Selective Reflection Spectroscopy at the Interface between a Calcium Fluoride Window and Cs Vapour

A special vapour cell has been built, that allows the measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction exerted by a CaF2 window at the interface with Cs vapour. Mechanical and thermal fragility of fluoride windows make common designs of vapour cells unpractical, so that we have developed an all-sapphire sealed cell with an internal CaF2 window. Although impurities were accidentally introduced when filling-up the prototype cell, leading to a line-broadening and shift, the selective reflection spectrum on the Cs D1 line (894 nm) makes apparent the weak van der Waals surface interaction. The uncertainties introduced by the effects of these impurities in the van der Waals measurement are nearly eliminated when comparing the selective reflection signal at the CaF2 interface of interest, and at a sapphire window of the same cell. The ratio of the interaction respectively exerted by a sapphire interface and a CaF2 interface is found to be 0.55 $\pm$ 0.25, in good agreement with the theoretical evaluation of ~0.67.Comment: soumis \`a Appl Phys B MS 4734

Eimeria species occurrence varies between geographic regions and poultry production systems and may influence parasite genetic diversity

Coccidiosis is one of the biggest challenges faced by the global poultry industry. Recent studies have highlighted the ubiquitous distribution of all Eimeria species which can cause this disease in chickens, but intriguingly revealed a regional divide in genetic diversity and population structure for at least one species, Eimeria tenella. The drivers associated with such distinct geographic variation are unclear, but may impact on the occurrence and extent of resistance to anticoccidial drugs and future subunit vaccines. India is one of the largest poultry producers in the world and includes a transition between E. tenella populations defined by high and low genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with the prevalence of Eimeria species defined by high and low pathogenicity in northern and southern states of India, and seek to understand factors which vary between the regions as possible drivers for differential genetic variation. Faecal samples and data relating to farm characteristics and management were collected from 107 farms from northern India and 133 farms from southern India. Faecal samples were analysed using microscopy and PCR to identify Eimeria occurrence. Multiple correspondence analysis was applied to transform correlated putative risk factors into a smaller number of synthetic uncorrelated factors. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify poultry farm typologies, revealing three distinct clusters in the studied regions. The association between clusters and presence of Eimeria species was assessed by logistic regression. The study found that large-scale broiler farms in the north were at greatest risk of harbouring any Eimeria species and a larger proportion of such farms were positive for E. necatrix, the most pathogenic species. Comparison revealed a more even distribution for E. tenella across production systems in south India, but with a lower overall occurrence. Such a polarised region- and system-specific distribution may contribute to the different levels of genetic diversity observed previously in India and may influence parasite population structure across much of Asia and Africa. The findings of the study can be used to prioritise target farms to launch and optimise appropriate anticoccidial strategies for long-term control

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009

The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Intra- and interspecific interactions among Tribolium castaneum and Cryptolestes ferrugineus in stored wheat at different insect densities

Cryptolestes ferrugineus and Tribolium castaneum are important economical pests of stored grain in Canada. Insects were reared separately or together on hard red spring wheat at three insect densities representing 1000, 500, and 250 adults per kilogram of wheat for single species and twice that of single densities for mixed species, in the laboratory (30°C, 70% RH). The experiment was conducted on dry (12% moisture content [MC], wet basis) and damp wheat (15% MC, wet basis). Adults were sampled every 2 weeks over a 10-week period. Sifted wheat was incubated at 30°C, 70% RH for 4 weeks to observe the number of adults emerging from immatures present under the seed coat of the wheat germ. All experiments were replicated four times. Initial insect densities, moisture content, and species combination had significant effects on the resulting adult population. Adult numbers for both species were higher on 15% MC wheat. In 12% MC wheat, T. castaneum numbers were higher than C. ferrugineus numbers when reared separately whereas this was reversed in 15% MC grain. Cryptolestes ferrugineus populations were significantly higher when reared with T. castaneum than when reared as a single species on 12% MC grain. The trend was reversed in 15% MC grain. At both grain moistures, T. castaneum numbers were higher as an isolated species compared to when reared with C. ferrugineus. The study suggested that T. castaneum populations were inhibited in the presence of C. ferrugineus. High insect density often accentuated these effects.Cryptolestes ferrugineus et Tribolium castaneum sont des ravageurs des grains entreposés responsables d’importantes pertes économiques au Canada. Ces insectes ont été élevés en laboratoire (30°C et 70 % HR) séparément ou ensemble sur du blé roux vitreux de printemps à trois densités d’insectes, soit 1000, 500 et 250 adultes par kilogramme de blé pour les espèces séparées, et au double de ces densités pour les espèces mélangées. Cette expérience a été menée avec du blé sec (12 % de contenu en humidité [CH] ou de teneur en eau) et humide (15 % de CH ou de teneur en eau). Les adultes ont été échantillonnés aux 2 semaines sur une période de 10 semaines. Le blé tamisé a été incubé à 30°C et 70 % HR durant 4 semaines afin d’observer le nombre d’adultes qui ont émergé des insectes immatures présents sous les téguments des germes de blé. Toutes les expériences ont été répétées quatre fois. La densité initiale des insectes, le contenu en humidité et la combinaison des espèces ont eu des impacts significatifs sur la population finale. Le nombre d’adultes des deux espèces a été plus élevé avec le blé à 15 % de CH. Avec le blé à 12 % de CH, le nombre de T. castaneum a été plus élevé que le nombre de C. ferrugineus lorsqu’ils ont été élevés séparément, alors que ce fut le contraire avec le grain à 15 % de CH. Les populations de Cryptolestes ferrugineus ont été significativement plus élevées lorsque élevées avec le T. castaneum que lorsque élevées isolément sur le grain à 12 % de CH. Cette tendance a été inversée avec le grain à 15% de CH. Pour les deux contenus en humidité des grains, le nombre de T. castaneum a été plus grand lorsque élevé seul par rapport à un élevage avec le C. ferrugineus. L’étude laisse supposer que les populations de T. castaneum sont inhibées par la présence de C. ferrugineus. Des densités d’insectes élevées accentuent souvent cet effet

Identification of aerosol type over the Arabian Sea in the premonsoon season during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, Gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB)

A discrimination of the different aerosol types over the Arabian Sea (AS) during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, Gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB-06) is made using values of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm (AOD500) and Ångström exponent (α) in the spectral band 340-1020 nm (α340-1020). For this purpose, appropriate thresholds for AOD500 and α340-1020 are applied. It is shown that a single aerosol type in a given location over the AS can exist only under specific conditions while the presence of mixed aerosols is the usual situation. Analysis indicates that the dominant aerosol types change significantly in the different regions (coastal, middle, and far) of AS. Thus the urban/industrial aerosols are mainly observed in coastal AS, the desert dust particles occur in the middle and northern AS, while clear maritime conditions mainly occur in far AS. Spectral AOD and Ångström exponent data were analyzed to obtain information about the adequacy of the simple use of the Ångström exponent and spectral variation of a for characterizing the aerosols. Using the least squares method, α is calculated in the spectral interval 340-1020 nm along with the coefficients a1 and a2 of the second-order polynomial fit to the plotted logarithm of AOD versus the logarithm of wavelength. The results show that the spectral curvature can effectively be used as a tool for their discrimination, since the fine mode aerosols exhibit negative curvature, while the coarse mode particles exhibit positive curvature. The correlation between the coefficients a1 and a2 with the Ångström exponent, and the atmospheric turbidity, is further investigated. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union