Effect of Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections on Physical Fitness of School Children in Côte d'Ivoire

The burden of parasitic worm infections is considerable, particularly in developing countries. It is acknowledged that parasitic worm infections negatively impact on children's school performance and physical development. A deeper understanding of these linkages is important for updating burden of disease measures. We investigated the relationship between worm infection status and physical fitness of 156 school children from Côte d'Ivoire and controlled for potential confounding of Plasmodium infection (the causative agent of malaria) and environmental parameters (temperature and humidity). Children were diagnosed for parasitic worm and Plasmodium infections, examined by a physician, and participated in a 20 m shuttle run test to assess their maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) as a proxy for physical fitness. Most of the children had parasitic worms and a Plasmodium infection. Nevertheless, their physical fitness was excellent (average VO2 max: 52.7 ml kg−1 min−1). The level of VO2 max was only influenced by sex and age, but not by parasitic worms and Plasmodium infections. In future studies, the dynamics of children's physical performance should be assessed before and after control interventions, including the assessment of blood hemoglobin, hematocrit, and nutritional indicators to determine whether physical fitness in worm- and Plasmodium-infected individuals can be further improved

Adeno-Associated Viral Vector-Mediated Transgene Expression Is Independent of DNA Methylation in Primate Liver and Skeletal Muscle

Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors can support long-term transgene expression in quiescent tissues. Intramuscular (IM) administration of a single-stranded AAV vector (ssAAV) in the nonhuman primate (NHP) results in a peak protein level at 2–3 months, followed by a decrease over several months before reaching a steady-state. To investigate transgene expression and vector genome persistence, we previously demonstrated that rAAV vector genomes associate with histones and form a chromatin structure in NHP skeletal muscle more than one year after injection. In the mammalian nucleus, chromatin remodeling via epigenetic modifications plays key role in transcriptional regulation. Among those, CpG hyper-methylation of promoters is a known hallmark of gene silencing. To assess the involvement of DNA methylation on the transgene expression, we injected NHP via the IM or the intravenous (IV) route with a recombinant ssAAV2/1 vector. The expression cassette contains the transgene under the transcriptional control of the constitutive Rous Sarcoma Virus promoter (RSVp). Total DNA isolated from NHP muscle and liver biopsies from 1 to 37 months post-injection was treated with sodium bisulfite and subsequently analyzed by pyrosequencing. No significant CpG methylation of the RSVp was found in rAAV virions or in vector DNA isolated from NHP transduced tissues. Direct de novo DNA methylation appears not to be involved in repressing transgene expression in NHP after gene transfer mediated by ssAAV vectors. The study presented here examines host/vector interactions and the impact on transgene expression in a clinically relevant model

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Altimetry for the future: building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

In Tuber Biocontrol of Potato Late Blight by a Collection of Phenazine-1-Carboxylic Acid-Producing <i>Pseudomonas</i> spp.

Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) produced by plant-beneficial Pseudomonas spp. is an antibiotic with antagonistic activities against Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of potato late blight. In this study, a collection of 23 different PCA-producing Pseudomonas spp. was confronted with P. infestans in potato tuber bioassays to further understand the interaction existing between biocontrol activity and PCA production. Overall, the 23 strains exhibited different levels of biocontrol activity. In general, P. orientalis and P. yamanorum strains showed strong disease reduction, while P. synxantha strains could not effectively inhibit the pathogen’s growth. No correlation was found between the quantities of PCA produced and biocontrol activity, suggesting that PCA cannot alone explain P. infestans’ growth inhibition by phenazine-producing pseudomonads. Other genetic determinants potentially involved in the biocontrol of P. infestans were identified through genome mining in strains displaying strong biocontrol activity, including siderophores, cyclic lipopeptides and non-ribosomal peptide synthase and polyketide synthase hybrid clusters. This study represents a step forward towards better understanding the biocontrol mechanisms of phenazine-producing Pseudomonas spp. against potato late blight

Sommeil et nutrition. Enquête Institut national du sommeil et de la vigilance/MGEN, dans le cadre de l’étude NutriNet-Santé

International audienc

Estimating Symbiont Abundances and Gill Surface Areas in Specimens of the Hydrothermal Vent Mussel Bathymodiolus puteoserpentis Maintained in Pressure Vessels

International audienceThe hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus puteoserpentis hosts gill-associated sulfur- and methane-oxidizing bacteria which sustain host nutrition and allow it to reach high densities at various sites along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Previous studies have demonstrated that in similar dual symbioses, relative abundances of each bacterial type could change following variations in symbiont substrate availabilities. In this study, pressurized recovery and incubations in pressure vessels were used to test whether B. puteoserpentis symbionts displayed similar behavior in the presence of symbiont substrates. The relative abundances of both types of symbionts were analyzed using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and group-specific gene copy numbers were assessed using qPCR. Specimens sampled using isobaric and non-isobaric recovery contained similar relative proportions (in surface coverage) of sulfur- and methane-oxidizing bacteria indicating that recovery type did not have impact on measured relative areas. Similarly, pressurized incubations with different substrates did lead to significant differences in the relative surface coverage of the two types of bacteria, although slight variations were measured with qPCR, suggesting changes in relative abundances of gene copy numbers but not in relative areas covered. Total gill surface areas and total bacterial numbers in specimens were estimated for the first time. Symbiont bearing-mussels display exchange surfaces about 20-fold higher than those found in similar-sized coastal mussels, and mean bacterial numbers of 2.5*1012 per specimen were estimated. This emphasizes that symbiotic mussels are a major reservoir of bacteria in vent ecosystems

Genetics instability of wtAAV2 genome and AAV promoter activities in the Baculovirus/Sf9 cells system

<div><p>The human Adeno-Associated Virus serotype 2 (wtAAV2) is a common non-pathological virus and its recombinant form (rAAV) is widely used as gene therapy vector. Although rAAVs are routinely produced in the Baculovirus/Sf9 cell system, wtAAV2 has never been studied in this context. We tried to produce wtAAV2 in the baculovirus/Sf9 cell system hypothesizing that the wtAAV2 may be considered as a normal recombinant AAV transgene. Through our attempts to produce wtAAV2 in Baculovirus/Sf9, we found that wtAAV2 p5 promoter, which controls the expression of large Rep proteins in mammalian cells, was active in this system. p5 promoter activity in the baculovirus/Sf9 cell system leads to the expression of Rep78 that finally excises wtAAV2 genome from the baculovirus genome during the earliest phases of baculovirus stock production. Via p5 promoter expression kinetics and strand specific RNA-Seq analysis of wtAAV2, rAAV and Rep2/Cap2 cassettes in the baculovirus context we could demonstrate that wtAAV2 native promoters, p5, p19 and p40 are all active in the context of the baculovirus system and lead to the expression of different proteins and peptides. In addition, this study has proven that the baculovirus brings at least some of the helper functions needed in the AAV replication/life cycle.</p></div

Influence of vegetation‐induced water table seasonality on groundwater chloride concentration dynamics in a riparian fen peatland

International audiencePeatlands are environments that rely mainly on high water levels to accumulate organic matter. Depending on the chemical species observed, the lowering of the water table can change biogeochemical equilibriums, with various impacts. This paper aims to understand the effect of shallow groundwater seasonality on chloride concentrations in a French riparian peatland by combining water table monitoring, geochemical and stable water isotopes analysis. Water table levels and groundwater samples were recorded and collected for 3 years, every 2 months, in nine observation wells and the nearby river. Chloride concentrations were highly variable in space and time, ranging from 10 to 100 mg L À1. They are shown to be related to the wate

Microscopy observation of infected Sf9 cells 5 days post-infection.

<p>Three different baculovirus (carrying the Rep78-eGFP ITR construct) lysis plaque clones have been used to infect T75 cell flasks (panels 1–3). Despite obvious signs of baculoviruses infection, only in one flask eGFP expression could be observed, meaning that the ITR-Rep78eGFP-ITR construct has been excised from the baculovirus backbone before the reinfection in most of the cases.</p