Increased pCO2 changes the lipid production in important aquacultural feedstock algae Isochrysis galbana, but not in Tetraselmis suecica

Increased anthropogenic CO2 emissions are leading to an increase in CO2 uptake by the world's oceans and seas, resulting in ocean acidification with a decrease in global ocean water pH by as much as 0.3–0.4 units by the year 2100. The direct effects of changing pCO2 on important microalgal feedstocks are not as well understood. Few studies have focused on lipid composition changes in specific algal species in response to ocean acidification and yet microalgae are an indispensable food source for various marine species, including juvenile shellfish. Isochrysis galbana and Tetraselmis suecica are widely used in aquaculture as feeds for mussels and other shellfish. The total lipid contents and concentrations of I. galbana and T. suecica were investigated when grown under present day (400 ppm) and ocean acidification conditions (1000 ppm) to elucidate the impact of increasing pCO2 on an important algae feedstock. Total lipids, long-chain alkenones (LCAs) and alkenoates decreased at 1000 ppm in I. galbana. I. galbana produces higher lipids than T. suecica, and is perhaps as a result more impacted by the change in carbon available for lipid production under higher pCO2. I. galbana is an important feedstock, more easily assimilated for growth in juvenile shellfish and reductions in lipid composition may prove problematic for the growth of future shellfish aquaculture. Our findings suggest that higher pCO2 impacts on algal lipid growth are species specific and warrant further study. It is therefore vital to examine the impact of high CO2 on algal lipid production, especially those commercial shellfish feed varieties to predict future impacts on commercial aquaculture

Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18-45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference -1·4%, 95% CI -7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68-1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3-4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005). INTERPRETATION: Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017) includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal burden of disease and injury. These studies have also shown how a substantial portion of the world's population experiences non-fatal health loss with considerable heterogeneity among different causes, locations, ages, and sexes. Ongoing objectives of the GBD study include increasing the level of estimation detail, improving analytical strategies, and increasing the amount of high-quality data. Methods: We estimated incidence and prevalence for 354 diseases and injuries and 3484 sequelae. We used an updated and extensive body of literature studies, survey data, surveillance data, inpatient admission records, outpatient visit records, and health insurance claims, and additionally used results from cause of death models to inform estimates using a total of 68 781 data sources. Newly available clinical data from India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy were incorporated, as well as updated claims data from the USA and new claims data from Taiwan (province of China) and Singapore. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between rates of incidence, prevalence, remission, and cause of death for each condition. YLDs were estimated as the product of a prevalence estimate and a disability weight for health states of each mutually exclusive sequela, adjusted for comorbidity. We updated the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary development indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Additionally, we calculated differences between male and female YLDs to identify divergent trends across sexes. GBD 2017 complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting. Findings: Globally, for females, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias in both 1990 and 2017. For males, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and tuberculosis including latent tuberculosis infection in both 1990 and 2017. In terms of YLDs, low back pain, headache disorders, and dietary iron deficiency were the leading Level 3 causes of YLD counts in 1990, whereas low back pain, headache disorders, and depressive disorders were the leading causes in 2017 for both sexes combined. All-cause age-standardised YLD rates decreased by 3·9% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1-4·6) from 1990 to 2017; however, the all-age YLD rate increased by 7·2% (6·0-8·4) while the total sum of global YLDs increased from 562 million (421-723) to 853 million (642-1100). The increases for males and females were similar, with increases in all-age YLD rates of 7·9% (6·6-9·2) for males and 6·5% (5·4-7·7) for females. We found significant differences between males and females in terms of age-standardised prevalence estimates for multiple causes. The causes with the greatest relative differences between sexes in 2017 included substance use disorders (3018 cases [95% UI 2782-3252] per 100 000 in males vs 1400 [1279-1524] per 100 000 in females), transport injuries (3322 [3082-3583] vs 2336 [2154-2535]), and self-harm and interpersonal violence (3265 [2943-3630] vs 5643 [5057-6302]). Interpretation: Global all-cause age-standardised YLD rates have improved only slightly over a period spanning nearly three decades. However, the magnitude of the non-fatal disease burden has expanded globally, with increasing numbers of people who have a wide spectrum of conditions. A subset of conditions has remained globally pervasive since 1990, whereas other conditions have displayed more dynamic trends, with different ages, sexes, and geographies across the globe experiencing varying burdens and trends of health loss. This study emphasises how global improvements in premature mortality for select conditions have led to older populations with complex and potentially expensive diseases, yet also highlights global achievements in certain domains of disease and injury

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. Methods: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. Findings: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. Interpretation: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

Vertical segregation and phylogenetic characterization of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea in a deep oligotrophic lake

12 páginas, 6 figuras, 1 tabla.Freshwater habitats have been identified as one of the largest reservoirs of archaeal genetic diversity, with specific lineages of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) populations different from soils and seas. The ecology and biology of lacustrine AOA is, however, poorly known. In the present study, vertical changes in archaeal abundance by CARD-FISH, quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses and identity by clone libraries were correlated with environmental parameters in the deep glacial high-altitude Lake Redon. The lake is located in the central Spanish Pyrenees where atmospheric depositions are the main source of reactive nitrogen. Strong correlations were found between abundance of thaumarchaeotal 16S rRNA gene, archaeal amoA gene and nitrite concentrations, indicating an ammonium oxidation potential by these microorganisms. The bacterial amoA gene was not detected. Three depths with potential ammonia-oxidation activity were unveiled along the vertical gradient, (i) on the top of the lake in winter–spring (that is, the 0 oC slush layers above the ice-covered sheet), (ii) at the thermocline and (iii) the bottom waters in summer—autumn. Overall, up to 90% of the 16S rRNA gene sequences matched Thaumarchaeota, mostly from both the Marine Group (MG) 1.1a (Nitrosoarchaeum-like) and the sister clade SAGMGC−1 (Nitrosotalea-like). Clone-libraries analysis showed the two clades changed their relative abundances with water depth being higher in surface and lower in depth for SAGMGC−1 than for MG 1.1a, reflecting a vertical phylogenetic segregation. Overall, the relative abundance and recurrent appearance of SAGMGC−1 suggests a significant environmental role of this clade in alpine lakes. These results expand the set of ecological and thermal conditions where Thaumarchaeota are distributed, unveiling vertical positioning in the water column as a key factor to understand the ecology of different thaumarchaeotal clades in lacustrine environments.This research was supported by grants CRENYC CGL2006-12058 and PIRENA CGL2009-13318 to EOC, and CONSOLIDER grant GRACCIE CSD2007-00067 from the Spanish Office of Science and Innovation (MICINN). JCA benefits from a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellow (MICINN).Peer reviewe

Mammals on the EDGE: Conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny

Conservation priority setting based on phylogenetic diversity has frequently been proposed but rarely implemented. Here, we define a simple index that measures the contribution made by different species to phylogenetic diversity and show how the index might contribute towards species-based conservation priorities. We describe procedures to control for missing species, incomplete phylogenetic resolution and uncertainty in node ages that make it possible to apply the method in poorly known clades. We also show that the index is independent of clade size in phylogenies of more than 100 species, indicating that scores from unrelated taxonomic groups are likely to be comparable. Similar scores are returned under two different species concepts, suggesting that the index is robust to taxonomic changes. The approach is applied to a near-complete species-level phylogeny of the Mammalia to generate a global priority list incorporating both phylogenetic diversity and extinction risk. The 100 highest-ranking species represent a high proportion of total mammalian diversity and include many species not usually recognised as conservation priorities. Many species that are both evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE species) do not benefit from existing conservation projects or protected areas. The results suggest that global conservation priorities may have to be reassessed in order to prevent a disproportionately large amount of mammalian evolutionary history becoming extinct in the near future

Dysbiotic bacteria translocate in progressive SIV infection

Infection of gut-resident CD4(+) memory T-cells during acute HIV and SIV infection is associated with rapid loss of these cells and damage to the epithelial barrier. Damage to the epithelial barrier allows translocation of microbial products from the intestinal lumen into the body. Immune activation caused by these microbial products has been associated with disease progression. Although microbial translocation has been demonstrated in SIV-infected nonhuman primates, the identity of translocating bacteria has not been determined. In this study we examined the communities of bacteria both within the GI tract and systemic tissues of both healthy and experimentally SIV-infected Asian macaques. While there were only modest changes in the GI tract-associated microbiome resulting from infection, there is substantial dysbiosis after administration of antiretrovirals. Analysis of bacterial DNA isolated from tissues of infected animals revealed a preference for the phylum Proteobacteria, suggesting that they preferentially translocate. Consistent with this finding, we observed increased metabolic activity of Proteobacterial species within the colonic lumen of SIV-infected animals. Overall these data provide insights into disease progression and suggest that therapies aimed at altering the composition and metabolic activity of the GI tract microbiome could benefit chronically-HIV infected individuals particularly those on antiretroviral therapies