The Hydraenidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) of the Maltese Archipelago (Central Mediterranean)

The Hydraenidae of the Maltese Archipelago are reviewed, based on literature records and examination of historical and recently collected specimens. A total of eleven species is included of which Hydraena (s.str.) sub impressa REY, Ochthebius (s.str.) fossulatus MULSANT, O. (s.str.) punctatus STEPHENS, and O. (s.str.) viridis PEYRON (species complex) are recorded from the Maltese Islands for the first time. The records of the following four species by CAMERON & CARUANA GATTO (1907) are based on misidentifications: Hydraena (s.str.) nigrita GERMAR (= H. (s.str.) subimpressa REY), Ochthebius (s.str.) foveolatus GERMAR (= O. (s.str.) eyrei JACH, and O. (s.str.) fossulatus MULSANT), O. (s.str.) lanuginosus REICHE & SAULCY (= O. (s.str.) punctatus STEPHENS), and O. (s.str.) sub integer MULSANT & REy (= O. (s.str.) celatus JACHpeer-reviewe

A new species of Faronus Aube, 1844, endemic to Malta (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae)

Faronus rica sp. nov. endemic to Malta is described and illustrated, and placed in the Faronus hispanus species group. Faronus rica sp. nov. is closely related to F. siculus Fiori, 1913, an endemic species to Sicily, and they can be distinguished based on morphological features highlighted in the present work.peer-reviewe

Testing coupled dark energy models with their cosmological background evolution

We consider a cosmology in which dark matter and a quintessence scalar field responsible for the acceleration of the Universe are allowed to interact. Allowing for both conformal and disformal couplings, we perform a global analysis of the constraints on our model using Hubble parameter measurements, baryon acoustic oscillation distance measurements, and a Supernovae Type Ia data set. We find that the additional disformal coupling relaxes the conformal coupling constraints. Moreover, we show that, at the background level, a disformal interaction within the dark sector is preferred to both ACDM and uncoupled quintessence, hence favoring interacting dark energy

Searching for dark matter-dark energy interactions: Going beyond the conformal case

We consider a generic cosmological model which allows for non-gravitational direct couplings between dark matter and dark energy. The distinguishing cosmological features of these couplings can be probed by current cosmological observations, thus enabling us to place constraints on this generic interaction which is composed of the conformal and disformal coupling functions. We perform a global analysis in order to independently constrain the conformal, disformal, and mixed interactions between dark matter and dark energy by combining current data from: Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropies, a combination of measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations, a supernovae Type Ia sample, a compilation of Hubble parameter measurements estimated from the cosmic chronometers approach, direct measurements of the expansion rate of the Universe today, and a compilation of growth of structure measurements. We find that in these coupled dark energy models, the influence of the local value of the Hubble constant does not significantly alter the inferred constraints when we consider joint analyses that include all cosmological probes. Moreover, the parameter constraints are remarkably improved with the inclusion of the growth of structure data set measurements. We find no compelling evidence for an interaction within the dark sector of the Universe

A novel HLA-B18 restricted CD8+ T cell epitope is efficiently cross-presented by dendritic cells from soluble tumor antigen

NY-ESO-1 has been a major target of many immunotherapy trials because it is expressed by various cancers and is highly immunogenic. In this study, we have identified a novel HLA-B*1801-restricted CD8<sup>+</sup>T cell epitope, NY-ESO-1<sub>88–96</sub> (LEFYLAMPF) and compared its direct- and cross-presentation to that of the reported NY-ESO-1<sub>157–165</sub> epitope restricted to HLA-A*0201. Although both epitopes were readily cross-presented by DCs exposed to various forms of full-length NY-ESO-1 antigen, remarkably NY-ESO-1<sub>88–96</sub> is much more efficiently cross-presented from the soluble form, than NY-ESO-1<sub>157–165</sub>. On the other hand, NY-ESO-1<sub>157–165</sub> is efficiently presented by NY-ESO-1-expressing tumor cells and its presentation was not enhanced by IFN-γ treatment, which induced immunoproteasome as demonstrated by Western blots and functionally a decreased presentation of Melan A<sub>26–35</sub>; whereas NY-ESO-1<sub>88–96</sub> was very inefficiently presented by the same tumor cell lines, except for one that expressed high level of immunoproteasome. It was only presented when the tumor cells were first IFN-γ treated, followed by infection with recombinant vaccinia virus encoding NY-ESO-1, which dramatically increased NY-ESO-1 expression. These data indicate that the presentation of NY-ESO-1<sub>88–96</sub> is immunoproteasome dependent. Furthermore, a survey was conducted on multiple samples collected from HLA-B18+ melanoma patients. Surprisingly, all the detectable responses to NY-ESO-1<sub>88–96</sub> from patients, including those who received NY-ESO-1 ISCOMATRIX™ vaccine were induced spontaneously. Taken together, these results imply that some epitopes can be inefficiently presented by tumor cells although the corresponding CD8<sup>+</sup>T cell responses are efficiently primed in vivo by DCs cross-presenting these epitopes. The potential implications for cancer vaccine strategies are further discussed

Neuroptera (Insecta) of Pantelleria, the Pelagic Islands and the Maltese archipelago : towards an annotated checklist with new records

Mediterranean islands have a high ecological and biogeographical significance since they bridge the gap between Europe and North Africa. However, many factors make it difficult to decipher their biogeographical patterns. Taking into account published and unpublished records, a revised and annotated checklist of the Neuroptera found in Pantelleria, the Pelagic Islands and the Maltese archipelago was compiled.peer-reviewe