@article{MachataSreekantapuramHuennigeretal.2021, author = {Machata, Silke and Sreekantapuram, Sravya and H{\"u}nniger, Kerstin and Kurzai, Oliver and Dunker, Christine and Schubert, Katja and Kr{\"u}ger, Wibke and Schulze-Richter, Bianca and Speth, Cornelia and Rambach, G{\"u}nter and Jacobsen, Ilse D.}, title = {Significant Differences in Host-Pathogen Interactions Between Murine and Human Whole Blood}, series = {Frontiers in Immunology}, volume = {11}, journal = {Frontiers in Immunology}, issn = {1664-3224}, doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2020.565869}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-222575}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Murine infection models are widely used to study systemic candidiasis caused by C. albicans. Whole-blood models can help to elucidate host-pathogens interactions and have been used for several Candida species in human blood. We adapted the human whole-blood model to murine blood. Unlike human blood, murine blood was unable to reduce fungal burden and more substantial filamentation of C. albicans was observed. This coincided with less fungal association with leukocytes, especially neutrophils. The lower neutrophil number in murine blood only partially explains insufficient infection and filamentation control, as spiking with murine neutrophils had only limited effects on fungal killing. Furthermore, increased fungal survival is not mediated by enhanced filamentation, as a filament-deficient mutant was likewise not eliminated. We also observed host-dependent differences for interaction of platelets with C. albicans, showing enhanced platelet aggregation, adhesion and activation in murine blood. For human blood, opsonization was shown to decrease platelet interaction suggesting that complement factors interfere with fungus-to-platelet binding. Our results reveal substantial differences between murine and human whole-blood models infected with C. albicans and thereby demonstrate limitations in the translatability of this ex vivo model between hosts.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Riensch2021, author = {Riensch, Nicolas Alexander}, title = {Silicon/Boron Exchange Routes to Novel Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Molecules, Oligomers, Polymers and Macrocycles}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-23865}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238657}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Industrially used semiconducting materials, building blocks of modern electronics and computer industry, are mostly based on inorganic, crystalline solids, which have the drawback of relatively high production costs. As an alternative, organic pi-conjugated systems show enhanced flexibility and processability as well as the opportunity to obtain light-weight materials. They have emerged as attractive candidates, especially since elements beyond hydrogen and carbon can be used to create pi-conjugated frameworks. In recent years, pi-conjugated oligomers and polymers with tricoordinate boron centers incorporated into the main chain of such organic polymers have attracted considerable attention as the interaction of the vacant p orbital on boron with an adjacent pi system of the chain leads to extended conjugated materials. These materials show intriguing optical and electronic properties and potential applications in organic electronics and optoelectronics (OLEDs, OFETs, photovoltaics) or as sensory materials. In this thesis, a catalytic Si/B exchange reaction protocol is used as a facile and highly effective B-C bond formation method to synthesize organoboron molecules, oligomers, polymers and macrocycles. This reaction is applied to synthesize a series of thienyl- and furylborane based materials. Special focus is on furylborane based materials, which, in general, have been only scarcely explored so far. This is mainly due to synthetic challenges since furan decomposes readily in the presence of light and oxygen. Our mild and highly selective reaction protocol in combination with sufficient kinetic protection of the boron centers gives access to a series of extended organoboranes featuring furylborane units in the main chain. Furthermore, kinetically stabilized furylboranes are established as highly robust and versatile building blocks for pi conjugated materials. The obtained materials reveal remarkable luminescence properties. The scope of potential starting materials was investigated by a catalyst screening, demonstrating that the Si/B exchange reaction can also be performed for less reactive aryldichloroboranes. Furthermore, borazine-based hybrid cyclomatrix microspheres have been synthesized via a Si/B exchange condensation reaction under precipitation polymerization conditions. Finally, synthetic routes to tetrabora- and diboraporphyrinogens were attempted in a multi-step reaction procedure. In the case for tetraboraporphyrinogens, the final macrocyclization reaction under pseudo high-dilution conditions afforded a mixture of macrocycles with different ring sizes. UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopic analysis indicated significant differences in comparison to their linear congeners.}, subject = {Bororganische Verbindungen}, language = {en} } @article{RokhafrouzLatifiAbkaretal.2021, author = {Rokhafrouz, Mohammad and Latifi, Hooman and Abkar, Ali A. and Wojciechowski, Tomasz and Czechlowski, Mirosław and Naieni, Ali Sadeghi and Maghsoudi, Yasser and Niedbała, Gniewko}, title = {Simplified and hybrid remote sensing-based delineation of management zones for nitrogen variable rate application in wheat}, series = {Agriculture}, volume = {11}, journal = {Agriculture}, number = {11}, issn = {2077-0472}, doi = {10.3390/agriculture11111104}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-250033}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Enhancing digital and precision agriculture is currently inevitable to overcome the economic and environmental challenges of the agriculture in the 21st century. The purpose of this study was to generate and compare management zones (MZ) based on the Sentinel-2 satellite data for variable rate application of mineral nitrogen in wheat production, calculated using different remote sensing (RS)-based models under varied soil, yield and crop data availability. Three models were applied, including (1) a modified "RS- and threshold-based clustering", (2) a "hybrid-based, unsupervised clustering", in which data from different sources were combined for MZ delineation, and (3) a "RS-based, unsupervised clustering". Various data processing methods including machine learning were used in the model development. Statistical tests such as the Paired Sample T-test, Kruskal-Wallis H-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were applied to evaluate the final delineated MZ maps. Additionally, a procedure for improving models based on information about phenological phases and the occurrence of agricultural drought was implemented. The results showed that information on agronomy and climate enables improving and optimizing MZ delineation. The integration of prior knowledge on new climate conditions (drought) in image selection was tested for effective use of the models. Lack of this information led to the infeasibility of obtaining optimal results. Models that solely rely on remote sensing information are comparatively less expensive than hybrid models. Additionally, remote sensing-based models enable delineating MZ for fertilizer recommendations that are temporally closer to fertilization times.}, language = {en} } @article{Graetz2021, author = {Graetz, Jonas}, title = {Simulation study towards quantitative X-ray and neutron tensor tomography regarding the validity of linear approximations of dark-field anisotropy}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {11}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-021-97389-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261844}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Tensor tomography is fundamentally based on the assumption of a both anisotropic and linear contrast mechanism. While the X-ray or neutron dark-field contrast obtained with Talbot(-Lau) interferometers features the required anisotropy, a preceding detailed study of dark-field signal origination however found its specific orientation dependence to be a non-linear function of the underlying anisotropic mass distribution and its orientation, especially challenging the common assumption that dark-field signals are describable by a function over the unit sphere. Here, two approximative linear tensor models with reduced orientation dependence are investigated in a simulation study with regard to their applicability to grating based X-ray or neutron dark-field tensor tomography. By systematically simulating and reconstructing a large sample of isolated volume elements covering the full range of feasible anisotropies and orientations, direct correspondences are drawn between the respective tensors characterizing the physically based dark-field model used for signal synthesization and the mathematically motivated simplified models used for reconstruction. The anisotropy of freely rotating volume elements is thereby confirmed to be, for practical reconstruction purposes, approximable both as a function of the optical axis' orientation or as a function of the interferometer's grating orientation. The eigenvalues of the surrogate models' tensors are found to exhibit fuzzy, yet almost linear relations to those of the synthesization model. Dominant orientations are found to be recoverable with a margin of error on the order of magnitude of 1 degrees. Although the input data must adequately address the full orientation dependence of dark-field anisotropy, the present results clearly support the general feasibility of quantitative X-ray dark-field tensor tomography within an inherent yet acceptable statistical margin of uncertainty.}, language = {en} } @article{WinterAndelovicKampfetal.2021, author = {Winter, Patrick M. and Andelovic, Kristina and Kampf, Thomas and Hansmann, Jan and Jakob, Peter Michael and Bauer, Wolfgang Rudolf and Zernecke, Alma and Herold, Volker}, title = {Simultaneous measurements of 3D wall shear stress and pulse wave velocity in the murine aortic arch}, series = {Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance}, volume = {23}, journal = {Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1186/s12968-021-00725-4}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259152}, pages = {34}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Purpose Wall shear stress (WSS) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) are important parameters to characterize blood flow in the vessel wall. Their quantification with flow-sensitive phase-contrast (PC) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), however, is time-consuming. Furthermore, the measurement of WSS requires high spatial resolution, whereas high temporal resolution is necessary for PWV measurements. For these reasons, PWV and WSS are challenging to measure in one CMR session, making it difficult to directly compare these parameters. By using a retrospective approach with a flexible reconstruction framework, we here aimed to simultaneously assess both PWV and WSS in the murine aortic arch from the same 4D flow measurement. Methods Flow was measured in the aortic arch of 18-week-old wildtype (n = 5) and ApoE\(^{-/-}\) mice (n = 5) with a self-navigated radial 4D-PC-CMR sequence. Retrospective data analysis was used to reconstruct the same dataset either at low spatial and high temporal resolution (PWV analysis) or high spatial and low temporal resolution (WSS analysis). To assess WSS, the aortic lumen was labeled by semi-automatically segmenting the reconstruction with high spatial resolution. WSS was determined from the spatial velocity gradients at the lumen surface. For calculation of the PWV, segmentation data was interpolated along the temporal dimension. Subsequently, PWV was quantified from the through-plane flow data using the multiple-points transit-time method. Reconstructions with varying frame rates and spatial resolutions were performed to investigate the influence of spatiotemporal resolution on the PWV and WSS quantification. Results 4D flow measurements were conducted in an acquisition time of only 35 min. Increased peak flow and peak WSS values and lower errors in PWV estimation were observed in the reconstructions with high temporal resolution. Aortic PWV was significantly increased in ApoE\(^{-/-}\) mice compared to the control group (1.7 ± 0.2 versus 2.6 ± 0.2 m/s, p < 0.001). Mean WSS magnitude values averaged over the aortic arch were (1.17 ± 0.07) N/m\(^2\) in wildtype mice and (1.27 ± 0.10) N/m\(^2\) in ApoE\(^{-/-}\) mice. Conclusion The post processing algorithm using the flexible reconstruction framework developed in this study permitted quantification of global PWV and 3D-WSS in a single acquisition. The possibility to assess both parameters in only 35 min will markedly improve the analyses and information content of in vivo measurements.}, language = {en} } @article{TufarelliFriedrichGrossetal.2021, author = {Tufarelli, Tommaso and Friedrich, Daniel and Groß, Heiko and Hamm, Joachim and Hess, Ortwin and Hecht, Bert}, title = {Single quantum emitter Dicke enhancement}, series = {Physical Review Research}, volume = {3}, journal = {Physical Review Research}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.033103}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261459}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Coupling N identical emitters to the same field mode is a well-established method to enhance light-matter interaction. However, the resulting √N boost of the coupling strength comes at the cost of a "linearized" (effectively semiclassical) dynamics. Here, we instead demonstrate a new approach for enhancing the coupling constant of a single quantum emitter, while retaining the nonlinear character of the light-matter interaction. We consider a single quantum emitter with N nearly degenerate transitions that are collectively coupled to the same field mode. We show that in such conditions an effective Jaynes-Cummings model emerges with a boosted coupling constant of order √N. The validity and consequences of our general conclusions are analytically demonstrated for the instructive case N=2. We further observe that our system can closely match the spectral line shapes and photon autocorrelation functions typical of Jaynes-Cummings physics, proving that quantum optical nonlinearities are retained. Our findings match up very well with recent broadband plasmonic nanoresonator strong-coupling experiments and will, therefore, facilitate the control and detection of single-photon nonlinearities at ambient conditions.}, language = {en} } @article{KruegerMausKressetal.2021, author = {Kr{\"u}ger, Timothy and Maus, Katharina and Kreß, Verena and Meyer-Natus, Elisabeth and Engstler, Markus}, title = {Single-cell motile behaviour of Trypanosoma brucei in thin-layered fluid collectives}, series = {The European Physical Journal E}, volume = {44}, journal = {The European Physical Journal E}, number = {3}, issn = {1292-895X}, doi = {10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00052-7}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-273022}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We describe a system for the analysis of an important unicellular eukaryotic flagellate in a confining and crowded environment. The parasite Trypanosoma brucei is arguably one of the most versatile microswimmers known. It has unique properties as a single microswimmer and shows remarkable adaptations (not only in motility, but prominently so), to its environment during a complex developmental cycle involving two different hosts. Specific life cycle stages show fascinating collective behaviour, as millions of cells can be forced to move together in extreme confinement. Our goal is to examine such motile behaviour directly in the context of the relevant environments. Therefore, for the first time, we analyse the motility behaviour of trypanosomes directly in a widely used assay, which aims to evaluate the parasites behaviour in collectives, in response to as yet unknown parameters. In a step towards understanding whether, or what type of, swarming behaviour of trypanosomes exists, we customised the assay for quantitative tracking analysis of motile behaviour on the single-cell level. We show that the migration speed of cell groups does not directly depend on single-cell velocity and that the system remains to be simplified further, before hypotheses about collective motility can be advanced.}, language = {en} } @article{KlemmtKoenig2021, author = {Klemmt, Chantal and K{\"o}nig, Sarah}, title = {Situational Judgement Test als Unterrichtsmethode f{\"u}r die kritische Diskussion zu wissenschaftlicher Praxis und Fehlverhalten}, series = {Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift}, volume = {171}, journal = {Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift}, issn = {0043-5341}, doi = {10.1007/s10354-020-00780-z}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235304}, pages = {174-181}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Wissenschaftskompetenz ist eine Schl{\"u}sselqualifikation f{\"u}r jede {\"a}rztliche T{\"a}tigkeit und sollte ebenso wie die Auseinandersetzung mit Entscheidungsprozessen von Beginn an ins Medizinstudium integriert werden. Ziel der Studie war, die Themen der guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis und des wissenschaftlichen Fehlverhaltens zu vermitteln. Ferner wurde durch die methodische Intervention „Gruppendiskussion" eine Reflexion im Kontext der wissenschaftlichen Angemessenheit herbeigef{\"u}hrt. Hierf{\"u}r wurde der Situational Judgement Test (SJT) von den Studierenden (N = 743) (individuell und in der Gruppe) bearbeitet, und dessen Resultate wurden mit den Antworten von Expert/innen/en (N = 23) verglichen. Nach der Gruppendiskussion n{\"a}herten sich die Ergebnisse in der Verteilung und Reihenfolge den Antwortm{\"o}glichkeiten der Expert/innen/en an. Jedoch tendierten die Studierenden signifikant h{\"a}ufiger zu jenen Antworten, die hilfesuchende, passive und verantwortungs{\"u}bertragende Optionen bedeuteten. Insgesamt hat sich der SJT als didaktische Intervention bew{\"a}hrt. Die Studierenden setzten sich aktiv mit den Themen auseinander, eine Diskussion konnte angeregt und das eigene Verhalten kritisch reflektiert werden.}, language = {de} } @article{HojsgaardSchartl2021, author = {Hojsgaard, Diego and Schartl, Manfred}, title = {Skipping sex: A nonrecombinant genomic assemblage of complementary reproductive modules}, series = {BioEssays}, volume = {43}, journal = {BioEssays}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1002/bies.202000111}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225818}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The unusual occurrence and developmental diversity of asexual eukaryotes remain a puzzle. De novo formation of a functioning asexual genome requires a unique assembly of sets of genes or gene states to disrupt cellular mechanisms of meiosis and gametogenesis, and to affect discrete components of sexuality and produce clonal or hemiclonal offspring. We highlight two usually overlooked but essential conditions to understand the molecular nature of clonal organisms, that is, a nonrecombinant genomic assemblage retaining modifiers of the sexual program, and a complementation between altered reproductive components. These subtle conditions are the basis for physiologically viable and genetically balanced transitions between generations. Genomic and developmental evidence from asexual animals and plants indicates the lack of complementation of molecular changes in the sexual reproductive program is likely the main cause of asexuals' rarity, and can provide an explanatory frame for the developmental diversity and lability of developmental patterns in some asexuals as well as for the discordant time to extinction estimations.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lang2021, author = {Lang, Konstantin}, title = {SLC6A2-regulierende microRNAs bei Angsterkrankungen: Genexpressions- und Assoziationsuntersuchungen}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-23093}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-230939}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Angsterkrankungen sind h{\"a}ufige Krankheitsbilder mit bislang nicht vollst{\"a}ndig gekl{\"a}rter multifaktorieller {\"A}tiologie. Neben Umwelt- und psychosozialen Faktoren zeigen Studien eine signifikante famili{\"a}re H{\"a}ufung und lassen eine genetische Komponente mit einer Heritabilit{\"a}t in einem Bereich von 30-60 \% vermuten. Da hierbei am ehesten von einem komplexen Zusammenspiel verschiedenster Gene mit unterschiedlicher Relevanz auszugehen ist, stellen miRNAs eine bedeutende Gr{\"o}ße dar, da sie es verm{\"o}gen auf transkriptioneller Ebene Einfluss auf die Regulierung einer Vielzahl von Genen zu nehmen. Verschiedene Aspekte liefern Hinweise darauf, dass eine Neurotransmitterdysregulation eine wichtige Komponente in der Pathogenese von Angsterkrankungen einnimmt - insbesondere ver{\"a}nderte noradrenerge Signalwege sind hierbei entscheidend beteiligt. Dies macht den Noradrenalin-Transporter bzw. SLC6A2 zu einem interessanten Kandidatengen, und stellt die Bezugsgr{\"o}ße der angestellten Untersuchungen in dieser Arbeit dar. miRNAs, welche die SLC6A2-Expression modulieren, k{\"o}nnen somit Einfluss auf zentrale Verarbeitungswege von Angst nehmen. Im ersten Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden potentielle miRNA-Regulatoren von SLC6A2 in silico ermittelt und in einem weiteren Schritt in vitro {\"u}berpr{\"u}ft. Zehn der miRNAs (hsa-miR-378g, hsa-miR-330-5p, hsa-miR-4781-5p, hsa-miR664b-3p, hsa-miR-4715-3p, hsa-miR-579-3p, hsa-miR-3921, hsa-miR-3622b-5p, hsa-miR-4773, hsa-miR-532-3p) zeigten hierbei eine relevante Abnahme der Luciferase-Aktivit{\"a}t als Hinweis auf ihre funktionelle Relevanz und stellen damit die Basis der nachfolgenden Untersuchungen dar. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurden Einzelbasenpolymorphismen im Bereich der zuvor ermittelten miRNA-Gene sowie eines SNP innerhalb der 3'-UTR von SLC6A2 mittels Fall-Kontroll-Studie in einer Population von Patienten mit Panikst{\"o}rung und entsprechenden Kontrollen untersucht. Eine nominelle Assoziation ließ sich f{\"u}r das (minor) T-Allel von rs2910931 (stromaufw{\"a}rts von MIR579) (p-allel = 0,004) sowie das (major) A-Allel von rs2582372 (p-allel = 0,023) feststellen. In Einklang hiermit ließ sich weiterhin f{\"u}r rs2910931 eine signifikante Assoziation zwischen der Anzahl der (minor) T-Allele und dem ASI-Wert (β = 0,371, p = 0,029, 95 \%-CI 0,039-0,702) sowie dem ACQ-Wert (β = 0,012, p = 0,041, 95 \%-CI 0,000-0,023) ermitteln. Somit zeigt sich eine Einflussnahme der genetischen Variante um MIR579 auf die Feinmodulation der Noradrenalin-Hom{\"o}ostase als m{\"o}glichem {\"a}tiopathogenetischen Faktor von Angsterkrankungen.}, subject = {Angsterkrankungen}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Venturini2021, author = {Venturini, Elisa}, title = {Small proteins in \(Salmonella\): an updated annotation and a global analysis to find new regulators of virulence}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-24702}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-247029}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Small proteins, often defined as shorter than 50 amino acids, have been implicated in fundamental cellular processes. Despite this, they have been largely understudied throughout all domains of life, since their size often makes their identification and characterization challenging. This work addressed the knowledge gap surrounding small proteins with a focus on the model bacterial pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium. In a first step, new small proteins were identified with a combination of computational and experimental approaches. Infection-relevant datasets were then investigated with the updated Salmonella annotation to prioritize promising candidates involved in virulence. To implement the annotation of new small proteins, predictions from the algorithm sPepFinder were merged with those derived from Ribo-seq. These were added to the Salmonella annotation and used to (re)analyse different datasets. Information regarding expression during infection (dual RNA-seq) and requirement for virulence (TraDIS) was collected for each given coding sequence. In parallel, Grad-seq data were mined to identify small proteins engaged in intermolecular interactions. The combination of dual RNA-seq and TraDIS lead to the identification of small proteins with features of virulence factors, namely high intracellular induction and a virulence phenotype upon transposon insertion. As a proof of principle of the power of this approach in highlighting high confidence candidates, two small proteins were characterized in the context of Salmonella infection. MgrB, a known regulator of the PhoPQ two-component system, was shown to be essential for the infection of epithelial cells and macrophages, possibly via its stabilizing effect on flagella or by interacting with other sensor kinases of twocomponent systems. YjiS, so far uncharacterized in Salmonella, had an opposite role in infection, with its deletion rendering Salmonella hypervirulent. The mechanism underlying this, though still obscure, likely relies on the interaction with inner-membrane proteins. Overall, this work provides a global description of Salmonella small proteins in the context of infection with a combinatorial approach that expedites the identification of interesting candidates. Different high-throughput datasets available for a broad range of organisms can be analysed in a similar manner with a focus on small proteins. This will lead to the identification of key factors in the regulation of various processes, thus for example providing targets for the treatment of bacterial infections or, in the case of commensal bacteria, for the modulation of the microbiota composition.}, subject = {Salmonella Typhimurium}, language = {en} } @article{PernitzschAlzheimerBremeretal.2021, author = {Pernitzsch, Sandy R. and Alzheimer, Mona and Bremer, Belinda U. and Robbe-Saule, Marie and De Reuse, Hilde and Sharma, Cynthia M.}, title = {Small RNA mediated gradual control of lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis affects antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {12}, journal = {Nature Communications}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-021-24689-2}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261536}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The small, regulatory RNA RepG (Regulator of polymeric G-repeats) regulates the expression of the chemotaxis receptor TlpB in Helicobacter pylori by targeting a variable G-repeat in the tlpB mRNA leader. Here, we show that RepG additionally controls lipopolysaccharide (LPS) phase variation by also modulating the expression of a gene (hp0102) that is co-transcribed with tlpB. The hp0102 gene encodes a glycosyltransferase required for LPS O-chain biosynthesis and in vivo colonization of the mouse stomach. The G-repeat length defines a gradual (rather than ON/OFF) control of LPS biosynthesis by RepG, and leads to gradual resistance to a membrane-targeting antibiotic. Thus, RepG-mediated modulation of LPS structure might impact host immune recognition and antibiotic sensitivity, thereby helping H. pylori to adapt and persist in the host. The small RNA RepG modulates expression of chemotaxis receptor TlpB in Helicobacter pylori by targeting a length-variable G-repeat in the tlpB mRNA. Here, Pernitzsch et al. show that RepG also gradually controls lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, antibiotic susceptibility, and in-vivo colonization of the stomach, by regulating a gene that is co-transcribed with tlpB.}, language = {en} } @article{LetunicKhedkarBork2021, author = {Letunic, Ivica and Khedkar, Supriya and Bork, Peer}, title = {SMART: recent updates, new developments and status in 2020}, series = {Nucleic Acids Research}, volume = {49}, journal = {Nucleic Acids Research}, number = {D1}, doi = {10.1093/nar/gkaa937}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-363816}, pages = {D458-D460}, year = {2021}, abstract = {SMART (Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool) is a web resource (https://smart.embl.de) for the identification and annotation of protein domains and the analysis of protein domain architectures. SMART version 9 contains manually curatedmodels formore than 1300 protein domains, with a topical set of 68 new models added since our last update article (1). All the new models are for diverse recombinase families and subfamilies and as a set they provide a comprehensive overview of mobile element recombinases namely transposase, integrase, relaxase, resolvase, cas1 casposase and Xer like cellular recombinase. Further updates include the synchronization of the underlying protein databases with UniProt (2), Ensembl (3) and STRING (4), greatly increasing the total number of annotated domains and other protein features available in architecture analysis mode. Furthermore, SMART's vector-based protein display engine has been extended and updated to use the latest web technologies and the domain architecture analysis components have been optimized to handle the increased number of protein features available.}, language = {en} } @article{QiBruchKropetal.2021, author = {Qi, Yanyan and Bruch, Dorothee and Krop, Philipp and Herrmann, Martin J. and Latoschik, Marc E. and Deckert, J{\"u}rgen and Hein, Grit}, title = {Social buffering of human fear is shaped by gender, social concern, and the presence of real vs virtual agents}, series = {Translational Psychiatry}, volume = {11}, journal = {Translational Psychiatry}, doi = {10.1038/s41398-021-01761-5}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265782}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The presence of a partner can attenuate physiological fear responses, a phenomenon known as social buffering. However, not all individuals are equally sociable. Here we investigated whether social buffering of fear is shaped by sensitivity to social anxiety (social concern) and whether these effects are different in females and males. We collected skin conductance responses (SCRs) and affect ratings of female and male participants when they experienced aversive and neutral sounds alone (alone treatment) or in the presence of an unknown person of the same gender (social treatment). Individual differences in social concern were assessed based on a well-established questionnaire. Our results showed that social concern had a stronger effect on social buffering in females than in males. The lower females scored on social concern, the stronger the SCRs reduction in the social compared to the alone treatment. The effect of social concern on social buffering of fear in females disappeared if participants were paired with a virtual agent instead of a real person. Together, these results showed that social buffering of human fear is shaped by gender and social concern. In females, the presence of virtual agents can buffer fear, irrespective of individual differences in social concern. These findings specify factors that shape the social modulation of human fear, and thus might be relevant for the treatment of anxiety disorders.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinGamerGalletal.2021, author = {Hein, Grit and Gamer, Matthias and Gall, Dominik and Gr{\"u}ndahl, Marthe and Domschke, Katharina and Andreatta, Marta and Wieser, Matthias J. and Pauli, Paul}, title = {Social cognitive factors outweigh negative emotionality in predicting COVID-19 related safety behaviors}, series = {Preventive Medicine Reports}, volume = {24}, journal = {Preventive Medicine Reports}, doi = {10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101559}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265008}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Emotion-motivation models propose that behaviors, including health behaviors, should be predicted by the same variables that also predict negative affect since emotional reactions should induce a motivation to avoid threatening situations. In contrast, social cognitive models propose that safety behaviors are predicted by a different set of variables that mainly reflect cognitive and socio-structural aspects. Here, we directly tested these opposing hypotheses in young adults (N = 4134) in the context of COVID-19-related safety behaviors to prevent infections. In each participant, we collected measures of negative affect as well as cognitive and socio-structural variables during the lockdown in the first infection wave in Germany. We found a negative effect of the pandemic on emotional responses. However, this was not the main predictor for young adults' willingness to comply with COVID-19-related safety measures. Instead, individual differences in compliance were mainly predicted by cognitive and socio-structural variables. These results were confirmed in an independent data set. This study shows that individuals scoring high on negative affect during the pandemic are not necessarily more likely to comply with safety regulations. Instead, political measures should focus on cognitive interventions and the societal relevance of the health issue. These findings provide important insights into the basis of health-related concerns and feelings as well as behavioral adaptations.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Aydinli2021, author = {Aydinli, Muharrem}, title = {Software unterst{\"u}tzte Analyse von regulatorischen Elementen in Promotoren mittels AIModules}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-24802}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248025}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Die Regulation der Genexpression steht am Anfang vieler zellbiologischer Prozesse wie beispielsweise dem Zellwachstum oder der Differenzierung. Gene werden an Promotoren transkribiert, wobei ein Promotor selbst aus vielen logischen Einheiten aufgebaut ist, den Transkriptionsfaktorbindestellen (TFBSs). Diese k{\"o}nnen sehr nah beieinander liegen, aber auch weit entfernt voneinander sein. Sie werden spezifisch von Transkriptionsfaktoren (TFs) gebunden, die die Transkritptionsrate z.B. verst{\"a}rken (Enhancer) oder schw{\"a}chen (Silencer) k{\"o}nnen. Zwei oder mehr dieser TFBSs mit bestimmtem Abstand werden als "Module" zusammengefasst, die {\"u}ber Spezies hinweg konserviert sein k{\"o}nnen. Typischerweise findet man Module in Zellen mit einem Zellkern. Spezies mit gemeinsamen Modulen k{\"o}nnen ein Hinweis auf die gemeinsame phylogenetische Abstammung darstellen, aber auch gemeinsame Funktionsmechanismen von TFs {\"u}ber Gene hinweg aufdecken. Heutzutage sind verschiedene Anwendungen verf{\"u}gbar, mit denen nach TFBSs in DNA gesucht werden kann. Zum Zeitpunkt des Verfassens dieser Arbeit sind aber nur zwei kommerzielle Produkte bekannt, die nicht nur TFBSs, sondern auch Module erkennen. Deshalb stellen wir hier die freie und quelloffene L{\"o}sung "AIModules" vor, die diese L{\"u}cke f{\"u}llt und einen Webservice zur Verf{\"u}gung stellt, der es erlaubt nach TFBSs sowie nach Modulen auf DNA- und auf RNA-Abschnitten zu suchen. F{\"u}r die Motivesuche werden entweder Matrizen aus der Jaspar Datenbank oder Matrizen vom Anwender verwendet. Dar{\"u}berhinaus zeigen wir, dass unser Tool f{\"u}r die TF Suche nur Sekunden ben{\"o}tigt, wohingegen conTraV3 mindestens eine Stunde f{\"u}r dieselbe Analyse braucht. Zus{\"a}tzlich kann der Anwender bei unserem Tool den Grad der Konserviertheit f{\"u}r TFs mit angeben und wir zeigen, dass wir mit unserer L{\"o}sung, die die Jaspar Datenbank heranzieht, mehr Module finden, als ein kommerziell verf{\"u}gbares Produkt. Weiterhin kann mit unserer L{\"o}sung auch auf RNA-Sequenzen nach regulatorischen Motiven gesucht werden, wenn der Anwender die daf{\"u}r n{\"o}tigen Matrizen liefert. Wir zeigen dies am Beispiel von Polyadenylierungsstellen. Zusammenfassend stellen wir ein Werkzeug vor, das erstens frei und quelloffen ist und zweitens entweder auf Servern ver{\"o}ffentlicht werden kann oder On-Site auf einem Notebook l{\"a}uft. Unser Tool erlaubt es Promotoren zu analysieren und nach konservierten Modulen sowie TFBSs in Genfamilien sowie nach regulatorischen Elementen in mRNA wie z.B. Polyadenylierungsstellen oder andere regulatorische Elemente wie beispielsweise Enhancern oder Silencern in genomischer DNA zu suchen.}, subject = {Genregulation}, language = {de} } @article{TurkinHolzapfelAgarwaletal.2021, author = {Turkin, Arthur and Holzapfel, Marco and Agarwal, Mohit and Fischermeier, David and Mitric, Roland and Schweins, Ralf and Gr{\"o}hns, Franziska and Lambert, Christoph}, title = {Solvent Induced Helix Folding of Defined Indolenine Squaraine Oligomers}, series = {Chemistry—A European Journal}, volume = {27}, journal = {Chemistry—A European Journal}, number = {32}, doi = {10.1002/chem.202101063}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256869}, pages = {8380-8389}, year = {2021}, abstract = {A protecting group strategy was employed to synthesise a series of indolenine squaraine dye oligomers up to the nonamer. The longer oligomers show a distinct solvent dependence of the absorption spectra, that is, either a strong blue shift or a strong red shift of the lowest energy bands in the near infrared spectral region. This behaviour is explained by exciton coupling theory as being due to H- or J-type coupling of transition moments. The H-type coupling is a consequence of a helix folding in solvents with a small Hansen dispersity index. DOSY NMR, small angle neutron scattering (SANS), quantum chemical and force field calculations agree upon a helix structure with an unusually large pitch and open voids that are filled with solvent molecules, thereby forming a kind of clathrate. The thermodynamic parameters of the folding process were determined by temperature dependent optical absorption spectra.}, language = {en} } @article{HergetBoetzl2021, author = {Herget, Ann-Kristin and B{\"o}tzl, Franziska}, title = {Sounds Like Respect. The Impact of Background Music on the Acceptance of Gay Men in Audio-Visual Advertising}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {12}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645533}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-237236}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Companies increasingly seek to use gay protagonists in audio-visual commercials to attract a new affluent target group. There is also growing demand for the diversity present in society to be reflected in media formats such as advertising. Studies have shown, however, that heterosexual consumers (especially men), who may be part of the company's loyal consumer base, tend to react negatively to gay-themed advertising campaigns. Searching for an instrument to mitigate this unwanted effect, the present study investigated whether carefully selected background music can shape the perceived gender of gay male advertising protagonists. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment (musical connotation × gender of the participant), 218 heterosexual participants watched a commercial promoting engagement rings that featured gay male protagonists, scored with feminine- or masculine-connoted background music. As expected, women generally reacted more positively than men to the advertising. Men exposed to the masculine-connoted background music rated the promoted brand more positively, and masculine music also enhanced (at least in the short term) these men's acceptance of gay men in general (low and medium effect sizes) more than was the case for feminine background music. Carefully selected background music affecting the perceived gender of gay male advertising protagonists may prevent negative reactions from heterosexual audiences and, therefore, motivate companies to use gay protagonists in television commercials on a more regular basis.}, language = {en} } @article{WienrichKommaVogtetal.2021, author = {Wienrich, Carolin and Komma, Philipp and Vogt, Stephanie and Latoschik, Marc E.}, title = {Spatial Presence in Mixed Realities - Considerations About the Concept, Measures, Design, and Experiments}, series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, volume = {2}, journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, doi = {10.3389/frvir.2021.694315}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260328}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Plenty of theories, models, measures, and investigations target the understanding of virtual presence, i.e., the sense of presence in immersive Virtual Reality (VR). Other varieties of the so-called eXtended Realities (XR), e.g., Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR and MR) incorporate immersive features to a lesser degree and continuously combine spatial cues from the real physical space and the simulated virtual space. This blurred separation questions the applicability of the accumulated knowledge about the similarities of virtual presence and presence occurring in other varieties of XR, and corresponding outcomes. The present work bridges this gap by analyzing the construct of presence in mixed realities (MR). To achieve this, the following presents (1) a short review of definitions, dimensions, and measurements of presence in VR, and (2) the state of the art views on MR. Additionally, we (3) derived a working definition of MR, extending the Milgram continuum. This definition is based on entities reaching from real to virtual manifestations at one time point. Entities possess different degrees of referential power, determining the selection of the frame of reference. Furthermore, we (4) identified three research desiderata, including research questions about the frame of reference, the corresponding dimension of transportation, and the dimension of realism in MR. Mainly the relationship between the main aspects of virtual presence of immersive VR, i.e., the place-illusion, and the plausibility-illusion, and of the referential power of MR entities are discussed regarding the concept, measures, and design of presence in MR. Finally, (5) we suggested an experimental setup to reveal the research heuristic behind experiments investigating presence in MR. The present work contributes to the theories and the meaning of and approaches to simulate and measure presence in MR. We hypothesize that research about essential underlying factors determining user experience (UX) in MR simulations and experiences is still in its infancy and hopes this article provides an encouraging starting point to tackle related questions.}, language = {en} } @article{BrodehlMiltingGerull2021, author = {Brodehl, Andreas and Milting, Hendrik and Gerull, Brenda}, title = {Special Issue "Cardiovascular Genetics"}, series = {Genes}, volume = {12}, journal = {Genes}, number = {4}, issn = {2073-4425}, doi = {10.3390/genes12040479}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234229}, year = {2021}, abstract = {No abstract available}, language = {en} }