The Influence of Physiological Status on age Prediction of Anopheles Arabiensis Using Near Infra-red spectroscopy

Determining the age of malaria vectors is essential for evaluating the impact of interventions that reduce the survival of wild mosquito populations and for estimating changes in vectorial capacity. Near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) is a simple and non-destructive method that has been used to determine the age and species of Anopheles gambiae s.l. by analyzing differences in absorption spectra. The spectra are affected by biochemical changes that occur during the life of a mosquito and could be influenced by senescence and also the life history of the mosquito, i.e., mating, blood feeding and egg-laying events. To better understand these changes, we evaluated the influence of mosquito physiological status on NIR energy absorption spectra. Mosquitoes were kept in individual cups to permit record keeping of each individual insect’s life history. Mosquitoes of the same chronological age, but at different physiological stages, were scanned and compared using cross-validations. We observed a slight trend within some physiological stages that suggest older insects tend to be predicted as being physiologically more mature. It was advantageous to include mosquitoes of different chronological ages and physiological stages in calibrations, as it increases the robustness of the model resulting in better age predictions. Progression through different physiological statuses of An. arabiensis influences the chronological age prediction by the NIRS. Entomologists that wish to use NIR technology to predict the age of field-caught An. gambiae s.l from their study area should use a calibration developed from their field strain using mosquitoes of diverse chronological ages and physiological stages to increase the robustness and accuracy of the predictions.\u

Role of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide in Bone Repair after Cyclic Fatigue Loading

Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) is a neuropeptide that is abundant in the sensory neurons which innervate bone. The effects of CGRP on isolated bone cells have been widely studied, and CGRP is currently considered to be an osteoanabolic peptide that has effects on both osteoclasts and osteoblasts. However, relatively little is known about the physiological role of CGRP in-vivo in the skeletal responses to bone loading, particularly fatigue loading.We used the rat ulna end-loading model to induce fatigue damage in the ulna unilaterally during cyclic loading. We postulated that CGRP would influence skeletal responses to cyclic fatigue loading. Rats were fatigue loaded and groups of rats were infused systemically with 0.9% saline, CGRP, or the receptor antagonist, CGRP(8-37), for a 10 day study period. Ten days after fatigue loading, bone and serum CGRP concentrations, serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRAP5b) concentrations, and fatigue-induced skeletal responses were quantified. We found that cyclic fatigue loading led to increased CGRP concentrations in both loaded and contralateral ulnae. Administration of CGRP(8-37) was associated with increased targeted remodeling in the fatigue-loaded ulna. Administration of CGRP or CGRP(8-37) both increased reparative bone formation over the study period. Plasma concentration of TRAP5b was not significantly influenced by either CGRP or CGRP(8-37) administration.CGRP signaling modulates targeted remodeling of microdamage and reparative new bone formation after bone fatigue, and may be part of a neuronal signaling pathway which has regulatory effects on load-induced repair responses within the skeleton

Global biogeography of SAR11 marine bacteria

The ubiquitous SAR11 bacterial clade is the most abundant type of organism in the worldĝ€™s oceans, but the reasons for its success are not fully elucidated. We analysed 128 surface marine metagenomes, including 37 new Antarctic metagenomes. The large size of the data set enabled internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions to be obtained from the Southern polar region, enabling the first global characterization of the distribution of SAR11, from waters spanning temperatures ĝ̂'2 to 30°C. Our data show a stable co-occurrence of phylotypes within both ĝ€̃ tropicalĝ€™ (>20°C) and ĝ€̃ polarĝ€™ (<10°C) biomes, highlighting ecological niche differentiation between major SAR11 subgroups. All phylotypes display transitions in abundance that are strongly correlated with temperature and latitude. By assembling SAR11 genomes from Antarctic metagenome data, we identified specific genes, biases in gene functions and signatures of positive selection in the genomes of the polar SAR11ĝ€"genomic signatures of adaptive radiation. Our data demonstrate the importance of adaptive radiation in the organismĝ€™s ability to proliferate throughout the worldĝ€™s oceans, and describe genomic traits characteristic of different phylotypes in specific marine biomes. © 2012 EMBO and Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

C-reactive protein in the very early phase of acute ischemic stroke: association with poor outcome and death

Acute ischemic stroke may trigger an inflammatory response that leads to increased levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). High levels of CRP may be associated with poor outcome because they reflect either an inflammatory reaction or tissue damage. We evaluated the prognostic value of CRP within 12 h of onset of ischemic stroke. Levels of CRP were routinely obtained within 12 h of symptom onset in 561 patients with ischemic stroke. CRP values were dichotomized as <7 or ≥7 mg/L. The full range of CRP values was used to detect a possible level-risk relationship. We studied the relation between CRP values and poor outcome (modified Rankin Scale score >2) or death at 3 months. A multiple logistic regression model was applied to adjust for age, sex, NIHSS score, current cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, statin use, and stroke subtype. After adjustment for potential confounders, patients with CRP levels ≥7 mg/L had a significantly increased risk of poor outcome (adjusted OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.4) or death (adjusted OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0–2.9) at 3 months. In addition, the risk of poor outcome or death at 3 months increased with higher levels of CRP. CRP within 12 h of ischemic stroke is an independent prognostic factor of poor outcome at 3 months

Best Linear Unbiased Prediction of Genomic Breeding Values Using a Trait-Specific Marker-Derived Relationship Matrix

With the availability of high density whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism chips, genomic selection has become a promising method to estimate genetic merit with potentially high accuracy for animal, plant and aquaculture species of economic importance. With markers covering the entire genome, genetic merit of genotyped individuals can be predicted directly within the framework of mixed model equations, by using a matrix of relationships among individuals that is derived from the markers. Here we extend that approach by deriving a marker-based relationship matrix specifically for the trait of interest

Defective Interfering Viral Particles in Acute Dengue Infections

While much of the genetic variation in RNA viruses arises because of the error-prone nature of their RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, much larger changes may occur as a result of recombination. An extreme example of genetic change is found in defective interfering (DI) viral particles, where large sections of the genome of a parental virus have been deleted and the residual sub-genome fragment is replicated by complementation by co-infecting functional viruses. While most reports of DI particles have referred to studies in vitro, there is some evidence for the presence of DI particles in chronic viral infections in vivo. In this study, short fragments of dengue virus (DENV) RNA containing only key regulatory elements at the 3′ and 5′ ends of the genome were recovered from the sera of patients infected with any of the four DENV serotypes. Identical RNA fragments were detected in the supernatant from cultures of Aedes mosquito cells that were infected by the addition of sera from dengue patients, suggesting that the sub-genomic RNA might be transmitted between human and mosquito hosts in defective interfering (DI) viral particles. In vitro transcribed sub-genomic RNA corresponding to that detected in vivo could be packaged in virus like particles in the presence of wild type virus and transmitted for at least three passages in cell culture. DENV preparations enriched for these putative DI particles reduced the yield of wild type dengue virus following co-infections of C6–36 cells. This is the first report of DI particles in an acute arboviral infection in nature. The internal genomic deletions described here are the most extensive defects observed in DENV and may be part of a much broader disease attenuating process that is mediated by defective viruses