification of the interacting proteome of a specific mRNA in vivo remains very challenging, however. Based on the widely used technique of RNA tagging with MS2 aptamers for RNA visualization, we developed a RNA proximity biotinylation (RNA-BioID)...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Mosaic origin of the eukaryotic kinetochore [Cell Biology]
The emergence of eukaryotes from ancient prokaryotic lineages embodied a remarkable increase in cellular complexity. While prokaryotes operate simple systems to connect DNA to the segregation machinery during cell division, eukaryotes use a highly complex protein assembly known as the kinetochore. Although conceptually similar, prokaryotic segregation systems and the eukaryotic...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Periodic catastrophes over human evolutionary history are necessary to explain the forager population paradox [Anthropology]
The rapid growth of contemporary human foragers and steady decline of chimpanzees represent puzzling population paradoxes, as any species must exhibit near-stationary growth over much of their evolutionary history. We evaluate the conditions favoring zero population growth (ZPG) among 10 small-scale subsistence human populations and five wild chimpanzee groups according...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Profile of Mahzarin R. Banaji [Profile]
Harvard University experimental social psychologist Mahzarin Banaji is on the frontlines of the “implicit revolution,” a paradigm shift in psychology that, since the 1980s, has been reconceiving the relationship between unconscious and conscious mental processes. Banaji and her colleague Anthony Greenwald applied the concept to social psychology via the intertwined...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
An ultralow-density porous ice with the largest internal cavity identified in the water phase diagram [Chemistry]
The recent back-to-back findings of low-density porous ice XVI and XVII have rekindled the century-old field of the solid-state physics and chemistry of water. Experimentally, both ice XVI and XVII crystals can be produced by extracting guest atoms or molecules enclosed in the cavities of preformed ice clathrate hydrates. Herein,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Education rather than age structure brings demographic dividend [Social Sciences]
The relationship between population changes and economic growth has been debated since Malthus. Initially focusing on population growth, the notion of demographic dividend has shifted the attention to changes in age structures with an assumed window of opportunity that opens when falling birth rates lead to a relatively higher proportion...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Correlated protein conformational states and membrane dynamics during attack by pore-forming toxins [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are a class of proteins implicated in a wide range of virulent bacterial infections and diseases. These toxins bind to target membranes and subsequently oligomerize to form functional pores that eventually lead to cell lysis. While the protein undergoes large conformational changes on the bilayer, the connection...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Possible mechanisms of polyphosphate-induced amyloid fibril formation of {beta}2-microglobulin [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Polyphosphate (polyP), which is found in various microorganisms and human cells, is an anionic biopolymer consisting of inorganic phosphates linked by high-energy phosphate bonds. Previous studies revealed that polyPs strongly promoted the amyloid formation of several amyloidogenic proteins; however, the mechanism of polyP-induced amyloid formation remains unclear. In the present...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Ironing out pulmonary arterial hypertension [Physiology]
Iron and oxygen are essential to aerobic organisms, and their biologic functions are intertwined. For example, iron as a component of hemoglobin is required for oxygen transport to tissues, which is critical for energy generation. However, excess iron in combination with oxygen can generate toxic free radicals that damage cellular...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
The tilted helix model of dynamin oligomers [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Dynamin proteins assemble into characteristic helical structures around necks of clathrin-coated membrane buds. Hydrolysis of dynamin-bound GTP results in both fission of the membrane neck and partial disruption of the dynamin oligomer. Imaging by atomic force microscopy reveals that, on GTP hydrolysis, dynamin oligomers undergo a dynamic remodeling and lose...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Quantitative imaging of anion exchange kinetics in halide perovskites [Chemistry]
Ion exchange, as a postsynthetic transformation strategy, offers more flexibilities in controlling material compositions and structures beyond direct synthetic methodology. Observation of such transformation kinetics on the single-particle level with rich spatial and spectroscopic information has never been achieved. We report the quantitative imaging of anion exchange kinetics in individual...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
The cell wall regulates dynamics and size of plasma-membrane nanodomains in Arabidopsis [Cell Biology]
Plant plasma-membrane (PM) proteins are involved in several vital processes, such as detection of pathogens, solute transport, and cellular signaling. For these proteins to function effectively there needs to be structure within the PM allowing, for example, proteins in the same signaling cascade to be spatially organized. Here we demonstrate...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Ruminococcus gnavus, a member of the human gut microbiome associated with Crohn’s disease, produces an inflammatory polysaccharide [Chemistry]
A substantial and increasing number of human diseases are associated with changes in the gut microbiota, and discovering the molecules and mechanisms underlying these associations represents a major research goal. Multiple studies associate Ruminococcus gnavus, a prevalent gut microbe, with Crohn’s disease, a major type of inflammatory bowel disease. We...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Synthesis of liquid fuel via direct hydrogenation of CO2 [Chemistry]
Synthesis of liquid fuels (C5+ hydrocarbons) via CO2 hydrogenation is very promising. Hydrogenation of CO2 to liquid hydrocarbons usually proceeds through tandem catalysis of reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction to produce CO, and subsequent CO hydrogenation to hydrocarbons via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS). CO2 is a thermodynamically stable and chemically...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
The origins of specialized pottery and diverse alcohol fermentation techniques in Early Neolithic China [Anthropology]
In China, pottery containers first appeared about 20000 cal. BP, and became diverse in form during the Early Neolithic (9000–7000 cal. BP), signaling the emergence of functionally specialized vessels. China is also well-known for its early development of alcohol production. However, few studies have focused on the connections between the...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Influence of single-nanoparticle electrochromic dynamics on the durability and speed of smart windows [Chemistry]
Nanomaterials have tremendous potential to increase electrochromic smart window efficiency, speed, and durability. However, nanoparticles vary in size, shape, and surface defects, and it is unknown how nanoparticle heterogeneity contributes to particle-dependent electrochromic properties. Here, we use single-nanoparticle-level electro-optical imaging to measure structure–function relationships in electrochromic tungsten oxide nanorods. Single...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Flame-formed carbon nanoparticles exhibit quantum dot behaviors [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
We examine the quantum confinement in the photoemission ionization energy in air and optical band gap of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs). Premixed, stretched-stabilized ethylene flames are used to generate the CNPs reproducibly over the range of 4–23 nm in volume median diameter. The results reveal that flame-formed CNPs behave like an...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Measuring the activation energy barrier for the nucleation of single nanosized vapor bubbles [Chemistry]
Heterogeneous bubble nucleation is one of the most fundamental interfacial processes that has received broad interest from diverse fields of physics and chemistry. While most studies focused on large microbubbles, here we employed a surface plasmon resonance microscopy to measure the nucleation rate constant and activation energy barrier of single...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Two-dimensional photonic crystals for engineering atom-light interactions [Physics]
We present a 2D photonic crystal system for interacting with cold cesium (Cs) atoms. The band structures of the 2D photonic crystals are predicted to produce unconventional atom–light interaction behaviors, including anisotropic emission, suppressed spontaneous decay, and photon-mediated atom–atom interactions controlled by the position of the atomic array relative to...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Sixty-six million years along the road of mammalian ecomorphological specialization [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
The fossil record of the large terrestrial mammals of the North American Cenozoic has previously been quantitatively summarized in six sequential episodes of faunal associations—“evolutionary faunas”—that correspond well with previously proposed qualitative “Chronofaunas.” Here, we investigate the ecological spectrum of these faunas by classifying their major taxonomic components into discrete...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Transport dynamics of complex fluids [Physics]
Thermal motion in complex fluids is a complicated stochastic process but ubiquitously exhibits initial ballistic, intermediate subdiffusive, and long-time diffusive motion, unless interrupted. Despite its relevance to numerous dynamical processes of interest in modern science, a unified, quantitative understanding of thermal motion in complex fluids remains a challenging problem. Here,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Climate-driven oscillation of phosphorus and iron limitation in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre [Environmental Sciences]
The supply of nutrients is a fundamental regulator of ocean productivity and carbon sequestration. Nutrient sources, sinks, residence times, and elemental ratios vary over broad scales, including those resulting from climate-driven changes in upper water column stratification, advection, and the deposition of atmospheric dust. These changes can alter the proximate...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Regenerative and durable small-diameter graft as an arterial conduit [Engineering]
Despite significant research efforts, clinical practice for arterial bypass surgery has been stagnant, and engineered grafts continue to face postimplantation challenges. Here, we describe the development and application of a durable small-diameter vascular graft with tailored regenerative capacity. We fabricated small-diameter vascular grafts by electrospinning fibrin tubes and poly(ε-caprolactone) fibrous...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Science and Culture: Artists and scientists come together to explore the meaning of natural sound [Engineering]
David Monacchi has spent the last 20 years hiking into some of the most remote habitats on Earth. He’s canoed through flooded Amazonian forests and tread deep into the jungles of Southeast Asia and Africa. But he isn’t on a quest for rare animals or for samples of their remains....
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Quantifying the sensing power of vehicle fleets [Environmental Sciences]
Sensors can measure air quality, traffic congestion, and other aspects of urban environments. The fine-grained diagnostic information they provide could help urban managers to monitor a city’s health. Recently, a “drive-by” paradigm has been proposed in which sensors are deployed on third-party vehicles, enabling wide coverage at low cost. Research...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
On the psychology and economics of antisocial personality [Economic Sciences]
How do fundamental concepts from economics, such as individuals’ preferences and beliefs, relate to equally fundamental concepts from psychology, such as relatively stable personality traits? Can personality traits help us better understand economic behavior across strategic contexts? We identify an antisocial personality profile and examine the role of strategic context...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Cofilin drives rapid turnover and fluidization of entangled F-actin [Applied Physical Sciences]
The shape of most animal cells is controlled by the actin cortex, a thin network of dynamic actin filaments (F-actin) situated just beneath the plasma membrane. The cortex is held far from equilibrium by both active stresses and polymer turnover: Molecular motors drive deformations required for cell morphogenesis, while actin-filament...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Massively parallel screening of synthetic microbial communities [Engineering]
Microbial communities have numerous potential applications in biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine. Nevertheless, the limited accuracy with which we can predict interspecies interactions and environmental dependencies hinders efforts to rationally engineer beneficial consortia. Empirical screening is a complementary approach wherein synthetic communities are combinatorially constructed and assayed in high throughput. However,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Catalhoyuk reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers [Anthropology]
The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Scotopic rod vision in tetrapods arose from multiple early adaptive shifts in the rate of retinal release [Evolution]
The ability of vertebrates to occupy diverse niches has been linked to the spectral properties of rhodopsin, conferring rod-based vision in low-light conditions. More recent insights have come from nonspectral kinetics, including the retinal release rate of the active state of rhodopsin, a key aspect of scotopic vision that shows...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
A natural killer cell receptor takes sharp aim at the world of bacteria [Immunology and Inflammation]
Killer cell Ig-like receptors (KIR) are expressed on natural killer (NK) cells, lymphocytes of innate immunity and reproduction. The principal KIR ligands are the polymorphic HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C glycoproteins of the human major histocompatibility complex. The KIR form 4 phylogenetic lineages. Lineage III KIR are most numerous and include...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
On the altitudes of von Humboldt [Ecology]
With climate changing, living organisms are on the move, shifting their geographical range, their latitudinal and altitudinal distribution. The rate of change can be tracked by monitoring individual species, communities, or entire ecosystems in the present, for instance, by annual field surveys or remote sensing by satellites. Alternatively, we may...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Inner Workings: How bacteria cause pain and what that reveals about the role of the nervous system [Immunology and Inflammation]
Flesh-eating bacteria employ a devious strategy. When the bacteria, known as Streptococcus pyogenes, slip under the skin via a small cut or bug bite, they eat away at the tissue underneath, causing a condition called necrotizing fasciitis. One of the early, defining symptoms is that a minor wound or abrasion...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Profile of Clark Spencer Larsen [Profile]
The Ohio State University biological anthropologist Clark Spencer Larsen has conducted pioneering research on biocultural adaptation that occurred during the last 10,000 years of human evolution. He was among the first to apply multidisciplinary approaches to the study of temporal trends in diet, health, mobility, and interpersonal conflict. Elected to...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
The kinetochore and the origin of eukaryotic chromosome segregation [Cell Biology]
All organisms must faithfully segregate their DNA during cell division to safeguard complete inheritance of the genome. In eukaryotes, mechanisms of cell and nuclear division are highly variable, and while these usually involve the use of a mitotic microtubule-based spindle and a kinetochore (KT) that physically links the chromatin and...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Association between medical cannabis laws and opioid overdose mortality has reversed over time [Medical Sciences]
A 2014 study by Bachhuber et al. (1) created a sensation by showing that state medical cannabis laws were associated with lower-than-expected opioid overdose mortality rates from 1999 to 2010. Cited by more than 350 scientific articles to date, the study attracted national and international media attention and was hailed...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Bioinspired inner microstructured tube controlled capillary rise [Applied Biological Sciences]
Effective, long-range, and self-propelled water elevation and transport are important in industrial, medical, and agricultural applications. Although research has grown rapidly, existing methods for water film elevation are still limited. Scaling up for practical applications in an energy-efficient way remains a challenge. Inspired by the continuous water cross-boundary transport on...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Reply to Velavan et al.: Polymorphisms of pfcoronin in natural populations: Implications for functional significance [Biological Sciences]
Velavan et al. (1) describe work that they have carried out based on our recent PNAS publication, “Mutations in Plasmodium falciparum actin-binding protein coronin confer reduced artemisinin susceptibility” (2). Among 297 patient samples from 4 countries in Africa, they found 12 polymorphic amino acid sites in PfCoronin, 7 observed only...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
1,4-Benzoquinone antimicrobial agents against Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis derived from scorpion venom [Microbiology]
Two 1,4-benzoquinone derivatives, found in the venom of the scorpion Diplocentrus melici following exposure to air, have been isolated, characterized, synthesized, and assessed for antimicrobial activities. Initially a white, viscous liquid, the extracted venom colors within minutes under ambient conditions. From this colored mixture, two compounds, one red, the other...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Riccardo Giacconi (1931-2018) [Retrospectives]
Riccardo Giacconi, the “Father of X-ray Astronomy,” Nobel laureate, and one of the most influential figures in astrophysics over the past 60 years, died on December 9, 2018, at the age of 87. With a career spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, Riccardo opened up new windows for observing the universe and...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Superconductor-metal transition in odd-frequency-paired superconductor in a magnetic field [Physics]
It is shown that the application of a sufficiently strong magnetic field to the odd-frequency–paired pair-density wave state described in A. M. Tsvelik [Phys. Rev. B 94, 165114 (2016)] leads to formation of a low-temperature metallic state with zero Hall response. Applications of these ideas to the recent experiments on...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
The isoprenoid alcohol pathway, a synthetic route for isoprenoid biosynthesis [Applied Biological Sciences]
The more than 50,000 isoprenoids found in nature are all derived from the 5-carbon diphosphates isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). Natively, IPP and DMAPP are generated by the mevalonate (MVA) and 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathways, which have been engineered to produce compounds with numerous applications. However, as these pathways...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Evidence for distinct biodevelopmental influences on male sexual orientation [Psychological and Cognitive Sciences]
Several biological mechanisms have been proposed to influence male sexual orientation, but the extent to which these mechanisms cooccur is unclear. Putative markers of biological processes are often used to evaluate the biological basis of male sexual orientation, including fraternal birth order, handedness, and familiality of same-sex sexual orientation; these...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Transport gap in SmB6 protected against disorder [Applied Physical Sciences]
The inverted resistance method was used in this study to extend the bulk resistivity of SmB6 to a regime where the surface conduction overwhelms the bulk. Remarkably, regardless of the large off-stoichiometric growth conditions (inducing disorder by samarium vacancies, boron interstitials, etc.), the bulk resistivity shows an intrinsic thermally activated...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Persistence of the permeability transition pore in human mitochondria devoid of an assembled ATP synthase [Biochemistry]
The opening of the permeability transition pore, a nonspecific channel in inner mitochondrial membranes, is triggered by an elevated total concentration of calcium ions in the mitochondrial matrix, leading to disruption of the inner membrane and necrotic cell death. Cyclosporin A inhibits pore opening by binding to cyclophilin D, which...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Consistency between individuals' past and current romantic partners' own reports of their personalities [Psychological and Cognitive Sciences]
Do people have a “type” when it comes to their romantic partners’ personalities? In the present research, we used data from a 9-y longitudinal study in Germany and examined the similarity between an individual’s ex- and current partners using the partners’ self-reported personality profiles. Based on the social accuracy model,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
On the power to detect rare recombination events [Biological Sciences]
We read with great interest the recent work in PNAS by Bergero et al. (1) describing differences in male and female recombination patterns on the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) sex chromosome. We fully agree that recombination in males is largely confined to the ends of the sex chromosome. Bergero et al....
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
An alternative dogma on reduced artemisinin susceptibility: A new shadow from east to west [Biological Sciences]
In PNAS, Demas et al. (1) show, by long-term in vitro selection using culture-adapted Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Senegal, that the gene encoding the actin-binding protein P. falciparum coronin (pfcoronin) and its genetic variants (G50E, R100K, and E107V) can reduce the susceptibility of the parasite to the active metabolite of...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Attendance trends threaten future operations of America’s state park systems [Sustainability Science]
This research examines how the operating expenditures of America’s state park systems will be affected by a continued growth in attendance consistent with observed trends as well as potential climate futures. We construct a longitudinal panel dataset (1984–2017) describing the operations and characteristics of all 50 state park systems. These...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Reply to Wright et al.: How to explain the absence of extensive Y-specific regions in the guppy sex chromosomes [Biological Sciences]
Wright et al. (1) are correct that our genomic data for the guppy sex chromosome are not dissimilar from theirs. However, our conclusion truly differs from their previous chief conclusion that “evolutionary strata” are evolving (2). Strata are sex chromosome regions that evolved suppressed recombination in separate events, each establishing...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
Functional assembly of nitrous oxide reductase provides insights into copper site maturation [Biochemistry]
The multicopper enzyme nitrous oxide reductase reduces the greenhouse gas N2O to uncritical N2 as the final step of bacterial denitrification. Its two metal centers require an elaborate assembly machinery that so far has precluded heterologous production as a prerequisite for bioremediatory applications in agriculture and wastewater treatment. Here, we...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
In This Issue [This Week in PNAS]
Impacts of farming in Neolithic Çatalhöyük community Neolithic burial from Çatalhöyük, Turkey; a headless young adult female with a fetal skeleton (arrow). Image courtesy of the Çatalhöyük Research Project/Jason Quinlan. Humans began transitioning from foraging to farming around 10,000–11,000 years ago. Health and lifestyle changes experienced by early farmers are...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h
High-resolution cryo-EM structures of outbreak strain human norovirus shells reveal size variations [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Noroviruses are a leading cause of foodborne illnesses worldwide. Although GII.4 strains have been responsible for most norovirus outbreaks, the assembled virus shell structures have been available in detail for only a single strain (GI.1). We present high-resolution (2.6- to 4.1-Å) cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of GII.4, GII.2, GI.7, and...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences current issue
10h

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