1H NMR-Based Chemometrics to Gain Insights Into the Bran of Radiation-Induced Colored Wheat Mutant

Recently, wheat has attracted attention as a functional food, rather than a simple dietary energy source. Accordingly, whole-grain intake increases with an understanding of bioactive phytochemicals in bran. The development of colored wheat has drawn more attention to the value of bran owing to its nutritional quality, as well as the antioxidant properties of the colorant. The present 1H NMR-based chemometric study evaluated the compositional improvement of radiation-induced mutants in purple wheat by focusing on the predominant metabolites with high polarity. A total of 33 metabolites, including three choline derivatives, three sugar alcohols, four sugars, 13 amino acids, eight organic acids, and two nucleosides, were identified throughout the 1H NMR spectra, and quantification data were obtained for the identified metabolites via peak shape-based quantification. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses were conducted for performing multivariate analyses. The colored original wheat was found to exhibit improvements compared to yellow wheat in terms of the contents of primary metabolites, thus highlighting the importance of conducting investigations of polar metabolites. The chemometrics studies further revealed mutant lines with a compositional enhancement for metabolites, including lysine, proline, acetate, and glycerol.

Coordination and consensus: the role of compromisers in Tibetan macaques

Coordination and consensus in collective behavior have attracted a lot of research interest. Although previous studies have investigated the role of compromisers in group consensus, they provide little insight into why compromisers would allow such social arrangements to persist. In this study, the potential relationship between group movements and conflict management in Tibetan macaques in Anhui province, China, was investigated using hierarchical cluster analyses. Some members with higher social centrality or social rank often formed a front-runner cluster during group movements. They had higher leadership success than individuals outside the front-runner cluster. Other members with lower social centrality or social rank often followed the group movements initiated by the front-runner cluster, and thus formed the compromiser cluster. Compromisers’ proximity relations with front-runners increased with their following scores to front-runners. Compromisers had fewer events of being attacked when they followed group movements initiated by the front-runners. The compromising process made compromisers lose the choice of direction preference, but it could increase their individual safeties. This trade-off suggests that compromisers play a role of decision-maker in coordination and consensus scenarios among social animals.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Maize Inbred Lines with Varying Levels of Resistance to Striga Hermonthica Using Agronomic Trait-Based and SNP Markers

Striga hermonthica is a serious biotic stress limiting maize production in sub-Saharan Africa. The limited information on the patterns of genetic diversity among maize inbred lines derived from source germplasm with mixed genetic backgrounds limits the development of inbred lines, hybrids, and synthetics with durable resistance to S. hermonthica. This study was conducted to assess the level of genetic diversity in a panel of 150 diverse maize inbred lines using agronomic and molecular data and also to infer the population structure among the inbred lines. Ten Striga-resistance-related traits were used for the phenotypic characterization, and 16,735 high-quality single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identified by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), were used for molecular diversity. The phenotypic and molecular hierarchical cluster analyses grouped the inbred lines into five clusters, respectively. However, the grouping patterns between the phenotypic and molecular hierarchical cluster analyses were inconsistent due to non-overlapping information between the phenotypic and molecular data. The correlation between the phenotypic and molecular diversity matrices was very low (0.001), which is in agreement with the inconsistencies observed between the clusters formed by the phenotypic and molecular diversity analyses. The joint phenotypic and genotypic diversity matrices grouped the inbred lines into three groups based on their reaction patterns to S. hermonthica, and this was able to exploit a broad estimate of the actual diversity among the inbred lines. The joint analysis shows an invaluable insight for measuring genetic diversity in the evaluated materials. The result indicates that wide genetic variability exists among the inbred lines and that the joint diversity analysis can be utilized to reliably assign the inbred lines into heterotic groups and also to enhance the level of resistance to Striga in new maize varieties.

Estimate Urban Growth and Expansion by Modeling Urban Spatial Structure Using Hierarchical Cluster Analyses of Interzonal Travel Data

Estimating the spatial organization of cities yields insights into interactions over a spatial structure, and thus creating efficient subcenters with more balanced distribution of travel patterns over urban agglomerations can be exercised via models which support an evidence-based spatial planning. As cities evolve and self-organize as complex spatial structures, problems such as accessibility, environmental sustainability, and social equity or weak economy can be incurred by unrealistic development scenarios. In this regard, it is claimed that the dynamic nature of the urban spatial structure can to be modeled to estimate growth and expansion of it using the patterns of freight and passenger movements throughout metropolitan areas under the assumption that there is a simple and straightforward link between travel flows and urban spatial structure. The main effort of this study is to describe and model urban spatial structure and its evolution due to the spatial distribution of population, and employment centers.

Recent Practice Patterns and Variations in Children Hospitalized for Asthma Exacerbation in Japan

<b><i>Background:</i></b> High antibiotic prescribing rates for adults with an asthma exacerbation have been reported in developed countries, but few studies have assessed the variation of antibiotic and adjunctive treatment in the routine care of children. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> We evaluated the trends in health resource utilization for children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation, ascertained the variations of practices across hospitals and geographic location, and classified these different patterns at hospital levels. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Using data on Japanese children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation with no indication of bacterial infection during 2010–2018, we conducted a retrospective observational study to assess the trends in initial treatment patterns and their variations. Mixed-effect generalized linear models were used to investigate the treatment trends. Hierarchical cluster analyses were performed to classify the treatment variations across hospitals. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Overall, 54,981 children were eligible for the study. Proportions of antibiotic use decreased from 47.2% in 2010 to 26.9% in 2018. Similarly, utilization of antitussives, antihistamines, and methylxanthine showed decreasing trends over the period, whereas the use of mucolytics and ambroxol increased. These treatment variations were more considerable in hospital levels than in 47 prefecture levels. Hierarchical cluster analyses classified these patterns into 6 groups, mostly based on mediator release inhibitor, ambroxol, and antitussives. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Wide variations in antibiotics and adjunctive treatments were observed across hospital levels. Our findings support the improvement in reducing inappropriate antibiotic use and highlight the need for comparative effectiveness research of the adjunctive treatments among children hospitalized for asthma.

A multi-level society comprised of one-male and multi-male core units in an African colobine (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii)

A few mammalian species exhibit complex, nested social organizations, termed multi-level societies. Among nonhuman primates, multi-level societies have been confirmed in several African papionin and Asian colobine species. Using data on individually-recognized Rwenzori Angolan colobus at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda, we document the first multi-level society in an African colobine. The study band comprised up to 135 individuals living in 12 socially and spatially distinct core units that ranged in size from 4 to 23 individuals. These core units shared a home range, and fissioned and fused throughout the day. Using the association indices between core units, we employed hierarchical cluster analyses and permutation tests to show that some core units clustered into clans. Thus, we confirm three tiers of social organization for Rwenzori Angolan colobus: core unit, clan, and band. The social organization of this subspecies is unlike any reported previously in a nonhuman primate, with about half the core units containing a single adult male and the others containing multiple reproductive adult males. Preliminary data show males to transfer within the band and female to transfer outside of the band, which suggests that, like Hamadryas baboons, this subspecies could provide insight into the selective pressures underlying hominin social organization.

Differences among the Anthocyanin Accumulation Patterns and Related Gene Expression Levels in Red Pears

Differences in coloration exist among red pear cultivars. Here, we selected six red pear cultivars with different genetic backgrounds to elucidate the characteristics of fruit pigmentation. We detected anthocyanin contents and the expression levels of anthocyanin synthesis-related genes in these cultivars at different stages of fruit development. The anthocyanin contents of all six cultivars showed a rise–drop tendency. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses were used to distinguish the types of cultivars and the genes crucial to each anthocyanin accumulation pattern. The six cultivars were divided into three groups. Red Zaosu were clustered into one group, Red Sichou and Starkrimson into another group, and Palacer, Red Bartlett, and 5 Hao clustered into a third group. The expression levels of F3H, UFGT2, MYB10, and bHLH3 were similar among the differential coloration patterns of the six cultivars, suggesting a critical and coordinated mechanism for anthocyanin synthesis. Anthocyanin transporters (GST) and light-responsive genes, such as COP1, PIF3.1, and PIF3.2 played limited roles in the regulation of anthocyanin accumulation. This study provides novel insights into the regulation of anthocyanins synthesis and accumulation in red pears.

Modeling the Change of Urban Spatial Structure: Use Interzonal Travel Data to Estimate Urban Growth and Expansion by Hierarchical Cluster Analyses

The Urban spatial structure is affected by spatial interactions among various activity locations, and land uses in the city over the transportation system. Each city has its unique circulation pattern of passengers and freight due to its unique geographic conditions and the distribution of locations of economic activities. In that sense, it is claimed in this chapter per the authors that urban spatial structure can be modeled using interzonal (O/D) travel data. Thus, the chapter presents a case study of modeling spatial structures developed by employing Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) using travel pattern data for current and future scenarios. As a result, urban growth and expansion were estimated based on the level of interaction (represented by distance or similarity modeled based on trip interchanges) over the transportation system in terms of population and/or employment increases. The interaction was described by a measure of distance or similarity, modeled with respect to trip interchanges.

Introducing the GEneva Music-Induced Affect Checklist (GEMIAC)

The systematic study of music-induced emotions requires standardized measurement instruments to reliably assess the nature of affective reactions to music, which tend to go beyond garden-variety basic emotions. We describe the development and conceptual validation of a checklist for rapid assessment of music-induced affect, designed to extend and complement the Geneva Emotional Music Scale. The checklist contains a selection of affect and emotion categories that are frequently used in the literature to refer to emotional reactions to music. The development of the checklist focused on an empirical investigation of the semantic structure of the relevant terms, combined with fuzzy classes based on a series of hierarchical cluster analyses. Two versions of the checklist for assessing the intensity and frequency of affective responses to music are proposed.