Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of conservation concern in eastern North America. Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the causative agent of SFD, has been isolated from over 30 species of ...wild snakes from six families in North America. Whilst O. ophiodiicola has been isolated from captive snakes outside North America, the pathogen has not been reported from wild snakes elsewhere. We screened 33 carcasses and 303 moulted skins from wild snakes collected from 2010-2016 in Great Britain and the Czech Republic for the presence of macroscopic skin lesions and O. ophiodiicola. The fungus was detected using real-time PCR in 26 (8.6%) specimens across the period of collection. Follow up culture and histopathologic analyses confirmed that both O. ophiodiicola and SFD occur in wild European snakes. Although skin lesions were mild in most cases, in some snakes they were severe and were considered likely to have contributed to mortality. Culture characterisations demonstrated that European isolates grew more slowly than those from the United States, and phylogenetic analyses indicated that isolates from European wild snakes reside in a clade distinct from the North American isolates examined. These genetic and phenotypic differences indicate that the European isolates represent novel strains of O. ophiodiicola. Further work is required to understand the individual and population level impact of this pathogen in Europe.
Microplastics are among the major environmental problems to be addressed because it is beginning to affect food chains and is also reaching human populations. The present study investigated the size, ...color, shape and abundance of microplastics in juvenile silversides (Atheriniformes) belonging to the edible species Odontesthes bonariensis, Odontesthes nigricans and Odontesthes argentinensis from shallow coastal waters. While 100 % of the sampled individuals presented microplastics in stomach contents, fibers were 95 %. There is a correlation between the size of the individuals and the maximum particle size ingested ranging from 0.2 to 1.2 mm. There is no significant difference in the number of particles ingested per individual. The plastic particles had a lower density than seawater, which is why they floated on the surface. These results imply that the protected areas of large ocean currents increase the exposure of local fauna to microplastics increasing the risk of ingestion of PMs.
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Microplastics are one of the major environmental issues that need to be addressed because they are starting to impact food chains and are also affecting human populations. The size, colour, form, and ...abundance of microplastics in young blennies of the species Eleginops maclovinus were examined in the current study. While the stomach contents of 70 % of the studied individuals contained microplastics, 95 % of them included fibres. Individual size and the largest particle size that can be eaten, which ranges between 0.09 and 1.5 mm present no statistical correlation. The quantity of particles taken in by each individual does not change with size. The most present microfibers colours were blue and red. Sampled fibres were analysed with FT-IR and no natural fibres were detected, proving the synthetic origin of the detected particles. These findings suggest that protected coastlines create conditions that favour the encounter of microplastics increasing local wildlife exposure to microplastics, raising the danger of their ingestion with potential physiological, ecological, economical and human health consequences.
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•Benthic fishes ingested microplastics independently of the size.•Plastics were present in 70 % of the studied individuals.•Microfibers were the predominant for of plastic in gut content.
Background
Preclinical and human studies suggest that adolescent cannabis use may be associated with worse cognitive outcomes than adult cannabis use. We investigated the associations between chronic ...cannabis use and cognitive function in adolescent and adult cannabis users and controls. We hypothesised user-status would be negatively associated with cognitive function and this relationship would be stronger in adolescents than adults.
Methods
As part of the ‘CannTeen’ project, this cross-sectional study assessed cognitive performance in adolescent cannabis users (
n
= 76; 16–17-year-olds), adolescent controls (
n
= 63), adult cannabis users (
n
= 71; 26–29-year-olds) and adult controls (
n
= 64). Users used cannabis 1–7 days/week. Adolescent and adult cannabis users were matched on cannabis use frequency (4 days/week) and time since last use (2.5 days). Verbal episodic memory (VEM) was assessed using the prose recall task, spatial working memory (SWM) was assessed using the spatial n-back task, and response inhibition was assessed with the stop-signal task. Primary outcome variables were: delayed recall, 3-back discriminability, and stop signal reaction time, respectively.
Results
Users had worse VEM than controls (
F
(1,268) = 7.423,
p
= 0.007). There were no significant differences between user-groups on SWM or response inhibition. Null differences were supported by Bayesian analyses. No significant interactions between age-group and user-group were found for VEM, SWM, or response inhibition.
Conclusions
Consistent with previous research, there was an association between chronic cannabis use and poorer VEM, but chronic cannabis use was not associated with SWM or response inhibition. We did not find evidence for heightened adolescent vulnerability to cannabis-related cognitive impairment.
Comprehensive characterization of post-translationally modified histone proteoforms is challenging due to their high isobaric and isomeric content. Trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS), ...implemented on a quadrupole/time-of-flight (Q-ToF) mass spectrometer, has shown great promise in discriminating isomeric complete histone tails. The absence of electron activated dissociation (ExD) in the current platform prevents the comprehensive characterization of unknown histone proteoforms. In the present work, we report for the first time the use of an electromagnetostatic (EMS) cell devised for nonergodic dissociation based on electron capture dissociation (ECD), implemented within a nESI-TIMS-Q-ToF mass spectrometer for the characterization of acetylated (AcK18 and AcK27) and trimethylated (TriMetK4, TriMetK9 and TriMetK27) complete histone tails. The integration of the EMS cell in a TIMS-q-TOF MS permitted fast mobility-selected top-down ECD fragmentation with near 10% efficiency overall. The potential of this coupling was illustrated using isobaric (AcK18/TriMetK4) and isomeric (AcK18/AcK27 and TriMetK4/TriMetK9) binary H3 histone tail mixtures, and the H3.1 TriMetK27 histone tail structural diversity (e.g., three IMS bands at z = 7+). The binary isobaric and isomeric mixtures can be separated in the mobility domain with R IMS > 100 and the nonergodic ECD fragmentation permitted the PTM localization (sequence coverage of ∼86%). Differences in the ECD patterns per mobility band of the z = 7+ H3 TriMetK27 molecular ions suggested that the charge location is responsible for the structural differences observed in the mobility domain. This coupling further enhances the structural toolbox with fast, high resolution mobility separations in tandem with nonergodic fragmentation for effective proteoform differentiation.
Using 5326 days of atmospheric neutrino data, a search for atmospheric tau neutrino appearance has been performed in the Super-Kamiokande experiment. Super-Kamiokande measures the tau normalization ...to be 1.47±0.32 under the assumption of normal neutrino hierarchy, relative to the expectation of unity with neutrino oscillation. The result excludes the hypothesis of no-tau appearance with a significance level of 4.6σ. The inclusive charged-current tau neutrino cross section averaged by the tau neutrino flux at Super-Kamiokande is measured to be (0.94±0.20)×10−38 cm2. The measurement is consistent with the Standard Model prediction, agreeing to within 1.5σ.
Four strategies of deficit irrigation based on a different water-stress ratio (WSR) applied in each phenological stage, and a control treatment were implemented in 11-year-old citrus trees (
Citrus ...sinensis L. Osb. Cv.
Navelina) grafted onto carrizo citrange (
C. sinensis L. Osb.
×
Poncirus Trifoliata L. Osb.). The midday stem-water potential and stomatal conductance were measured during the periods considered, and these parameters were used to estimate the plant-water status. Integrated stem-water potential (
Ψ
Int) and integrated stomatal conductance (
g
Int) were calculated for all treatments and used as a water-stress indicator for the crop. Reference equations were formulated to quantify the relations between water-stress indicators (WSR,
Ψ
Int,
g
Int) and the crop response, expressed as yield, yield components, and fruit-quality parameters under limited seasonal water availability. Significant differences in yield were found in the second year of experiment between the stressed treatments and control, although these differences were evident during the first year. The main effects were detected in treatments with a water-sever stress applied during the flowering and fruit-growth phases. When this degree of stress was applied during the maturity phase, it was reflected mainly in fruit-quality parameters (total soluble solids, and titrable acidity). These results lead to the conclusion that, in mature orange trees, deficit irrigation affects yield and fruit quality, while enabling water savings of up to 1000
m
3
ha
−1. Therefore, yield declined on average 10–12% but boosted water productivity 24% with respect to the fully irrigated treatment. Regarding the water-stress indicators used,
Ψ
Int and
g
Int showed highly significant correlations with the yield and fruit-quality parameters.
Abstract
We present a catalog of 315 protostellar outflow candidates detected in SiO
J
= 5 − 4 in the ALMA-IMF Large Program, observed with ∼2000 au spatial resolution, 0.339 km s
−1
velocity ...resolution, and 2–12 mJy beam
−1
(0.18–0.8 K) sensitivity. We find median outflow masses, momenta, and kinetic energies of ∼0.3
M
⊙
, 4
M
⊙
km s
−1
, and 10
45
erg, respectively. Median outflow lifetimes are 6000 yr, yielding median mass, momentum, and energy rates of
M
̇
= 10
−4.4
M
⊙
yr
−1
,
P
̇
= 10
−3.2
M
⊙
km s
−1
yr
−1
, and
E
̇
= 1
L
⊙
. We analyze these outflow properties in the aggregate in each field. We find correlations between field-aggregated SiO outflow properties and total mass in cores (∼3
σ
–5
σ
), and no correlations above 3
σ
with clump mass, clump luminosity, or clump luminosity-to-mass ratio. We perform a linear regression analysis and find that the correlation between field-aggregated outflow mass and total clump mass—which has been previously described in the literature—may actually be mediated by the relationship between outflow mass and total mass in cores. We also find that the most massive SiO outflow in each field is typically responsible for only 15%–30% of the total outflow mass (60% upper limit). Our data agree well with the established mechanical force−bolometric luminosity relationship in the literature, and our data extend this relationship up to
L
≥ 10
6
L
⊙
and
P
̇
≥ 1
M
⊙
km s
−1
yr
−1
. Our lack of correlation with clump
L
/
M
is inconsistent with models of protocluster formation in which all protostars start forming at the same time.
Abstract
We report 1.2 mm polarized continuum emission observations carried out with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array toward the high-mass star formation region G5.89–0.39. The ...observations show a prominent 0.2 pc north–south filamentary structure. The ultracompact H
ii
region in G5.89–0.39 breaks the filament into two pieces. Its millimeter emission shows a dusty belt with a mass of 55–115
M
⊙
and 4500 au in radius, surrounding an inner part comprising mostly ionized gas, with dust emission only accounting for about 30% of the total millimeter emission. We also found a lattice of convex arches that may be produced by dragged dust and gas from the explosive dispersal event involving the O5 Feldt’s star. The north–south filament has a mass between 300 and 600
M
⊙
and harbors a cluster of about 20 mm envelopes with a median size and mass of 1700 au and 1.5
M
⊙
, respectively, some of which are already forming protostars. We interpret the polarized emission in the filament as mainly coming from magnetically aligned dust grains. The polarization fraction is ∼4.4% in the filaments and 2.1% at the shell. The magnetic fields are along the North Filament and perpendicular to the South Filament. In the Central Shell, the magnetic fields are roughly radial in a ring surrounding the dusty belt between 4500 and 7500 au, similar to the pattern recently found in the surroundings of Orion BN/KL. This may be an independent observational signpost of explosive dispersal outflows and should be further investigated in other regions.
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