Translation of Polyanskii, Yu. I. and E. M. Kheisin. 1959. Some observations on the development of \u3ci\u3eBabesiella bovis\u3c/i\u3e in the tick vector. \u3ci\u3eWorks of the Karelia Branch of the Academy of Sciences USSR\u3c/i\u3e 14: 5-13. Transliteration: Nekotorye nablyudeniya nad razvitiem \u3ci\u3eBabesiella bovis\u3c/i\u3e v kleshche-perenoschike. \u3ci\u3eTrudy Karel\u27skogo fiIiala Akademie Nauk SSSR\u3c/i\u3e. Vypusk 14: 5-13

Translation number 8, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, United States, February 14, 1962 (8 pages) Translation of Polyanskii, Yu. I. and E. M. Kheisin. 1959. Some observations on the development of Babesiella bovis in the tick vector. Works of the Karelia Branch of the Academy of Sciences USSR 14: 5-13. Transliteration: Nekotorye nablyudeniya nad razvitiem Babesiella bovis v kleshche-perenoschike. Trudy Karel\u27skogo fiIiala Akademie Nauk SSSR. Vypusk 14: 5-13 Translation from Russian to English by Virginia Ivens, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, United States (notated VI/s

Terror from the Sky: Unconventional Linguistic Clues to the Negrito Past

Within recorded history. most Southeast Asian peoples have been of southern Mongoloid physical type, whether they speak Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Austronesian, Tai-Kadai, or Hmong-Mien languages. However, population distributions suggest that this is a post-Pleistocene phenomenon and that for tens of millennia before the last glaciation ended Greater Mainland Southeast Asia, which included the currently insular world that rests on the Sunda Shelf, was peopled by short, dark-skinned, frizzy-haired foragers whose descendants in the Philippines came to be labeled by the sixteenth-century Spanish colonizers as negritos, a term that has since been extended to similar groups throughout the region. There are three areas in which these populations survived into the present so as to become part of written history: the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and the Andaman Islands. All Philippine negritos speak Austronesian languages, and all Malayan negritos speak languages in the nuclear Mon-Khmer branch of Austroasiatic, but the linguistic situation in the Andamans is a world apart. Given prehistoric language shifts among both Philippine and Malayan negritos, the prospects of determining whether disparate negrito populations were once a linguistically or culturally unified community would appear hopeless. Surprisingly, however, some clues to a common negrito past do survive in a most unexpected way

In-depth study of the microstructure of bamboo fibres and their relation to the mechanical properties

The mechanical properties of bamboo technical fibre, from the species Guadua angustifolia, have been studied showing values of strength up to 800 MPa and E-modulus up to 43 GPa, proving their adequate tensile properties that make this natural fibre suitable as reinforcement in composite materials. To fully explore the good mechanical properties and to make an adequate use of this new reinforcement, it is indispensable to comprehensively understand the fibre behaviour as a function of the microstructure. Microscopic observations have provided us with an extensive knowledge of the complex microstructure of this natural fibre from the macroscale down to the microscale level where different features like the distribution of the elementary fibres within the fibre bundle, dimensions and layering pattern of the elementary fibres and the main microfibrillar angles could be measured. The Young’s modulus of the elementary fibre is analysed based on the micromechanics of composite materials, commonly used for unidirectional short fibre composites, and the fibre microstructure. The predicted results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data, showing the appropriateness of the model for describing the elementary fibre stiffness. Also, the failure modes of single fibres after tensile testing are analysed by microscopic observations, to have an indication of the stress development in the elementary fibres and the different failure mechanisms.  NaturalisPlant science

Protein and small non-coding RNA-enriched extracellular vesicles are released by the pathogenic blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni

Background: Penetration of skin, migration through tissues and establishment of long-lived intravascular partners require Schistosoma parasites to successfully manipulate definitive host defences. While previous studies of larval schistosomula have postulated a function for excreted/secreted (E/S) products in initiating these host-modulatory events, the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) has yet to be considered. Here, using preparatory ultracentrifugation as well as methodologies to globally analyse both proteins and small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs), we conducted the first characterization of Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula EVs and their potential host-regulatory cargos. Results: Transmission electron microscopy analysis of EVs isolated from schistosomula in vitro cultures revealed the presence of numerous, 30–100 nm sized exosome-like vesicles. Proteomic analysis of these vesicles revealed a core set of 109 proteins, including homologs to those previously found enriched in other eukaryotic EVs, as well as hypothetical proteins of high abundance and currently unknown function. Characterization of E/S sncRNAs found within and outside of schistosomula EVs additionally identified the presence of potential gene-regulatory miRNAs (35 known and 170 potentially novel miRNAs) and tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs; nineteen 5′ tsRNAs and fourteen 3′ tsRNAs). Conclusions: The identification of S. mansoni EVs and the combinatorial protein/sncRNA characterization of their cargo signifies that an important new participant in the complex biology underpinning schistosome/host interactions has now been discovered. Further work defining the role of these schistosomula EVs and the function/stability of intra- and extra-vesicular sncRNA components presents tremendous opportunities for developing novel schistosomiasis diagnostics or interventions

Micro-CT-based analysis of fibre-reinforced composites:Applications

The paper presents an overview of cases in which the analysis of the internal structure and mechanical properties of fibre reinforced composites is performed based on the micro-computed X-ray tomography (micro-CT) reconstruction of the composite reinforcement geometry. In all the cases, the analysis relies on structure tensor-based algorithms for quantification of the micro-CT image, implemented in VoxTex software

Choice of Bacterial Growth Medium Alters the Transcriptome and Phenotype of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium

The type of bacterial culture medium is an important consideration during design of any experimental protocol. The aim of this study was to understand the impact of medium choice on bacterial gene expression and physiology by comparing the transcriptome of Salmonella enterica SL1344 after growth in the widely used LB broth or the rationally designed MOPS minimal medium. Transcriptomics showed that after growth in MOPS minimal media, compared to LB, there was increased expression of 42 genes involved in amino acid synthesis and 23 genes coding for ABC transporters. Seven flagellar genes had decreased expression after growth in MOPS minimal medium and this correlated with a decreased motility. In both MOPS minimal medium and MEM expression of genes from SPI-2 was increased and the adhesion of S. Typhimurium to intestinal epithelial cells was higher compared to the levels after growth in LB. However, SL1344 invasion was not significantly altered by growth in either MOPs minimal media or MEM. Expression of SPI-2 was also measured using chromosomal GFP reporter fusions followed by flow cytometry which showed, for the first time, that the reduction in SPI-2 transcript after growth in different media related to a reduction in the proportion of the bacterial population expressing SPI-2. These data highlight the profound differences in the global transcriptome after in vitro growth in different media and show that choice of medium should be considered carefully during experimental design, particularly when virulence related phenotypes are being measured

A latent trait look at pretest-posttest validation of criterion-referenced test items

Since Cox and Vargas (1966) introduced their pretest-posttest validity index for criterion-referenced test items, a great number of additions and modifications have followed. All are based on the idea of gain scoring; that is, they are computed from the differences between proportions of pretest and posttest item responses. Although the method is simple and generally considered as the prototype of criterion-referenced item analysis, it has many and serious disadvantages. Some of these go back to the fact that it leads to indices based on a dual test administration- and population-dependent item p values. Others have to do with the global information about the discriminating power that these indices provide, the implicit weighting they suppose, and the meaningless maximization of posttest scores they lead to. Analyzing the pretest-posttest method from a latent trait point of view, it is proposed to replace indices like Cox and Vargas’ Dpp by an evaluation of the item information function for the mastery score. An empirical study was conducted to compare the differences in item selection between both methods

Genome of the Avirulent Human-Infective Trypanosome—Trypanosoma rangeli

Background: Trypanosoma rangeli is a hemoflagellate protozoan parasite infecting humans and other wild and domestic mammals across Central and South America. It does not cause human disease, but it can be mistaken for the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. We have sequenced the T. rangeli genome to provide new tools for elucidating the distinct and intriguing biology of this species and the key pathways related to interaction with its arthropod and mammalian hosts.  Methodology/Principal Findings: The T. rangeli haploid genome is ,24 Mb in length, and is the smallest and least repetitive trypanosomatid genome sequenced thus far. This parasite genome has shorter subtelomeric sequences compared to those of T. cruzi and T. brucei; displays intraspecific karyotype variability and lacks minichromosomes. Of the predicted 7,613 protein coding sequences, functional annotations could be determined for 2,415, while 5,043 are hypothetical proteins, some with evidence of protein expression. 7,101 genes (93%) are shared with other trypanosomatids that infect humans. An ortholog of the dcl2 gene involved in the T. brucei RNAi pathway was found in T. rangeli, but the RNAi machinery is non-functional since the other genes in this pathway are pseudogenized. T. rangeli is highly susceptible to oxidative stress, a phenotype that may be explained by a smaller number of anti-oxidant defense enzymes and heatshock proteins.  Conclusions/Significance: Phylogenetic comparison of nuclear and mitochondrial genes indicates that T. rangeli and T. cruzi are equidistant from T. brucei. In addition to revealing new aspects of trypanosome co-evolution within the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, comparative genomic analysis with pathogenic trypanosomatids provides valuable new information that can be further explored with the aim of developing better diagnostic tools and/or therapeutic targets