Indole pulse signalling regulates the cytoplasmic pH of E. coli in a memory-like manner

This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.The data that support the findings of this study are available in Apollo (University of Cambridge Repository) at https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.26410.Bacterial cells are critically dependent upon pH regulation. Here we demonstrate that indole plays a critical role in the regulation of the cytoplasmic pH of Escherichia coli. Indole is an aromatic molecule with diverse signalling roles. Two modes of indole signalling have been described: persistent and pulse signalling. The latter is illustrated by the brief but intense elevation of intracellular indole during stationary phase entry. We show that under conditions permitting indole production, cells maintain their cytoplasmic pH at 7.2. In contrast, under conditions where no indole is produced, the cytoplasmic pH is near 7.8. We demonstrate that pH regulation results from pulse, rather than persistent, indole signalling. Furthermore, we illustrate that the relevant property of indole in this context is its ability to conduct protons across the cytoplasmic membrane. Additionally, we show that the efect of the indole pulse that occurs normally during stationary phase entry in rich medium remains as a “memory” to maintain the cytoplasmic pH until entry into the next stationary phase. The indole-mediated reduction in cytoplasmic pH may explain why indole provides E. coli with a degree of protection against stresses, including some bactericidal antibiotics.Leverhulme TrustEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)Winton Programme for the Physics of SustainabilityTrinity-Henry Barlow ScholarshipNational Physical Laboratory (UK)European Research Council (ERC

Chitosan/TPP microparticles obtained by microemulsion method applied in controlled release of heparin

AbstractThis work deals with the preparation of chitosan/tripolyphosphate microparticles (CHT/TPP) using microemulsion system based on water/benzyl alcohol. The morphology of the microparticles was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The microparticles were also characterized through infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The morphology and crystallinity of microparticles depended mainly on CHT/TPP ratio. Studies of controlled release of HP were evaluated in distilled water and in simulated gastric fluid. Besides, the profile of HP releasing could be tailored by tuning the CHT/TPP molar ratio. Finally, these prospective results allow the particles to be employed as site-specific HP controlled release system

Excitation of local magnetic moments by tunnelling electrons

The advent of milli-kelvin scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) with inbuilt magnetic fields has opened access to the study of magnetic phenomena with atomic resolution at surfaces. In the case of single atoms adsorbed on a surface, the existence of different magnetic energy levels localized on the adsorbate is due to the breaking of the rotational invariance of the adsorbate spin by the interaction with its environment, leading to energy terms in the meV range. These structures were revealed by STM experiments in IBM Almaden in the early 2000's for atomic adsorbates on CuN surfaces. The experiments consisted in the study of the changes in conductance caused by inelastic tunnelling of electrons (IETS, Inelastic Electron Tunnelling Spectroscopy). Manganese and Iron adatoms were shown to have different magnetic anisotropies induced by the substrate. More experiments by other groups followed up, showing that magnetic excitations could be detected in a variety of systems: e.g. complex organic molecules showed that their magnetic anistropy was dependent on the molecular environment, piles of magnetic molecules showed that they interact via intermolecular exchange interaction, spin waves were excited on ferromagnetic surfaces and in Mn chains, and magnetic impurities have been analyzed on semiconductors. These experiments brought up some intriguing questions: the efficiency of magnetic excitations was very high, the excitations could or could not involve spin flip of the exciting electron and singular-like behavior was sometimes found at the excitation thresholds. These facts called for extended theoretical analysis; perturbation theories, sudden-approximation approaches and a strong coupling scheme successfully explained most of the magnetic inelastic processes. In addition, many-body approaches were also used to decipher the interplay between inelasComment: Review article to appear in Progress of Surface Scienc

Evidence for a Mixed Mass Composition at the ‘ankle’ in the Cosmic-ray Spectrum

We report a first measurement for ultrahigh energy cosmic rays of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in the water Cherenkov stations of air-showers registered simultaneously by the fluorescence and the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlation measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory with sensitivity to both the electromagnetic and muonic components. It allows an accurate determination of the spread of primary masses in the cosmic-ray flux. Up till now, constraints on the spread of primary masses have been dominated by systematic uncertainties. The present correlation measurement is not affected by systematics in the measurement of the depth of shower maximum or the signal in the water Cherenkov stations. The analysis relies on general characteristics of air showers and is thus robust also with respect to uncertainties in hadronic event generators. The observed correlation in the energy range around the ‘ankle’ at lg(E/eV) = 18.5–19.0 differs significantly from expectations for pure primary cosmic-ray compositions. A light composition made up of proton and helium only is equally inconsistent with observations. The data are explained well by a mixed composition including nuclei with mass A \u3e 4. Scenarios such as the proton dip model, with almost pure compositions, are thus disfavoredas the sole explanation of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux at Earth

The impacts of social determinants of health and cardiometabolic factors on cognitive and functional aging in Colombian underserved populations

Global initiatives call for further understanding of the impact of inequity on aging across underserved populations. Previous research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presents limitations in assessing combined sources of inequity and outcomes (i.e., cognition and functionality). In this study, we assessed how social determinants of health (SDH), cardiometabolic factors (CMFs), and other medical/social factors predict cognition and functionality in an aging Colombian population. We ran a cross-sectional study that combined theory- (structural equation models) and data-driven (machine learning) approaches in a population-based study (N = 23,694; M = 69.8 years) to assess the best predictors of cognition and functionality. We found that a combination of SDH and CMF accurately predicted cognition and functionality, although SDH was the stronger predictor. Cognition was predicted with the highest accuracy by SDH, followed by demographics, CMF, and other factors. A combination of SDH, age, CMF, and additional physical/psychological factors were the best predictors of functional status. Results highlight the role of inequity in predicting brain health and advancing solutions to reduce the cognitive and functional decline in LMICs.Fil: Santamaria Garcia, Hernando. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Colombia. Hospital Universitario San Ignacio; Colombia. University of California; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Moguilner, Sebastian Gabriel. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Massachusetts General Hospital; Estados Unidos. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Rodriguez Villagra, Odir Antonio. Universidad de Costa Rica; Costa RicaFil: Botero Rodriguez, Felipe. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Pina Escudero, Stefanie Danielle. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: O’Donovan, Gary. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. Universidad de los Andes; ColombiaFil: Albala, Cecilia. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Matallana, Diana. Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota; Colombia. Hospital Universitario San Ignacio; Colombia. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Schulte, Michael. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Slachevsky, Andrea. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Yokoyama, Jennifer S.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Possin, Katherine. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Ndhlovu, Lishomwa C.. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Al-Rousan, Tala. University of California at San Diego; Estados UnidosFil: Corley, Michael J.. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Kosik, Kenneth. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Muniz Terrera, Graciela. University of Edinburgh; Reino Unido. Ohio University; Estados UnidosFil: Miranda, J. Jaime. George Institute For Global Health; Australia. Cronicas Centro de Excelencia En Enfermedades Crónicas; Perú. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; PerúFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Trinity College Dublin; Irlanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. University of California; Estados Unidos. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chil

Type 2 diabetes, depressive symptoms and trajectories of cognitive decline in a national sample of community-dwellers: a prospective cohort study

We examined the individual and synergistic effects of type 2 diabetes and elevated depressive symptoms on memory and executive function trajectories over 10 and eight years of follow-up, respectively. Our sample comprised 10,524 community-dwellers aged ≥50 years in 2002±03 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. With respect to memory (word recall), participants with either diabetes or elevated depressive symptoms recalled significantly fewer words compared with those free of these conditions (reference category), but more words compared with those with both conditions. There was a significant acceleration in the rate of memory decline in participants aged ≤50±64 years with both conditions (-0.27, 95% CI, -0.45 to -0.08, per study wave), which was not observed in those with either condition or aged ≥65 years. With respect to executive function (animal naming), participants aged 65 years with diabetes or those with elevated depressive symptoms named significantly fewer animals compared with the reference category, while those with both conditions named fewer animals compared with any other category. The rate of executive function decline was significantly greater in participants with both conditions (-0.54, 95% CI, -0.99 to -0.10; and ±0.71, 95% CI, -1.16 to -0.27, per study wave, for those aged 50±64 and ≥65 years, respectively), but not in participants with either condition. Diabetes and elevated depressive symptoms are inversely associated with memory and executive function, but, individually, do not accelerate cognitive decline. The co-occurrence of diabetes and elevated depressive symptoms significantly accelerates cognitive decline over time, especially among those aged 50±64 years

Atlanto-axial rotatory fixation in a girl with Spondylocarpotarsal synostosis syndrome

We report a 15-year-old girl who presented with spinal malsegmentation, associated with other skeletal anomalies. The spinal malsegmentation was subsequently discovered to be part of the spondylocarpotarsal synostosis syndrome. In addition, a distinctive craniocervical malformation was identified, which included atlanto-axial rotatory fixation. The clinical and the radiographic findings are described, and we emphasise the importance of computerised tomography to characterize the craniocervical malformation complex. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical report of a child with spondylocarpotarsal synostosis associated with atlanto-axial rotatory fixation

Supplemental Information 4: Raw data.

This study evaluated pollution levels in water and sediments of Península de Paraguaná and related these levels with benthic macrofauna along a coastal area where the largest Venezuelan oil refineries have operated over the past 60 years. For this, the concentration of heavy metals, of hydrocarbon compounds and the community structure of the macrobenthos were examined at 20 sites distributed along 40 km of coastline for six consecutive years, which included windy and calm seasons. The spatial variability of organic and inorganic compounds showed considerably high coastal pollution along the study area, across both years and seasons. The southern sites, closest to the refineries, had consistently higher concentrations of heavy metals and organic compounds in water and sediments when compared to those in the north. The benthic community was dominated by polychaetes at all sites, seasons and years, and their abundance and distribution were significantly correlated with physical and chemical characteristics of the sediments. Sites close to the oil refineries were consistently dominated by families known to tolerate xenobiotics, such as Capitellidae and Spionidae. The results from this study highlight the importance of continuing long-term environmental monitoring programs to assess the impact of effluent discharge and spill events from the oil refineries that operate in the western coast of Paraguaná, Venezuela

Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era—A review

The exploration of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm, characterized by a continuous increase in the quantity and quality of experimental data that is obtained by the detection of the various cosmic messengers (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves) from numerous origins. They give us information about their sources in the universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Moreover, multi-messenger astronomy opens up the possibility to search for phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity. On the one hand, the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories at energy regimes which are not directly accessible in accelerators; on the other hand, tiny effects in the propagation of very high energy particles could be amplified by cosmological distances. After decades of merely theoretical investigations, the possibility of obtaining phenomenological indications of Planck-scale effects is a revolutionary step in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, but it requires cooperation between different communities of physicists (both theoretical and experimental). This review, prepared within the COST Action CA18108 “Quantum gravity phenomenology in the multi-messenger approach”, is aimed at promoting this cooperation by giving a state-of-the art account of the interdisciplinary expertise that is needed in the effective search of quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation and detection of cosmic messengers