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Topic Review
Urbanization alters soil microbial communities
Urban development is one of the leading causes of biodiversity change. Understanding how soil microorganisms respond to urbanization is particularly important because they are crucial for the provisioning of ecosystem functions and services. Our results showed that microbial richness and community composition exhibited nonsignificant changes over time regardless of the location. Soil fungal richness was lower in moderately and highly urbanized locations, but soil bacterial/archaeal richness was not significantly different among locations. Both bacteria/archaea and fungi exhibited significant differences in community composition across locations. After inferring potential functional groups, soils in the highly urbanized location had lower proportions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soil saprotrophic fungi but had higher proportions of bacterial taxa involved in aromatic compound degradation, human pathogens, and intracellular parasites. Furthermore, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were more abundant in the highly urbanized location, but ammonia-oxidizing archaea were more abundant in lowly and moderately urbanized locations. Together, these results highlight the significant changes in belowground microbial communities across an urbanization gradient, and these changes might have important implications for aboveground–belowground interactions, nutrient cycling, and human health.
  • 1.0K
  • 21 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Peripheral Responses to Pain
Pain can be induced by tissue injuries, diseases and infections. The interactions between the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and immune system are primary actions in pain sensitizations. In response to stimuli, nociceptors release various mediators from their terminals that potently activate and recruit immune cells, whereas infiltrated immune cells further promote sensitization of nociceptors and the transition from acute to chronic pain by producing cytokines, chemokines, lipid mediators and growth factors. Immune cells not only play roles in pain production but also contribute to PNS repair and pain resolution by secreting anti-inflammatory or analgesic effectors. 
  • 1.0K
  • 12 Mar 2021
Biography
Thomas Johann Seebeck
Thomas Johann Seebeck (German; 9 April 1770 – 10 December 1831) was a Baltic German physicist, who, in 1822, observed a relationship between heat and magnetism. Later, in 1823, Ørsted called this phenomenon thermoelectric effect. Seebeck was born in Reval (today Tallinn, Estonia) to a wealthy Baltic German merchant family. He received a medical degree in 1802 from the University of Göttinge
  • 1.0K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Structuralism
Biological or process structuralism is a school of biological thought that objects to an exclusively Darwinian or adaptationist explanation of natural selection such as is described in the 20th century's modern synthesis. It proposes instead that evolution is guided differently, basically by more or less physical forces which shape the development of an animal's body, and sometimes implies that these forces supersede selection altogether. Structuralists have proposed different mechanisms that might have guided the formation of body plans. Before Darwin, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire argued that animals shared homologous parts, and that if one was enlarged, the others would be reduced in compensation. After Darwin, D'Arcy Thompson hinted at vitalism and offered geometric explanations in his classic 1917 book On Growth and Form. Adolf Seilacher suggested mechanical inflation for "pneu" structures in Ediacaran biota fossils such as Dickinsonia. Günter P. Wagner argued for developmental bias, structural constraints on embryonic development. Stuart Kauffman favoured self-organisation, the idea that complex structure emerges holistically and spontaneously from the dynamic interaction of all parts of an organism. Michael Denton argued for laws of form by which Platonic universals or "Types" are self-organised. Stephen J. Gould and Richard Lewontin proposed biological "spandrels", features created as a byproduct of the adaptation of nearby structures. Gerd B. Müller and Stuart A. Newman argued that the appearance in the fossil record of most of the current phyla in the Cambrian explosion was "pre-Mendelian"[lower-alpha 1] evolution caused by physical factors. Brian Goodwin, described by Wagner as part of "a fringe movement in evolutionary biology", denies that biological complexity can be reduced to natural selection, and argues that pattern formation is driven by morphogenetic fields. Darwinian biologists have criticised structuralism, emphasising that there is plentiful evidence both that natural selection is effective and, from deep homology, that genes have been involved in shaping organisms throughout evolutionary history. They accept that some structures such as the cell membrane self-assemble, but deny the ability of self-organisation to drive large-scale evolution.
  • 1.0K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Tenascin-C-Derived Peptide, TNIIIA2
Matricellular proteins harbor functional sites within their molecular structures. These functional sites are released via proteolytic cleavage by inflammatory proteinases, and the peptides containing these hidden functional sites have unique biological activities that are often not detected in the parent molecules. A peptide containing the functional site of tenascin-C (TNC), termed TNIIIA2, which is highly released at sites of inflammation and in the tumor microenvironment, has the ability to potently and persistently activate β1-integrins. Based on these activities, TNIIIA2-containing TNC fragments/peptides are involved in the acquisition of aggressiveness in cancer progression.
  • 1.0K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Cryptogenic Cirrhosis
Cryptogenic cirrhosis is a condition that impairs liver function. People with this condition develop irreversible liver disease caused by scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), typically in mid- to late adulthood.
  • 1.0K
  • 24 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Cardiolipin
Cardiolipin (IUPAC name 1,3-bis(sn-3’-phosphatidyl)-sn-glycerol) is an important component of the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it constitutes about 20% of the total lipid composition. It can also be found in the membranes of most bacteria. The name "cardiolipin" is derived from the fact that it was first found in animal hearts. It was first isolated from beef heart in the early 1940s. In mammalian cells, but also in plant cells, cardiolipin (CL) is found almost exclusively in the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it is essential for the optimal function of numerous enzymes that are involved in mitochondrial energy metabolism.
  • 1.0K
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Sugar Transporters in Plants
Phytohormone transporters, alkaloid transporters, ion and ion chelator transporters, sugar transporters, and amino acid transporters are common active transporters in plants. The examples of phytohormone transporters, alkaloid transporters, and ion and ion chelator transporters include ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and Multidrug And Toxic compound Extrusion (MATE) transporters, while the examples of sugar transporters include MonoSaccharide Transporters (MSTs) and SUcrose Transporters (SUTs). These transporters have been reported to play important roles in various biological processes including cellular detoxification, nutrient transport, and stress adaptation. 
  • 1.0K
  • 17 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Grape Anthocyanins
Anthocyanins are flavonoid pigments broadly distributed in plants with great potential to be used as food colorants due to their range of colors, innocuous nature, and positive impact on human health. However, these molecules are unstable and affected by pH changes, oxidation and high temperatures, making it very important to extract them using gentle non-thermal technologies.
  • 1.0K
  • 02 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Seeking Sense in the Hox Gene Cluster
The Hox gene cluster, responsible for patterning of the head–tail axis, is an ancestral feature of all bilaterally symmetrical animals (the Bilateria) that remains intact in a wide range of species.
  • 1.0K
  • 20 Dec 2022
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