Living Earth:Implementing national standardised land cover classification systems for Earth Observation in support of sustainable development

Earth Observation (EO) has been recognised as a key data source for supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Advances in data availability and analytical capabilities have provided a wide range of users access to global coverage analysis-ready data (ARD). However, ARD does not provide the information required by national agencies tasked with coordinating the implementation of SDGs. Reliable, standardised, scalable mapping of land cover and its change over time and space facilitates informed decision making, providing cohesive methods for target setting and reporting of SDGs. The aim of this study was to implement a global framework for classifying land cover. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Land Cover Classification System (FAO LCCS) provides a global land cover taxonomy suitable to comprehensively support SDG target setting and reporting. We present a fully implemented FAO LCCS optimised for EO data; Living Earth, an open-source software package that can be readily applied using existing national EO infrastructure and satellite data. We resolve several semantic challenges of LCCS for consistent EO implementation, including modifications to environmental descriptors, inter-dependency within the modular-hierarchical framework, and increased flexibility associated with limited data availability. To ensure easy adoption of Living Earth for SDG reporting, we identified key environmental descriptors to provide resource allocation recommendations for generating routinely retrieved input parameters. Living Earth provides an optimal platform for global adoption of EO4SDGs ensuring a transparent methodology that allows monitoring to be standardised for all countrie

Genome Analysis of the Anaerobic Thermohalophilic Bacterium Halothermothrix orenii

Halothermothirx orenii is a strictly anaerobic thermohalophilic bacterium isolated from sediment of a Tunisian salt lake. It belongs to the order Halanaerobiales in the phylum Firmicutes. The complete sequence revealed that the genome consists of one circular chromosome of 2578146 bps encoding 2451 predicted genes. This is the first genome sequence of an organism belonging to the Haloanaerobiales. Features of both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were identified with the presence of both a sporulating mechanism typical of Firmicutes and a characteristic Gram negative lipopolysaccharide being the most prominent. Protein sequence analyses and metabolic reconstruction reveal a unique combination of strategies for thermophilic and halophilic adaptation. H. orenii can serve as a model organism for the study of the evolution of the Gram negative phenotype as well as the adaptation under thermohalophilic conditions and the development of biotechnological applications under conditions that require high temperatures and high salt concentrations

Cause of Death and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Anticoagulated Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation : Data From ROCKET AF

M. Kaste on työryhmän ROCKET AF Steering Comm jäsen.Background-Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all-cause mortality may guide interventions. Methods and Results-In the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose-adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all-cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention-to-treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS(2) score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow-up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan-Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all-cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33-1.70, P= 75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51-1.90, P Conclusions-In a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, approximate to 7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereasPeer reviewe

Rapamycin synergizes cisplatin sensitivity in basal-like breast cancer cells through up-regulation of p73.

Recent gene expression profiling studies have identified five breast cancer subtypes, of which the basal-like subtype is the most aggressive. Basal-like breast cancer poses serious clinical challenges as there are currently no targeted therapies available to treat it. Although there is increasing evidence that these tumors possess specific sensitivity to cisplatin, its success is often compromised due to its dose-limiting nephrotoxicity and the development of drug resistance. To overcome this limitation, our goal was to maximize the benefits associated with cisplatin therapy through drug combination strategies. Using a validated kinase inhibitor library, we showed that inhibition of the mTOR, TGFβRI, NFκB, PI3K/AKT, and MAPK pathways sensitized basal-like MDA-MB-468 cells to cisplatin treatment. Further analysis demonstrated that the combination of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin and cisplatin generated significant drug synergism in basal-like MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-231, and HCC1937 cells but not in luminal-like T47D or MCF-7 cells. We further showed that the synergistic effect of rapamycin plus cisplatin on basal-like breast cancer cells was mediated through the induction of p73. Depletion of endogenous p73 in basal-like cells abolished these synergistic effects. In conclusion, combination therapy with mTOR inhibitors and cisplatin may be a useful therapeutic strategy in the treatment of basal-like breast cancers

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

A spontaneous mutation in <i>kdsD</i>, a biosynthesis gene for 3 Deoxy-_D-<i>manno</i>-Octulosonic Acid, occurred in a ciprofloxacin resistant strain of <i>Francisella tularensis</i> and caused a high level of attenuation in murine models of tularemia

<div><p><i>Francisella tularensis</i>, a gram–negative facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen, is the causative agent of tularemia and able to infect many mammalian species, including humans. Because of its ability to cause a lethal infection, low infectious dose, and aerosolizable nature, <i>F</i>. <i>tularensis</i> subspecies <i>tularensis</i> is considered a potential biowarfare agent. Due to its <i>in vitro</i> efficacy, ciprofloxacin is one of the antibiotics recommended for post-exposure prophylaxis of tularemia. In order to identify therapeutics that will be efficacious against infections caused by drug resistant select-agents and to better understand the threat, we sought to characterize an existing ciprofloxacin resistant (CipR) mutant in the Schu S4 strain of <i>F</i>. <i>tularensis</i> by determining its phenotypic characteristics and sequencing the chromosome to identify additional genetic alterations that may have occurred during the selection process. In addition to the previously described genetic alterations, the sequence of the CipR mutant strain revealed several additional mutations. Of particular interest was a frameshift mutation within <i>kdsD</i> which encodes for an enzyme necessary for the production of 3-Deoxy-_D-<i>manno</i>-Octulosonic Acid (KDO), an integral component of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A <i>kdsD</i> mutant was constructed in the Schu S4 strain. Although it was not resistant to ciprofloxacin, the <i>kdsD</i> mutant shared many phenotypic characteristics with the CipR mutant, including growth defects under different conditions, sensitivity to hydrophobic agents, altered LPS profiles, and attenuation in multiple models of murine tularemia. This study demonstrates that the KdsD enzyme is essential for <i>Francisella</i> virulence and may be an attractive therapeutic target for developing novel medical countermeasures.</p></div

Pathology of mice challenged intranasally with <i>F</i>. <i>tularensis</i> 5 days post-challenge.

<p>Mice were challenged intranasally with Schu S4 WT (131 CFU), CipR mutant (1,750 CFU), or <i>kdsD</i>::<i>ltrB</i>_<i>L1</i> (6,000 CFU). Also included as a control for these studies were mice receiving PBS alone by intranasal administration. The strains used for challenge and HE stained organ (lung, spleen, and liver) are as indicated. All samples shown are at 5 days post-challenge when the Schu S4 challenged mice were moribund; in contrast, the mutant challenged mice displayed no clinical signs of infection at this time point. Schu S4 WT, Lung (4x)–multifocal areas of inflammation and necrosis (*); arrow indicates the inset area. Inset (40x)–necrosis admixed with inflammatory cells. Spleen (4x)–coalescing areas of necrosis (*) affecting red pulp and white pulp; arrow indicates the inset area. Inset (40x)–necrosis admixed with inflammatory cells. Liver (4x)–Single focus of necrosis (*); arrow indicates the inset area. Insert (40x)–necrosis with few inflammatory cells. CipR mutant, Lung (4x)–diffuse coalescing necrotic areas. Inset (40x)–necrosis admixed with inflammatory cells. Spleen (4x)–normal. Liver (4x)–normal. <i>kdsD</i>::<i>ltrB</i>_<i>L1</i>, Lung (4x)–few foci of necrosis (*); arrow indicates the inset area. Inset (40x)–necrosis admixed with inflammatory cells extends to the surface of the lung. Spleen (4x)–normal. Liver (4x)–normal.</p