The drift in the redshift of objects passively following the cosmological expansion has long been recognized as a key model-independent probe of cosmology. Here, we study the cosmological relevance ...of measurements of time or redshift derivatives of this drift, arguing that the combination of first and second redshift derivatives is a powerful test of the Lambda CDM cosmological model. In particular, the latter can be obtained numerically from a set of measurements of the drift at different redshifts. We show that, in the low-redshift limit, a measurement of the derivative of the drift can provide a constraint on the jerk parameter, which is j= 1 for flat Lambda CDM, while generically jnot = 1 for other models. We emphasize that such a measurement is well within the reach of the ELT-HIRES and SKA Phase 2 array surveys.
We generalize the mechanism for gravitational baryogensis in the context of f(R) theories of gravity, including a nonminimal coupling between curvature and matter. In these models, the baryon ...asymmetry is generated through an effective coupling between the Ricci scalar curvature and the net baryon current that dynamically breaks Charge conjugation, parity and time reversal (CPT) invariance. We study the combinations of characteristic mass scales and exponents for both nontrivial functions present in the modified action functional and establish the allowed region for these parameters: we find that very small deviations from general relativity are consistent with the observed baryon asymmetry and lead to temperatures compatible with the subsequent formation of the primordial abundances of light elements. In particular, we show the viability of a power-law nonminimal coupling function f2(R)∼Rn with 0<n≲0.078 and determine its characteristic curvature scale.
Hearing loss impacts health-related quality of life and general well-being and was identified in a Lancet report as one of the largest potentially modifiable factors for the prevention of age-related ...dementia. There is a lack of robust data on how cochlear implant treatment in the elderly impacts quality of life. The primary objective was to measure the change in health utility following cochlear implantation in individuals aged ≥ 60 years.
This study uniquely prospectively recruited a large multinational sample of 100 older adults (mean age 71.7 (SD7.6) range 60-91 years) with severe to profound hearing loss. In a repeated-measures design, pre and post implant outcome measures were analysed using mixed-effect models. Health utility was assessed with the Health Utilities Index Mark III (HUI3). Subjects were divided into groups of 60-64, 65-74 and 75 + years.
At 18 months post implant, the mean HUI3 score improved by 0.13 (95%CI: 0.07-0.18 p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the HUI3 between age groups (F2,9228 = 0.53, p = 0.59). The De Jong Loneliness scale reduced by an average of 0.61 (95%CI: 0.25-0.97 p < 0.014) and the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale improved on average (1.25, 95%CI: 0.85-1.65 p < 0.001). Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening reduced by an average of 8.7 (95%CI: 6.7-10.8, p < 0.001) from a significant to mild-moderate hearing handicap. Age was not a statistically significant factor for any of the other measures (p > 0.20). At baseline 90% of participants had no or mild depression and there was no change in mean depression scores after implant. Categories of Auditory perception scale showed that all subjects achieved a level of speech sound discrimination without lip reading post implantation (level 4) and at least 50% could use the telephone with a known speaker.
Better hearing improved individuals' quality of life, ability to communicate verbally and their ability to function independently. They felt less lonely and less handicapped by their hearing loss. Benefits were independent of age group. Cochlear implants should be considered as a routine treatment option for those over 60 years with bilateral severe to profound hearing loss.
ClinicalTrials.gov ( http://www.
gov/ ), 7 March 2017, NCT03072862.
The dissection of complex traits of economic importance to the pig industry requires the availability of a significant number of genetic markers, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This ...study was conducted to discover several hundreds of thousands of porcine SNPs using next generation sequencing technologies and use these SNPs, as well as others from different public sources, to design a high-density SNP genotyping assay.
A total of 19 reduced representation libraries derived from four swine breeds (Duroc, Landrace, Large White, Pietrain) and a Wild Boar population and three restriction enzymes (AluI, HaeIII and MspI) were sequenced using Illumina's Genome Analyzer (GA). The SNP discovery effort resulted in the de novo identification of over 372K SNPs. More than 549K SNPs were used to design the Illumina Porcine 60K+SNP iSelect Beadchip, now commercially available as the PorcineSNP60. A total of 64,232 SNPs were included on the Beadchip. Results from genotyping the 158 individuals used for sequencing showed a high overall SNP call rate (97.5%). Of the 62,621 loci that could be reliably scored, 58,994 were polymorphic yielding a SNP conversion success rate of 94%. The average minor allele frequency (MAF) for all scorable SNPs was 0.274.
Overall, the results of this study indicate the utility of using next generation sequencing technologies to identify large numbers of reliable SNPs. In addition, the validation of the PorcineSNP60 Beadchip demonstrated that the assay is an excellent tool that will likely be used in a variety of future studies in pigs.
Reference genes presenting stable expression profiles over a wide variety of conditions are required in relative expression studies of specific bacterial genes by quantitative reverse transcription ...PCR (RT-qPCR). High-throughput sequencing of bacterial transcriptomes using the RNA-seq methodology now provides a wealth of data that may be searched for identification of the most stably expressed genes of a given bacterium. Herein, we searched a RNA-seq dataset from various experiments with the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, grown under different stress conditions, in order to select appropriate candidate reference genes for this species. Nineteen genes involved in maintenance of basic cellular functions, so-called housekeeping genes, were chosen for study and their expression profiles in C. pseudotuberculosis were evaluated throughout all growth conditions. Eight of these genes (atpA, dnaG, efp, fusA, gyrA, gyrB, rpoB, and rpoC), mostly participating in DNA replication and transcription, matched the defined criteria to be included as candidate reference genes. Transcriptional levels of these genes were quantified by RT-qPCR assays after growth of C. pseudotuberculosis under two additional conditions. Expression stability analysis by NormFinder indicated the combination of genes encoding DNA gyrase subunit A (gyrA) and elongation factor P (fusA) as the most suitable for normalization of RT-qPCR studies in C. pseudotuberculosis.
The Doce River basin has suffered the largest environmental accident ever occurred in Brazil with the influx of tailings from Fundão and Santarém, belonging to Samarco mining company, due to the ...disaster in Mariana. A spill between 50 and 60 million m3 of tailings was estimated by the company. According to Samarco, the wastewater was composed mainly of clay, silt and heavy metals like iron, copper and manganese. Thereby, the objective of the present study was evaluated the genotoxic damage in juvenile of Geophagus brasiliensis (Quoy e Gaimard, 1824) exposed to Doce river water before (DRWBA - Doce River water before acident) and after (DRWAA - Doce River water after acident) the influx of tailings from the Germano and Santarém Dam disasters in Mariana, MG, Brazil. For this, 24 individuals of the species G. brasiliensis (obtained on IFES/ALEGRE fish culture) were submitted to a bioassay with three treatments and eight replicates. The treatments were: 1) Control water (water from the urban water supply system, filtered with a 0.45 µm membrane), 2) DRBA and 3) DRAA. After 96 h, these fishes were anesthetized to remove blood for evaluation of genotoxic damage (micronucleus and comet). For the bioassay, a total of 80 L of The Doce River water were collected before the influx of tailings and after the influx and then submitted to metal quantification analysis. Fish exposed to DRWBA and DRWAA treatments showed a significant increase in both the number of erythrocyte micronuclei and the DNA damage index in relation to the control fish; however, they did not present any differences between the two treatments. The results demonstrate that the DRWBA treatment was already genotoxic for the fish, mainly due to dissolved Cu concentrations in the water. The DRWAA treatment probably presented genotoxicity due to the increase in the dissolved fraction and synergistic effects of several metals found in the tailings of the Mariana accident.
Biochemical, serological, and molecular methods have been developed for the laboratory diagnosis of diseases caused by C. pseudotuberculosis (CP), but the identification of the pathogen and biovars ...differentiation may be time-consuming, expensive, and confusing compared with other bacteria. This study aimed to evaluate MALDI Biotyper and Overall Genome Relatedness Index (OGRI) analysis to optimize the identification and differentiation of biovars of C. pseudotuberculosis. Out of 230 strains isolated from several hosts and countries, 202 (87.8%) were precisely classified using MALDI Biotyper and the BioNumerics platform. The classification accuracies for the Ovis and Equi biovars were 80 (88.75%) and 82 (92.68%), respectively. When analyzing a sampling of these strains by Average Nucleotide Identity based on BLAST and TETRA analyses using genomic sequence data, it was possible to differentiate 100% of the strains in Equi and Ovis. Our data show that MALDI Biotyper and OGRI analysis help identify C. pseudotuberculosis at the species and biovar levels.
PDF
