PathOrganic – Risks and Recommendations Regarding Human Pathogens in Organic Vegetable Production Chains

PathOrganic assesses risks associated with the consumption of fresh and minimally processed vegetables due to the prevalence of bacterial human pathogens in plant produce. The project evaluates whether organic production poses a risk on food safety, taking into consideration sources of pathogen transmission (e.g. animal manure). The project also explores whether organic versus conventional production practices may reduce the risk of pathogen manifestation. In Europe, vegetable-linked outbreaks are not well investigated. A conceptual model together with novel sampling strategies and specifically adjusted methods provides the basis for large-scale surveys of organically grown plant produce in five European countries. Critical control points are determined and evaluated and factors contributing to a food safety problem are analyzed in greenhouse and field experiments. The project aims at developing a quantitative risk assessment model and at formulating recommendations for improving food safety in organic vegetable production

Analytical description of quasivacuum oscillations of solar neutrinos

We propose a simple prescription to calculate the solar neutrino survival probability P_{ee} in the quasivacuum oscillation (QVO) regime. Such prescription is obtained by matching perturbative and exact analytical results, which effectively take into account the density distribution in the Sun as provided by the standard solar model. The resulting analytical recipe for the calculation of P_{ee} is shown to reach its highest accuracy |\Delta P_{ee}| < 2.6 x 10^{-2} in the whole QVO range) when the familiar prescription of choosing the solar density scale parameter r_0 at the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) resonance point is replaced by a new one, namely, when r_0 is chosen at the point of ``maximal violation of adiabaticity'' (MVA) along the neutrino trajectory in the Sun. The MVA prescription admits a smooth transition from the QVO regime to the MSW transition one. We discuss in detail the phase acquired by neutrinos in the Sun, and show that it might be of relevance for the studies of relatively short timescale variations of the fluxes of the solar \nu lines in the future real-time solar neutrino experiments. Finally, we elucidate the role of matter effects in the convective zone of the Sun.Comment: 25 pages (RevTeX) + 11 figures (postscript

Is astronomy possible with neutral ultra-high energy cosmic ray particles existing in the Standard Model?

The recently observed correlation between HiRes stereo cosmic ray events with energies E ~ 10 EeV and BL Lacs occurs at an angle which strongly suggests that the primary particles are neutral. We analyze whether this correlation, if not a statistical fluctuation, can be explained within the Standard Model, i.e., assuming only known particles and interactions. We have not found a plausible process which can account for these correlations. The mechanism which comes closest -- the conversion of protons into neutrons in the IR background of our Galaxy -- still under-produces the required flux of neutral particles by about 2 orders of magnitude. The situation is different at E ~ 100 EeV where the flux of cosmic rays at Earth may contain up to a few percent of neutrons pointing back to the extragalactic sources.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Pest categorisation of Ips cembrae

The Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of the large larch bark beetle, Ips cembrae (Heer) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), for the EU. I. cembrae is a well-defined and distinguishable species, native to Europe and recognised mainly as a pest of larch (Larix spp.) and occasionally of pine (Pinus spp.) and spruce (Picea spp.). It is distributed in 16 Member States of the EU and listed in Annex IIB of Council Directive 2000/29/EC. Protected zones are in place in Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland and Isle of Man). Wood, wood products, bark and wood packaging material are considered as pathways for this pest, which is also able to disperse by flight. The insects normally establish on fallen or weakened trees but, when their populations are high, can also mass-attack healthy trees. The males produce aggregation pheromones that attract conspecifics of both sexes. The insects also inoculate pathogenic fungi to their hosts. There are one to two generations per year. Before establishing their broods, the young adults need to proceed to maturation feeding either within the bark of the tree where they developed or in 2–18 years old twigs. I. cembrae has been expanding its geographical range in Europe during the second half of the 20th century. Sanitary thinning or clear felling is the major control methods. Quarantine measures are implemented to prevent entry in the protected zones. All criteria for consideration as potential protected zone quarantine pest are met. The criteria for considering I. cembrae as a potential regulated non-quarantine pest are not met since plants for planting are not viewed as a major pathway

3D Brownian Diffusion of Submicron-Sized Particle Clusters

We report on the translation and rotation of particle clusters made through the combination of spherical building blocks. These clusters present ideal model systems to study the motion of objects with complex shape. Because they could be separated into fractions of well-defined configurations on a sufficient scale and their overall dimensions were below 300 nm, the translational and rotational diffusion coefficients of particle duplets, triplets and tetrahedrons could be determined by a combination of polarized dynamic light scattering (DLS) and depolarized dynamic light scattering (DDLS). The use of colloidal clusters for DDLS experiments overcomes the limitation of earlier experiments on the diffusion of complex objects near surfaces because the true 3D diffusion can be studied. When the exact geometry of the complex assemblies is known, different hydrodynamic models for calculating the diffusion coefficient for objects with complex shapes could be applied. Because hydrodynamic friction must be restricted to the cluster surface the so-called shell model, in which the surface is represented as a shell of small friction elements, was most suitable to describe the dynamics. A quantitative comparison of the predictions from theoretical modeling with the results obtained by DDLS showed an excellent agreement between experiment and theory

MAGE-A cancer/testis antigens inhibit MDM2 ubiquitylation function and promote increased levels of MDM4

Melanoma antigen A (MAGE-A) proteins comprise a structurally and biochemically similar sub-family of Cancer/Testis antigens that are expressed in many cancer types and are thought to contribute actively to malignancy. MAGE-A proteins are established regulators of certain cancer-associated transcription factors, including p53, and are activators of several RING finger-dependent ubiquitin E3 ligases. Here, we show that MAGE-A2 associates with MDM2, a ubiquitin E3 ligase that mediates ubiquitylation of more than 20 substrates including mainly p53, MDM2 itself, and MDM4, a potent p53 inhibitor and MDM2 partner that is structurally related to MDM2. We find that MAGE-A2 interacts with MDM2 via the N-terminal p53-binding pocket and the RING finger domain of MDM2 that is required for homo/hetero-dimerization and for E2 ligase interaction. Consistent with these data, we show that MAGE-A2 is a potent inhibitor of the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of MDM2, yet it does not have any significant effect on p53 turnover mediated by MDM2. Strikingly, however, increased MAGE-A2 expression leads to reduced ubiquitylation and increased levels of MDM4. Similarly, silencing of endogenous MAGE-A expression diminishes MDM4 levels in a manner that can be rescued by the proteasomal inhibitor, bortezomid, and permits increased MDM2/MDM4 association. These data suggest that MAGE-A proteins can: (i) uncouple the ubiquitin ligase and degradation functions of MDM2; (ii) act as potent inhibitors of E3 ligase function; and (iii) regulate the turnover of MDM4. We also find an association between the presence of MAGE-A and increased MDM4 levels in primary breast cancer, suggesting that MAGE-A-dependent control of MDM4 levels has relevance to cancer clinically

Analogue peptides for the immunotherapy of human acute myeloid leukemia

Accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00262-015-1762-9The use of peptide vaccines, enhanced by adjuvants, has shown some efficacy in clinical trials. However, responses are often short-lived and rarely induce notable memory responses. The reason is that self-antigens have already been presented to the immune system as the tumor develops, leading to tolerance or some degree of host tumor cell destruction. To try to break tolerance against self-antigens, one of the methods employed has been to modify peptides at the anchor residues to enhance their ability to bind major histocompatibility complex molecules, extending their exposure to the T-cell receptor. These modified or analogue peptides have been investigated as stimulators of the immune system in patients with different cancers with variable but sometimes notable success. In this review we describe the background and recent developments in the use of analogue peptides for the immunotherapy of acute myeloid leukemia describing knowledge useful for the application of analogue peptide treatments for other malignancies

The Beautiful Mess in Abell 2255

We present LOFAR observations of one of the most spectacular objects in the radio sky: Abell 2255. This is a nearby (z = 0.0806) merging galaxy cluster hosting one of the first radio halos ever detected in the intracluster medium (ICM). The deep LOFAR images at 144 MHz of the central ∼10 Mpc2 region show a plethora of emission on different scales, from tens of kiloparsecs to above megaparsec sizes. In this work, we focus on the innermost region of the cluster. Among the numerous interesting features observed, we discover remarkable bright and filamentary structures embedded in the radio halo. We incorporate archival WSRT 1.2 GHz data to study the spectral properties of the diffuse synchrotron emission and find a very complex spectral index distribution in the halo spanning a wide range of values. We combine the radio data with Chandra observations to investigate the connection between the thermal and nonthermal components by quantitatively comparing the radio and X-ray surface brightness and the spectral index of the radio emission with the thermodynamical quantities of the ICM. Despite the multitude of structures observed in the radio halo, we find that the X-ray and radio emission are overall well correlated. The fact that the steepest spectrum emission is located in the cluster center and traces regions with high entropy possibly suggests the presence of seed particles injected by radio galaxies that are spread in the ICM by the turbulence generating the extended radio halo