•We compared the diversity of protists in freshwater, marine plankton and soil.•Soil hosts the highest protist γ diversity, followed by oceans and freshwater.•Phagocytosis seems to be the dominant ...process in eukaryotic nutrient acquisition.•Relative abundance of phototrophs in soils is comparable to marine systems.
Protists dominate eukaryotic diversity and play key functional roles in all ecosystems, particularly by catalyzing carbon and nutrient cycling. To date, however, a comparative analysis of their taxonomic and functional diversity that compares the major ecosystems on Earth (soil, freshwater and marine systems) is missing. Here, we present a comparison of protist diversity based on standardized high throughput 18S rRNA gene sequencing of soil, freshwater and marine environmental DNA. Soil and freshwater protist communities were more similar to each other than to marine protist communities, with virtually no overlap of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) between terrestrial and marine habitats. Soil protists showed higher γ diversity than aquatic samples. Differences in taxonomic composition of the communities led to changes in a functional diversity among ecosystems, as expressed in relative abundance of consumers, phototrophs and parasites. Phototrophs (eukaryotic algae) dominated freshwater systems (49% of the sequences) and consumers soil and marine ecosystems (59% and 48%, respectively). The individual functional groups were composed of ecosystem- specific taxonomic groups. Parasites were equally common in all ecosystems, yet, terrestrial systems hosted more OTUs assigned to parasites of macro-organisms while aquatic systems contained mostly microbial parasitoids. Together, we show biogeographic patterns of protist diversity across major ecosystems on Earth, preparing the way for more focused studies that will help understanding the multiple roles of protists in the biosphere.
Purpose: Rabies is a fatal but preventable disease with proper pre-exposure anti-rabies vaccination (ARV). Dogs, as household pets and strays, are the reservoir and vector of the disease, and dog ...bites have been associated with human rabies cases in Sri Lanka over the past few years. However, other susceptible species having frequent contact with humans may be a source of infection. One such species is sheep and immunity following ARV has never been tested in sheep reared in Sri Lanka. Materials and Methods: We have tested serum samples from sheep reared in the Animal Centre, Medical Research Institute of Sri Lanka for the presence of anti-rabies antibodies following ARV. Sheep serum samples were tested with Bio-Pro Rabies enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody kits used for the first time in Sri Lanka and our results were verified by a seroneutralization method on cells (fluorescent antibody virus neutralization, FAVN test) currently recommended by World Organization for Animal Health and World Health Organization. Results: Sheep received annual ARV and maintained high neutralizing antibody titers in their serum. No maternal antibodies were detected in lamb around 6 months of age. Agreement between the ELISA and FAVN test, i.e., coefficient concordance was 83.87%. Conclusion: Annual vaccination in sheep has an effect on maintaining adequate protection against rabies by measurements of anti-rabies antibody response. Lambs need to be vaccinated earlier than 6 months of age to achieve protective levels of neutralizing antibodies in their serum. Introducing this ELISA in Sri Lanka will be a good opportunity to determine the level of anti-rabies antibodies in animal serum samples.
Biodiversity offsetting (BO) is now a well-established mechanism worldwide. In several countries, it stands as a regulatory requirement and can be achieved via commercial transactions of biodiversity ...“credits”. Little is known however among ecologists and BO practitioners about the genealogy of BO instruments and the historical factors that shaped them. It is only quite recently that the use of market-based instruments to protect the environment has gone from being politically anathema to politically correct. How can we account for this shift? To shed light on the rise of BO market mechanisms, we build upon historical records and historical research. This research documents a link between the emergence of BO market mechanism and the 1973–1990 rollback of environmental regulations. These results help contextualize the rise of market-based instruments in conservation science and policies within the ascent of a new “liberal environmentalism” policy paradigm. They therefore shed light on the co-evolutionary relationship linking conservation to societal and ideological dynamics.
An incomplete view of the mechanisms that drive metastasis, the primary cause of cancer-related death, has been a major barrier to development of effective therapeutics and prognostic diagnostics. ...Increasing evidence indicates that the interplay between microenvironment, genetic lesions, and cellular plasticity drives the metastatic cascade and resistance to therapies. Here, using melanoma as a model, we outline the diversity and trajectories of cell states during metastatic dissemination and therapy exposure, and highlight how understanding the magnitude and dynamics of nongenetic reprogramming in space and time at single-cell resolution can be exploited to develop therapeutic strategies that capitalize on nongenetic tumor evolution.
Abstract
Nanomechanical mass spectrometry has proven to be well suited for the analysis of high mass species such as viruses. Still, the use of one-dimensional devices such as vibrating beams forces ...a trade-off between analysis time and mass resolution. Complex readout schemes are also required to simultaneously monitor multiple resonance modes, which degrades resolution. These issues restrict nanomechanical MS to specific species. We demonstrate here single-particle mass spectrometry with nano-optomechanical resonators fabricated with a Very Large Scale Integration process. The unique motion sensitivity of optomechanics allows designs that are impervious to particle position, stiffness or shape, opening the way to the analysis of large aspect ratio biological objects of great significance such as viruses with a tail or fibrils. Compared to top-down beam resonators with electrical read-out and state-of-the-art mass resolution, we show a three-fold improvement in capture area with no resolution degradation, despite the use of a single resonance mode.
Sepsis is a dysregulated immune response to an infection that leads to organ dysfunction. Knowledge of the pathophysiology of organ failure in sepsis is crucial for optimizing the management and ...treatment of patients and for the development of potential new therapies. In clinical practice, six major organ systems - the cardiovascular (including the microcirculation), respiratory, renal, neurological, haematological and hepatic systems - can be assessed and monitored, whereas others, such as the gut, are less accessible. Over the past 2 decades, considerable amounts of new data have helped improve our understanding of sepsis pathophysiology, including the regulation of inflammatory pathways and the role played by immune suppression during sepsis. The effects of impaired cellular function, including mitochondrial dysfunction and altered cell death mechanisms, on the development of organ dysfunction are also being unravelled. Insights have been gained into interactions between key organs (such as the kidneys and the gut) and organ-organ crosstalk during sepsis. The important role of the microcirculation in sepsis is increasingly apparent, and new techniques have been developed that make it possible to visualize the microcirculation at the bedside, although these techniques are only research tools at present.
Abstract Over the next 5 yr, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will use 10 spectrographs with 5000 fibers on the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory to conduct the ...first Stage IV dark energy galaxy survey. At z < 0.6, the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) will produce the most detailed map of the universe during the dark-energy-dominated epoch with redshifts of >10 million galaxies spanning 14,000 deg 2 . In this work, we present and validate the final BGS target selection and survey design. From the Legacy Surveys, BGS will target an r < 19.5 mag limited sample (BGS Bright), a fainter 19.5 < r < 20.175 color-selected sample (BGS Faint), and a smaller low- z quasar sample. BGS will observe these targets using exposure times scaled to achieve homogeneous completeness and cover the footprint three times. We use observations from the Survey Validation programs conducted prior to the main survey along with simulations to show that BGS can complete its strategy and make optimal use of “bright” time. BGS targets have stellar contamination <1%, and their densities do not depend strongly on imaging properties. BGS Bright will achieve >80% fiber assignment efficiency. Finally, BGS Bright and BGS Faint will achieve >95% redshift success over any observing condition. BGS meets the requirements for an extensive range of scientific applications. BGS will yield the most precise baryon acoustic oscillation and redshift-space distortion measurements at z < 0.4. It presents opportunities for new methods that require highly complete and dense samples (e.g., N -point statistics, multitracers). BGS further provides a powerful tool to study galaxy populations and the relations between galaxies and dark matter.
•Bioactive compounds and volatiles of six table grape varieties were analyzed.•Descriptive sensory profiles were also performed.•Bioactive compounds were highest in Muscat de Hambourg and Alphonse ...Lavallée.
Six table grape cultivars (Centennial Seedless, Chasselas, Italia, Italia Rubi, Alphonse Lavallée, and Muscat de Hambourg) were analyzed for their levels of soluble solids, titratable acidity, sugars, organic acids, vitamin C and E, carotenoids, polyphenolics and volatile compounds during two successive years. Descriptive sensory analyses of the six table grape varieties were also performed. Mainly due to anthocyanins, black cultivars had the highest total phenolic contents. Alphonse Lavallée had also both the highest levels of trans-resveratrol and piceid, and Muscat de Hambourg the highest levels of α-tocopherol, β-carotene and monoterpenols, well-known key aroma compounds in Muscat varieties having also interesting pharmacological properties. This study shows that the two traditional black French cultivars, Muscat de Hambourg and Alphonse Lavallée, are particularly rich in bioactive compounds and have a great potential for human health. Finally, Muscat de Hambourg was significantly rated sweeter, juicier and more aromatic than the others cultivars.
DNA metabarcoding refers to the DNA‐based identification of multiple species from a single complex and degraded environmental sample. We developed new sampling and extraction protocols suitable for ...DNA metabarcoding analyses targeting soil extracellular DNA. The proposed sampling protocol has been designed to reduce, as much as possible, the influence of local heterogeneity by processing a large amount of soil resulting from the mixing of many different cores. The DNA extraction is based on the use of saturated phosphate buffer. The sampling and extraction protocols were validated first by analysing plant DNA from a set of 12 plots corresponding to four plant communities in alpine meadows, and, second, by conducting pilot experiments on fungi and earthworms. The results of the validation experiments clearly demonstrated that sound biological information can be retrieved when following these sampling and extraction procedures. Such a protocol can be implemented at any time of the year without any preliminary knowledge of specific types of organisms during the sampling. It offers the opportunity to analyse all groups of organisms using a single sampling/extraction procedure and opens the possibility to fully standardize biodiversity surveys.
Positivity bounds on Minimal Flavor Violation Bonnefoy, Quentin; Gendy, Emanuele; Grojean, Christophe
The journal of high energy physics,
04/2021, Letnik:
2021, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A
bstract
From general analyticity and unitarity requirements on the UV theory, positivity bounds on the Wilson coefficients of the dimension-8 operators composed of 4 fermions and two derivatives ...appearing in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory have been derived recently. We explore the fate of these bounds in the context of models endowed with a Minimal Flavor Violation (MFV) structure, models in which the flavor structure of higher dimensional operators is inherited from the one already contained in the Yukawa sector of the Standard Model Lagrangian. Our goal is to check whether the general positivity bounds translate onto bounds on the Yukawa coefficients and/or on elements of the CKM matrix. MFV fixes the coefficients of dimension-8 operators up to some multiplicative flavor-blind factors and we find that, in the most generic setup, the freedom left by those unspecified coefficients is enough as not to constrain the parameters of the renormalizable Yukawa sector. On the contrary, the latter shape the allowed region for the former. Requiring said overall coefficients to take natural
O
1
values could give rise to bounds on the Yukawa couplings. Remarkably, at leading order in an expansion in powers of the Yukawa matrices, no bounds on the CKM entries can be retrieved.
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