Characterization and Technological Features of Autochthonous Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci as Potential Starters for Portuguese Dry Fermented Sausages

The manufacture of dry fermented sausages is an important part of the meat industry in Southern Europeancountries. These products are usually produced in small shops from a mixture of pork, fat, salt, and condiments andare stuffed into natural casings. Meat sausages are slowly cured through spontaneous fermentation by autochthonousmicrobiota present in the raw materials or introduced during manufacturing. The aim of this work was to evaluate thetechnological and safety features of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) isolated from Portuguese dry fermented meatsausages in order to select autochthonous starters. Isolates (n = 104) obtained from 2 small manufacturers were identifiedas Staphylococcus xylosus, Staphylococcus equorum, Staphylococcus saprophyticus,andStaphylococcus carnosus. Genomically diverseisolates (n = 82) were selected for further analysis to determine the ability to produce enzymes (for example, nitrate-reductases, proteases, lipases) and antibiotic susceptibility. Autochthonous CNS producing a wide range of enzymes andshowing low antibioresistance were selected as potential starters for future use in the production of dry fermented meatsausages

Shocks and dust formation in nova V809 Cep

The discovery that many classical novae produce detectable GeV $\gamma$-ray emission has raised the question of the role of shocks in nova eruptions. Here we use radio observations of nova V809 Cep (Nova Cep 2013) with the Jansky Very Large Array to show that it produced non-thermal emission indicative of particle acceleration in strong shocks for more than a month starting about six weeks into the eruption, quasi-simultaneous with the production of dust. Broadly speaking, the radio emission at late times -- more than a six months or so into the eruption -- is consistent with thermal emission from $10^{-4} M_\odot$ of freely expanding, $10^4$~K ejecta. At 4.6 and 7.4 GHz, however, the radio light-curves display an initial early-time peak 76 days after the discovery of the eruption in the optical ($t_0$). The brightness temperature at 4.6 GHz on day 76 was greater than $10^5 K$, an order of magnitude above what is expected for thermal emission. We argue that the brightness temperature is the result of synchrotron emission due to internal shocks within the ejecta. The evolution of the radio spectrum was consistent with synchrotron emission that peaked at high frequencies before low frequencies, suggesting that the synchrotron from the shock was initially subject to free-free absorption by optically thick ionized material in front of the shock. Dust formation began around day 37, and we suggest that internal shocks in the ejecta were established prior to dust formation and caused the nucleation of dust

A School-Based Program to Promote Well-Being in Preadolescents: Results From a Cluster Quasi-Experimental Controlled Study

Diario della Salute [My Health Diary] is a school-based program designed to enhance the subjective well-being and health of 12- to 13-year-old students. We hypothesized that providing students with the social and emotional skills to fulfill their potential and deal with common developmental tasks of adolescence (e.g., onset of puberty, identity development, increased responsibilities and academic demands) would result in improved well-being and health. The program comprises five standardized interactive lessons concerning common psychosocial and health issues in adolescence, and two narrative booklets addressed to both students and their parents. We evaluated the effectiveness of the program in terms of the students' subjective well-being, aggressive behavior, and health behavior. Using a quasi-experimental study design, schools in the intervention group implemented the full program and those in the comparison group received their regular curriculum. We administered measures of the study's objectives both before and after program implementation. Statistical analyses accounted for within-school clustering, potential socioeconomic and demographic confounding, and pre-implementation levels of these measures. We sampled 62 schools and allocated 2630 students to either an intervention or comparison group. Sociodemographic characteristics and baseline outcomes were balanced across study groups. Unexpectedly, respondents in the intervention group had 0.38 greater mean adjusted score of the WHO/Europe Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Symptom Checklist instrument than respondents in the comparison group, indicating a reduction in subjective well-being. We did not observe any program effects on aggressive and health behaviors. The apparent reduction in subjective well-being reflected by an increased perception of psychosomatic complaints is suggestive of either increased emotional competence or, potentially, iatrogenic program effects. While greater emotional competence is positively associated with well-being over the course of life, the program in its present form should not be disseminated due to the possibility of adverse unintended effects

Mutation of a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor β subunit is associated with resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides in the aphid Myzus persicae

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedBackground: Myzus persicae is a globally important aphid pest with a history of developing resistance to insecticides. Unusually, neonicotinoids have remained highly effective as control agents despite nearly two decades of steadily increasing use. In this study, a clone of M. persicae collected from southern France was found, for the first time, to exhibit sufficiently strong resistance to result in loss of the field effectiveness of neonicotinoids. Results: Bioassays, metabolism and gene expression studies implied the presence of two resistance mechanisms in the resistant clone, one based on enhanced detoxification by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and another unaffected by a synergist that inhibits detoxifying enzymes. Binding of radiolabeled imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) to whole body membrane preparations showed that the high affinity [3H]-imidacloprid binding site present in susceptible M. persicae is lost in the resistant clone and the remaining lower affinity site is altered compared to susceptible clones. This confers a significant overall reduction in binding affinity to the neonicotinoid target: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of six nAChR subunit (Mp alpha 1-5 and Mp beta 1) genes from resistant and susceptible aphid clones revealed a single point mutation in the loop D region of the nAChR beta 1 subunit of the resistant clone, causing an arginine to threonine substitution (R81T). Conclusion: Previous studies have shown that the amino acid at this position within loop D is a key determinant of neonicotinoid binding to nAChRs and this amino acid change confers a vertebrate-like character to the insect nAChR receptor and results in reduced sensitivity to neonicotinoids. The discovery of the mutation at this position and its association with the reduced affinity of the nAChR for imidacloprid is the first example of field-evolved target-site resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides and also provides further validation of exisiting models of neonicotinoid binding and selectivity for insect nAChRs.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

First-in-human study of the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of ⁸⁹Zr-CX-072, a novel immunopet tracer based on an anti–PD-L1 probody

Purpose: CX-072, a PD-L1–targeting Probody therapeutic, is engineered to be activated by tumor proteases that remove a masking peptide. To study effects on biodistribution and pharmacokinetics, we performed 89Zr-CX-072 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Experimental Design: Patients received 1 mg, 37 MBq 89Zr-CX-072 plus 0, 4, or 9 mg unlabeled CX-072 and PET scans at days 2, 4, and 7. After that, treatment comprised 10 mg/kg CX-072 q2 weeks (n ¼ 7) þ 3 mg/kg ipilimumab q3w 4 (n ¼ 1). Normal organ tracer uptake was expressed as standardized uptake value (SUV)mean and tumor uptake as SUVmax. PD-L1 expression was measured immunohistochemically in archival tumor tissue. Results: Three of the eight patients included received 10-mg protein dose resulting in a blood pool mean SUVmean SD of 4.27 0.45 on day 4, indicating sufficient available tracer. Tumor uptake was highest at day 7, with a geometric mean SUVmax 5.89 (n ¼ 113) and present in all patients. The median follow-up was 12 weeks (4–76þ). One patient experienced stable disease and two patients a partial response. PD-L1 tumor expression was 90% in one patient and ≤1% in the other patients. Mean SUVmean SD day 4 at 10 mg in the spleen was 8.56 1.04, bone marrow 2.21 0.46, and liver 4.97 0.97. Four patients out of seven showed uptake in normal lymph nodes and Waldeyer’s ring. The tracer was intact in the serum or plasma. Conclusions: 89Zr-CX-072 showed tumor uptake, even in lesions with ≤1% PD-L1 expression, and modest uptake in normal lymphoid organs, with no unexpected uptake in other healthy tissues

The 2012 Drought in Illinois

publishedpeer reviewedOpe

GrassPlot v. 2.00 – first update on the database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

Abstract: GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). Following a previous Long Database Report (Dengler et al. 2018, Phyto- coenologia 48, 331–347), we provide here the first update on content and functionality of GrassPlot. The current version (GrassPlot v. 2.00) contains a total of 190,673 plots of different grain sizes across 28,171 independent plots, with 4,654 nested-plot series including at least four grain sizes. The database has improved its content as well as its functionality, including addition and harmonization of header data (land use, information on nestedness, structure and ecology) and preparation of species composition data. Currently, GrassPlot data are intensively used for broad-scale analyses of different aspects of alpha and beta diversity in grassland ecosystems

SN 2013ai: a link between Hydrogen-rich and Hydrogen-poor Core-collapse Supernovae

We present a study of the optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectra of SN 2013ai along with its light curves. These data range from discovery until 380 days after explosion. SN 2013ai is a fast declining Type II supernova (SN II) with an unusually long rise time, 18.9 2.7 days in the V-band, and a bright V-band peak absolute magnitude of -18.7 0.06 mag. The spectra are dominated by hydrogen features in the optical and NIR. The spectral features of SN 2013ai are unique in their expansion velocities, which, when compared to large samples of SNe II, are more than 1,000 km s-1 faster at 50 days past explosion. In addition, the long rise time of the light curve more closely resembles SNe IIb rather than SNe II. If SN 2013ai is coeval with a nearby compact cluster, we infer a progenitor zero-age main-sequence mass of ∼17 M o˙. After performing light-curve modeling, we find that SN 2013ai could be the result of the explosion of a star with little hydrogen mass, a large amount of synthesized 56Ni, 0.3-0.4 M o˙, and an explosion energy of 2.5-3.0 1051 erg. The density structure and expansion velocities of SN 2013ai are similar to those of the prototypical SN IIb, SN 1993J. However, SN 2013ai shows no strong helium features in the optical, likely due to the presence of a dense core that prevents the majority of γ-rays from escaping to excite helium. Our analysis suggests that SN 2013ai could be a link between SNe II and stripped-envelope SNe.Fil: Davis, Scott. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Pessi, Priscila Jael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fraser, M.. University College Dublin; IrlandaFil: Ertini, Keila Yael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Veronica Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Hoeflich, Peter. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Hsiao, Eric. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Folatelli, Gaston. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Ashall, Chris. University of Hawaii at Manoa; Estados UnidosFil: Phillips, Mark. Carnegie Observatories. Las Campanas Observatory; ChileFil: Anderson, J. P.. European Southern Observatory Chile; ChileFil: Bersten, Melina Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Englert, B.. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Fisher, A.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Benetti, S.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova; ItaliaFil: Simaz Bunzel, Adolfo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; ArgentinaFil: Burns, Christopher R.. Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science; Estados UnidosFil: Chen, T. W.. Stockholm University; SueciaFil: Contreras, Carlos. 9Carnegie Observatories. Las Campanas Observatory; ChileFil: Elias Rosa, N.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova; ItaliaFil: Falco, E.. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Galbany, Lluís. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Kirshner, Robert. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Kumar, S.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Lu, J.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Lyman, D.. University of Warwick; Reino UnidoFil: Marion, G. H.. University of Warwick; Reino UnidoFil: Mattila, S.. University of Turku; FinlandiaFil: Maund, J.. University of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Morrell, Nidia Irene. Carnegie Observatories. Las Campanas Observatory; ChileFil: Serón, J.. University of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Stritzinger, Maximilian. Aarhus University; DinamarcaFil: Shahbandeh, Melissa. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Sullivan, Mark. Aarhus University; DinamarcaFil: Suntzeff, N. B.. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Young, D. R.. Texas A&M University; Estados Unido