Multiple carbon cycle mechanisms associated with the glaciation of Marine Isotope Stage 4

Here we use high-precision carbon isotope data (δ13C-CO2) to show atmospheric CO2 during Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4, ~70.5-59 ka) was controlled by a succession of millennial-scale processes. Enriched δ13C-CO2 during peak glaciation suggests increased ocean carbon storage. Variations in δ13C-CO2 in early MIS 4 suggest multiple processes were active during CO2 drawdown, potentially including decreased land carbon and decreased Southern Ocean air-sea gas exchange superposed on increased ocean carbon storage. CO2 remained low during MIS 4 while δ13C-CO2 fluctuations suggest changes in Southern Ocean and North Atlantic air-sea gas exchange. A 7 ppm increase in CO2 at the onset of Dansgaard-Oeschger event 19 (72.1 ka) and 27 ppm increase in CO2 during late MIS 4 (Heinrich Stadial 6, ~63.5-60 ka) involved additions of isotopically light carbon to the atmosphere. The terrestrial biosphere and Southern Ocean air-sea gas exchange are possible sources, with the latter event also involving decreased ocean carbon storage

Increased lytic efficiency of bovine macrophages trained with killed mycobacteria

Innate immunity is evolutionarily conserved in multicellular organisms and was considered to lack memory until very recently. One of its more characteristic mechanisms is phagocytosis, the ability of cells to engulf, process and eventually destroy any injuring agent. We report the results of an ex vivo experiment in bovine macrophages in which improved clearance of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) was induced by pre-exposure to a heat killed M. bovis preparation. The effects were independent of humoral and cellular adaptive immune responses and lasted up to six months. Specifically, our results demonstrate the existence of a training effect in the lytic phase of phagocytosis that can be activated by killed mycobacteria, thus suggesting a new mechanism of vaccine protection. These findings are compatible with the recently proposed concept of trained immunity, which was developed to explain the observation that innate immune responses provide unspecific protection against pathogens including other than those that originally triggered the immune response.Funding for these studies was provided by the EU project WildTBVac (Contract #613799) and by grants from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y alimentaria (INIA, RTA2011-00049) and the Ministry of Science (MINECO, AGL2014-56305) and European Funds Regional Development (FEDER).Peer Reviewe

Source identification and distribution reveals the potential of the geochemical Antarctic sea ice proxy IPSO25

The presence of a di-unsaturated highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipid biomarker (diene II) in Southern Ocean sediments has previously been proposed as a proxy measure of palaeo Antarctic sea ice. Here we show that a source of diene II is the sympagic diatom Berkeleya adeliensis Medlin. Furthermore, the propensity for B. adeliensis to flourish in platelet ice is reflected by an offshore downward gradient in diene II concentration in >100 surface sediments from Antarctic coastal and near-coastal environments. Since platelet ice formation is strongly associated with super-cooled freshwater inflow, we further hypothesize that sedimentary diene II provides a potentially sensitive proxy indicator of landfast sea ice influenced by meltwater discharge from nearby glaciers and ice shelves, and re-examination of some previous diene II downcore records supports this hypothesis. The term IPSO25-Ice Proxy for the Southern Ocean with 25 carbon atoms-is proposed as a proxy name for diene II

Autophagy suppresses host adaptive immune responses toward Borrelia burgdorferi

Inhibition of autophagy increases the severity of murine Lyme arthritis and human adaptive immune responses against B. burgdorferi. We have previously demonstrated that inhibition of autophagy increased the Borrelia burgdorferi induced innate cytokine production in vitro, but little is known regarding the effect of autophagy on in vivo models of Borrelia infection. Here, we showed that ATG7-deficient mice that were intra-articular injected with Borrelia spirochetes displayed increased joint swelling, cell influx, and enhanced interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 production by inflamed synovial tissue. Because both interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 are linked to the development of adaptive immune responses, we examine the function of autophagy on Borrelia induced adaptive immunity. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells treated with autophagy inhibitors showed an increase in interleukin-17, interleukin-22, and interferon- production in response to exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi. Increased IL-17 production was dependent on IL-1 release but, interestingly, not on interleukin-23 production. In addition, cytokine quantitative trait loci in ATG9B modulate the Borrelia induced interleukin-17 production. Because high levels of IL-17 have been found in patients with confirmed, severe, chronic borreliosis, we propose that the modulation of autophagy may be a potential target for anti-inflammatory therapy in patients with persistent Lyme disease.</p

Multiple carbon cycle mechanisms associated with the glaciation of Marine Isotope Stage 4.

Here we use high-precision carbon isotope data (δ13C-CO2) to show atmospheric CO2 during Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4, ~70.5-59 ka) was controlled by a succession of millennial-scale processes. Enriched δ13C-CO2 during peak glaciation suggests increased ocean carbon storage. Variations in δ13C-CO2 in early MIS 4 suggest multiple processes were active during CO2 drawdown, potentially including decreased land carbon and decreased Southern Ocean air-sea gas exchange superposed on increased ocean carbon storage. CO2 remained low during MIS 4 while δ13C-CO2 fluctuations suggest changes in Southern Ocean and North Atlantic air-sea gas exchange. A 7 ppm increase in CO2 at the onset of Dansgaard-Oeschger event 19 (72.1 ka) and 27 ppm increase in CO2 during late MIS 4 (Heinrich Stadial 6, ~63.5-60 ka) involved additions of isotopically light carbon to the atmosphere. The terrestrial biosphere and Southern Ocean air-sea gas exchange are possible sources, with the latter event also involving decreased ocean carbon storage

Un método de gestion ambiental para evaluar rellenos sanitarios

A partir de la descripción de actividades de operación del relleno sanitario y granja ambiental“Los Saltos”, y de la caracterización fi sicoquímica de sus lixiviados, se propone un método de evaluaciónambiental que incluye análisis de interacciones, como diagnóstico base para una matriz causa efecto,donde se identifi can impactos sobre los componentes ambientales. Con esta información se hizo unamatriz de importancia donde se clasifi caron los impactos en críticos, severos, moderados e irrelevantesy luego la valoración cualitativa del impacto ambiental que permite identifi car las actividades másimpactantes y los factores más afectados. Como resultado se determinó que la operación del rellenosanitario impacta en mayor medida los componentes físico y biótico; en especial genera efectos comoalteración de la calidad del aire, pérdida de especies de fl ora acuática y terrestre, alteración del ciclohidrológico y disminución de la calidad de aguas superfi ciales y subterráneas

SNP in <i>ATG2B</i> affects the efficacy of <i>in vivo</i> BCG-induced trained immunity.

<p>(a–b) Monocytes isolated before and 3 months after vaccination of 16 naïve (nonexposed) volunteers were stimulated <i>in vitro</i> with <i>B. burgdorferi</i>. Proinflammatory cytokine production (IL-1β [a], TNF-α [b]) was assessed by ELISA in the supernatants. (c–d) Kaplan-Meier curves for recurrence-free (c) and progression-free (d) survival according to rs3759601 SNP genotype of 192 patients suffering from non-muscle invasive bladder cancer treated with ≥6 intravesical instillations of BCG. Each drop in a probability curve indicates one or more events in that group. Vertical lines indicate censored patients, <i>i.e.</i> those who reached the end of their follow-up without experiencing the event. Total number of patients and number of events (between brackets) per genotype category are indicated next to the corresponding curve. Numbers of patients at risk at selected time points for each genotype category are given below the plots. (e–g) Monocytes of bladder cancer patients isolated before and after 6 intravesical BCG instillations as initial treatment were stimulated <i>in vitro</i> with LPS. Proinflammatory cytokine production (IL-1β [e], IL-6 [f], TNF-α [g]) was assessed by ELISA in the supernatants *P<0.05, **P<0.01.</p