Efficient light coupling into a photonic crystal waveguide with flatband slow mode

We design an efficient coupler to transmit light from a strip waveguide into the flatband slow mode of a photonic crystal waveguide with ring-shaped holes. The coupler is a section of a photonic crystal waveguide with a higher group velocity, obtained by different ring dimensions. We demonstrate coupling efficiency in excess of 95% over the 8 nm wavelength range where the photonic crystal waveguide exhibits a quasi constant group velocity vg = c/37. An analysis based on the small Fabry-P\'erot resonances in the simulated transmission spectra is introduced and used for studying the effect of the coupler length and for evaluating the coupling efficiency in different parts of the coupler. The mode conversion efficiency within the coupler is more than 99.7% over the wavelength range of interest. The parasitic reflectance in the coupler, which depends on the propagation constant mismatch between the slow mode and the coupler mode, is lower than 0.6% within this wavelength range.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Photonics and Nanostructures - Fundamentals and Application

Sera from Trypanosoma b. gambiense infected patients cross-react with a Trypanosoma cruzi recombinant protein

In previous studies, we and others have shown utility of a 24-kDa #Trypanosoma cruzi recombinant antigen (rTc24) for serological diagnosis of Chagas' disease. Also, this molecule has been proved useful to evaluate cure of chagasic patients who submit to specific treatment. However, in all the studies done so far, the 24-kDa protein was used as a fusion with a Gluthatione-S-transferase (GST) of #Schistosoma japonicum, therefore, parallel assays to determine the anti-GST responses of all sera were required to deduce the GST noise in serological tests. Here, we show the subcloning by polymerase chain reaction of the cDNA encoding the #T. cruzi$ 24-kDa antigen in a vector system (pQE) allowing us to obtain Tc24 recombinant protein as a single molecule. The highly reactivity of chagasic sera from Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia in ELISA against the recombinant antigen is confirmed. However, sera from patients infected with African trypanosomes recognize rTc24 in ELISA and blot. The relevance of these findings in the context of Chagas' disease diagnosis and/or the relationship with African trypanosomes is analyzed. (Résumé d'auteur

Genetic Determinism vs. Phenotypic Plasticity in Protist Morphology

Untangling the relationships between morphology and phylogeny is key to building a reliable taxonomy, but is especially challenging for protists, where the existence of cryptic or pseudocryptic species makes finding relevant discriminant traits difficult. Here we use Hyalosphenia papilio (a testate amoeba) as a model species to investigate the contribution of phylogeny and phenotypic plasticity in its morphology. We study the response of H. papilio morphology (shape and pores number) to environmental variables in (i) a manipulative experiment with controlled conditions (water level), (ii) an observational study of a within-site natural ecological gradient (water level), and (iii) an observational study across 37 European peatlands (climate). We showed that H. papilio morphology is correlated to environmental conditions (climate and water depth) as well as geography, while no relationship between morphology and phylogeny was brought to light. The relative contribution of genetic inheritance and phenotypic plasticity in shaping morphology varies depending on the taxonomic group and the trait under consideration. Thus, our data call for a reassessment of taxonomy based on morphology alone. This clearly calls for a substantial increase in taxonomic research on these globally still under-studied organisms leading to a reassessment of estimates of global microbial eukaryotic diversity.</p

FGF receptor genes and breast cancer susceptibility: results from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium

Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression. Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95 confidence interval=1.02-1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2. Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2. © 2014 Cancer Research UK

Synthesis of discussions of the Second Koala Retrovirus Workshop, 2021

This document represents a synthesis of discussions held online at the Second Koala Retrovirus Workshop in 2021. The three days of discussions were based on workshop presentations and comprise: KoRV foundational science (Day 1); applied management of koalas in zoo populations (Day 2); and applied management of koalas in wild populations (Day 3). Each of these discussions gathers current knowledge, explores points of consensus and disagreement, and identifies important knowledge gaps. Recommendations arise regarding research strategy, interim measures for management, and support of research and management via initiation of working groups on KoRV diagnostics and biobanking