<i>In vitro</i> experiments on the predation by the swimming crab, <i>Macropipus holsatus</i>, on brine shrimps, <i>Crangon crangon</i>

In vitro experiments on the predatory behaviour of the Portunid crabMacropipus holsatus indicate that it is not a very efficient predator of brown shrimp, Crangon crangon. Only about 2 % of the shrimps in the test units were killed and partly eaten by the crabs. These findings are compared to the results of earlier investigations on the food composition and feeding behaviour of Macropipus holsatus by Amrom (1961). Previous assumptions on the detrimental effect of the swimming crab on the shrimp stock and fishery should be attenuated

Magnetic Moment of the Fragmentation Aligned 61Fe(9/2)+ Isomer

We report on the g factor measurement of the isomer in $^{61}Fe$ ($E^{*}=861 keV$). The isomer was produced and spin-aligned via a projectile-fragmentation reaction at intermediate energy, the Time Dependent Perturbed Angular Distribution (TDPAD) method being used for the measurement of the g factor. For the first time, due to significant improvements of the experimental technique, an appreciable residual alignment of the isomer has been observed, allowing a precise determination of its g factor: $g=-0.229(2)$. Comparison of the experimental g factor with shell-model and mean field calculations confirms the $9/2^+$ spin and parity assignments and suggests the onset of deformation due to the intrusion of Nilsson orbitals emerging from the $\nu g_{9/2}$.Comment: 4 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Comparison of the isolation of adducts fo 2'-deoxycytidine and 2'-deoxyguanosine with phenylglycidyl ether by high-performance liquid chromatography on a reversed-phase column and a polystyrene-divinylbenzene column

2'-Deoxycitidine (dCyd) and 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGuo) were subjected to reaction with phenylglycidyl ether (PGE) in methanol in order to study the formation of the corresponding 2'-deoxynucleoside adducts. Separation methods were developed on analytical and semi-preparative scales using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection on a reversed-phase column and on a polystyrene-divinylbenzene column. The use of the latter column was prompted by decomposition of the preparatively isolated dGuo-PGE adducts on the reversed-phase column. The use of a polystyrene-divinylbenzene column solved this problem and also revealed the presence of one more peak in both the dCyd-and dGuo-PGE reaction mixtures.The adducts of dCyd and dGuo were isolated on preparative reversed-phase and polystyrene-divinylbenzene columns and characterized by UV, fast atom bombardment mass and 360 MHz 1H NMR spectrometry. The adducts of dCyd were the diastereomers of N-3-(2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl)-2'-deoxycytidine and N4-(2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl)-2'-deoxycytidine whereas those of dGuo were the two diastereomers of N-7-(2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine and a third peak which appeared to be mainly (N2-(2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29601/1/0000690.pd

Efecto del antígeno excretor-secretor de leishmania braziliensis sobre la fagocitosis en macrófagos.

Leishmania braziliensis es un flagelado digénico que causa patología en mamíferos.El insecto vector inocula formas promastigotes del parásito en el torrente circulatorio delhospedador. Los parásitos deben ser endocitados rápidamente por los macrófagos u otrosfagocitos, en los que se reproduce como amastigote dentro de una vacuola parasitófora; lospromastigotes que no son internalizados mueren. Se sabe que la activación de los macrófagos, pormoléculas como los lipopolisacáridos (LPS) por ejemplo, producen mediadores químicos queregulan la respuesta inmune humoral y determinan la producción de interleuquinas Th1 o Th2, perose desconoce el efecto de la activación de los macrófagos sobre el proceso de fagocitosis. Por otraparte, se ha visto que el antígeno excretor-secretor producido por promastigotes (AESPL) de L.donovani activa a macrófagos murinos para la producción de interleuquinas pero no se conoce suefecto sobre el proceso de fagocitosis

Two naphthalene degrading bacteria belonging to the genera Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas isolated from a highly polluted lagoon perform different sensitivities to the organic and heavy metal contaminants

Two bacterial strains were isolated in the presence of naphthalene as the sole carbon and energy source from sediments of the Orbetello Lagoon, Italy, which is highly contaminated with both organic compounds and metals. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the two isolates assigned the strains to the genera Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas. The effect of different contaminants on the growth behaviors of the two strains was investigated. Pseudomonas sp. ORNaP2 showed a higher tolerance to benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene than Paenibacillus sp. ORNaP1. In addition, the toxicity of heavy metals potentially present as co-pollutants in the investigated site was tested. Here, strain Paenibacillus sp. ORNaP1 showed a higher tolerance towards arsenic, cadmium, and lead, whereas it was far more sensitive towards mercury than strain Pseudomonas sp. ORNaP2. These differences between the Gram-negative Pseudomonas and the Gram-positive Paenibacillus strain can be explained by different general adaptive response systems present in the two bacteria

Neighbourliness, conviviality, and the sacred in Athens’ refugee squats

To better understand the range of possibilities and opportunities for (co)existence available to displacement‐affected people, attention must be given to the thick webs of sociality shaping interactions in situations of mass displacement. This paper makes the case that refugee squats in Athens are distinct spaces wherein different understandings of (co)existence converge – spaces whose production is contingent on support from neighbourly relations and networks that are mediated in moments through conceptions of conviviality informed by religion. Based on ethnographic work carried out in 2016 and a spatial analysis of refugee squats in Athens, this paper emphasises neighbourliness and conviviality as they relate to sacred understandings of coexistence. This helps highlight the limits built in to thinking about the movement of refugees from the global South through Euro‐centric ontologies of the social. More than this, following postcolonial debates on the decentring of knowledge production, the research makes manifest how Islamic socio‐cultural memories of jiwār or a right of neighbourliness complicate geographies of humanitarianism that make stark binary assumptions between religious and secular space. In turn, the evidence from Athens indicates that refugee perspectives on neighbourliness are imperfectly translated by migrant rights activists as solidarity, obscuring the different ways Muslim structures of feeling contribute to the production of refugee squats

A new icriodontid conodont cluster with specific mesowear supports an alternative apparatus motion model for Icriodontidae

Increasing numbers of conodont discoveries with soft tissue preservation, natural assemblages and fused clusters of the hard tissue have strengthened the hypothesis regarding the function and mechanism of the conodont feeding apparatus. Exceptional fossil preservation serves as a solid basis for modern reconstructions of the conodont apparatus illustrating the complex interplay of the single apparatus elements. Reliable published models concern the ozarkodinid apparatus of Pennsylvanian and Early Triassic conodonts. Recognition of microwear and mammal-like occlusion, especially of platform elements belonging to individuals of the genus Idiognathodus, allows rotational closure to be interpreted as the crushing mechanism of ozarkodinid platform (P1) elements. Here we describe a new icriodontid conodont cluster of Caudicriodus woschmidti that consists of one pair of icriodontan (I) and 10 pairs of coniform (C1\ue2\u80\u935) elements, with I elements being preserved in interlocking position. The special kind of element arrangement within the fused cluster provides new insights into icriodontid apparatus reconstruction and notation of elements. However, orientation of coniform elements is limited to a certain degree by possible preservational bias. Four possible apparatus models are introduced and discussed. Recognition of specific wear on denticle tips of one of the icriodontan elements forms the basis for an alternative hypothesis of apparatus motion. Analysis of tip wear suggests a horizontal, slightly elliptical motion of opposed, antagonistically operating I elements. This is supported by similar tip wear from much better preserved, but isolated, elements of Middle Devonian icriodontids. More detailed interpretation of the masticatory movement will allow enhanced understanding of anatomical specifications, diet and palaeobiology of different euconodont groups

Temporal and spatial analysis of the 2014-2015 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa

West Africa is currently witnessing the most extensive Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak so far recorded. Until now, there have been 27,013 reported cases and 11,134 deaths. The origin of the virus is thought to have been a zoonotic transmission from a bat to a two-year-old boy in December 2013 (ref. 2). From this index case the virus was spread by human-to-human contact throughout Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. However, the origin of the particular virus in each country and time of transmission is not known and currently relies on epidemiological analysis, which may be unreliable owing to the difficulties of obtaining patient information. Here we trace the genetic evolution of EBOV in the current outbreak that has resulted in multiple lineages. Deep sequencing of 179 patient samples processed by the European Mobile Laboratory, the first diagnostics unit to be deployed to the epicentre of the outbreak in Guinea, reveals an epidemiological and evolutionary history of the epidemic from March 2014 to January 2015. Analysis of EBOV genome evolution has also benefited from a similar sequencing effort of patient samples from Sierra Leone. Our results confirm that the EBOV from Guinea moved into Sierra Leone, most likely in April or early May. The viruses of the Guinea/Sierra Leone lineage mixed around June/July 2014. Viral sequences covering August, September and October 2014 indicate that this lineage evolved independently within Guinea. These data can be used in conjunction with epidemiological information to test retrospectively the effectiveness of control measures, and provides an unprecedented window into the evolution of an ongoing viral haemorrhagic fever outbreak.status: publishe

Perspectives on the use of transcriptomics to advance biofuels

As a field within the energy research sector, bioenergy is continuously expanding. Although much has been achieved and the yields of both ethanol and butanol have been improved, many avenues of research to further increase these yields still remain. This review covers current research related with transcriptomics and the application of this high-throughput analytical tool to engineer both microbes and plants with the penultimate goal being better biofuel production and yields. The initial focus is given to the responses of fermentative microbes during the fermentative production of acids, such as butyric acid, and solvents, including ethanol and butanol. As plants offer the greatest natural renewable source of fermentable sugars within the form of lignocellulose, the second focus area is the transcriptional responses of microbes when exposed to plant hydrolysates and lignin-related compounds. This is of particular importance as the acid/base hydrolysis methods commonly employed to make the plant-based cellulose available for enzymatic hydrolysis to sugars also generates significant amounts of lignin-derivatives that are inhibitory to fermentative bacteria and microbes. The article then transitions to transcriptional analyses of lignin-degrading organisms, such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium, as an alternative to acid/base hydrolysis. The final portion of this article will discuss recent transcriptome analyses of plants and, in particular, the genes involved in lignin production. The rationale behind these studies is to eventually reduce the lignin content present within these plants and, consequently, the amount of inhibitors generated during the acid/base hydrolysis of the lignocelluloses. All four of these topics represent key areas where transcriptomic research is currently being conducted to identify microbial genes and their responses to products and inhibitors as well as those related with lignin degradation/formation.clos