Entomology-based methods for estimation of postmortem interval

Forensic entomology involves the use of insects and other arthropods to estimate the minimum time elapsed since death, referred to as minimum postmortem interval (minPMI). This is based on the assemblage of insects found in association with remains, and most often, the time required for development of the first colonizing insects to develop to their size/life stage at time of collection. This process involves the accumulation of appropriate data for the development of the species of insect at a variety of relevant temperatures and consideration of the other biotic and abiotic factors that may affect developmental rate. This review considers the approaches to the estimation of minPMI, focusing largely on the age estimation of specimens collected from remains and the limitations that accompany entomology-based PMI estimations. Recent advances and newly developed techniques in the field are reviewed in regard to future potential

Can oral healthcare for older people be embedded into routine community aged care practice? A realist evaluation using normalisation process theory

This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (December 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyBackground An intervention ‘Better Oral Health in Home Care’ was introduced (2012–2014) to improve the oral health of older people receiving community aged care services. Implementation of the intervention was theoretically framed by the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework. Process outcomes demonstrated significant improvements in older people’s oral health. Objective To evaluate the extent to which the intervention has been embedded and sustained into routine community aged care practice 3 years after the initial implementation project. Design A Realist Evaluation applying Normalisation Process Theory within a single case study setting. Setting Community aged care (home care) provider in South Australia, Australia. Participants Purposeful sampling was undertaken. Twelve staff members were recruited from corporate, management and direct care positions. Two consumers representing high and low care recipients also participated. Methods Qualitative methods were applied in two subcases, reflecting different contextual settings. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed deductively by applying the Normalisation Process Theory core constructs (with the recommended phases of the Realist Evaluation cycle). Retrospective and prospective analytic methods investigated how the intervention has been operationalised by comparing two timeframes: Time 1 (Implementation June 2012–December 2014) and Time 2 (Post-implementation July 2017–July 2018). Results At Time 1, the initial program theory proposed that multi-level facilitation contributed to a favourable context that triggered positive mechanisms supportive of building organisational and workforce oral healthcare capacity. At Time 2, an alternative program theory of how the intervention has unfolded in practice described a changed context following the withdrawal of the project facilitation processes with the triggering of alternative mechanisms that have made it difficult for staff to embed sustainable practice. Conclusion Findings concur with the literature that successful implementation outcomes do not necessarily guarantee sustainability. The study has provided a deeper explanation of how contextual characteristics have contributed to the conceptualisation of oral healthcare as a low priority, basic work-ready personal care task and how this, in turn, hindered the embedding of sustainable oral healthcare into routine community aged care practice. This understanding can be used to better inform the development of strategies, such as multi-level facilitation, needed to navigate contextual barriers so that sustainable practice can be achieved

A bacterial quorum-sensing precursor induces mortality in the marine coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Microbiology 7 (2016): 59, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00059.Interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria play a central role in mediating biogeochemical cycling and food web structure in the ocean. However, deciphering the chemical drivers of these interspecies interactions remains challenging. Here, we report the isolation of 2-heptyl-4-quinolone (HHQ), released by Pseudoalteromonas piscicida, a marine gamma-proteobacteria previously reported to induce phytoplankton mortality through a hitherto unknown algicidal mechanism. HHQ functions as both an antibiotic and a bacterial signaling molecule in cell–cell communication in clinical infection models. Co-culture of the bloom-forming coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi with both live P. piscicida and cell-free filtrates caused a significant decrease in algal growth. Investigations of the P. piscicida exometabolome revealed HHQ, at nanomolar concentrations, induced mortality in three strains of E. huxleyi. Mortality of E. huxleyi in response to HHQ occurred slowly, implying static growth rather than a singular loss event (e.g., rapid cell lysis). In contrast, the marine chlorophyte, Dunaliella tertiolecta and diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum were unaffected by HHQ exposures. These results suggest that HHQ mediates the type of inter-domain interactions that cause shifts in phytoplankton population dynamics. These chemically mediated interactions, and other like it, ultimately influence large-scale oceanographic processes.This research was support through funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant GBMF3301 to MJ and TM; NIH grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID – 1R21Al119311-01) to TM and KW; the National Science Foundation (OCE – 1313747) and US National Institute of Environmental Health Science (P01-ES021921) through the Oceans and Human Health Program to BM. Additional financial support was provided to TM from the Flatley Discovery Lab

Human Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells Are Defined by Core Transcriptional and Functional Signatures in Lymphoid and Mucosal Sites

Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRMs) in mice mediate optimal protective immunity to infection and vaccination, while in humans, the existence and properties of TRMs remain unclear. Here, we use a unique human tissue resource to determine whether human tissue memory T cells constitute a distinct subset in diverse mucosal and lymphoid tissues. We identify a core transcriptional profile within the CD69+ subset of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in lung and spleen that is distinct from that of CD69− TEM cells in tissues and circulation and defines human TRMs based on homology to the transcriptional profile of mouse CD8+ TRMs. Human TRMs in diverse sites exhibit increased expression of adhesion and inhibitory molecules, produce both pro-inflammatory and regulatory cytokines, and have reduced turnover compared with circulating TEM, suggesting unique adaptations for in situ immunity. Together, our results provide a unifying signature for human TRM and a blueprint for designing tissue-targeted immunotherapies

Deficits in Analogical Reasoning in Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury

Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) exhibit deficits in executive control, which may impact their reasoning abilities. Analogical reasoning requires working memory and inhibitory abilities. In this study, we tested adolescents with moderate to severe TBI and typically developing (TD) controls on a set of picture analogy problems. Three factors were varied: complexity (number of relations in the problems), distraction (distractor item present or absent), and animacy (living or non-living items in the problems). We found that TD adolescents performed significantly better overall than TBI adolescents. There was also an age effect present in the TBI group where older participants performed better than younger ones. This age effect was not observed in the TD group. Performance was affected by complexity and distraction. Further, TBI participants exhibited lower performance with distractors present than TD participants. The reasoning deficits exhibited by the TBI participants were correlated with measures of executive function that required working memory updating, attention, and attentional screening. Using MRI-derived measures of cortical thickness, correlations were carried out between task accuracy and cortical thickness. The TD adolescents showed negative correlations between thickness and task accuracy in frontal and temporal regions consistent with cortical maturation in these regions. This study demonstrates that adolescent TBI results in impairments in analogical reasoning ability. Further, TBI youth have difficulty effectively screening out distraction, which may lead to failures in comprehension of the relations among items in visual scenes. Lastly, TBI youth fail to show robust cortical–behavior correlations as observed in TD individuals

Tomographic Separation of Composite Spectra. VIII. The Physical Properties of the Massive Compact Binary in the Triple Star System HD 36486 (delta Orionis A)

Double-lined spectroscopic orbital elements have recently been found for the central binary in the massive triple, delta Orionis A based on radial velocities from cross-correlation techniques applied to IUE high dispersion spectra and He I 6678 spectra obtained at Kitt Peak. The primary and secondary velocity amplitudes were found to be 94.9 +/- 0.6 km/s and 186 +/- 9 km/s respectively. Tomographic reconstructions of the primary and secondary stars' spectra confirm the O9.5 II classification of the primary and indicate a B0.5 III type for the secondary. The widths of the UV cross-correlation functions are used to estimate the projected rotational velocities, Vsin i = 157 +/- 6 km/s and 138 +/- 16 km/s for the primary and secondary, respectively implying that both stars rotate faster than their orbital motion. We used the spectroscopic results to make a constrained fit of the Hipparcos light curve of this eclipsing binary, and the model fits limit the inclination to the range between 67 and 77 degrees. The i = 67 degrees solution, which corresponds to a near Roche-filling configuration, results in a primary mass of 11.2 solar masses and a secondary mass of 5.6 solar masses, both of which are substantially below the expected masses for stars of their luminosity. This binary may have experienced a mass ratio reversal caused by Case A Roche lobe overflow, or the system may have suffered extensive mass loss through a binary interaction, perhaps during a common envelope phase, in which most of the primary's mass was lost from the system rather than transferred to the secondary.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures in press, the Astrophysical Journal, February 1, 200

The remnants of galaxy formation from a panoramic survey of the region around M31

In hierarchical cosmological models, galaxies grow in mass through the continual accretion of smaller ones. The tidal disruption of these systems is expected to result in loosely bound stars surrounding the galaxy, at distances that reach $10 - 100$ times the radius of the central disk. The number, luminosity and morphology of the relics of this process provide significant clues to galaxy formation history, but obtaining a comprehensive survey of these components is difficult because of their intrinsic faintness and vast extent. Here we report a panoramic survey of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). We detect stars and coherent structures that are almost certainly remnants of dwarf galaxies destroyed by the tidal field of M31. An improved census of their surviving counterparts implies that three-quarters of M31's satellites brighter than $M_V < -6$ await discovery. The brightest companion, Triangulum (M33), is surrounded by a stellar structure that provides persuasive evidence for a recent encounter with M31. This panorama of galaxy structure directly confirms the basic tenets of the hierarchical galaxy formation model and reveals the shared history of M31 and M33 in the unceasing build-up of galaxies.Comment: Published in Nature. Supplementary movie available at https://www.astrosci.ca/users/alan/PANDAS/Latest%20news%3A%20movie%20of%20orbit.htm

Summary and Highlights of the SPARC-Reanalysis Intercomparison Project

The climate research community uses global atmospheric reanalysis data sets to understand a wide range of processes and variability in the atmosphere; they are a particularly powerful tool for studying phenomena that cannot be directly observed. Different reanalyses may give very different results for the same diagnostics. The Stratosphere troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC) Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP) is a coordinated activity to compare key diagnostics that are important for stratospheric processes and their tropospheric connections among available reanalyses. S-RIP has been identifying differences among reanalyses and their underlying causes, providing guidance on appropriate usage of reanalysis products in scientific studies (particularly those of relevance to SPARC), and contributing to future improvements in the reanalysis products by establishing collaborative links between reanalysis centres and data users. S-RIP emphasizes diagnostics of the upper troposphere, stratosphere, and lower mesosphere. The draft S-RIP final report is expected to be completed in 2018. This poster gives a summary of the S-RIP project and presents highlights including results on the Brewer-Dobson circulation, stratosphere/troposphere dynamical coupling, the extra-tropical upper troposphere / lower stratosphere, the tropical tropopause layer, the quasi-biennial oscillation, lower stratospheric polar processing, and the upper stratosphere/lower mesosphere

Tandem repeat regions within the Burkholderia pseudomallei genome and their application for high resolution genotyping

BACKGROUND: The facultative, intracellular bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a serious infectious disease of humans and animals. We identified and categorized tandem repeat arrays and their distribution throughout the genome of B. pseudomallei strain K96243 in order to develop a genetic typing method for B. pseudomallei. We then screened 104 of the potentially polymorphic loci across a diverse panel of 31 isolates including B. pseudomallei, B. mallei and B. thailandensis in order to identify loci with varying degrees of polymorphism. A subset of these tandem repeat arrays were subsequently developed into a multiple-locus VNTR analysis to examine 66 B. pseudomallei and 21 B. mallei isolates from around the world, as well as 95 lineages from a serial transfer experiment encompassing ~18,000 generations. RESULTS: B. pseudomallei contains a preponderance of tandem repeat loci throughout its genome, many of which are duplicated elsewhere in the genome. The majority of these loci are composed of repeat motif lengths of 6 to 9 bp with 4 to 10 repeat units and are predominately located in intergenic regions of the genome. Across geographically diverse B. pseudomallei and B.mallei isolates, the 32 VNTR loci displayed between 7 and 28 alleles, with Nei's diversity values ranging from 0.47 and 0.94. Mutation rates for these loci are comparable (>10(-5 )per locus per generation) to that of the most diverse tandemly repeated regions found in other less diverse bacteria. CONCLUSION: The frequency, location and duplicate nature of tandemly repeated regions within the B. pseudomallei genome indicate that these tandem repeat regions may play a role in generating and maintaining adaptive genomic variation. Multiple-locus VNTR analysis revealed extensive diversity within the global isolate set containing B. pseudomallei and B. mallei, and it detected genotypic differences within clonal lineages of both species that were identical using previous typing methods. Given the health threat to humans and livestock and the potential for B. pseudomallei to be released intentionally, MLVA could prove to be an important tool for fine-scale epidemiological or forensic tracking of this increasingly important environmental pathogen