Towards an ecological index for tropical soil quality based on soil macrofauna

The objective of this work was to construct a simple index based on the presence/absence of different groups of soil macrofauna to determine the ecological quality of soils. The index was tested with data from 20 sites in South and Central Tabasco, Mexico, and a positive relation between the model and the field observations was detected. The index showed that diverse agroforestry systems had the highest soil quality index (1.00), and monocrops without trees, such as pineapple, showed the lowest soil quality index (0.08). Further research is required to improve this model for natural systems that have very low earthworm biomass

proGenomes2: an improved database for accurate and consistent habitat, taxonomic and functional annotations of prokaryotic genomes

Microbiology depends on the availability of annotated microbial genomes for many applications. Comparative genomics approaches have been a major advance, but consistent and accurate annotations of genomes can be hard to obtain. In addition, newer concepts such as the pan-genome concept are still being implemented to help answer biological questions. Hence, we present proGenomes2, which provides 87 920 high-quality genomes in a user-friendly and interactive manner. Genome sequences and annotations can be retrieved individually or by taxonomic clade. Every genome in the database has been assigned to a species cluster and most genomes could be accurately assigned to one or multiple habitats. In addition, general functional annotations and specific annotations of antibiotic resistance genes and single nucleotide variants are provided. In short, proGenomes2 provides threefold more genomes, enhanced habitat annotations, updated taxonomic and functional annotation and improved linkage to the NCBI BioSample database. The database is available at http://progenomes.embl.de/

The Quest for Orthologs benchmark service and consensus calls in 2020.

The identification of orthologs-genes in different species which descended from the same gene in their last common ancestor-is a prerequisite for many analyses in comparative genomics and molecular evolution. Numerous algorithms and resources have been conceived to address this problem, but benchmarking and interpreting them is fraught with difficulties (need to compare them on a common input dataset, absence of ground truth, computational cost of calling orthologs). To address this, the Quest for Orthologs consortium maintains a reference set of proteomes and provides a web server for continuous orthology benchmarking (http://orthology.benchmarkservice.org). Furthermore, consensus ortholog calls derived from public benchmark submissions are provided on the Alliance of Genome Resources website, the joint portal of NIH-funded model organism databases

Effects of alpha-lipoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in overweight and obese women during weight loss

Objective: To evaluate the potential body weight lowering effects of dietary supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and α-lipoic acid separately or combined, in healthy overweight/obese women following a hypocaloric diet. Design and Methods: This is a short-term double-blind placebo-controlled lasted 10-weeks study with parallel design. Of the randomized participants, 97 women received the allocated treatment (Control, EPA (1.3 g/d of EPA), α-lipoic acid (0.3 g/d) and EPA+ α-lipoic acid (1.3 g/d + 0.3 g/d)), finishing 77 volunteers. All groups followed an energy-restricted diet of 30% from the total energy expenditure. Body weight, anthropometric measurements, body composition, resting energy expenditure, blood pressure, serum glucose, insulin and lipid profile, as well as leptin and ghrelin levels, were assessed at baseline and after nutritional intervention. Results: Body weight loss was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in those groups supplemented with α-lipoic acid. EPA supplementation significantly attenuated (P < 0.001) the decrease in leptin levels that occurs during weight loss. Body weight loss improved lipid and glucose metabolism parameters, but without significant differences between groups. Conclusion: The intervention suggests that α-lipoic acid supplementation alone or in combination with EPA may help to promote body weight loss in healthy overweight/obese women following energy-restricted diets

Extended gamma-ray sources around pulsars constrain the origin of the positron flux at Earth

The unexpectedly high flux of cosmic ray positrons detected at Earth may originate from nearby astrophysical sources, dark matter, or unknown processes of cosmic-ray secondary production. We report the detection, using the HighAltitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), of extended tera-electron volt gamma-ray emission coincident with the locations of two nearby middle-aged pulsars (Geminga and PSR B0656+14). The HAWC observations demonstrate that these pulsars are indeed local sources of accelerated leptons, but the measured tera-electron volt emission profile constrains the diffusion of particles away from these sources to be much slower than previously assumed. We demonstrate that the leptons emitted by these objects are therefore unlikely to be the origin of the excess positrons, which may have a more exotic origin.Comment: 16 pages (including supplementary material), 5 figure

Diagnosis of Transient/Latent HPV Infections - A Point of View!

© 2018 IMSS Diagnosis of transient/latent HPV infections requires a rethinking of ideas concerning the host virus relationship. With this in mind, we address several concepts, such as mutualism and commensalism, to understand better the different stages of development, in addition to briefly covering current methods of detection. We suggest analyzing molecules related to the innate immune response for earlier diagnosis

The PTF Orion Project: a Possible Planet Transiting a T-Tauri Star

We report observations of a possible young transiting planet orbiting a previously known weak-lined T-Tauri star in the 7-10 Myr old Orion-OB1a/25-Ori region. The candidate was found as part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) Orion project. It has a photometric transit period of 0.448413 +- 0.000040 days, and appears in both 2009 and 2010 PTF data. Follow-up low-precision radial velocity (RV) observations and adaptive optics imaging suggest that the star is not an eclipsing binary, and that it is unlikely that a background source is blended with the target and mimicking the observed transit. RV observations with the Hobby-Eberly and Keck telescopes yield an RV that has the same period as the photometric event, but is offset in phase from the transit center by approximately -0.22 periods. The amplitude (half range) of the RV variations is 2.4 km/s and is comparable with the expected RV amplitude that stellar spots could induce. The RV curve is likely dominated by stellar spot modulation and provides an upper limit to the projected companion mass of M_p sin i_orb < 4.8 +- 1.2 M_Jup; when combined with the orbital inclination, i orb, of the candidate planet from modeling of the transit light curve, we find an upper limit on the mass of the planetary candidate of M_p < 5.5 +- 1.4 M_Jup. This limit implies that the planet is orbiting close to, if not inside, its Roche limiting orbital radius, so that it may be undergoing active mass loss and evaporation.Comment: Corrected typos, minor clarifications; minor updates/corrections to affiliations and bibliography. 35 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables. Accepted to Ap

Potential migratory routes of Urania boisduvalii (Lepidoptera: Uraniidae) among host plant populations

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Aim Migratory species depend on various habitats and resources along their migration routes. Characteristics such as dependence on distinct habitats and the presence of multiple threats along their migratory routes make these species vulnerable, and gaps in knowledge about their ecology and migration processes make them difficult to conserve. Urania boisduvalii is a diurnal moth endemic to Cuba that feeds on plants of Omphalea spp. during its larval phases. These plants produce secondary metabolites as a defence against the moth's larvae, which then are forced to migrate. Although some ecological aspects of Urania boisduvalii are known, its migration routes remain largely unknown. This research proposes potential migratory routes of Urania boisduvalii among populations of its host plant. Location Cuba. Methods We developed ecological niche models of the moth and its hosts based on environmental, anthropic, biotic and biogeographic factors to obtain potential distributional areas that include zones where positive interactions are found but exclude those where negative factors are present. These areas were overlapped to hypothesize potential breeding areas for the moths. Potential migratory corridors were proposed based on environmental connectivity. Results The moth and its hosts have broad potential distributions; however, limiting factors have substantially reduced these areas, especially for plants. The potential migratory routes of Urania boisduvalii are complex and mostly involve the western and eastern regions of Cuba. Most records outside potential breeding areas were close to these migratory corridors. Main conclusions We offer initial hypotheses of the migratory routes of U. boisduvalii, which may be useful to guiding monitoring projects that can provide more definitive views of the seasonal distribution of this species across the Cuban archipelago