Investigation of Touch-Sensitive Responses by Hyphae of the Human Pathogenic Fungus Candida albicans

Candida albicans is a fungus that commonly infects the mucosal surface of humans. The hyphal growth form of this fungus may initiate the primary invasion of the host. Here we show that hyphae respond thigmotropically and morphologically to cues such as the presence of a surface, pores, grooves and ridges. Growth on some firm surfaces elicits a helical growth response. Hyphae follow grooves and ridges of inert substrates and penetrate pores of filtration membranes. Our in vitro experiments suggest that thigmotropism may enhance the ability of a hypha to invade epithelia of a host at sites of weakened integrity

Foraminiferal biodiversity associated with cold-water coral carbonate mounds and open slope of SE Rockall Bank (Irish continental margin-NE Atlantic)

Cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems are hotspots of macro- and microfaunal biodiversity and provide refuge for a wide variety of deep-sea species. We investigated how the abundance and biodiversity of 'live' (Rose Bengal stained) foraminifera varies with, and is related to, the occurrence of CWC on the Rockall Bank (NE Atlantic). Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on 21 replicate samples from 8 deep-sea stations, including 4 stations on CWC-covered carbonate mounds at depths of 567-657 m, and 4 stations on the adjacent slope at depths of 469-1958 m where CWC were absent. This sampling strategy enabled us to demonstrate that sediments surrounding the living CWC were characterised by higher foraminiferal abundance and biodiversity than open-slope sediments from the same area. A total of 163 foraminiferal species was identified. The dominant species in CWC sediments were: Spirillina vivipara, Allogromiid sp. 1. Globocassidulina subglobosa, Adercotryma wrighti, Eponides pusillus, Ehrenbergina carinata, Planulina ariminensis, Trochammina inflate and Paratrochammina challenged. Foraminifera were nearly absent in adjacent open slope areas subject to strong tidal currents and characterised by coarse grained deposits. We suggest that CWC create a heterogeneous three-dimensional substrate offering microhabitats to a diverse benthic foraminiferal community

An Inventory of Mitigation Methods and Guide to their Effects on Diffuse Water Pollution, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Ammonia Emissions from Agriculture

Prepared as part of Defra Project WQ010

Do agri-environment schemes result in improved water quality?

Welsh Government. Grant Number: 183/2007/0

Assessing the Effect of Piperacillin/Tazobactam on Hematological Parameters in Patients Admitted with Moderate or Severe Foot Infections

Introduction: Piperacillin/tazobactam is a commonly used antibiotic for the empirical treatment of severe diabetic foot infections. One of the most feared complications of this drug is the development of pancytopenia. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of piperacillin/tazobactam caused any hematological changes in patients admitted with severe diabetes-related foot infections from a specialist multidisciplinary foot clinic. Specifically, looking at whether it caused anemia, leukopenia, neutropenia, or thrombocytopenia. Methods: A 1-year retrospective analysis of patients admitted to a tertiary care center for treatment of diabetes-related foot infection using piperacillin/tazobactam. Hematological indices, urea and electrolytes, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were recorded pretreatment, during treatment, and posttreatment. HbA1c, vitamin B12, folate, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and free thyroxin were also analyzed to exclude any potential confounders as a cause of pancytopenia. Results: A total of 154 patients were admitted between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016 who received piperacillin/tazobactam for severe diabetes-related foot infection. On admission, white cell count and CRP were raised and fell significantly within the first 48 h. Other hematological factors did not change. Five patients developed a mild pancytopenia, of which three were unexplained. Conclusion: In this relatively small cohort, pancytopenia did not occur. As such, piperacillin/tazobactam appeared to have a low risk of adverse hematological outcomes and remains the treatment of choice for severe diabetes-related foot infections

Carbon sources of Antarctic nematodes as revealed by natural carbon isotope ratios and a pulse-chase experiment

δ13C of nematode communities in 27 sites was analyzed, spanning a large depth range (from 130 to 2,021 m) in five Antarctic regions, and compared to isotopic signatures of sediment organic matter. Sediment organic matter δ13C ranged from −24.4 to −21.9‰ without significant differences between regions, substrate types or depths. Nematode δ13C showed a larger range, from −34.6 to −19.3‰, and was more depleted than sediment organic matter typically by 1‰ and by up to 3‰ in silty substrata. These, and the isotopically heavy meiofauna at some stations, suggest substantial selectivity of some meiofauna for specific components of the sedimenting plankton. However, 13C-depletion in lipids and a potential contribution of chemoautotrophic carbon in the diet of the abundant genus Sabatieria may confound this interpretation. Carbon sources for Antarctic nematodes were also explored by means of an experiment in which the fate of a fresh pulse of labile carbon to the benthos was followed. This organic carbon was remineralized at a rate (11–20 mg C m−2 day−1) comparable to mineralization rates in continental slope sediments. There was no lag between sedimentation and mineralization; uptake by nematodes, however, did show such a lag. Nematodes contributed negligibly to benthic carbon mineralization

Predicted Relative Metabolomic Turnover (PRMT): determining metabolic turnover from a coastal marine metagenomic dataset

We present an approach in which the semantics of an XML language is defined by means of a transformation from an XML document model (an XML schema) to an application specific model. The application specific model implements the intended behavior of documents written in the language. A transformation is specified in a model transformation language used in the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach for software development. Our approach provides a better separation of three concerns found in XML applications: syntax, syntax processing logic and intended meaning of the syntax. It frees the developer of low-level syntactical details and improves the adaptability and reusability of XML applications. Declarative transformation rules and the explicit application model provide a finer control over the application parts affected by adaptations. Transformation rules and the application model for an XML language may be composed with the corresponding rules and application models defined for other XML languages. In that way we achieve reuse and composition of XML applications

Deep-Sea Nematodes Actively Colonise Sediments, Irrespective of the Presence of a Pulse of Organic Matter: Results from an In-Situ Experiment

A colonisation experiment was performed in situ at 2500 m water depth at the Arctic deep-sea long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN to determine the response of deep-sea nematodes to disturbed, newly available patches, enriched with organic matter. Cylindrical tubes,laterally covered with a 500 µm mesh, were filled with azoic deep-sea sediment and 13C-labelled food sources (diatoms and bacteria). After 10 days of incubation the tubes were analysed for nematode response in terms of colonisation and uptake. Nematodes actively colonised the tubes,however with densities that only accounted for a maximum of 2.13% (51 ind.10 cm−2) of the ambient nematode assemblages. Densities did not differ according to the presence or absence of organic matter, nor according to the type of organic matter added. The fact that the organic matter did not function as an attractant to nematodes was confirmed by the absence of notable 13C assimilation by the colonising nematodes. Overall, colonisationappears to be a process that yields reproducible abundance and diversity patterns, with certain taxa showing more efficiency. Together with the high variability between the colonising nematode assemblages, this lends experimental support to the existence of a spatio-temporal mosaic that emerges from highly localised, partially stochastic community dynamics