Transcriptional Regulation of Genes Involved in Zinc Uptake, Sequestration and Redistribution Following Foliar Zinc Application to Medicago sativa

Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient for plants and animals, and Zn deficiency is a widespread problem for agricultural production. Although many studies have been performed on biofortification of staple crops with Zn, few studies have focused on forages. Here, the molecular mechanisms of Zn transport in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) were investigated following foliar Zn applications. Zinc uptake and redistribution between shoot and root were determined following application of six Zn doses to leaves. Twelve putative genes encoding proteins involved in Zn transport (MsZIP1-7, MsZIF1, MsMTP1, MsYSL1, MsHMA4, and MsNAS1) were identified and changes in their expression following Zn application were quantified using newly designed RT-qPCR assays. These assays are the first designed specifically for alfalfa and resulted in being more efficient than the ones already available for Medicago truncatula (i.e., MtZIP1-7 and MtMTP1). Shoot and root Zn concentration was increased following foliar Zn applications 0.1 mg plant1. Increased expression of MsZIP2, MsHMA4, and MsNAS1 in shoots, and of MsZIP2 and MsHMA4 in roots was observed with the largest Zn dose (10 mg Zn plant1). By contrast, MsZIP3 was downregulated in shoots at Zn doses 0.1 mg plant1. Three functional gene modules, involved in Zn uptake by cells, vacuolar Zn sequestration, and Zn redistribution within the plant, were identified. These results will inform genetic engineering strategies aimed at increasing the efficiency of crop Zn biofortification

Image Retrieval using Multi-scale CNN Features Pooling

In this paper, we address the problem of image retrieval by learning images representation based on the activations of a Convolutional Neural Network. We present an end-to-end trainable network architecture that exploits a novel multi-scale local pooling based on NetVLAD and a triplet mining procedure based on samples difficulty to obtain an effective image representation. Extensive experiments show that our approach is able to reach state-of-the-art results on three standard datasets.Comment: Accepted at ICMR 202

The Influence of B Cell Depletion Therapy on Naturally Acquired Immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae

The anti-CD20 antibody Rituximab to deplete CD20+ B cells is an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and B cell malignancies, but is associated with an increased incidence of respiratory infections. Using mouse models we have investigated the consequences of B cell depletion on natural and acquired humoral immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae. B cell depletion of naïve C57Bl/6 mice reduced natural IgM recognition of S. pneumoniae, but did not increase susceptibility to S. pneumoniae pneumonia. ELISA and flow cytometry assays demonstrated significantly reduced IgG and IgM recognition of S. pneumoniae in sera from mice treated with B cell depletion prior to S. pneumoniae nasopharyngeal colonization compared to untreated mice. Colonization induced antibody responses to protein rather than capsular antigen, and when measured using a protein array B cell depletion prior to colonization reduced serum levels of IgG to several protein antigens. However, B cell depleted S. pneumoniae colonized mice were still partially protected against both lung infection and septicemia when challenged with S. pneumoniae after reconstitution of their B cells. These data indicate that although B cell depletion markedly impairs antibody recognition of S. pneumoniae in colonized mice, some protective immunity is maintained, perhaps mediated by cellular immunity

Evaluation of the nutritional status of infants from mothers tested positive to HIV/AIDS in the health district of Dschang, Cameroon

INTRODUCTION: Poor infant feeding practices are common in Africa, resulting in physical and intellectual developmental impairments. Good feeding practices are crucial, especially in the first year of growth. HIV/AIDS has worsened the clinical and nutritional status of both mothers and their children, exacerbating high rates of malnutrition. The aim of this study was to assess by participative approach, the nutritional status of infants from mothers tested positive to HIV in the health district of Dschang. METHODS: This is a cross sectional study with a period of recruitment of 2 years (2010-2012). Data Collection was done by the aim of a personal slip followed by training to strengthen the nutritional and hygienic capacity of targeted parents. Height and weight of infants were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. RESULTS: Significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) was noticed in height-for-age z-score (HAZ) of girls aged between 1 to 2 years compared to 1-year old girls as well as to boys of all ages, defining them as stunted. Furthermore, the weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) results indicate that both girls and boys of all age are in moderate state of malnutrition. The results of BMI thinness classified according to gender and age groups, indicates that most infants (68/130, 52.3%) showed grade 2 thinness predominantly in 2-years old both boys and girls. However, no participants fall within the normal category for age and sex, as well as overweight and obesity categories. CONCLUSION: Undernutrition exists among infants from mothers tested positive to HIV residing in Dschang, as most of the infants are underweight, and malnourished

Deletion of the zinc transporter lipoprotein AdcAII causes hyperencapsulation of Streptococcus pneumoniae associated with distinct alleles of the Type I restriction modification system

The capsule is the dominant Streptococcus pneumoniae virulence factor, yet how variation in capsule thickness is regulated is poorly understood. Here, we describe an unexpected relationship between mutation of adcAII, which encodes a zinc uptake lipoprotein, and capsule thickness. Partial deletion of adcAII in three of five capsular serotypes frequently resulted in a mucoid phenotype that biochemical analysis and electron microscopy of the D39 adcAII mutants confirmed was caused by markedly increased capsule thickness. Compared to D39, the hyperencapsulated adcAII mutant strain was more resistant to complement-mediated neutrophil killing and was hypervirulent in mouse models of invasive infection. Transcriptome analysis of D39 and the adcAII mutant identified major differences in transcription of the Sp_0505-0508 locus, which encodes an SpnD39III (ST5556II) type I restrictionmodification system and allelic variation of which correlates with capsule thickness. A PCR assay demonstrated close linkage of the SpnD39IIIC and F alleles with the hyperencapsulated adcAII strains. However, transformation of adcAII with fixed SpnD39III alleles associated with normal capsule thickness did not revert the hyperencapsulated phenotype. Half of hyperencapsulated adcAII strains contained the same single nucleotide polymorphism in the capsule locus gene cps2E, which is required for the initiation of capsule synthesis. These results provide further evidence for the importance of the SpnD39III (ST5556II) type I restriction-modification system for modulating capsule thickness and identified an unexpected linkage between capsule thickness and mutation of adcAII. Further investigation will be needed to characterize how mutation of adcAII affects SpnD39III (ST5556II) allele dominance and results in the hyperencapsulated phenotype

Diurnal Differences in Intracellular Replication Within Splenic Macrophages Correlates With the Outcome of Pneumococcal Infection

Circadian rhythms affect the progression and severity of bacterial infections including those caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, but the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon remain largely elusive. Following advances in our understanding of the role of replication of S. pneumoniae within splenic macrophages, we sought to investigate whether events within the spleen correlate with differential outcomes of invasive pneumococcal infection. Utilising murine invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) models, here we report that infection during the murine active phase (zeitgeber time 15; 15h after start of light cycle, 3h after start of dark cycle) resulted in significantly faster onset of septicaemia compared to rest phase (zeitgeber time 3; 3h after start of light cycle) infection. This correlated with significantly higher pneumococcal burden within the spleen of active phase-infected mice at early time points compared to rest phase-infected mice. Whole-section confocal microscopy analysis of these spleens revealed that the number of pneumococci is significantly higher exclusively within marginal zone metallophilic macrophages (MMMs) known to allow intracellular pneumococcal replication as a prerequisite step to the onset of septicaemia. Pneumococcal clusters within MMMs were more abundant and increased in size over time in active phase-infected mice compared to those in rest phase-infected mice which decreased in size and were present in a lower percentage of MMMs. This phenomenon preceded significantly higher levels of bacteraemia alongside serum IL-6 and TNF-alpha concentrations in active phase-infected mice following re-seeding of pneumococci into the blood. These data greatly advance our fundamental knowledge of pneumococcal infection by linking susceptibility to invasive pneumococcal infection to variation in the propensity of MMMs to allow persistence and replication of phagocytosed bacteria. These findings also outline a somewhat rare scenario whereby the active phase of an organism's circadian cycle plays a seemingly counterproductive role in the control of invasive infection

Thickness in Entorhinal and Subicular Cortex Predicts Episodic Memory Decline in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Identifying subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) most likely to decline in cognition over time is a major focus in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. Neuroimaging biomarkers that predict decline would have great potential for increasing the efficacy of early intervention. In this study, we used high-resolution MRI, combined with a cortical unfolding technique to increase visibility of the convoluted medial temporal lobe (MTL), to assess whether gray matter thickness in subjects with MCI correlated to decline in cognition over two years. We found that thickness in the entorhinal (ERC) and subicular (Sub) cortices of MCI subjects at initial assessment correlated to change in memory encoding over two years (ERC: r = 0.34; P = .003) and Sub (r = 0.26; P = .011) but not delayed recall performance. Our findings suggest that aspects of memory performance may be differentially affected in the early stages of AD. Given the MTL's involvement in early stages of neurodegeneration in AD, clarifying the relationship of these brain regions and the link to resultant cognitive decline is critical in understanding disease progression

Optimal modelling of buildings through simultaneous automatic simplifications of point clouds obtained with a laser scanner

[EN] In recent years, the laser scanner has become the most used tool for modelling buildings in pure documentation and structural studies. Laser scanning provides large numbers of points in a minimum amount of time with great precision. The point clouds generated and the subsequent mosaics (data fusion of different clouds) contain millions of points with a heterogeneous density that define the 3D geometry of the buildings. Often, the number of points results in excessive information without offering a better definition. As a result, it is necessary to analyse which points can be eliminated and which ones cannot, based on precision criteria, to obtain a precise geometry with the smallest possible number of points for each part of the building. The algorithm developed in this work reduces the point clouds (in mosaics made up of clouds with over 10 million points) with precision criteria by as much as 99% while still accurately resolving the geometry of the object. The developed process is automatic such that different models with different resolutions can be obtained simultaneously. As a result, we obtain single clouds with homogenous distributions and densities throughout the model of the building (based on multiple overlapping clouds), with a computational cost of only a few seconds per cloud. The final result is a complete model of the entire building with the optimal resolution for each element of the structure. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.S2432519

Seasonal and spatial variability in condition of age-0+ Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi Marini, 1933, in the San Jorge Gulf (Argentina): A bottom-up perspective

In the north Patagonian region of the Argentinean Continental Shelf, the San Jorge Gulf (SJG; 45°‐47°S, 65°30ʹ‐67°30ʹW) is the main nursery ground of age‐0+ Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi Marini, 1933, one of the most important fishery resources in Argentina. The gulf exhibits strong seasonal and spatial fluctuations in environmental features, which might affect survival of age‐0+ individuals and recruitment to the adult population. Our main goal was to evaluate the seasonal and spatial dynamics of their nutritional status within the SJG in winter 2016, spring 2016 and summer 2017. Condition indices (relative condition factor Kn, hepatosomatic index HSI and liver lipid content %L) and diet information (feeding incidence and relative importance of prey) were combined with physical (temperature and salinity) and biological (satellite chlorophyll‐a concentration; chl‐a) data. Age‐0+ condition indices and prey intake showed significant seasonal variations, with minimum values in winter, intermediate in summer and maximum in spring, strongly coupled to the mean chl‐a concentration in each season. Herbivorous euphausiids Euphausia spp. were the preferred prey along the study period. A bottom‐up effect on condition of age‐0+ hake is suggested, manifested as lower condition values in winter, the less productive season. Spatially, better conditioned individuals matched sectors of the gulf where chl‐a concentrations were higher, coupled to the presence of frontal systems. Monitoring age‐0+ hake nutritional status is relevant in the current global change scenario, which might modify phytoplankton biomass and composition and, consequently, the herbivorous zooplankton abundances.Fil: Temperoni, Brenda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Subsede Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Massa, Agueda Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Subsede Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Martos, Patricia. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Marinas; ArgentinaFil: Marrari, Marina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval. Departamento Oceanografía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin