115 research outputs found

    Regional differences in modelled net production and shallow remineralization in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre

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    © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 9 (2012): 2831-2846, doi:10.5194/bg-9-2831-2012.We used 5-yr concomitant data of tracer distribution from the BATS (Bermuda Time-series Study) and ESTOC (European Station for Time-Series in the Ocean, Canary Islands) sites to build a 1-D tracer model conservation including horizontal advection, and then compute net production and shallow remineralization rates for both sites. Our main goal was to verify if differences in these rates are consistent with the lower export rates of particulate organic carbon observed at ESTOC. Net production rates computed below the mixed layer to 110 m from April to December for oxygen, dissolved inorganic carbon and nitrate at BATS (1.34±0.79 mol O2 m−2, −1.73±0.52 mol C m−2 and −125±36 mmol N m−2) were slightly higher for oxygen and carbon compared to ESTOC (1.03±0.62 mol O2 m−2, −1.42±0.30 mol C m−2 and −213±56 mmol N m−2), although the differences were not statistically significant. Shallow remineralization rates between 110 and 250 m computed at ESTOC (−3.9±1.0 mol O2 m−2, 1.53±0.43 mol C m−2 and 38±155 mmol N m−2) were statistically higher for oxygen compared to BATS (−1.81±0.37 mol O2 m−2, 1.52±0.30 mol C m−2 and 147±43 mmol N m−2). The lateral advective flux divergence of tracers, which was more significant at ESTOC, was responsible for the differences in estimated oxygen remineralization rates between both stations. According to these results, the differences in net production and shallow remineralization cannot fully explain the differences in the flux of sinking organic matter observed between both stations, suggesting an additional consumption of non-sinking organic matter at ESTOC.B. Mourino was supported by the Ramon y Cajal program from the Spanish Minister of Science and Technology. Funding for this study was provided by the Xunta de Galicia under the research project VARITROP (09MDS001312PR, PI B. Mourino) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovation MOMAC project (CTM2008-05914/MAR)

    Role of Secreted Conjunctival Mucosal Cytokine and Chemokine Proteins in Different Stages of Trachomatous Disease

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    Trachoma, a disease of antiquity dating back to the 16th century B.C.E., predominates among developing countries, where it remains the primary cause of preventable blindness worldwide. In trachoma, recurrent Chlamydia trachomatis bacterial infections during childhood are thought to result in inflammation and subsequent conjunctival scarring that can progress to trichiasis (TT; chronic trachoma; inversion of ≥1 eyelash that touches the globe of the eye). The trachomatous follicular grade (TF; active disease) is a self-limiting disease, suggesting the coexistence of protective inflammatory proteins. The trachomatous inflammatory grade (TI; active disease) is more likely to progress to trachomatous scarring (TS; chronic trachoma). To date, there are only a handful of studies that have examined the immune response in trachoma, and these were primarily based on gene expression. Characterizing quantified conjunctival mucosal immune differences for secreted proteins among individuals with no, active, and chronic trachoma may identify protein biomarkers associated with protection versus disease, which would greatly aid our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of trachoma. In this study, we characterized 25 cytokine and chemokine proteins for all trachoma grades. We identified eight cytokines and chemokines as risk factors for chronic trachoma and four as protective. Together, these findings further characterize the immunopathologic responses involved during trachoma, which will likely aid in the design of a vaccine and immunomodulating therapeutics for trachoma

    Transcriptome Profiling of Testis during Sexual Maturation Stages in Eriocheir sinensis Using Illumina Sequencing

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    The testis is a highly specialized tissue that plays dual roles in ensuring fertility by producing spermatozoa and hormones. Spermatogenesis is a complex process, resulting in the production of mature sperm from primordial germ cells. Significant structural and biochemical changes take place in the seminiferous epithelium of the adult testis during spermatogenesis. The gene expression pattern of testis in Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) has not been extensively studied, and limited genetic research has been performed on this species. The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies enables the generation of genomic resources within a short period of time and at minimal cost. In the present study, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing to produce a comprehensive transcript dataset for testis of E. sinensis. In two runs, we produced 25,698,778 sequencing reads corresponding with 2.31 Gb total nucleotides. These reads were assembled into 342,753 contigs or 141,861 scaffold sequences, which identified 96,311 unigenes. Based on similarity searches with known proteins, 39,995 unigenes were annotated based on having a Blast hit in the non-redundant database or ESTscan results with a cut-off E-value above 10−5. This is the first report of a mitten crab transcriptome using high-throughput sequencing technology, and all these testes transcripts can help us understand the molecular mechanisms involved in spermatogenesis and testis maturation

    Band structures extending to very high spin in Xe126

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    High-spin states in Xe126 have been populated in the Se82(Ca48,4n)Xe126 reaction in two experiments, one at the VIVITRON accelerator in Strasbourg using the Euroball detector array, and a subsequent one with ATLAS at Argonne using the Gammasphere Ge-detector array. Levels and assignments made previously for Xe126 up to I=20 have been confirmed and extended. Four regular bands extending to a spin of almost I=60, which are interpreted as two pairs of signature partners with opposite parity, are identified for the first time. The α = 0 partner of each pair is connected to the lower-lying levels, whereas the two α = 1 partners remain floating. A fractional Doppler shift analysis of transitions in the strongest populated (Ï€,α)=(-,0) band provides a value of 5.20.50.4 b for the transition quadrupole moment, which can be related to a minimum in the potential-energy surface calculated by the ULTIMATE CRANKER cranked shell-model code at Îμâ‰0.35 and Îâ‰5°. The four lowest bands calculated for this minimum compare well with the two signature pairs experimentally observed over a wide spin range. A sharp upbend at â.,ω~1170 keV is interpreted as a crossing with a band involving the j15/2 neutron orbital, for which pairing correlations are expected to be totally quenched. The four long bands extend to within â5 spin units of a crossing with an yrast line defined by calculated hyperdeformed transitions and will serve as important stepping stones into the spin region beyond 60ħ for future experiments
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