Permo-Triassic Deposits: from shallow water to base of slope

Conference on the Geology of Oman, Muscat, Oman, Field Guidebook A0

Nearly Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Phlebovirus-Like Virus Detected in a Human Plasma Sample by High-Throughput Sequencing.

Here, we report a novel phlebovirus-like virus sequence detected in a plasma sample from a febrile adult patient collected in the United Republic of Tanzania in 2014. A nearly complete RNA sequence was generated by high-throughput sequencing on a HiSeq 2500 instrument and further confirmed after repeating the analysis, starting from the initial sample

Comparative analysis of viral shedding in pediatric and adult subjects with central nervous system-associated enterovirus infections from 2013 to 2015 in Switzerland.

Several enterovirus (EV) genotypes can result in aseptic meningitis, but their routes of access to the central nervous system remain to be elucidated and may differ between the pediatric and adult populations. To assess the pattern of viral shedding in pediatric and adult subjects with acute EV meningitis and to generate EV surveillance data for Switzerland. All pediatric and adult subjects admitted to the University Hospitals of Geneva with a diagnosis of EV meningitis between 2013 and 2015 were enrolled. A quantitative EV real-time reverse transcriptase (rRT)-PCR was performed on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), blood, stool, urine and respiratory specimens to assess viral shedding and provide a comparative analysis of pediatric and adult populations. EV genotyping was systematically performed. EV positivity rates differed significantly between pediatric and adult subjects; 62.5% of pediatric cases (no adult case) were EV-positive in stool and blood for subjects for whom these samples were all collected. Similarly, the EV viral load in blood was significantly higher in pediatric subjects. Blood C-reactive protein levels were lower and the number of leucocytes/mm3 in the CSF were higher in non-viremic than in viremic pediatric subjects, respectively. A greater diversity of EV genotypes was observed in pediatric cases, with a predominance of echovirus 30 in children ≥3 years old and adults. In contrast to adults, EV-disseminated infections are predominant in pediatric subjects and show different patterns of EV viral shedding. This observation may be useful for clinicians and contribute to modify current practices of patient care

Virosaurus A Reference to Explore and Capture Virus Genetic Diversity.

The huge genetic diversity of circulating viruses is a challenge for diagnostic assays for emerging or rare viral diseases. High-throughput technology offers a new opportunity to explore the global virome of patients without preconception about the culpable pathogens. It requires a solid reference dataset to be accurate. Virosaurus has been designed to offer a non-biased, automatized and annotated database for clinical metagenomics studies and diagnosis. Raw viral sequences have been extracted from GenBank, and cleaned up to remove potentially erroneous sequences. Complete sequences have been identified for all genera infecting vertebrates, plants and other eukaryotes (insect, fungus, etc.). To facilitate the analysis of clinically relevant viruses, we have annotated all sequences with official and common virus names, acronym, genotypes, and genomic features (linear, circular, DNA, RNA, etc.). Sequences have been clustered to remove redundancy at 90% or 98% identity. The analysis of clustering results reveals the state of the virus genetic landscape knowledge. Because herpes and poxviruses were under-represented in complete genomes considering their potential diversity in nature, we used genes instead of complete genomes for those in Virosaurus

Implications from dimensionless parameter scaling experiments

The dimensionless parameter scaling approach is increasingly useful for predicting future tokamak performance and guiding theoretical models of energy transport. Experiments to determine the {rho}* (gyroradius normalized to plasma size) scaling have been carried out in many regimes. The electron {rho}* scaling is always ``gyro-Bohm``, while the ion {rho}* scaling varied with regime. The ion variation is correlated with both density scale length (L mode, H mode) and current profile. The ion {rho}* scaling in the low-q, H-mode regime is gyro-Bohm, which is the most favorable confinement scaling observed. New experiments in {beta} scaling and collisionality scaling have been carried out in low-q discharges in both L mode and H mode. In L mode, global analysis shows that there is a slightly unfavorable {beta} dependence ({beta}{sup {minus}0.1}) and no {nu}* dependence. In H-mode, global analysis finds a weak {beta} dependence ({beta}{sup 0.1}) and an unfavorable dependence on {nu}*. The lack of significant {beta} scaling spans the range of {beta}{sub N} from 0.25 to 2.0. The very small {beta} dependence in L mode and H mode is in contradiction with the standard global scaling relations. This contradiction in H mode may be indicative of the impact on the H-mode database of low-n tearing instabilities which are observed at slightly higher {beta}{sub N} in the {beta} scaling experiments. The measured {beta} and {nu}* scalings explain the weak density dependence observed in engineering parameter scans. It also points to the power of the dimensionless parameter approach, since it is possible to obtain a definitive size scaling from experiments on a single tokamak

The inverse-Compton X-ray-emitting lobes of the high-redshift giant radio galaxy 6C 0905+39

We present new XMM-Newton data of the high-redshift (z=1.883), Mpc-sized giant radio galaxy 6C 0905+39. The larger collecting area and longer observation time for our new data means that we can better characterise the extended X-ray emission, in particular its spectrum, which arises from cosmic microwave background photons scattered into the X-ray band by the energetic electrons in the spent synchrotron plasma of the (largely) radio-quiet lobes of 6C 0905+39. We calculate the energy that its jet-ejected plasma has dumped into its surroundings in the last 3 X 10^7 years and discuss the impact that similar, or even more extreme, examples of spent, radio-quiet lobes would have on their surroundings. Interestingly, there is an indication that the emission from the hotspots is softer than the rest of the extended emission and the core, implying it is due to synchrotron emission. We confirm our previous detection of the low-energy turnover in the eastern hotspot of 6C 0905+39.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRA