Abstract
This paper presents a study of circumstellar debris around Sun-like stars using data from the Herschel DEBRIS Key Programme. DEBRIS is an unbiased survey comprising the nearest ∼90 stars of ...each spectral type A-M. Analysis of the 275 F-K stars shows that excess emission from a debris disc was detected around 47 stars, giving a detection rate of 17.1$^{+2.6}_{-2.3}$ per cent, with lower rates for later spectral types. For each target a blackbody spectrum was fitted to the dust emission to determine its fractional luminosity and temperature. The derived underlying distribution of fractional luminosity versus blackbody radius in the population showed that most detected discs are concentrated at f ∼ 10−5 and at temperatures corresponding to blackbody radii 7–40 au, which scales to ∼40 au for realistic dust properties (similar to the current Kuiper belt). Two outlying populations are also evident; five stars have exceptionally bright emission ( f > 5 × 10−5), and one has unusually hot dust <4 au. The excess emission distributions at all wavelengths were fitted with a steady-state evolution model, showing that these are compatible with all stars being born with a narrow belt that then undergoes collisional grinding. However, the model cannot explain the hot dust systems – likely originating in transient events – and bright emission systems – arising potentially from atypically massive discs or recent stirring. The emission from the present-day Kuiper belt is predicted to be close to the median of the population, suggesting that half of stars have either depleted their Kuiper belts (similar to the Solar system) or had a lower planetesimal formation efficiency.
1382 I. 1382 II. 1383 III. 1383 IV. 1384 V. 1386 VI. 1387 VII. 1389 VIII. 1391 1391 References 1391 SUMMARY: In forest ecosystems, ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi play a central role in the ...breakdown of soil organic matter (SOM). Competition between these two fungal guilds has long been hypothesized to lead to suppression of decomposition rates, a phenomenon known as the ‘Gadgil effect’. In this review, we examine the documentation, generality, and potential mechanisms involved in the ‘Gadgil effect’. We find that the influence of ectomycorrhizal fungi on litter and SOM decomposition is much more variable than previously recognized. To explain the inconsistency in size and direction of the ‘Gadgil effect’, we argue that a better understanding of underlying mechanisms is required. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each of the primary mechanisms proposed to date and how using different experimental methods (trenching, girdling, microcosms), as well as considering different temporal and spatial scales, could influence the conclusions drawn about this phenomenon. Finally, we suggest that combining new research tools such as high‐throughput sequencing with experiments utilizing natural environmental gradients will significantly deepen our understanding of the ‘Gadgil effect’ and its consequences on forest soil carbon and nutrient cycling.
We present a study of debris discs whose spectra are well modelled by dust emission at two different temperatures. These discs are typically assumed to be a sign of multiple belts, which in only a ...few cases have been confirmed via high-resolution observations. We first compile a sample of two-temperature discs to derive their properties, summarized by the ratios of the warm and cool component temperatures and fractional luminosities. The ratio of warm to cool temperatures is constant in the range 2–4, and the temperature of both warm and cool components increases with stellar mass. We then explore whether this emission can arise from dust in a single narrow belt, with the range of temperatures arising from the size variation of grain temperatures. This model can produce two-temperature spectra for Sun-like stars, but is not supported where it can be tested by observed disc sizes and far-infrared/mm spectral slopes. Therefore, while some two-temperature discs arise from single belts, it is probable that most have multiple spatial components. These discs are plausibly similar to the outer Solar system's configuration of Asteroid and Edgeworth–Kuiper belts separated by giant planets. Alternatively, the inner component could arise from inward scattering of material from the outer belt, again due to intervening planets. In either case, we suggest that the ratio of warm/cool component temperatures is indicative of the scale of outer planetary systems, which typically span a factor of about 10 in radius.
Summary Human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is caused by infection with parasites of the genus Trypanosoma , transmitted by the tsetse fly. The disease has two forms, Trypanosoma ...brucei (T b) rhodesiense and T b gambiense ; and is almost always fatal if untreated. Despite a recent reduction in the number of reported cases, patients with African trypanosomiasis continue to present major challenges to clinicians. Because treatment for CNS-stage disease can be very toxic, diagnostic staging to distinguish early-stage from late-stage disease when the CNS in invaded is crucial but remains problematic. Melarsoprol is the only available treatment for late-stage T b rhodesiense infection, but can be lethal to 5% of patients owing to post-treatment reactive encephalopathy. Eflornithine combined with nifurtimox is the first-line treatment for late-stage T b gambiense . New drugs are in the pipeline for treatment of CNS human African trypanosomiasis, giving rise to cautious optimism.
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, is one of the Africa's 'neglected diseases' and is caused by infection with protozoan parasites of the
Trypanosoma
genus. ...Transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly, it puts 70 million people at risk throughout sub-Saharan Africa and is usually fatal if untreated or inadequately treated. In this brief overview, some important recent developments in this disease are outlined. These cover various aspects including a reduction in disease incidence, newly recognised parasite reservoir sites in humans, disease outcome, novel diagnostic methods, new and improved treatment, and disease neuropathogenesis.
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a pathogenic human herpes virus that causes varicella (chickenpox) as a primary infection, following which it becomes latent in peripheral ganglia. Decades later, the ...virus may reactivate either spontaneously or after a number of triggering factors to cause herpes zoster (shingles). Varicella and its complications are more severe in the immunosuppressed. The most frequent and important complication of VZV reactivation is postherpetic neuralgia, the cause of which is unknown and for which treatment is usually ineffective. Reactivation of VZV may also cause a wide variety of neurological syndromes, the most significant of which is a vasculitis, which is treated with corticosteroids and the antiviral drug acyclovir. Other VZV reactivation complications include an encephalitis, segmental motor weakness and myelopathy, cranial neuropathies, Guillain⁻Barré syndrome, enteric features, and zoster sine herpete, in which the viral reactivation occurs in the absence of the characteristic dermatomally distributed vesicular rash of herpes zoster. There has also been a recent association of VZV with giant cell arteritis and this interesting finding needs further corroboration. Vaccination is now available for the prevention of both varicella in children and herpes zoster in older individuals.
The development of high‐throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies has greatly improved our capacity to identify fungi and unveil their ecological roles across a variety of ecosystems. Here we provide ...an overview of current best practices in metabarcoding analysis of fungal communities, from experimental design through molecular and computational analyses. By reanalysing published data sets, we demonstrate that operational taxonomic units (OTUs) outperform amplified sequence variants (ASVs) in recovering fungal diversity, a finding that is particularly evident for long markers. Additionally, analysis of the full‐length ITS region allows more accurate taxonomic placement of fungi and other eukaryotes compared to the ITS2 subregion. Finally, we show that specific methods for compositional data analyses provide more reliable estimates of shifts in community structure. We conclude that metabarcoding analyses of fungi are especially promising for integrating fungi into the full microbiome and broader ecosystem functioning context, recovery of novel fungal lineages and ancient organisms as well as barcoding of old specimens including type material.
We present the first characterisation of the 12 μm warm dust ('exo-Zodi') luminosity function around Sun-like stars, focusing on the dustiest systems that can be identified by the WISE mission. We ...use the sample of main-sequence stars observed by Hipparcos within 150 pc as an unbiased sample, and report the detection of six new warm dust candidates. The ages of five of these new sources are unknown, meaning that they may be sites of terrestrial planet formation or rare analogues of other old warm dust systems. We show that the dustiest old (>Gyr) systems such as BD+20 307 are 1 in 10 000 occurrences. Bright warm dust is much more common around young (<120 Myr) systems, with a ∼1 per cent occurrence rate. We show that a two component in situ model, where all stars have initially massive warm discs and in which warm debris is also generated at some random time along the stars' main-sequence lifetime, perhaps due to a collision, can explain the observations. However, if all stars have only initially massive warm discs, then these would not be visible at Gyr ages, and random collisions on the main sequence are too infrequent to explain the high disc occurrence rate for young stars. That is, neither of the components can explain the observations on their own. Despite these conclusions, we cannot rule out an alternative dynamical model in which comets are scattered in from outer regions because the distribution of systems with the appropriate dynamics is unknown. Our in situ model predicts that the fraction of stars with exo-Zodi bright enough to cause problems for future exo-Earth imaging attempts is at least roughly 10 per cent, and is higher for populations of stars younger than a few Gyr. This prediction of roughly 10 per cent also applies to old stars because bright systems like BD+20 307 imply a population of fainter systems that were once bright, but are now decaying through fainter levels. Our prediction should be strongly tested by the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer, which will provide valuable constraints and input for more detailed evolution models. A detection fraction lower than our prediction could indicate that the hot dust in systems like BD+20 307 has a cometary origin due to the quirks of the planetary dynamics. Population models of comet delivery need to be developed to help distinguish between different possible origins of warm dust.
Varicella–Zoster virus (VZV) is a pathogenic human alpha herpes virus that causes varicella (chicken pox) as a primary infection and, following a variable period of latency in different ganglionic ...neurons, it reactivates to produce herpes zoster (shingles). The focus of this review is on the wide spectrum of the possible neurological manifestations of VZV reactivation. While the most frequent reactivation syndrome is herpes zoster, this may be followed by the serious and painful post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) and by many other neurological conditions. Prominent among these conditions is a VZV vasculopathy, but the role of VZV in causing giant cell arteritis (GCA) is currently controversial. VZV reactivation can also cause segmental motor weakness, myelitis, cranial nerve syndromes, Guillain–Barre syndrome, meningoencephalitis, and zoster sine herpete, where a neurological syndrome occurs in the absence of the zoster rash. The field is complicated by the relatively few cases of neurological complications described and by the issue of causation when a neurological condition is not manifest at the same time as the zoster rash.
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