Inclusions in super-deep diamonds

Super-deep diamonds may originate from a depth of between 300 and 800 km, although their precise depth of origin remains uncertain. When growing, they trap other minerals from their surroundings, which remain unaltered in their diamond capsule on their journey up to the surface of our planet. Through the study of these inclusions it is thus possible to reveal the secrets of deep unseen environments. In this study we aim to determine the formation pressure of super- deep diamonds for the first time by characterising two types of inclusions: CaSiO3-walstromite and ferropericlase. To achieve this goal we investigated CaSiO3-walstromite inclusions by a combination of in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction, \u201csingle-inclusion elastic barometry\u201d and in situ micro-Raman spectroscopy and we obtained an apparent entrapment pressure of 3c7.1 GPa, corresponding to 3c250 km, at a temperature of 1500 K. In addition, thermodynamic calculations suggested that single inclusions of CaSiO3-walstromite cannot derive from CaSiO3-perovskite. Preliminary X-ray micro-tomography and nuclear resonance scattering data were also collected on ferropericlase-bearing diamonds in order to detect micro-fractures around the inclusions and to determine whether the Fe3+/ 11Fe ratios are in agreement with lower mantle values or not

Is there evidence for bacterial transfer via the placenta and any role in the colonization of the infant gut? - a systematic review.

With the important role of the gut microbiome in health and disease, it is crucial to understand key factors that establish the microbial community, including gut colonization during infancy. It has been suggested that the first bacterial exposure is via a placental microbiome. However, despite many publications, the robustness of the evidence for the placental microbiome and transfer of bacteria from the placenta to the infant gut is unclear and hence the concept disputed. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of the evidence for the role of the placental, amniotic fluid and cord blood microbiome in healthy mothers in the colonization of the infant gut. Most of the papers which were fully assessed considered placental tissue, but some studied amniotic fluid or cord blood. Great variability in methodology was observed especially regarding sample storage conditions, DNA/RNA extraction, and microbiome characterization. No study clearly considered transfer of the normal placental microbiome to the infant gut. Moreover, some studies in the review and others published subsequently reported little evidence for a placental microbiome in comparison to negative controls. In conclusion, current data are limited and provide no conclusive evidence that there is a normal placental microbiome which has any role in colonization of infant gut

Dual Mechanism of Interleukin-3 Receptor Blockade by an Anti-Cancer Antibody

SummaryInterleukin-3 (IL-3) is an activated T cell product that bridges innate and adaptive immunity and contributes to several immunopathologies. Here, we report the crystal structure of the IL-3 receptor α chain (IL3Rα) in complex with the anti-leukemia antibody CSL362 that reveals the N-terminal domain (NTD), a domain also present in the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-5, and IL-13 receptors, adopting unique “open” and classical “closed” conformations. Although extensive mutational analyses of the NTD epitope of CSL362 show minor overlap with the IL-3 binding site, CSL362 only inhibits IL-3 binding to the closed conformation, indicating alternative mechanisms for blocking IL-3 signaling. Significantly, whereas “open-like” IL3Rα mutants can simultaneously bind IL-3 and CSL362, CSL362 still prevents the assembly of a higher-order IL-3 receptor-signaling complex. The discovery of open forms of cytokine receptors provides the framework for development of potent antibodies that can achieve a “double hit” cytokine receptor blockade

Preparing pharmacy students to communicate effectively with adolescents

Objectives: To develop an elective workshop designed to equip pharmacy students with skills to effectively communicate with adolescents. To conduct preliminary evaluation of the workshop to assess its impact on pharmacy student perceived confidence and knowledge relating to the importance of adolescent counselling and counselling techniques. Methods: Academics from three universities in three countries collaborated on the workshop development and evaluation. The workshop structure was designed upon the foundations of communication best practices and established techniques, and it consisted of two online modules and an in-person tutorial. Pharmacy students undertaking a 4-year Bachelor, Master or Doctor of Pharmacy degree from all three participating universities evaluated the workshop via pre- and post-questionnaires. Key findings: A total of 81 pharmacy students volunteered to attend and evaluate the workshop. Of these 81 students, 31 completed paired pre- and post-questionnaires, 44 students completed unpaired questionnaires and six students were lost to follow-up. Of the paired pre- and post-questionnaires, students were mostly female (67.7%) with an average age of 24.9 years (standard deviation, SD = 5.6) and were in the first (32.3%), second (16.1%) or third (51.6%) year of their pharmacy programme. Over 80% of students somewhat or strongly agreed that the workshop made them feel more comfortable speaking with young people in pharmacy settings. Mean (SD) perceived confidence (pre = 21.7 (4.0) and post = 24.9 (4.5)) and knowledge scores (pre = 5.2 (1.5) and post = 6.6 (1.6)) significantly improved after undertaking the workshop. Conclusions: The workshop increased pharmacy student perceived confidence and knowledge relating to the importance of adolescent counselling and counselling techniques

Rediscovering Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle (<em>Lepidochelys kempii</em>): Molecular Analysis and Threats

Sea turtles are reptiles that have inhabited the earth for 100 million years. These are divided into 2 families (Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae) and 7 species of sea turtles in the world: the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea); hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata); Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii); olive ridley (L. olivacea); Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta); flatback sea turtle (Natator depressus) and green turtle (Chelonia mydas). In particular, Kemp’s ridley is included in the red list of IUCN categorized as “critically endangered”. The most important site around the Word is in Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Where 80–95% of the world’s nesting is concentrated. Other nesting areas are Tepeguajes and Barra del Tordo, in Tamaulipas, and with less intensity in Veracruz (Lechuguillas and El Raudal beaches) and South Padre Island, Texas, USA. They deposit an average of about 90 eggs and hatching takes 40 to 60 days. Therefore, they are vulnerable to different anthropogenic activities and sources of pollution, such as heavy metals, which can cause toxic effects that are harmful to the turtles, damage their physiology and health. To understand the real situation about health and genetic parameters it is necessary to analyze biochemical and molecular factors in this species

Human CD141+ (BDCA-3)+ dendritic cells (DCs) represent a unique myeloid DC subset that cross-presents necrotic cell antigens

The characterization of human dendritic cell (DC) subsets is essential for the design of new vaccines. We report the first detailed functional analysis of the human CD141+ DC subset. CD141+ DCs are found in human lymph nodes, bone marrow, tonsil, and blood, and the latter proved to be the best source of highly purified cells for functional analysis. They are characterized by high expression of toll-like receptor 3, production of IL-12p70 and IFN-β, and superior capacity to induce T helper 1 cell responses, when compared with the more commonly studied CD1c+ DC subset. Polyinosine-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C)–activated CD141+ DCs have a superior capacity to cross-present soluble protein antigen (Ag) to CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes than poly I:C–activated CD1c+ DCs. Importantly, CD141+ DCs, but not CD1c+ DCs, were endowed with the capacity to cross-present viral Ag after their uptake of necrotic virus-infected cells. These findings establish the CD141+ DC subset as an important functionally distinct human DC subtype with characteristics similar to those of the mouse CD8α+ DC subset. The data demonstrate a role for CD141+ DCs in the induction of cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses and suggest that they may be the most relevant targets for vaccination against cancers, viruses, and other pathogens

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Fine-mapping of the HNF1B multicancer locus identifies candidate variants that mediate endometrial cancer risk.

Common variants in the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox B (HNF1B) gene are associated with the risk of Type II diabetes and multiple cancers. Evidence to date indicates that cancer risk may be mediated via genetic or epigenetic effects on HNF1B gene expression. We previously found single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the HNF1B locus to be associated with endometrial cancer, and now report extensive fine-mapping and in silico and laboratory analyses of this locus. Analysis of 1184 genotyped and imputed SNPs in 6608 Caucasian cases and 37 925 controls, and 895 Asian cases and 1968 controls, revealed the best signal of association for SNP rs11263763 (P = 8.4 × 10(-14), odds ratio = 0.86, 95% confidence interval = 0.82-0.89), located within HNF1B intron 1. Haplotype analysis and conditional analyses provide no evidence of further independent endometrial cancer risk variants at this locus. SNP rs11263763 genotype was associated with HNF1B mRNA expression but not with HNF1B methylation in endometrial tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Genetic analyses prioritized rs11263763 and four other SNPs in high-to-moderate linkage disequilibrium as the most likely causal SNPs. Three of these SNPs map to the extended HNF1B promoter based on chromatin marks extending from the minimal promoter region. Reporter assays demonstrated that this extended region reduces activity in combination with the minimal HNF1B promoter, and that the minor alleles of rs11263763 or rs8064454 are associated with decreased HNF1B promoter activity. Our findings provide evidence for a single signal associated with endometrial cancer risk at the HNF1B locus, and that risk is likely mediated via altered HNF1B gene expression

LSST Science Book, Version 2.0

A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo