Antibiotics Alter Pocillopora Coral-Symbiodiniaceae-Bacteria Interactions and Cause Microbial Dysbiosis During Heat Stress

Symbioses between eukaryotes and their associated microbial communities are fundamental processes that affect organisms’ ecology and evolution. A unique example of this is reef-building corals that maintain symbiotic associations with dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodiniaceae) and bacteria that affect coral health through various mechanisms. However, little is understood about how coral-associated bacteria communities affect holobiont heat tolerance. In this study, we investigated these interactions in four Pocillopora coral colonies belonging to three cryptic species by subjecting fragments to treatments with antibiotics intended to suppress the normal bacteria community, followed by acute heat stress. Separate treatments with only antibiotics or heat stress were conducted to compare the effects of individual stressors on holobiont transcriptome responses and microbiome shifts. Across all Pocillopora species examined, combined antibiotics and heat stress treatment significantly altered coral-associated bacteria communities and caused major changes in both coral and Cladocopium algal symbiont gene expression. Individually, heat stress impaired Pocillopora protein translation and activated DNA repair processes, while antibiotics treatments caused downregulation of Pocillopora amino acid and inorganic ion transport and metabolism genes and Cladocopium photosynthesis genes. Combined antibiotics-heat stress treatments caused synergistic effects on Pocillopora and Cladocopium gene expression including enhanced expression of oxidative stress response genes, programed cell death pathways and proteolytic enzymes that indicate an exacerbated response to heat stress following bacteria community suppression. Collectively, these results provide further evidence that corals and their Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria communities engage in highly coordinated metabolic interactions that are crucial for coral holobiont health, homeostasis, and heat tolerance

Effective non-linear dynamics of binary condensates and open problems

We report on a recent result concerning the effective dynamics for a mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates, a class of systems much studied in physics and receiving a large amount of attention in the recent literature in mathematical physics; for such models, the effective dynamics is described by a coupled system of non-linear Sch\"odinger equations. After reviewing and commenting our proof in the mean field regime from a previous paper, we collect the main details needed to obtain the rigorous derivation of the effective dynamics in the Gross-Pitaevskii scaling limit.Comment: Corrected typos, updated reference

Muon capture by 3He nuclei followed by proton and deuteron production

The paper describes an experiment aimed at studying muon capture by ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ nuclei in pure ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ and $\mathrm{D}_2 + {}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ mixtures at various densities. Energy distributions of protons and deuterons produced via $\mu^-+{}^{3}\mathrm{He}\to p+n+n + \nu_{\mu }$ and $\mu^-+{}^{3} \mathrm{He} \to d+n + \nu_{\mu}$ are measured for the energy intervals $10 - 49$ MeV and $13 - 31$ MeV, respectively. Muon capture rates, $\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^p (\Delta E_p)$ and $\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^d (\Delta E_d)$ are obtained using two different analysis methods. The least--squares methods gives $\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^p = (36.7\pm 1.2) {s}^{- 1}$, $\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^d = (21.3 \pm 1.6) {s}^{- 1}$. The Bayes theorem gives $\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^p = (36.8 \pm 0.8) {s}^{- 1}$, $\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^d = (21.9 \pm 0.6) {s}^{- 1}$. The experimental differential capture rates, $d\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^p (E_p) / dE_p$ and $d\lambda_\mathrm{cap}^d (E_d) / dE_d$, are compared with theoretical calculations performed using the plane--wave impulse approximation (PWIA) with the realistic NN interaction Bonn B potential. Extrapolation to the full energy range yields total proton and deuteron capture rates in good agreement with former results.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in PR

The first decade of web-based sports injury surveillance: Descriptive epidemiology of injuries in US high school boys' soccer (2005-2006 through 2013-2014) and national collegiate athletic association men's soccer (2004-2005 through 2013-2014)

Context: The advent of Web-based sports injury surveillance via programs such as the High School Reporting Information Online system and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program has aided the acquisition of boys' and men's soccer injury data. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of injuries sustained in high school boys' soccer in the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years and collegiate men's soccer in the 2004-2005 through 2013-2014 academic years using Web-based sports injury surveillance. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Online injury surveillance from soccer teams of high school boys (annual average ¼ 100) and collegiate men (annual average ¼ 41). Patients or Other Participants: Boys' or men's soccer players who participated in practices and competitions during the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years in high school and the 2004-2005 through 2013-2014 academic years in college, respectively. Main Outcome Measure(s): Athletic trainers collected time-loss (24 hours) injury and exposure data. Injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (AEs), injury rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and injury proportions by body site and diagnosis were calculated. Results: High School Reporting Information Online documented 2912 time-loss injuries during 1 592 238 AEs; the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program documented 4765 time-loss injuries during 686 918 AEs. The injury rate was higher in college than in high school (6.94 versus 1.83/1000 AEs; IRR ¼ 3.79; 95% CI ¼ 3.62, 3.97). Injury rates increased with smaller school size for high schools and were higher in Division I than in Divisions II and III. The injury rate was higher during competitions than during practices in both high school (IRR ¼ 3.55; 95% CI ¼ 3.30, 3.83) and college (IRR ¼ 3.45; 95% CI ¼ 3.26, 3.65). Most injuries were to the lower extremity. However, concussion was a common injury, particularly in collegiate goalkeepers and at all positions for high school players. Concussions accounted for more than one-fifth of injuries in high school games. Conclusions: Injury-prevention interventions should be tailored to reflect variations in the incidence and type of injury by level of competition, event type, and position

The first decade of web-based sports injury surveillance: Descriptive epidemiology of injuries in US high school girls' soccer (2005-2006 through 2013-2014) and national collegiate athletic association women's soccer (2004-2005 through 2013-2014)

Context: The advent of Web-based sports injury surveillance via programs such as the High School Reporting Information Online system and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program has aided the acquisition of girls' and women's soccer injury data. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of injuries sustained in high school girls' soccer in the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years and collegiate women's soccer in the 2004-2005 through 2013-2014 academic years using Web-based sports injury surveillance. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Online injury surveillance from soccer teams in high school girls (annual average ¼ 100) and collegiate women (annual average ¼ 52). Patients or Other Participants: Female high school and collegiate soccer players who participated in practices or competitions during the 2004-2005 through 2013-2014 academic years. Main Outcome Measure(s): Athletic trainers collected time-loss (24 hours) injury and exposure data. Injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (AEs), injury rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), injury proportions by body site, and diagnoses were calculated. Results: The High School Reporting Information Online system documented 3242 time-loss injuries during 1 393 753 AEs; the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program documented 5092 time-loss injuries during 772 048 AEs. Injury rates were higher in college than in high school (6.60 versus 2.33/1000 AEs; IRR ¼ 2.84; 95% CI ¼ 2.71, 2.96), and during competitions than during practices in high school (IRR ¼ 4.88; 95% CI ¼ 4.54, 5.26) and college (IRR ¼ 2.93; 95% CI ¼ 2.77, 3.10). Most injuries at both levels affected the lower extremity and were ligament sprains or muscle/tendon strains. Concussions accounted for 24.5% of competition injuries in high school but 14.6% of competition injuries in college. More than one-third of competition injuries to high school goalkeepers were concussions. Conclusions: Injury rates were higher in college versus high school and during competitions versus practices. These differences may be attributable to differences in reporting, activity intensity, and game-play skill level. The high incidence of lower extremity injuries and concussions in girls' and women's soccer, particularly concussions in high school goalkeepers, merits further exploration and identification of prevention strategies

Protein intake at twice the RDA in older men increases circulatory concentrations of the microbiome metabolite trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO)

Higher dietary protein intake is increasingly recommended for the elderly; however, high protein diets have also been linked to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. TrimethylamineN-oxide (TMAO) is a bacterial metabolite derived from choline and carnitine abundant from animal protein-rich foods. TMAO may be a novel biomarker for heightened CVD risk. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a high protein diet on TMAO. Healthy men (74.2 ± 3.6 years, n = 29) were randomised to consume the recommended dietary allowance of protein (RDA: 0.8 g protein/kg bodyweight/day) or twice the RDA (2RDA) as part of a supplied diet for 10 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected pre-and post-intervention for measurement of TMAO, blood lipids, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and inflammatory biomarkers. An oral glucose tolerance test was also performed. In comparison with RDA, the 2RDA diet increased circulatory TMAO (p = 0.002) but unexpectedly decreased renal excretion of TMAO (p = 0.003). LDL cholesterol was increased in 2RDA compared to RDA (p = 0.049), but no differences in other biomarkers of CVD risk and insulin sensitivity were evident between groups. In conclusion, circulatory TMAO is responsive to changes in dietary protein intake in older healthy males

Effect of rocker shoe design features on forefoot plantar pressures in people with and without diabetes

Background: There is no consensus on the precise rocker shoe outsole design that will optimally reduce plantar pressure in people with diabetes. This study aimed to understand how peak plantar pressure is influenced by systematically varying three design features which characterise a curved rocker shoe: apex angle, apex position and rocker angle. Methods: A total of 12 different rocker shoe designs, spanning a range of each of the three design features, were tested in 24 people with diabetes and 24 healthy participants. Each subject also wore a flexible control shoe. Peak plantar pressure, in four anatomical regions, was recorded for each of the 13 shoes during walking at a controlled speed. Findings: There were a number of significant main effects for each of the three design features, however, the precise effect of each feature varied between the different regions. The results demonstrated maximum pressure reduction in the 2nd-4th metatarsal regions (39%) but that lower rocker angles ( 60% shoe length) should be avoided for this region. The effect of apex angle was most pronounced in the 1st metatarsophalangeal region with a clear decrease in pressure as the apex angle was increased to 100°. Interpretation: We suggest that an outsole design with a 95° apex angle, apex position at 60% of shoe length and 20° rocker angle may achieve an optimal balance for offloading different regions of the forefoot. However, future studies incorporating additional design feature combinations, on high risk patients, are required to make definitive recommendations