The Enterobacteriaceae are a family of Gram-negative bacteria that include commensal organisms as well as primary and opportunistic pathogens that are among the leading causes of morbidity and ...mortality worldwide. Although Enterobacteriaceae often comprise less than 1% of a healthy intestine's microbiota, some of these organisms can bloom in the inflamed gut; expansion of enterobacteria is a hallmark of microbial imbalance known as dysbiosis. Microcins are small secreted proteins that possess antimicrobial activity in vitro, but whose role in vivo has been unclear. Here we demonstrate that microcins enable the probiotic bacterium Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) to limit the expansion of competing Enterobacteriaceae (including pathogens and pathobionts) during intestinal inflammation. Microcin-producing EcN limits the growth of competitors in the inflamed intestine, including commensal E. coli, adherent-invasive E. coli and the related pathogen Salmonella enterica. Moreover, only therapeutic administration of the wild-type, microcin-producing EcN to mice previously infected with S. enterica substantially reduced intestinal colonization by the pathogen. Our work provides the first evidence that microcins mediate inter- and intraspecies competition among the Enterobacteriaceae in the inflamed gut. Moreover, we show that microcins can act as narrow-spectrum therapeutics to inhibit enteric pathogens and reduce enterobacterial blooms.
We construct the multi‐breather solutions of the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) on the background of elliptic functions by the Darboux transformation, and express them in terms of the ...determinant of theta functions. The dynamics of the breathers in the presence of various kinds of backgrounds such as dn, cn, and nontrivial phase‐modulating elliptic solutions are presented, and their behaviors dependent on the effect of backgrounds are elucidated. We also determine the asymptotic behaviors for the multibreather solutions with different velocities in the limit t→±∞, where the solution in the neighborhood of each breather tends to the simple one‐breather solution. Furthermore, we exactly solve the linearized NLSE using the squared eigenfunction and determine the unstable spectra for elliptic function background. By using them, the Akhmediev breathers arising from these modulational instabilities are plotted and their dynamics are revealed. Finally, we provide the rogue wave and higher order rogue wave solutions by taking the special limit of the breather solutions at branch points and the generalized Darboux transformation. The resulting dynamics of the rogue waves involves rich phenomena, depending on the choice of the background and possessing different velocities relative to the background. We also provide an example of the multi‐ and higher order rogue wave solution.
In the hole-doped cuprates, a small number of carriers suppresses antiferromagnetism and induces superconductivity. In the electron-doped cuprates, on the other hand, superconductivity appears only ...in a narrow window of high-doped Ce concentration after reduction annealing, and strong antiferromagnetic correlation persists in the superconducting phase. Recently, Pr(1.3-x)La0.7Ce(x)CuO4 (PLCCO) bulk single crystals annealed by a protect annealing method showed a high critical temperature of around 27 K for small Ce content down to 0.05. Here, by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of PLCCO crystals, we observed a sharp quasi-particle peak on the entire Fermi surface without signature of an antiferromagnetic pseudogap unlike all the previous work, indicating a dramatic reduction of antiferromagnetic correlation length and/or of magnetic moments. The superconducting state was found to extend over a wide electron concentration range. The present results fundamentally challenge the long-standing picture on the electronic structure in the electron-doped regime.
We report observation of isotropic interplanetary dust (IPD) by analyzing the infrared (IR) maps of the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on board the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) ...spacecraft. To search for the isotropic IPD, we perform new analysis in terms of the solar elongation angle ( ), because we expect the zodiacal light (ZL) intensity from the isotropic IPD to decrease as a function of . We use the DIRBE weekly averaged maps covering 64° 124° and inspect the dependence of residual intensity after subtracting conventional ZL components. We find the dependence of the residuals, indicating the presence of the isotropic IPD. However, the mid-IR dependence is different from that of the isotropic IPD model at 90°, where the residual intensity increases as a function of . To explain the observed dependence, we assume a spheroidal IPD cloud showing higher density farther away from the Sun. We estimate the intensity of the near-IR extragalactic background light (EBL) by subtracting the spheroidal component, assuming the spectral energy distribution from the residual brightness at 12 m. The EBL intensity is derived as , , and at 1.25, 2.2, and 3.5 m, respectively. The EBL is still a few times larger than the integrated light of normal galaxies, suggesting the existence of unaccounted-for extragalactic sources.
Abstract A computational method is developed for calculation of the stress field and interaction forces between dislocations and precipitates of arbitrary shape and distribution. The internal stress ...generated by precipitates due to coherency strain is implemented within the discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) framework. The s‐version finite element method (s‐FEM), which models a precipitate of arbitrary shape using a local mesh is used to calculate coherency stress fields. The method facilitates meshing precipitate volumes of arbitrary geometry, and multiple local meshes can be superimposed at various positions of the global mesh. Accuracy and convergence conditions of the method are established. For a single precipiate, the method is shown to be 3.5 times faster than a standard FEM calculation for the same accuracy, and the gain in speed increases with the number of precipitates. The CRSS of spherical precipitates is found to be higher than disk‐shaped precipitates of the same volume fraction.
Changes in synaptic efficacy are thought to be crucial to experience-dependent modifications of neural function. The diversity of mechanisms underlying these changes is far greater than previously ...expected. In the last five years, a new class of use-dependent synaptic plasticity that requires retrograde signaling by endocannabinoids (eCB) and presynaptic CB1 receptor activation has been identified in several brain structures. eCB-mediated plasticity encompasses many forms of transient and long-lasting synaptic depression and is found at both excitatory and inhibitory synapses. In addition, eCBs can modify the inducibility of non-eCB-mediated forms of plasticity. Thus, the eCB system is emerging as a major player in synaptic plasticity. Given the wide distribution of CB1 receptors in the CNS, the list of brain structures and synapses expressing eCB-mediated plasticity is likely to expand.
When continuous symmetry is spontaneously broken, there appear Nambu–Goldstone modes (NGMs) with linear or quadratic dispersion relation, which is called type-I or type-II, respectively. We propose a ...framework to count these modes including the coefficients of the dispersion relations by applying the standard Gross–Pitaevskii–Bogoliubov theory. Our method is mainly based on (i) zero-mode solutions of the Bogoliubov equation originated from spontaneous symmetry breaking and (ii) their generalized orthogonal relations, which naturally arise from well-known Bogoliubov transformations and are referred to as “σ-orthogonality” in this paper. Unlike previous works, our framework is applicable without any modification to the cases where there are additional zero modes, which do not have a symmetry origin, such as quasi-NGMs, and/or where spacetime symmetry is spontaneously broken in the presence of a topological soliton or a vortex. As a by-product of the formulation, we also give a compact summary for mathematics of bosonic Bogoliubov equations and Bogoliubov transformations, which becomes a foundation for any problem of Bogoliubov quasiparticles. The general results are illustrated by various examples in spinor Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). In particular, the result on the spin-3 BECs includes new findings such as a type-I–type-II transition and an increase of the type-II dispersion coefficient caused by the presence of a linearly-independent pair of zero modes.
Yarrowia lipolytica is a nonpathogenic dimorphic aerobic yeast that stands out due to its ability to grow in hydrophobic environments. This property allowed this yeast to develop an ability to ...metabolize triglycerides and fatty acids as carbon sources. This feature enables using this species in the bioremediation of environments contaminated with oil spill. In addition, Y. lipolytica has been calling the interest of researchers due to its huge biotechnological potential, associated with the production of several types of metabolites, such as bio-surfactants, γ-decalactone, citric acid, and intracellular lipids and lipase. The production of a metabolite rather than another is influenced by the growing conditions to which Y. lipolytica is subjected. The choice of carbon and nitrogen sources to be used, as well as their concentrations in the growth medium, and the careful determination of fermentation parameters, pH, temperature, and agitation (oxygenation), are essential for efficient metabolites production. This review discusses the biotechnological potential of Y. lipolytica and the best growing conditions for production of some metabolites of biotechnological interest.
We recently developed a conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure, commonly used to study rewarding drug effects, to demonstrate that dominant sexually‐experienced CD‐1 male mice form CPP to ...contexts previously associated with defeating subordinate male C57BL/6J mice. Here we further characterized conditioned and unconditioned aggression behavior in CD‐1 mice. In Exp. 1 we used CD‐1 mice that displayed a variable spectrum of unconditioned aggressive behavior toward younger subordinate C57BL/6J intruder mice. We then trained the CD‐1 mice in the CPP procedure where one context was intruder‐paired, while a different context was not. We then tested for aggression CPP 1 day after training. In Exp. 2, we tested CD‐1 mice for aggression CPP 1 day and 18 days after training. In Exp. 3–4, we trained the CD‐1 mice to lever‐press for palatable food and tested them for footshock punishment‐induced suppression of food‐reinforced responding. In Exp. 5, we characterized unconditioned aggression in hybrid CD‐1 × C57BL/6J D1‐Cre or D2‐Cre F1 generation crosses. Persistent aggression CPP was observed in CD‐1 mice that either immediately attacked C57BL/6J mice during all screening sessions or mice that gradually developed aggressive behavior during the screening phase. In contrast, CD‐1 mice that did not attack the C57BL/6J mice during screening did not develop CPP to contexts previously paired with C57BL/6J mice. The aggressive phenotype did not predict resistance to punishment‐induced suppression of food‐reinforced responding. CD‐1 × D1‐Cre or D2‐Cre F1 transgenic mice showed strong unconditioned aggression. Our study demonstrates that aggression experience causes persistent CPP and introduces transgenic mice for circuit studies of aggression.
Persistent conditioned place preference to aggression experience in adult male sexually‐experienced CD‐1 mice.
Gas hydrates deposited in subseafloor sediments are considered to primarily consist of biogenic methane. However, little evidence for the occurrence of living methanogens in subseafloor sediments has ...been provided. This study investigated viable methanogen diversity, population, physiology and potential activity in hydrate-bearing sediments (1-307 m below the seafloor) from the eastern Nankai Trough. Radiotracer experiments, the quantification of coenzyme F430 and molecular sequencing analysis indicated the occurrence of potential methanogenic activity and living methanogens in the sediments and the predominance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens followed by methylotrophic methanogens. Ten isolates and nine representative culture clones of hydrogenotrophic, methylotrophic and acetoclastic methanogens were obtained from the batch incubation of sediments and accounted for 0.5-76% of the total methanogenic sequences directly recovered from each sediment. The hydrogenotrophic methanogen isolates of Methanocalculus and Methanoculleus that dominated the sediment methanogen communities produced methane at temperatures from 4 to 55 °C, with an abrupt decline in the methane production rate at temperatures above 40 °C, which is consistent with the depth profiles of potential methanogenic activity in the Nankai Trough sediments in this and previous studies. Our results reveal the previously overlooked phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of living methanogens, including methylotrophic methanogenesis.
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