285 research outputs found
Isocurvature fluctuations in the effective Newton's constant
We present a new isocurvature mode present in scalar-tensor theories of
gravity that corresponds to a regular growing solution in which the energy of
the relativistic degrees of freedom and the scalar field that regulates the
gravitational strength compensate during the radiation dominated epoch on
scales much larger than the Hubble radius. We study this isocurvature mode and
its impact on anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background for the simplest
scalar-tensor theory, i.e. the extended Jordan-Brans-Dicke gravity, in which
the scalar field also drives the acceleration of the Universe. We use Planck
data to constrain the amplitude of this isocurvature mode in the case of fixed
correlation with the adiabatic mode and we show how this mode could be
generated in a simple two field inflation model.Comment: Version updated to match published version. No changes in the result
Honeybees exposure to natural feed additives: How is the gut microbiota affected?
The role of a balanced gut microbiota to maintain health and prevent diseases is largely established in humans and livestock. Conversely, in honeybees, studies on gut microbiota perturbations by external factors have started only recently. Natural methods alternative to chemical products to preserve honeybee health have been proposed, but their effect on the gut microbiota has not been examined in detail. This study aims to investigate the effect of the administration of a bacterial mixture of bifidobacteria and Lactobacillaceae and a commercial product HiveAliveâ„¢ on honeybee gut microbiota. The study was developed in 18 hives of about 2500 bees, with six replicates for each experimental condition for a total of three experimental groups. The absolute abundance of main microbial taxa was studied using qPCR and NGS. The results showed that the majority of the administered strains were detected in the gut. On the whole, great perturbations upon the administration of the bacterial mixture and the plant-based commercial product were not observed in the gut microbiota. Significant variations with respect to the untreated control were only observed for Snodgrassella sp. for the bacterial mixture, Bartonella sp. in HiveAliveâ„¢ and Bombilactobacillus sp. for both. Therefore, the studied approaches are respectful of the honeybee microbiota composition, conceivably without compromising the bee nutritional, social and ecological functions
Screening of dietary ingredients against the honey bee parasite Nosema ceranae
Nosema ceranae is a major pathogen in the beekeeping sector, responsible for nosemosis. This disease is hard to manage since its symptomatology is masked until a strong collapse of the colony population occurs. Conversely, no medicaments are available in the market to counteract nosemosis, and only a few feed additives, with claimed antifungal action, are available. New solutions are strongly required, especially based on natural methods alternative to veterinary drugs that might develop resistance or strongly pollute honey bees and the environment. This study aims at investigating the nosemosis antiparasitic potential of some plant extracts, microbial fermentation products, organic acids, food chain waste products, bacteriocins, and fungi. Honey bees were singularly infected with 5 × 104 freshly prepared N. ceranae spores, reared in cages and fed ad libitum with sugar syrup solution containing the active ingredient. N. ceranae in the gut of honey bees was estimated using qPCR. The results showed that some of the ingredients administered, such as acetic acid at high concentration, p-coumaric acid, and Saccharomyces sp. strain KIA1, were effective in the control of nosemosis. On the other hand, wine acetic acid strongly increased the N. ceranae amount. This study investigates the possibility of using compounds such as organic acids or biological agents including those at the base of the circular economy, i.e., wine waste production, in order to improve honeybee health
The duality of UiO-67-Pt MOFs: connecting treatment conditions and encapsulated Pt species by operando XAS
Higher frequencies of lymphocytes expressing the natural killer group 2D receptor in patients with Behcet disease
Behçet disease (BD) is an inflammatory systemic disease with a fluctuating course, which can affect the skin, eyes, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and vascular systems. No laboratory tests are currently available for the diagnosis of BD and monitoring disease activity. Moreover there is a lack of knowledge on BD pathogenesis. This study focused on circulating Natural Killer (NK), NKT and T cells evaluated as CD3neg CD56pos, CD3pos CD56pos, and CD3pos CD56neg. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from 38 BD patients and 20 healthy controls (HC). The frequencies of NK, NKT, and T cells expressing CD16, CD69, NKG2D, Nkp30, Nkp46, and NKG2A were assessed by flow cytometry. Cytotoxic potential of NK cells was evaluated by flow cytometry as the percentage of cells expressing the degranulation marker CD107a after incubation with K562 cells. The levels of 27 cytokines were determined in plasma with a multiplex bead-based assay. Higher percentages of NK, NKT, and T cells expressing NKG2D were detected in PBMCs of BD patients than HC. ROC curve analysis showed that the evaluation of NKG2Dpos NK, NKT, and T cell percentages discriminated between BD patients and HC. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between the BD Current Activity Form (BDCAF) scores and the frequencies of NKG2Dpos NK and NKT cells. A higher frequency of NK cells expressing CD107a was induced in PBMCs from BD patients than HC after incubation with K562 cells. Concentrations of IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, IP-10, and MIP-1β were higher in plasma of BD patients than HC. Monitoring the frequencies of NKG2Dpos lymphocytes could help the clinicians in BD patients management. In addition, the increased expression of NKG2D in BD patients is likely involved in disease pathogenesis
BLAST Observations of the South Ecliptic Pole field: Number Counts and Source Catalogs
We present results from a survey carried out by the Balloon-borne Large
Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) on a 9 deg^2 field near the South
Ecliptic Pole at 250, 350 and 500 {\mu}m. The median 1{\sigma} depths of the
maps are 36.0, 26.4 and 18.4 mJy, respectively. We apply a statistical method
to estimate submillimeter galaxy number counts and find that they are in
agreement with other measurements made with the same instrument and with the
more recent results from Herschel/SPIRE. Thanks to the large field observed,
the new measurements give additional constraints on the bright end of the
counts. We identify 132, 89 and 61 sources with S/N>4 at 250, 350, 500 {\mu}m,
respectively and provide a multi-wavelength combined catalog of 232 sources
with a significance >4{\sigma} in at least one BLAST band. The new BLAST maps
and catalogs are available publicly at http://blastexperiment.info.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, Accepted by ApJS. Maps and catalogs
available at http://blastexperiment.info
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity, neutrino physics, and the H0 tension
We use Planck 2018 data to constrain the simplest models of scalar-tensor theories
characterized by a coupling to the Ricci scalar of the type F(σ)R with F(σ) = N2
pl + ξσ2
.
We update our results with previous Planck and BAO data releases obtaining the tightest
constraints to date on the coupling parameters, that is ξ < 5.5 × 10−4
for Npl = 0 (induced
gravity or equivalently extended Jordan-Brans-Dicke) and (Npl
√
8πG) − 1 < 1.8 × 10−5
for
ξ = −1/6 (conformal coupling), both at 95% CL. Because of a modified expansion history
after radiation-matter equality compared to the ΛCDM model, all these dynamical models
accommodate a higher value for H0 and therefore alleviate the tension between Planck/BAO
and distance-ladder measurement from SNe Ia data from 4.4σ at best to 2.7-3.2σ with CMB
alone and 3.5-3.6σ including BAO data
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