Genome Sequence of the Chestnut Blight Fungus Cryphonectria parasitica EP155: A Fundamental Resource for an Archetypical Invasive Plant Pathogen.

Cryphonectria parasitica is the causal agent of chestnut blight, a fungal disease that almost entirely eliminated mature American chestnut from North America over a 50-year period. Here, we formally report the genome of C. parasitica EP155 using a Sanger shotgun sequencing approach. After finishing and integration with simple-sequence repeat markers, the assembly was 43.8 Mb in 26 scaffolds (L50 = 5; N50 = 4.0Mb). Eight chromosomes are predicted: five scaffolds have two telomeres and six scaffolds have one telomere sequence. In total, 11,609 gene models were predicted, of which 85% show similarities to other proteins. This genome resource has already increased the utility of a fundamental plant pathogen experimental system through new understanding of the fungal vegetative incompatibility system, with significant implications for enhancing mycovirus-based biological control

Demonstration of Machine-Learning-Assisted Security Monitoring in Optical Networks

We report on the first demonstration of machine-learning-assisted detection, identification and localisation of optical-layer attacks integrated into network management system and verified on real-life experimental attack traces from a network operator testbed

N deposition and elevated CO2 on methane emissions: Differential responses of indirect effects compared to direct effects through litter chemistry feedbacks

Increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration and N deposition are expected to affect methane (CH4) production in soils and emission to the atmosphere, directly through increased plant litter production and indirectly through changes in substrate quality. We examined how CH4 emission responded to changes in litter quality under increased N and CO2, beyond differences in CH4 resulting from changes in litter production. We used senesced leaves from 13C-labeled plants of Molinia caerulea grown at elevated and ambient CO2 and affected by N fertilization to carry out two experiments: a laboratory litter incubation and a pot experiment. N fertilization increased N and decreased C concentrations in litter whereas elevated CO2 decreased litter quality as reflected in litter C and N concentrations and in the composition of lignin and saturated fatty acids within the litter. In contrast to our expectations, CH4 production in the laboratory incubation decreased when using litter from N-fertilized plants as substrate, whereas litter from elevated CO2 had no effect, compared to controls without N and at ambient CO2. Owing to high within-treatment variability in CH4 emissions, none of the treatment effects were reflected in the pot experiment. C mineralization rates were not affected by any of the treatments. The decrease in CH4 emissions due to indirect effects of N availability through litter quality changes (described here for the first time) contrast direct effects of N fertilization on CH4 production. The complex interaction of direct effects with indirect effects of increased N on litter quality may potentially result in a net decrease in CH4 emissions from wetlands in the long term.Fil: Pancotto, Veronica Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Bodegom, P. M. van. University Of Amsterdam; Países BajosFil: Hal, J. van. University Of Amsterdam; Países BajosFil: Logtestijn, R. S. P. van. University Of Amsterdam; Países BajosFil: Blokker, P.. University Of Amsterdam; Países BajosFil: Toet, S.. University Of Amsterdam; Países Bajos. University Of York; Reino UnidoFil: Aerts, R.. University Of Amsterdam; Países Bajo

Deviations from a uniform period spacing of gravity modes in a massive star

The life of a star is dominantly determined by the physical processes in the stellar interior. Unfortunately, we still have a poor understanding of how the stellar gas mixes near the stellar core, preventing precise predictions of stellar evolution. The unknown nature of the mixing processes as well as the extent of the central mixed region is particularly problematic for massive stars. Oscillations in stars with masses a few times that of the Sun offer a unique opportunity to disentangle the nature of various mixing processes, through the distinct signature they leave on period spacings in the gravity mode spectrum. Here we report the detection of numerous gravity modes in a young star with a mass of about seven solar masses. The mean period spacing allows us to estimate the extent of the convective core, and the clear periodic deviation from the mean constrains the location of the chemical transition zone to be at about 10 per cent of the radius and rules out a clear-cut profile.Peer reviewe

Aproximación etnográfica al análisis de envejecimiento y la atención de la salud entre mujeres mayores de un barrio periurbano de La Plata (El Retiro, Lisandro Olmos)

El desempeño de las personas mayores en diferentes contextos de la vida cotidiana resulta central porque evidencia la experiencia acumulada, y con ello, la posibilidad de recuperar y adecuarse a las necesidades del presente. La remembranza adquiere la forma de una narrativa que articula eventos, situaciones y conductas representativas que se manifiestan, entre otras situaciones, en la atención de su salud. En esta ponencia se presentan avances del trabajo de campo realizado (entre el 2015-2018), en relación al proceso de envejecimiento y la vejez de un grupo de adultas mayores residentes del barrio El Retiro (La Plata). Se aunaron criterios de la Antropología biológica y sociocultural para comprender al envejecimiento como un continuum que se desarrolla durante el trayecto vital y está influenciado por distintos factores ambientales. Algunos de los cambios provocados durante dicho envejecimiento son responsables de diversas enfermedades que relatan nuestras interlocutoras, de los modos en que se construyen los itinerarios terapéuticos para atenderlas y de las políticas de atención que los involucran. A partir de entrevistas - en especial genealógicas- e historias de vida, buscamos recuperar diversos factores que hayan influido en su tránsito hacia la vejez. Estos relatos permiten aproximarnos a sus percepciones sobre su cuerpo, salud, itinerarios terapéuticos, atención socio-sanitaria, seguridad social y eventos significativos que puedan ser útiles para recorrer juntas sus trayectorias, entendiendo dichos eventos pasados como parte fundamental para comprender su presente. Los materiales analizados pertenecen a los archivos del LINEA (FCNyM; UNLP).Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Probing the properties of convective cores through g modes: high-order g modes in SPB and gamma Doradus stars

In main sequence stars the periods of high-order gravity modes are sensitive probes of stellar cores and, in particular, of the chemical composition gradient that develops near the outer edge of the convective core. We present an analytical approximation of high-order g modes that takes into account the effect of the mu gradient near the core. We show that in main-sequence models, similarly to the case of white dwarfs, the periods of high-order gravity modes are accurately described by a uniform period spacing superposed to an oscillatory component. The periodicity and amplitude of such component are related, respectively, to the location and sharpness of the mu gradient. We investigate the properties of high-order gravity modes for stellar models in a mass domain between 1 and 10 Msun, and the effects of the stellar mass, evolutionary state, and extra-mixing processes on period spacing features. In particular, we show that for models of a typical SPB star, a chemical mixing that could likely be induced by the slow rotation observed in these stars, is able to significantly change the g-mode spectra of the equilibrium model. Prospects and challenges for the asteroseismology of gamma Doradus and SPB stars are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 29 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Gravity modes as a way to distinguish between hydrogen- and helium-burning red giant stars

Red giants are evolved stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and instead burn hydrogen in a surrounding shell. Once a red giant is sufficiently evolved, the helium in the core also undergoes fusion. Outstanding issues in our understanding of red giants include uncertainties in the amount of mass lost at the surface before helium ignition and the amount of internal mixing from rotation and other processes. Progress is hampered by our inability to distinguish between red giants burning helium in the core and those still only burning hydrogen in a shell. Asteroseismology offers a way forward, being a powerful tool for probing the internal structures of stars using their natural oscillation frequencies. Here we report observations of gravity-mode period spacings in red giants that permit a distinction between evolutionary stages to be made. We use high-precision photometry obtained with the Kepler spacecraft over more than a year to measure oscillations in several hundred red giants. We find many stars whose dipole modes show sequences with approximately regular period spacings. These stars fall into two clear groups, allowing us to distinguish unambiguously between hydrogen-shell-burning stars (period spacing mostly about 50 seconds) and those that are also burning helium (period spacing about 100 to 300 seconds).Comment: to appear as a Letter to Natur

Effectiveness of outpatient, day hospital, and inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment for patients with cluster B personality disorders

Abstract Background: For patients with cluster B personality disor- ders there is no consensus regarding the optimal treatment setting. The aim of this study was to compare the effective- ness of different psychotherapeutic settings for patient

Glucosylsphingosine Is a Highly Sensitive and Specific Biomarker for Primary Diagnostic and Follow-Up Monitoring in Gaucher Disease in a Non-Jewish, Caucasian Cohort of Gaucher Disease Patients

Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common lysosomal storage disorder (LSD). Based on a deficient β-glucocerebrosidase it leads to an accumulation of glucosylceramide. Standard diagnostic procedures include measurement of enzyme activity, genetic testing as well as analysis of chitotriosidase and CCL18/PARC as biomarkers. Even though chitotriosidase is the most well-established biomarker in GD, it is not specific for GD. Furthermore, it may be false negative in a significant percentage of GD patients due to mutation. Additionally, chitotriosidase reflects the changes in the course of the disease belatedly. This further enhances the need for a reliable biomarker, especially for the monitoring of the disease and the impact of potential treatments.Here, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the previously reported biomarker Glucosylsphingosine with regard to different control groups (healthy control vs. GD carriers vs. other LSDs).Only GD patients displayed elevated levels of Glucosylsphingosine higher than 12 ng/ml whereas the comparison controls groups revealed concentrations below the pathological cut-off, verifying the specificity of Glucosylsphingosine as a biomarker for GD. In addition, we evaluated the biomarker before and during enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in 19 patients, demonstrating a decrease in Glucosylsphingosine over time with the most pronounced reduction within the first 6 months of ERT. Furthermore, our data reveals a correlation between the medical consequence of specific mutations and Glucosylsphingosine.In summary, Glucosylsphingosine is a very promising, reliable and specific biomarker for GD

Effectiveness of different modalities of psychotherapeutic treatment for patients with cluster C personality disorders: results of a large prospective multicentre study.

Abstract BACKGROUND: No previous studies have compared the effectiveness of different modalities of psychotherapeutic treatment, as defined by different settings and durations, for patients with cluster C personality disorders. The aim of this multicentre study wa