Contrasting controls on seasonal and spatial distribution of marine cable bacteria (Candidatus Electrothrix) and Beggiatoaceae in seasonally hypoxic Chesapeake Bay

Marine cable bacteria (Candidatus Electrothrix) and large colorless sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (e.g., Beggiatoaceae) are widespread thiotrophs in coastal environments but may exert different influences on biogeochemical cycling. Yet, the factors governing their niche partitioning remain poorly understood. To map their distribution and evaluate their growth constraints in a natural setting, we examined surface sediments across seasons at two sites with contrasting levels of seasonal oxygen depletion in Chesapeake Bay using microscopy coupled with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and biogeochemical characterization. We found that cable bacteria, dominated by a single phylotype closely affiliated to Candidatus Electrothrix communis, flourished during winter and spring at a central channel site which experiences summer anoxia. Here, cable bacteria density was positively correlated with surface sediment chlorophyll, a proxy of phytodetritus sedimentation. Cable bacteria were also present with a lower areal density at an adjacent shoal site which supports bioturbating macrofauna. Beggiatoaceae were more abundant at this site, where their biomass was positively correlated with sediment respiration, but additionally potentially inhibited by sulfide accumulation which was evident during one summer. A springtime phytodetritus sedimentation event was associated with a proliferation of Beggiatoaceae and multiple Candidatus Electrothrix phylotypes, with cable bacteria reaching 1000 m length cm−2. These observations indicate the potential impact of a spring bloom in driving a hot moment of cryptic sulfur cycling. Our results suggest complex interactions between benthic thiotroph populations, with bioturbation and seasonal oscillations in bottom water dissolved oxygen, sediment sulfide, and organic matter influx as important drivers of their distribution

Quantum SDP Solvers: Large Speed-ups, Optimality, and Applications to Quantum Learning

We give two quantum algorithms for solving semidefinite programs (SDPs) providing quantum speed-ups. We consider SDP instances with m constraint matrices, each of dimension n, rank at most r, and sparsity s. The first algorithm assumes access to an oracle to the matrices at unit cost. We show that it has run time Õ(s^2(√((mϵ)^(−10)) + √((nϵ)^(−12))), with ϵ the error of the solution. This gives an optimal dependence in terms of m, n and quadratic improvement over previous quantum algorithms when m ≈ n. The second algorithm assumes a fully quantum input model in which the matrices are given as quantum states. We show that its run time is Õ (√m + poly(r))⋅poly(log m,log n,B,ϵ^(−1)), with B an upper bound on the trace-norm of all input matrices. In particular the complexity depends only poly-logarithmically in n and polynomially in r. We apply the second SDP solver to learn a good description of a quantum state with respect to a set of measurements: Given m measurements and a supply of copies of an unknown state ρ with rank at most r, we show we can find in time √m⋅poly(log m,log n,r,ϵ^(−1)) a description of the state as a quantum circuit preparing a density matrix which has the same expectation values as ρ on the m measurements, up to error ϵ. The density matrix obtained is an approximation to the maximum entropy state consistent with the measurement data considered in Jaynes' principle from statistical mechanics. As in previous work, we obtain our algorithm by "quantizing" classical SDP solvers based on the matrix multiplicative weight method. One of our main technical contributions is a quantum Gibbs state sampler for low-rank Hamiltonians with a poly-logarithmic dependence on its dimension, which could be of independent interest

A framework for habitat monitoring and climate change modelling: construction and validation of the Environmental Stratification of Estonia

Environmental stratifications provide the framework for efficient surveillance and monitoring of biodiversity and ecological resources, as well as modelling exercises. An obstacle for agricultural landscape monitoring in Estonia has been the lack of a framework for the objective selection of monitoring sites. This paper describes the construction and testing of the Environmental Stratification of Estonia (ESE). Principal components analysis was used to select the variables that capture the most amount of variation. Seven climate variables and topography were selected and subsequently subjected to the ISODATA clustering routine in order to produce relatively homogeneous environmental strata. The ESE contains eight strata, which have been described in terms of soil, land cover and climatic parameters. In order to assess the reliability of the stratification procedure for the selection of monitoring sites, the ESE was compared with the previous map of Landscape Regions of Estonia and correlated with five environmental data sets. All correlations were significant. The stratification has therefore already been used to extend the current series of samples in agricultural landscapes into a more statistically robust series of monitoring sites. The potential for applying climate change scenarios to assess the shifts in the strata and associated ecological impacts is also examined.</p

Histotype-Dependent Oligodendroglial PrP Pathology in Sporadic CJD: A Frequent Feature of the M2C “Strain”

In sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, molecular subtypes are neuropathologically well identified by the lesioning profile and the immunohistochemical PrPd deposition pattern in the grey matter (histotypes). While astrocytic PrP pathology has been reported in variant CJD and some less frequent histotypes (e.g., MV2K), oligodendroglial pathology has been rarely addressed. We assessed a series of sCJD cases with the aim to identify particular histotypes that could be more prone to harbor oligodendroglial PrPd. Particularly, the MM2C phenotype, in both its more "pure" and its mixed MM1+2C or MV2K+2C forms, showed more frequent oligodendroglial PrP pathology in the underlying white matter than the more common MM1/MV1 and VV2 histotypes, and was more abundant in patients with a longer disease duration. We concluded that the MM2C strain was particularly prone to accumulate PrPd in white matter oligodendrocytes

Diagnostic method of typological heterogeneity of arterial blood pressure reactions in children by automatic manometry

Method and algorithm have created by authors for detection of hypotonic, hypertonic and dystonic reactions of blood pressure (BP) in children by automatic manometry during one visit. The study of children in some kindergarten have demonstrated the prevalence of the BP reaction types among children with normal, high BP and arterial hypertension. This easy method may be to use for widespread routine physical examination of all children.Авторами разработан метод и алгоритм для выявления гипотонических, гипертонических и дистонических реакций артериальное давления у детей по данным автоматической манометрии во время одного визита. Обследование детей в одном из детских садов показало распространенность этих типов реакций у лиц с нормальным, высоким нормальным и артериальной гипертонией. Данный метод может быть широко использован при обычном физикальном обследовании всех детей

Under-reporting bicycle accidents to police in the COST TU1101 international survey: Cross-country comparisons and associated factors

Police crash reports are often the main source for official data in many countries. However, with the exception of fatal crashes, crashes are often underreported in a biased manner. Consequently, the countermeasures adopted according to them may be inefficient. In the case of bicycle crashes, this bias is most acute and it probably varies across countries, with some of them being more prone to reporting accidents to police than others. Assessing if this bias occurs and the size of it can be of great importance for evaluating the risks associated with bicycling. This study utilized data collected in the COST TU1101 action “Towards safer bicycling through optimization of bicycle helmets and usage”. The data came from an online survey that included questions related to bicyclists' attitudes, behaviour, cycling habits, accidents, and patterns of use of helmets. The survey was filled by 8655 bicyclists from 30 different countries. After applying various exclusion factors, 7015 questionnaires filled by adult cyclists from 17 countries, each with at least 100 valid responses, remained in our sample. The results showed that across all countries, an average of only 10% of all crashes were reported to the police, with a wide range among countries: from a minimum of 0.0% (Israel) and 2.6% (Croatia) to a maximum of a 35.0% (Germany). Some factors associated with the reporting levels were type of crash, type of vehicle involved, and injury severity. No relation was found between the likelihood of reporting and the cyclist's gender, age, educational level, marital status, being a parent, use of helmet, and type of bicycle. The significant under-reporting – including injury crashes that do not lead to hospitalization – justifies the use of self-report survey data for assessment of bicycling crash patterns as they relate to (1) crash risk issues such as location, infrastructure, cyclists' characteristics, and use of helmet and (2) strategic approaches to bicycle crash prevention and injury reduction.Fil: Shinar, D.. Ben Gurion University of the Negev; IsraelFil: Valero Mora, Pedro. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: van Strijp Houtenbos, M.. Institute For Road Safety Research; Países BajosFil: Haworth, N.. Queensland University of Technology; AustraliaFil: Schramm, A.. Queensland University of Technology; AustraliaFil: de Bruyne, G.. Universiteit Antwerp; BélgicaFil: Cavallo, V.. No especifíca;Fil: Chliaoutakis, J.. No especifíca;Fil: Pereira Dias, Joao. Instituto Superior Tecnico; PortugalFil: Ferraro, Ottavia Eleonora. Universita Degli Studi Di Pavia; ItaliaFil: Fyhri, Aslak. No especifíca;Fil: Sajatovic, Anika Hursa. No especifíca;Fil: Kuklane, Kalev. Lund University; SueciaFil: Ledesma, Ruben Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Psicología Básica, Aplicada y Tecnología. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Psicología Básica, Aplicada y Tecnología.; ArgentinaFil: Calvé Mascarell, Oscar. Ben Gurion University of the Negev; IsraelFil: Morandi, A.. Universita Degli Studi Di Pavia; ItaliaFil: Muser, Markus. No especifíca;Fil: Otte, Diettmar. No especifíca;Fil: Papadakaki, M.. No especifíca;Fil: Sanmartín, J.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Dulf, D.. No especifíca;Fil: Saplioglu, M.. No especifíca;Fil: Tzamalouka, Georgia. No especifíca

Local Hidden Variables Underpinning of Entanglement and Teleportation

Entangled states whose Wigner functions are non-negative may be viewed as being accounted for by local hidden variables (LHV). Recently, there were studies of Bell's inequality violation (BIQV) for such states in conjunction with the well known theorem of Bell that precludes BIQV for theories that have LHV underpinning. We extend these studies to teleportation which is also based on entanglement. We investigate if, to what extent, and under what conditions may teleportation be accounted for via LHV theory. Our study allows us to expose the role of various quantum requirements. These are, e.g., the uncertainty relation among non-commuting operators, and the no-cloning theorem which forces the complete elimination of the teleported state at its initial port.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, accepted Found. Phy

Quantum SDP Solvers: Large Speed-ups, Optimality, and Applications to Quantum Learning

We give two quantum algorithms for solving semidefinite programs (SDPs) providing quantum speed-ups. We consider SDP instances with m constraint matrices, each of dimension n, rank at most r, and sparsity s. The first algorithm assumes access to an oracle to the matrices at unit cost. We show that it has run time Õ(s^2(√((mϵ)^(−10)) + √((nϵ)^(−12))), with ϵ the error of the solution. This gives an optimal dependence in terms of m, n and quadratic improvement over previous quantum algorithms when m ≈ n. The second algorithm assumes a fully quantum input model in which the matrices are given as quantum states. We show that its run time is Õ (√m + poly(r))⋅poly(log m,log n,B,ϵ^(−1)), with B an upper bound on the trace-norm of all input matrices. In particular the complexity depends only poly-logarithmically in n and polynomially in r. We apply the second SDP solver to learn a good description of a quantum state with respect to a set of measurements: Given m measurements and a supply of copies of an unknown state ρ with rank at most r, we show we can find in time √m⋅poly(log m,log n,r,ϵ^(−1)) a description of the state as a quantum circuit preparing a density matrix which has the same expectation values as ρ on the m measurements, up to error ϵ. The density matrix obtained is an approximation to the maximum entropy state consistent with the measurement data considered in Jaynes' principle from statistical mechanics. As in previous work, we obtain our algorithm by "quantizing" classical SDP solvers based on the matrix multiplicative weight method. One of our main technical contributions is a quantum Gibbs state sampler for low-rank Hamiltonians with a poly-logarithmic dependence on its dimension, which could be of independent interest

Typological classification of health groups of schoolboys with comorbidity and behavioural risk factors

The purpose of study is estimation of a state of health by typological classification Complex examination of 142 girls and 116 boys in the age of 14-17 years has shown, that 2,1 % of girls and 11,2% of boys have la type of the status of health without risk factors. Premorbid types (lla, lib, lie) were in 20,4% and 25,9% accordingly. Among schoolboys persons with monomorbid (40,9% and 43,0 %) and bimorbid (23,9% and 12,1%) types of the status of health (Ilia and lllb) prevailed. Comorbidity is revealed in 68,3% of girls and 52,3% of boys. A prevailing pathology were dysplasia of connective tissue.Цель исследования оценить состояние здоровья подростков в соответствии с типологической классификацией. Комплексное обследование 142 девонек и 116 мальчиков в возрасте 14-17 лет показало, что 2,1 % девочек и 11,2% мальчиков относятся к la типу статуса здоровья без факторов риска. Преморбидные типы (На, НЬ, Не) были в 20,4% и 25,9% соответственно. Среди школьников преобладали лица с мономорбидным (40,9% и 43,0%) и биморбидным (23,9% и 12,1 %) типами статуса здоровья (Ша и lllb). Коморбидная патология выявлена в 68,3% девочек и 52,3% мальчиков. Преобладающей патологией была дисплазия соединительной ткани

Evolution of a Core Gene Network for Skeletogenesis in Chordates

The skeleton is one of the most important features for the reconstruction of vertebrate phylogeny but few data are available to understand its molecular origin. In mammals the Runt genes are central regulators of skeletogenesis. Runx2 was shown to be essential for osteoblast differentiation, tooth development, and bone formation. Both Runx2 and Runx3 are essential for chondrocyte maturation. Furthermore, Runx2 directly regulates Indian hedgehog expression, a master coordinator of skeletal development. To clarify the correlation of Runt gene evolution and the emergence of cartilage and bone in vertebrates, we cloned the Runt genes from hagfish as representative of jawless fish (MgRunxA, MgRunxB) and from dogfish as representative of jawed cartilaginous fish (ScRunx1–3). According to our phylogenetic reconstruction the stem species of chordates harboured a single Runt gene and thereafter Runt locus duplications occurred during early vertebrate evolution. All newly isolated Runt genes were expressed in cartilage according to quantitative PCR. In situ hybridisation confirmed high MgRunxA expression in hard cartilage of hagfish. In dogfish ScRunx2 and ScRunx3 were expressed in embryonal cartilage whereas all three Runt genes were detected in teeth and placoid scales. In cephalochordates (lancelets) Runt, Hedgehog and SoxE were strongly expressed in the gill bars and expression of Runt and Hedgehog was found in endo- as well as ectodermal cells. Furthermore we demonstrate that the lancelet Runt protein binds to Runt binding sites in the lancelet Hedgehog promoter and regulates its activity. Together, these results suggest that Runt and Hedgehog were part of a core gene network for cartilage formation, which was already active in the gill bars of the common ancestor of cephalochordates and vertebrates and diversified after Runt duplications had occurred during vertebrate evolution. The similarities in expression patterns of Runt genes support the view that teeth and placoid scales evolved from a homologous developmental module