Uniformity in the Wiener-Wintner theorem for nilsequences

We prove a uniform extension of the Wiener-Wintner theorem for nilsequences due to Host and Kra and a nilsequence extension of the topological Wiener-Wintner theorem due to Assani. Our argument is based on (vertical) Fourier analysis and a Sobolev embedding theorem.Comment: v3: 18 p., proof that the cube construction produces compact homogeneous spaces added, measurability issues in the proof of Theorem 1.5 addressed. We thank the anonymous referees for pointing out these gaps in v

Antimicrobial activity of some actinomycetes from Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India

Introduction: Microbial diseases are increasing year by year and they are becoming a big threat to public health. There are more than 200 known diseases transmitted by bacteria, fungi, viruses, prions, rickettsia and other microbes to humans. The emergence of drug resistance to chemical drugs is the biggest threat in controlling human pathogens. Hence novel antimicrobial agents from actinomycetes are timely needed for the control of several human pathogens.Aim: The aim was to find some actinomycetes with antimicrobial metabolites.Methods: Soil samples were collected from Nilgiris district in Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Actinomycetes were isolated using serial dilution and plating techniques on actinomycetes isolation agar. Streptomycin and ketoconazole (25 lg/disc) were used as reference controls. The active strains were identified by 16S rRNA and phylogenetic tree was constructed; the sequences were submitted in the GenBank.Results: Totally 106 actinomycete strains were isolated and cross streaked against various human microbial pathogens. Only 44 (41.50%) exhibited good antimicrobial activity against different pathogenic microbes. Five isolates (FMS-20, TGH-30, TGH-31, TGH-31-1 and IS-4) were chosen for secondary screening using filtrate. Among them FMS-20 filtrate showed good inhibition on the 16th day against all tested microbial pathogens. Further the intracellular methanol extract of FMS- 20 showed maximum zone of inhibition against A. brasiliensis (22 mm) at 5 mg/disc. Similarly the extracellular ethyl acetate extract of FMS-20 showed maximum zone of inhibition against B. subtilis (25 mm).Conclusions: The present work revealed that, among 106 actinomycetes screened, Streptomyces rimosus (FMS-20) (Accession No-KT827106) showed promising antimicrobial activity against all the tested human microbial pathogens.Keywords: Streptomyces rimosus; Antimicrobial activity; Disc diffusion; Zone of inhibitio

CLASH: Precise New Constraints on the Mass Profile of Abell 2261

We precisely constrain the inner mass profile of Abell 2261 (z=0.225) for the first time and determine this cluster is not "over-concentrated" as found previously, implying a formation time in agreement with {\Lambda}CDM expectations. These results are based on strong lensing analyses of new 16-band HST imaging obtained as part of the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Combining this with revised weak lensing analyses of Subaru wide field imaging with 5-band Subaru + KPNO photometry, we place tight new constraints on the halo virial mass M_vir = 2.2\pm0.2\times10^15 M\odot/h70 (within r \approx 3 Mpc/h70) and concentration c = 6.2 \pm 0.3 when assuming a spherical halo. This agrees broadly with average c(M,z) predictions from recent {\Lambda}CDM simulations which span 5 <~ 8. Our most significant systematic uncertainty is halo elongation along the line of sight. To estimate this, we also derive a mass profile based on archival Chandra X-ray observations and find it to be ~35% lower than our lensing-derived profile at r2500 ~ 600 kpc. Agreement can be achieved by a halo elongated with a ~2:1 axis ratio along our line of sight. For this elongated halo model, we find M_vir = 1.7\pm0.2\times10^15 M\odot/h70 and c_vir = 4.6\pm0.2, placing rough lower limits on these values. The need for halo elongation can be partially obviated by non-thermal pressure support and, perhaps entirely, by systematic errors in the X-ray mass measurements. We estimate the effect of background structures based on MMT/Hectospec spectroscopic redshifts and find these tend to lower Mvir further by ~7% and increase cvir by ~5%.Comment: Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. 19 pages, 14 figure

CLASH: Mass Distribution in and around MACS J1206.2-0847 from a Full Cluster Lensing Analysis

We derive an accurate mass distribution of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 (z=0.439) from a combined weak-lensing distortion, magnification, and strong-lensing analysis of wide-field Subaru BVRIz' imaging and our recent 16-band Hubble Space Telescope observations taken as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) program. We find good agreement in the regions of overlap between several weak and strong lensing mass reconstructions using a wide variety of modeling methods, ensuring consistency. The Subaru data reveal the presence of a surrounding large scale structure with the major axis running approximately north-west south-east (NW-SE), aligned with the cluster and its brightest galaxy shapes, showing elongation with a \sim 2:1 axis ratio in the plane of the sky. Our full-lensing mass profile exhibits a shallow profile slope dln\Sigma/dlnR\sim -1 at cluster outskirts (R>1Mpc/h), whereas the mass distribution excluding the NW-SE excess regions steepens further out, well described by the Navarro-Frenk-White form. Assuming a spherical halo, we obtain a virial mass M_{vir}=(1.1\pm 0.2\pm 0.1)\times 10^{15} M_{sun}/h and a halo concentration c_{vir} = 6.9\pm 1.0\pm 1.2 (\sim 5.7 when the central 50kpc/h is excluded), which falls in the range 4 <7 of average c(M,z) predictions for relaxed clusters from recent Lambda cold dark matter simulations. Our full lensing results are found to be in agreement with X-ray mass measurements where the data overlap, and when combined with Chandra gas mass measurements, yield a cumulative gas mass fraction of 13.7^{+4.5}_{-3.0}% at 0.7Mpc/h (\approx 1.7r_{2500}), a typical value observed for high mass clusters.Comment: Accepted by ApJ (30 pages, 17 figures), one new figure (Figure 10) added, minor text changes; a version with high resolution figures available at http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~keiichi/upfiles/MACS1206/ms_highreso.pd

Factors affecting the determination of threshold doses for allergenic foods: How much is too much?

Background: Ingestion of small amounts of an offending food can elicit adverse reactions in individuals with IgE-mediated food allergies. The threshold dose for provocation of such reactions is often considered to be zero. However, because of various practical limitations in food production and processing, foods may occasionally contain trace residues of the offending food. Are these very low, residual quantities hazardous to allergic consumers? How much of the offending food is too much? Very little quantitative information exists to allow any risk assessments to be conducted by the food industry. Objective: We sought to determine whether the quality and quantity of existing clinical data on threshold doses for commonly allergenic foods were sufficient to allow consensus to be reached on establishment of threshold doses for specific foods. Methods: In September 1999,12 clinical allergists and other interested parties were invited to participate in a roundtable conference to share existing data on threshold doses and to discuss clinical approaches that would allow the acquisition of that information. Results: Considerable data were identified in clinical files relating to the threshold doses for peanut, cows\u27 milk, and egg; limited data were available for other foods, such as fish and mustard. Conclusions: Because these data were often obtained by means of different protocols, the estimation of a threshold dose was very difficult. Development of a standardized protocol for clinical experiments to allow determination of the threshold dose is needed

Protein Hydrolysates Are Avoided by Herbivores but Not by Omnivores in Two-Choice Preference Tests

Background: The negative sensory properties of casein hydrolysates (HC) often limit their usage in products intended for human consumption, despite HC being nutritious and having many functional benefits. Recent, but taxonomically limited, evidence suggests that other animals also avoid consuming HC when alternatives exist. Methodology/Principal Findings: We evaluated ingestive responses of five herbivorous species (guinea pig, mountain beaver, gopher, vole, and rabbit) and five omnivorous species (rat, coyote, house mouse, white-footed mouse, and deer mouse; N = 16–18/species) using solid foods containing 20% HC in a series of two-choice preference tests that used a nonprotein, cellulose-based alternative. Individuals were also tested with collagen hydrolysate (gelatin; GE) to determine whether it would induce similar ingestive responses to those induced by HC. Despite HC and GE having very different nutritional and sensory qualities, both hydrolysates produced similar preference score patterns. We found that the herbivores generally avoided the hydrolysates while the omnivores consumed them at similar levels to the cellulose diet or, more rarely, preferred them (HC by the white-footed mouse; GE by the rat). Follow-up preference tests pairing HC and the nutritionally equivalent intact casein (C) were performed on the three mouse species and the guinea pigs. For the mice, mean HC preference scores were lower in the HC v C compared to the HC v Cel tests, indicating that HC’s sensory qualities negatively affected its consumption. However, responses were species-specific. For the guinea pigs, repeated exposure to HC or C (4.7-h sessions; N = 10) were found to increase subsequent HC preference scores in an HC v C preference test, which was interpreted in the light of conservative foraging strategies thought to typify herbivores. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first empirical study of dietary niche-related taxonomic differences in ingestive responses to protein hydrolysates using multiple species under comparable conditions. Our results provide a basis for future work in sensory, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms of hydrolysate avoidance and on the potential use of hydrolysates for pest management

Exome-wide association study to identify rare variants influencing COVID-19 outcomes : Results from the Host Genetics Initiative

Publisher Copyright: Copyright: © 2022 Butler-Laporte et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Host genetics is a key determinant of COVID-19 outcomes. Previously, the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative genome-wide association study used common variants to identify multiple loci associated with COVID-19 outcomes. However, variants with the largest impact on COVID-19 outcomes are expected to be rare in the population. Hence, studying rare variants may provide additional insights into disease susceptibility and pathogenesis, thereby informing therapeutics development. Here, we combined whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing from 21 cohorts across 12 countries and performed rare variant exome-wide burden analyses for COVID-19 outcomes. In an analysis of 5,085 severe disease cases and 571,737 controls, we observed that carrying a rare deleterious variant in the SARS-CoV-2 sensor toll-like receptor TLR7 (on chromosome X) was associated with a 5.3-fold increase in severe disease (95% CI: 2.75–10.05, p = 5.41x10-7). This association was consistent across sexes. These results further support TLR7 as a genetic determinant of severe disease and suggest that larger studies on rare variants influencing COVID-19 outcomes could provide additional insights.Peer reviewe