Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the evolution of form and function in the amniote jaw.

The amniote jaw complex is a remarkable amalgamation of derivatives from distinct embryonic cell lineages. During development, the cells in these lineages experience concerted movements, migrations, and signaling interactions that take them from their initial origins to their final destinations and imbue their derivatives with aspects of form including their axial orientation, anatomical identity, size, and shape. Perturbations along the way can produce defects and disease, but also generate the variation necessary for jaw evolution and adaptation. We focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate form in the amniote jaw complex, and that enable structural and functional integration. Special emphasis is placed on the role of cranial neural crest mesenchyme (NCM) during the species-specific patterning of bone, cartilage, tendon, muscle, and other jaw tissues. We also address the effects of biomechanical forces during jaw development and discuss ways in which certain molecular and cellular responses add adaptive and evolutionary plasticity to jaw morphology. Overall, we highlight how variation in molecular and cellular programs can promote the phenomenal diversity and functional morphology achieved during amniote jaw evolution or lead to the range of jaw defects and disease that affect the human condition

Biologic Treatments for Sports Injuries II Think Tank-Current Concepts, Future Research, and Barriers to Advancement, Part 2:Rotator Cuff

Rotator cuff tears are common and result in considerable morbidity. Tears within the tendon substance or at its insertion into the humeral head represent a considerable clinical challenge because of the hostile local environment that precludes healing. Tears often progress without intervention, and current surgical treatments are inadequate. Although surgical implants, instrumentation, and techniques have improved, healing rates have not improved, and a high failure rate remains for large and massive rotator cuff tears. The use of biologic adjuvants that contribute to a regenerative microenvironment have great potential for improving healing rates and function after surgery. This article presents a review of current and emerging biologic approaches to augment rotator cuff tendon and muscle regeneration focusing on the scientific rationale, preclinical, and clinical evidence for efficacy, areas for future research, and current barriers to advancement and implementation

Euclid preparation. III. Galaxy cluster detection in the wide photometric survey, performance and algorithm selection

Galaxy cluster counts in bins of mass and redshift have been shown to be a competitive probe to test cosmological models. This method requires an efficient blind detection of clusters from surveys with a well-known selection function and robust mass estimates, which is particularly challenging at high redshift. The Euclid wide survey will cover 15 000 deg2 of the sky, avoiding contamination by light from our Galaxy and our solar system in the optical and near-infrared bands, down to magnitude 24 in the H-band. The resulting data will make it possible to detect a large number of galaxy clusters spanning a wide-range of masses up to redshift ∼2 and possibly higher. This paper presents the final results of the Euclid Cluster Finder Challenge (CFC), fourth in a series of similar challenges. The objective of these challenges was to select the cluster detection algorithms that best meet the requirements of the Euclid mission. The final CFC included six independent detection algorithms, based on different techniques, such as photometric redshift tomography, optimal filtering, hierarchical approach, wavelet and friend-of-friends algorithms. These algorithms were blindly applied to a mock galaxy catalog with representative Euclid-like properties. The relative performance of the algorithms was assessed by matching the resulting detections to known clusters in the simulations down to masses of M₂₀₀ ∼ 10^(13.25) M⊙. Several matching procedures were tested, thus making it possible to estimate the associated systematic effects on completeness to 80% completeness for a mean purity of 80% down to masses of 10¹⁴ M⊙ and up to redshift z = 2. Based on these results, two algorithms were selected to be implemented in the Euclid pipeline, the Adaptive Matched Identifier of Clustered Objects (AMICO) code, based on matched filtering, and the PZWav code, based on an adaptive wavelet approach

Studies on the virome of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana reveal novel dsRNA elements and mild hypervirulence.

© 2017 Kotta-Loizou, Coutts. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Kotta-Loizou I, Coutts RHA (2017) 'Studies on the Virome of the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana Reveal Novel dsRNA Elements and Mild Hypervirulence', PLoS Pathogens, 13(1): e1006183. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1006183The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has a wide host range and is used as a biocontrol agent against arthropod pests. Mycoviruses have been described in phytopathogenic fungi while in entomopathogenic fungi their presence has been reported only rarely. Here we show that 21.3% of a collection of B. bassiana isolates sourced from worldwide locations, harbor dsRNA elements. Molecular characterization of these elements revealed the prevalence of mycoviruses belonging to the Partitiviridae and Totiviridae families, the smallest reported virus to date, belonging to the family Narnaviridae, and viruses unassigned to a family or genus. Of particular importance is the discovery of members of a newly proposed family Polymycoviridae in B. bassiana. Polymycoviruses, previously designated as tetramycoviruses, consist of four non-conventionally encapsidated capped dsRNAs. The presence of additional non-homologous genomic segments in B. bassiana polymycoviruses and other fungi illustrates the unprecedented dynamic nature of the viral genome. Finally, a comparison of virus-free and virus-infected isogenic lines derived from an exemplar B. bassiana isolate revealed a mild hypervirulent effect of mycoviruses on the growth of their host isolate and on its pathogenicity against the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella, highlighting for the first time the potential of mycoviruses as enhancers of biocontrol agents.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Prostatic abscess is traditionally considered a rare disease that is caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has recently emerged as an important cause of prostatic abscesses. Symptoms are nonspecific and include dysuria, urinary frequency, fever, chills, and perineal and low back pain. Morbidity and mortality increase with delays in identification and proper treatment. We present two cases of community acquired MRSA prostatic abscesses with bacteremia. One of these cases may be the first reported septic shock fatality resulting from a prostatic abscess source in an immunocompetent patient. As the number of community acquired MRSA bacteremia cases increases, this potential site of infection should be recognized

β-lattamasi a spettro esteso (ESBL) ed AmpC in Escherichia coli isolati da carcasse di pollo.

Le β-lattamasi a spettro esteso (ESBL) sono enzimi codificati da geni plasmidici che conferiscono resistenza a penicilline, cefalosporine di 1a, 2a e 3a generazione. Anche altre β-lattamasi, quali le AmpC codificate da geni a localizzazione cromosomica e plasmidica, inducono resistenza verso cefalosporine e cefamicine. Diversi prodotti di origine animale possono veicolare E. coli produttori di ESBL/AmpC e, fra questi, le carni avicole potrebbero svolgere un ruolo importante nella loro diffusione. La presente ricerca ha investigato la presenza di E. coli produttori di ESBL/AmpC in carcasse di pollo (prelevate dopo la fase di refrigerazione) provenienti da 4 differenti allevamenti e derivanti dallo stesso stock parentale. Il grado di contaminazione delle carcasse (n=80) è stato rilevato mediante metodica quantitativa dopo lavaggio dei campioni in Acqua Peptonata tamponata e semina in Eosin Methylene Blue Agar (EMB) addizionato o meno con cefotaxima (CTX). Le colonie isolate sono state sottoposte ad antibiogramma seguendo le linee guida del Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). I ceppi resistenti e intermedi sono stati sottoposti a tipizzazione molecolare per l’identificazione del gruppo filogenetico mediante multiplex PCR. L’analisi delle carcasse ha evidenziato livelli di contaminazione superficiale, in generale, superiori a 3 Log UFC/ml di E. coli nella maggior parte dei campioni considerati; in alcuni casi la contaminazione ha raggiunto i 5 Log UFC/ml. L’analisi fenotipica delle colonie identificate (n° 236) ha evidenziato una percentuale di ceppi produttori di ESBL e AmpC da moderata (11%) a bassa (4,6 %), rispettivamente. La distribuzione dei differenti profili di resistenza è risultata statisticamente differente tra i diversi allevamenti. I ceppi che a vario grado hanno mostrato una parziale o completa resistenza alle molecole testate appartenevano a due filogruppi (B1 e A) che rappresentano complessivamente il 69% dei ceppi esaminati. I ceppi produttori di ESBL sono risultati mag-giormente associati ai filogruppi A, B1 ed F; al contempo i ceppi AmpC positivi sono risultati appartenere ai filogruppi B1 e D. Questi risultati preliminari evidenziano come le β -lattamasi studiate siano veicolate sia da ceppi ambientali/commensali (filogruppi A e B1), che da ceppi che pos-sono associarsi a patologia extra-intestinale nell’uomo e nelle specie avicole (filo-gruppo D). Questi risultati evidenziano la necessità di uno studio più approfondito delle popo-lazioni di E. coli produttori di ESBL/AmpC nella filiera avicola

ETC-42 Exposure Time Calculator: Evolution and New Functionalities

International audienceWe developed at CeSAM (Centre de donnees Astrophysiques de Marseille) ETC-42, an Exposure Time Calculator compliant with Virtual Observatory standards. ETC-42 has been designed to facilitate the integration of new sites, instruments and sources by the user. It is not instrument-specific, but is based on generic XML input data. It is used in several project implementations (EUCLID, PFS, IRIS, WISH, EELTs) covering a wide wavelength range, from NIR to UV. The previous release has been optimized to achieve gain of computation time. New functionalities for automatic input parameterization have been added to target specific instrumental configuration and to give an increased level of user-friendliness. This article describes the new functionalities : fixtures, sdaptive optics, Fabry Perot implementation and two new builder tools to create Telescope transmission curves and sky brightness tables. And, in order to facilitate the integration to the Virtual Observatory environment, VO drag and drop functionality is now available