Heparan sulphate mediates swine vesicular disease virus attachment to the host cell

Heparan sulphate (HS) has been found to serve as receptor for initial cell binding of numerous viruses. Different glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), including heparin and HS, were analysed for their ability to bind swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV), a picornavirus with close homology to human coxsackie B5 virus. Binding of SVDV was established by heparin-affinity chromatography. In addition, infection of IB-RS-2 epithelial porcine cells was inhibited by treating the virus with soluble HS, heparin, and chondroitin sulphate B (CS-B), as well as by enzymic digestion of cell surface GAGs. Analysis of the infection course showed that SVDV uses cellular HS for its binding to the cell surface and that this interaction occurs during attachment of the virus, prior to its internalization into the cell. Sequence analysis of SVDV variants selected for their lack of sensitivity to heparin inhibition in vitro led to the identification of two residues (A2135V and 11 266K) potentially involved in heparin/HS interaction. The location of these residues in a three-dimensional model shows that they are clustered in a well-exposed region of the capsid, providing a physical mechanism that could account for the heparin-binding phenotype

Unrelenting plasmons

Following a brief historic introduction to plasmons, their useful properties and early applications, we highlight some of the key advances in the field over the past decade. We then discuss new directions for the future, such as the use of 2D materials and strong coupling phenomena, which are likely to shape the field over the next ten years. For centuries, metals were employed in optical applications only as mirrors and gratings. New vistas opened up in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the discovery of surface-enhanced Raman scattering and the use of surface plasmon (SP) resonances for sensing. However, it was not until the 1990s, with the appearance of accurate and reliable nanofabrication techniques, that plasmonics blossomed1. Initially, the attention focused on the exploitation of SPs (collective electronic oscillations at the surface of metals) for sensing, subwavelength waveguiding and extraordinary optical transmission2. Since then, the scientific and technological interest in SPs has expanded. Correspondingly, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the number of publications in the field has increased in a steady exponential fashion for more than two decades, and the momentum driving plasmonics research looks set to continue (...

Monthly precipitation mapping of the Iberian Peninsula using spatial interpolation tools implemented in a Geographic Information System

Premi a l'excel·lència investigadora. Àmbit de les Ciències Socials. 2008In this study, spatial interpolation techniques have been applied to develop an objective climatic cartography of precipitation in the Iberian Peninsula (583,551 km2). The resulting maps have a 200m spatial resolution and a monthly temporal resolution. Multiple regression, combined with a residual correction method, has been used to interpolate the observed data collected from the meteorological stations. This method is attractive as it takes into account geographic information (independent variables) to interpolate the climatic data (dependent variable). Several models have been developed using different independent variables, applying several interpolation techniques and grouping the observed data into different subsets (drainage basin models) or into a single set (global model). Each map is provided with its associated accuracy, which is obtained through a simple regression between independent observed data and predicted values. This validation has shown that the most accurate results are obtained when using the global model with multiple regression mixed with the splines interpolation of the residuals. In this optimum case, the average R2 (mean of all the months) is 0.85. The entire process has been implemented in a GIS (Geographic Information System) which has greatly facilitated the filtering, querying, mapping and distributing of the final cartography

A model of collaborative innovation between local government and tourism operators

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Development and evaluation of real time RT-PCR assays for detection and typing of Bluetongue virus

Bluetongue virus is the type species of the genus Orbivirus, family Reoviridae. Bluetongue viruses (BTV) are transmitted between their vertebrate hosts primarily by biting midges (Culicoides spp.) in which they also replicate. Consequently BTV distribution is dependent on the activity, geographic distribution, and seasonal abundance of Culicoides spp. The virus can also be transmitted vertically in vertebrate hosts, and some strains/serotypes can be transmitted horizontally in the absence of insect vectors. The BTV genome is composed of ten linear segments of double-stranded (ds) RNA, numbered in order of decreasing size (Seg-1 to Seg-10). Genome segment 2 (Seg-2) encodes outer-capsid protein VP2, the most variable BTV protein and the primary target for neutralising antibodies. Consequently VP2 (and Seg-2) determine the identity of the twenty seven serotypes and two additional putative BTV serotypes that have been recognised so far. Current BTV vaccines are serotype specific and typing of outbreak strains is required in order to deploy appropriate vaccines. We report development and evaluation of multiple ‘TaqMan’ fluorescence-probe based quantitative real-time type-specific RT-PCR assays targeting Seg-2 of the 27+1 BTV types. The assays were evaluated using orbivirus isolates from the ‘Orbivirus Reference Collection’ (ORC) held at The Pirbright Institute. The assays are BTV-type specific and can be used for rapid, sensitive and reliable detection / identification (typing) of BTV RNA from samples of infected blood, tissues, homogenised Culicoides, or tissue culture supernatants. None of the assays amplified cDNAs from closely related but heterologous orbiviruses, or from uninfected host animals or cell cultures

Competitive Interactions between Invasive Nile Tilapia and Native Fish: The Potential for Altered Trophic Exchange and Modification of Food Webs

Recent studies have highlighted both the positive and negative impacts of species invasions. Most of these studies have been conducted on either immobile invasive plants or sessile fauna found at the base of food webs. Fewer studies have examined the impacts of vagile invasive consumers on native competitors. This is an issue of some importance given the controlling influence that consumers have on lower order plants and animals. Here, we present results of laboratory experiments designed to assess the impacts of unintended aquaculture releases of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), in estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico, on the functionally similar redspotted sunfish (Lepomis miniatus). Laboratory choice tests showed that tilapia prefer the same structured habitat that native sunfish prefer. In subsequent interspecific competition experiments, agonistic tilapia displaced sunfish from their preferred structured habitats. When a piscivore (largemouth bass) was present in the tank with both species, the survival of sunfish decreased. Based on these findings, if left unchecked, we predict that the proliferation of tilapia (and perhaps other aggressive aquaculture fishes) will have important detrimental effects on the structure of native food webs in shallow, structured coastal habitats. While it is likely that the impacts of higher trophic level invasive competitors will vary among species, these results show that consequences of unintended releases of invasive higher order consumers can be important

Observations of Sagittarius A* during the pericenter passage of the G2 object with MAGIC

Context. We present the results of a multi-year monitoring campaign of the Galactic center (GC) with the MAGIC telescopes. These observations were primarily motivated by reports that a putative gas cloud (G2) would be passing in close proximity to the super-massive black hole (SMBH), associated with Sagittarius A*, located at the center of our galaxy. This event was expected to give astronomers a unique chance to study the effect of in-falling matter on the broad-band emission of a SMBH.Aims. We search for potential flaring emission of very-high-energy (VHE; >= 100 GeV) gamma rays from the direction of the SMBH at the GC due to the passage of the G2 object. Using these data we also study the morphology of this complex region.Methods. We observed the GC region with the MAGIC Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes during the period 2012-2015, collecting 67 h of good-quality data. In addition to a search for variability in the flux and spectral shape of the GC gamma-ray source, we use a point-source subtraction technique to remove the known gamma-ray emitters located around the GC in order to reveal the TeV morphology of the extended emission inside that region.Results. No effect of the G2 object on the VHE gamma-ray emission from the GC was detected during the 4 yr observation campaign. We confirm previous measurements of the VHE spectrum of Sagittarius A*, and do not detect any significant variability of the emission from the source. Furthermore, the known VHE gamma-ray emitter at the location of the supernova remnant G0.9+0.1 was detected, as well as the recently discovered VHE source close to the GG radio arc

Investigating the peculiar emission from the new VHE gamma-ray source H1722+119

The Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescopes observed the BL Lac object H1722+119 (redshift unknown) for six consecutive nights between 2013 May 17 and 22, for a total of 12.5 h. The observations were triggered by high activity in the optical band measured by the KVA (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) telescope. The source was for the first time detected in the very high energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray band with a statistical significance of 5.9s. The integral flux above 150 GeV is estimated to be (2.0 +/- 0.5) per cent of the Crab nebula flux. We used contemporaneous high energy (HE, 100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) gamma-ray observations from Fermi-Large Area Telescope to estimate the redshift of the source. Within the framework of the current extragalactic background light models, we estimate the redshift to be z = 0.34 +/- 0.15. Additionally, we used contemporaneous X-ray to radio data collected by the instruments on board the Swift satellite, the KVA, and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory telescope to study multifrequency characteristics of the source. We found no significant temporal variability of the flux in the HE and VHE bands. The flux in the optical and radio wavebands, on the other hand, did vary with different patterns. The spectral energy distribution of H1722+119 shows surprising behaviour in the similar to 3 x 10(14)-10(18) Hz frequency range. It can be modelled using an inhomogeneous helical jet synchrotron self-Compton model