title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=1316 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Serological evidence of hepatitis A, B, and C virus infection in older adults in Khon Kaen, Thailand and the estimated rates of chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection in Thais, 2017 link: https://peerj.com/articles/7492 last-modified: 2019-08-19 description: Hepatitis A (HAV), hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV) viruses are hepatotropic viruses responsible for acute/chronic hepatitis associated with liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Due to the limited data on the prevalence of hepatitis in the older population in Thailand, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of these viruses in elderly Thais. Using an automated immunoassay, serum samples from individuals older than 60 years of age in Chum Phae district of Khon Kaen province in northeast Thailand were analyzed for anti-HAV (n = 93), HBV markers (n = 460, HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HBc), and anti-HCV (n = 460). Samples were classified into five age groups (61–65, 66–70, 71–75, 76–80, and >80 years). The overall seroprevalence of anti-HAV, HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV was 98.9%, 4.6%, 51.5%, 32.4%, and 1.3%, respectively. When samples were stratified into three groups representing three generations (children/young adults aged 6 months-30 years and middle-aged adults between 31–60 years old from a previous survey, and older adults aged >60 years from the current study), the highest levels of anti-HAV and anti-HBc were found in older adults. Children/young adults had the lowest levels of HBsAg and anti-HCV, and the highest level of anti-HBs. These findings are consistent with the integration of HBV vaccination into the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1992 and coincide with increased awareness of blood-borne viral transmission in Thailand. Extrapolating from our data, the estimated numbers of cases of chronic HBV and HCV infection in Thailand in 2017 were 2.2 and 0.79 million, respectively. Thus, effective treatments for viral hepatitis B and C for middle-aged and elderly Thais are needed. This seroprevalence survey could be used to help formulate policies and possible guidelines for treatment and prevention in specific age groups, which is recommended to facilitate the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030. creator: Nawarat Posuwan creator: Viboonsak Vuthitanachot creator: Teeraporn Chinchai creator: Rujipat Wasitthankasem creator: Nasamon Wanlapakorn creator: Yong Poovorawan uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7492 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2019 Posuwan et al. title: Improvement of subsoil physicochemical and microbial properties by short-term fallow practices link: https://peerj.com/articles/7501 last-modified: 2019-08-19 description: Fallow management can improve the soil nutrients in the topsoil and upper subsoil. However, little is known about the effects of short-term (one year) fallowing with different treatments, such as vegetation and fertilization, on subsoil (20–40 cm) properties. We conducted field trials to explore the changes in subsoil properties in response to such treatments in the Yellow River Delta region in China. Different vegetation and fertilization treatments were applied, and we measured the carbon and nitrogen contents, microbial biomass and microbial community structure in the subsoil. Fallowing without manure resulted in the storage of more total nitrogen (16.38%) than fallowing with manure, and meadow vegetation improved the ammonium nitrogen content (45.71%) relative to spontaneous vegetation. Spontaneous vegetation with manure improved the microbial biomass nitrogen (P < 0.05). Although the impact of short-term fallowing on microbial community structure was low, an effect of management was observed for some genera. Blastopirellula, Lysobacter, and Acidobacteria Gp6 showed significant differences among fallow treatments by the end of the year (P < 0.05). Blastopirellula abundance was related to the microbial biomass nitrogen and nitrogen mineralization rate in the subsoil. Manure retained a high abundance of Lysobacter, which may strengthen soil-borne disease resistance. The response of Acidobacteria Gp6 showed that meadow vegetation without manure may not benefit future crops. Although the treatments did not significantly improve microbial community structure in the one-year period, annual fallowing improved certain subsoil properties and increased the number of functional genera, which may enhance crop productivity in the future. creator: Guangyu Li creator: Walter Timo de Vries creator: Cifang Wu creator: Hongyu Zheng uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7501 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2019 Li et al. title: Monitoring and analysis of the expansion of the Ajmr Port, Davao City, Philippines using multi-source remote sensing data link: https://peerj.com/articles/7512 last-modified: 2019-08-19 description: Ports have been built or expanded in a number of countries to cater to increasing maritime trade in the 21st century. Port expansion is associated with economic and environmental impacts on the local and regional scales, and these impacts can be studied using remote sensing. The present study presents new results from multi-source remote sensing monitoring of the Ajmr Port expansion. An analysis of land use and vegetation coverage at the port is used to monitor the impact of port construction on the local ecology, while changes in roads, buildings, and lights are used to monitor the economic impact. The results show that: (1) After nine years of expansion, the port area has gradually expanded from the central to the southern coastal area, with an increase of 21.68 hectares during the expansion period. After the expansion, the area of builidings and construction in the study area increased significantly, while the area of water and green areas decreased significantly, indicating that the port construction changed the land use structure of the area. (2) From the perspective of vegetation coverage, the vegetation coverage within 5 km from the port is in good condition. After 9 years, the vegetation coverage in the region between 0.6 and 1 increased from 43.71% to 44.25%, reflecting the higher overall greening level in the region. (3) By analyzing the increase in roads and buildings, it can be seen that the port’s comprehensive transportation capacity has improved, the population of the region has increased significantly. As the scale of construction has been continuously expanded , the prosperity as increased. (4) By analyzing the changes in the light index, the light data from the northeast to the southwest in the region is very obvious, and it is clearly located along the coast, indicating that the economic development of the coastal zone is faster than other regions, and the coastal region has promoted the development of the inland region. creator: Humei Li creator: Mingquan Wu creator: Dinghui Tian creator: Lianxi Wu creator: Zheng Niu uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7512 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2019 Li et al. title: Trophic upgrading and mobilization of wax esters in microzooplankton link: https://peerj.com/articles/7549 last-modified: 2019-08-19 description: Heterotrophic protists play pivotal roles in aquatic ecosystems by transferring matter and energy, including lipids, from primary producers to higher trophic predators. Using Oxyrrhis marina as a model organism, changes to the non-saponifiable protist lipids were investigated under satiation and starvation conditions. During active feeding on the alga Cryptomonas sp., the O. marina hexane soluble non-saponifiable fraction lipid profile reflected its food source with the observed presence of long chain mono-unsaturated fatty alcohols up to C25:1. Evidence of trophic upgrading in O. marina was observed with long chain mono-unsaturated fatty alcohol accumulation of up to C35:1. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence that heterotrophic dinoflagellates are capable of producing ester derived alcohols and that dinoflagellates like O. marina are capable of synthesizing fatty alcohols up to C35. Additionally, we show evidence of trophic upgrading of lipids. During a 20-day resource deprivation, the lipid profile remained constant. During starvation, the mobilization of wax esters as energy stores was observed with long chain fatty alcohols mobilized first. Changes in lipid class profile and utilization of wax esters in O. marina provides insight into the types of lipids available for energy demand, the transfer of lipids through the base of marine food webs, and the catabolic response induced by resource deprivation. creator: Keyana Roohani creator: Brad A. Haubrich creator: Kai-Lou Yue creator: Nigel D’Souza creator: Amanda Montalbano creator: Tatiana Rynearson creator: Susanne Menden-Deuer creator: Christopher W. Reid uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7549 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2019 Roohani et al. title: Modest dose anti-thymocyte globulin administered intraoperatively is safe and effective in kidney transplantations: a retrospective study link: https://peerj.com/articles/7274 last-modified: 2019-08-16 description: BackgroundAnti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) as induction therapy in renal transplantation is facing the dilemma of reducing the incidence of acute rejection (AR) and delayed graft function (DGF) or increasing risks of infection and malignancy. The purpose of this study was to delineate the safety and efficiency of the optimal ATG dosage.MethodsWe retrospectively evaluated 91 deceased donor kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) in our institution between March 2011 and January 2019. The patients were classified into three groups based on induction therapy: (1) Group 1: modest-dose ATG (three mg/kg) intraoperatively (N = 21); (2) Group 2: low-dose ATG (1–1.5 mg/kg) intraoperatively (N = 23); (3) Group 3: basiliximab 20 mg both on day 0 and 4 (N = 47). In Groups 1 and 2, all patients received a daily low-dose program (1–1.5 mg/kg each day) with target dosage of six mg/kg. Induction therapy was combined with standard immunosuppressive regimen consisting of calcineurin inhibitors, mycophenolate/the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors and corticosteroids.ResultsThere was no significant difference in patient characteristics among groups. The outcomes of infection rate, biopsy-proven acute rejection, post-transplant diabetes mellitus, graft survival, and patient survival were similar among groups. Compared to the daily low-dose ATG regimen, the intraoperative modest-dose regimen did not cause more dose interruption and hence was more likely to reach the target ATG dosage. The intraoperative modest-dose regimen also seemed to reduce the rate of DGF.DiscussionIn recent years, a trend of using a “lower” dose of ATG has seemed to emerge. Our results suggest intraoperative modest-dose ATG followed by daily low-dose ATG regimen was safe and effective in cadaveric renal transplantations for preventing DGF, AR, and graft loss. creator: Hui-Ying Liu creator: Yuan-Tso Cheng creator: Hao Lun Luo creator: Chiang-Chi Huang creator: Chien Hsu Chen creator: Yuan-Chi Shen creator: Wen-Chin Lee uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7274 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2019 Liu et al. title: Differential expression of AtWAKL10 in response to nitric oxide suggests a putative role in biotic and abiotic stress responses link: https://peerj.com/articles/7383 last-modified: 2019-08-16 description: Plant defense against pathogens and abiotic stresses is regulated differentially by communicating signal transduction pathways in which nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role. Here, we show the biological role of Arabidopsis thaliana wall-associated kinase (AtWAK) Like10 (AtWAKL10) that exhibits greater than a 100-fold change in transcript accumulation in response to the NO donor S-nitroso-L-cysteine (CysNO), identified from high throughput RNA-seq based transcriptome analysis. Loss of AtWAKL10 function showed a similar phenotype to wild type (WT) with, however, less branching. The growth of atwakl10 on media supplemented with oxidative or nitrosative stress resulted in differential results with improved growth following treatment with CysNO but reduced growth in response to S-nitrosoglutatione (GSNO) and methyl-viologen. Further, atwakl10 plants exhibited increased susceptibility to virulent Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato (Pst) DC3000 with a significant increase in pathogen growth and decrease in PR1 transcript accumulation compared to WT overtime. Similar results were found in response to Pst DC3000 avrB, resulting in increased cell death as shown by increased electrolyte leakage in atwakl10. Furthermore, atwakl10 also showed increased reactive oxygen species accumulation following Pst DC3000 avrB inoculation. Promoter analysis of AtWAKL10 showed transcription factor (TF) binding sites for biotic and abiotic stress-related TFs. Further investigation into the role of AtWAKL10 in abiotic stresses showed that following two weeks water-withholding drought condition most of the atwakl10 plants got wilted; however, the majority (60%) of these plants recovered following re-watering. In contrast, in response to salinity stress, atwakl10 showed reduced germination under 150 mM salt stress compared to WT, suggesting that NO-induced AtWAKL10 differentially regulates different abiotic stresses. Taken together, this study further elucidates the importance of NO-induced changes in gene expression and their role in plant biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. creator: Phearom Bot creator: Bong-Gyu Mun creator: Qari Muhammad Imran creator: Adil Hussain creator: Sang-Uk Lee creator: Gary Loake creator: Byung-Wook Yun uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7383 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2019 Bot et al. title: Towards a barnacle tree of life: integrating diverse phylogenetic efforts into a comprehensive hypothesis of thecostracan evolution link: https://peerj.com/articles/7387 last-modified: 2019-08-16 description: Barnacles and their allies (Thecostraca) are a biologically diverse, monophyletic crustacean group, which includes both intensely studied taxa, such as the acorn and stalked barnacles, as well as cryptic taxa, for example, Facetotecta. Recent efforts have clarified phylogenetic relationships in many different parts of the barnacle tree, but the outcomes of these phylogenetic studies have not yet been combined into a single hypothesis for all barnacles. In the present study, we applied a new “synthesis” tree approach to estimate the first working Barnacle Tree of Life. Using this approach, we integrated phylogenetic hypotheses from 27 studies, which did not necessarily include the same taxa or used the same characters, with hierarchical taxonomic information for all recognized species. This first synthesis tree contains 2,070 barnacle species and subspecies, including 239 barnacle species with phylogenetic information and 198 undescribed or unidentified species. The tree had 442 bifurcating nodes, indicating that 79.3% of all nodes are still unresolved. We found that the acorn and stalked barnacles, the Thoracica, and the parasitic Rhizocephala have the largest amount of published phylogenetic information. About half of the thecostracan families for which phylogenetic information was available were polyphyletic. We queried publicly available geographic occurrence databases for the group, gaining a sense of geographic gaps and hotspots in our phylogenetic knowledge. Phylogenetic information is especially lacking for deep sea and Arctic taxa, but even coastal species are not fully incorporated into phylogenetic studies. creator: Christine Ewers-Saucedo creator: Christopher L. Owen creator: Marcos Pérez-Losada creator: Jens T. Høeg creator: Henrik Glenner creator: Benny K.K. Chan creator: Keith A. Crandall uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7387 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2019 Ewers-Saucedo et al. title: Paranoia and conspiracy: group cohesion increases harmful intent attribution in the Trust Game link: https://peerj.com/articles/7403 last-modified: 2019-08-16 description: Current theories argue that hyper-sensitisation of social threat perception is central to paranoia. Affected people often also report misperceptions of group cohesion (conspiracy) but little is known about the cognitive mechanisms underpinning this conspiracy thinking in live interactions. In a pre-registered experimental study, we used a large-scale game theory approach (N > 1,000) to test whether the social cohesion of an opposing group affects paranoid attributions in a mixed online and lab-based sample. Participants spanning the full population distribution of paranoia played as proposers in a modified Trust Game: they were allocated a bonus and chose how much money to send to a pair of responders which was quadrupled before reaching these responders. Responders decided how much to return to the proposers through the same process. Participants played in one of two conditions: against a cohesive group who communicated and arrived at a joint decision, or a non-cohesive group who made independent decisions. After the exchange, proposers rated the extent to which the responders’ decisions were driven by (i) self-interest and (ii) intent to harm. Although the true motives are ambiguous, cohesive responders were reliably rated by participants as being more strongly motivated by intent to harm, indicating that group cohesion affects social threat perception. Highly paranoid participants attributed harmful intent more strongly overall but were equally reactive to social cohesion as other participants. This suggests that paranoia involves a generally lowered threshold for social threat detection but with an intact sensitivity for cohesion-related group characteristics. creator: Anna Greenburgh creator: Vaughan Bell creator: Nichola Raihani uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7403 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2019 Greenburgh et al. title: Random allogeneic blood transfusion in pigs: characterisation of a novel experimental model link: https://peerj.com/articles/7439 last-modified: 2019-08-16 description: BackgroundOrgan cross-talk describes interactions between a primary affected organ and a secondarily injured remote organ, particularly in lung-brain interactions. A common theory is the systemic distribution of inflammatory mediators that are released by the affected organ and transferred through the bloodstream. The present study characterises the baseline immunogenic effects of a novel experimental model of random allogeneic blood transfusion in pigs designed to analyse the role of the bloodstream in organ cross-talk.MethodsAfter approval of the State and Institutional Animal Care Committee, 20 anesthetized pig were randomized in a donor and an acceptor (each n = 8): the acceptor animals each received high-volume whole blood transfusion from the donor (35–40 ml kg−1). Four animals received balanced electrolyte solution instead of blood transfusion (control group; n = 4). Afterwards the animals underwent extended cardiorespiratory monitoring for eight hours. Post mortem assessment included pulmonary, cerebral and systemic mediators of early inflammatory response (IL-6, TNF-alpha, iNOS), wet to dry ratio, and lung histology.ResultsNo adverse events or incompatibilities occurred during the blood transfusion procedures. Systemic cytokine levels and pulmonary function were unaffected. Lung histopathology scoring did not display relevant intergroup differences. Neither within the lung nor within the brain an up-regulation of inflammatory mediators was detected. High volume random allogeneic blood transfusion in pigs neither impaired pulmonary integrity nor induced systemic, lung, or brain inflammatory response.ConclusionThis approach can represent a novel experimental model to characterize the blood-bound transmission in remote organ injury. creator: Alexander Ziebart creator: Moritz M. Schaefer creator: Rainer Thomas creator: Jens Kamuf creator: Andreas Garcia-Bardon creator: Christian Möllmann creator: Robert Ruemmler creator: Florian Heid creator: Arno Schad creator: Erik K. Hartmann uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7439 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2019 Ziebart et al. title: Group B Streptococcus colonization induces Prevotella and Megasphaera abundance-featured vaginal microbiome compositional change in non-pregnant women link: https://peerj.com/articles/7474 last-modified: 2019-08-16 description: BackgroundPrevious studies have indicated that variations in the vaginal microbiome result in symptomatic conditions. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a significant neonatal pathogen and maternal vaginal colonization has been recognized as an important risk factor for neonatal disease. Therefore, it is important to discover the relationship between the composition of the vaginal microbiome and GBS colonization. This study explores the potential relationship between the composition of the vaginal microbiome and GBS colonization in non-pregnant Chinese women.MethodsA total of 22 GBS-positive, non-pregnant women and 44 matched GBS-negative women were recruited for the current study. The composition of the vaginal microbiome was profiled by sequencing the 16S rRNA genes. The microbiome diversity and variation were then evaluated.ResultsThe vaginal microbiome of the 66 subjects enrolled in the current study were compared and the results showed that GBS-positive women exhibited significant vaginal microbial differences compared with the GBS-negative women based on the analysis of similarities (r = 0.306, p < 0.01). The relative abundance of the bacterial genus Lactobacillus (p < 0.01) was significantly lower in the GBS-positive group, while the abundances of the bacterial genera Prevotella (p < 0.01), Megasphaera (p < 0.01), and Streptococcus (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in the GBS-positive group.DiscussionThe current study addressed significant variations across the communities of the vaginal microbiome in GBS-positive and GBS-negative women in a Chinese cohort, which paves the way for a larger cohort-based clinical validation study and the development of therapeutic probiotics in the future. creator: Xiaofeng Mu creator: Changying Zhao creator: Junjie Yang creator: Xiaofang Wei creator: Jiaming Zhang creator: Cheng Liang creator: Zhongtao Gai creator: Chunling Zhang creator: Dequan Zhu creator: Ye Wang creator: Lei Zhang uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7474 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2019 Mu et al.