Microborings reveal alternating agitation, resting and sleeping stages of modern marine ooids

ABSTRACTOoids are abundant carbonate grains throughout much of Earth's history, but their formation is not well understood. Here, an in‐depth study of microbial bioerosion features of Holocene ooids from the Schooner Cays ooid shoals (Great Bahama Bank, Eleuthera, Bahamas) and the Shalil al Ud ooid shoals in the Gulf (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) is presented. No obvious differences were found in ooid size distribution, cortex layer thickness, the composition of nuclei or euendolithic community when comparing ooids from both locations. Microendolithic borings are present in most studied ooid surfaces, but the intensity of (micro‐)bioerosion varies significantly. Applying an epoxy vacuum cast‐embedding technique allowed the identification of ichnotaxa and their inferred producers (various genera of diatoms, cyanobacteria, coccolithophores and unspecified bacteria). Euendolithic taxa have specific low‐light tolerances and light optima. This implies that information about the relative bathymetry (seafloor versus burial within an ooid shoal) and ecology for ooid cortex formation can be obtained via the presence or absence of their respective ichnotaxa. The history of a statistically significant number of ooid cortices can be translated into dune dynamics and the temporal variations thereof by allocating the inferred index producer to a defined burial or light penetration zone. In this context, ooid formation can be divided into four stages: (i) an agitation stage in the water column, characterized by the colonization of grains by photoautotrophs; (ii) a resting stage, characterized by temporary burial of the ooid, leading to immobilization and a shift towards heterotrophs; (iii) a sleeping stage, characterized by prolonged burial and colonialization by organotrophs; and (iv) a reactivation stage, characterized by a resurfacing of the ooid and a subsequent shift towards photoautotrophs. The sleeping stage is presumably a stage of ooid degradation where bioerosion, mainly by heterotrophic fungi and bacteria is particularly active.</jats:p

Historical data reveal contrasting habitat amount relationships with plant biodiversity

Assessing habitat loss effects on biodiversity is a major focus of ecological research. The relationship between habitat amount and biodiversity, postulated in the habitat amount hypothesis, is usually assessed at one point in time, which does not account for habitat loss as a temporal process. We examined habitat amount effects at two time periods, 1930s and 2010s, using plant data from three semi-natural habitats: calcareous grassland, heathland and broadleaved woodland, across Dorset, southern England. Woodlands, which changed little in area over the time period, showed minimal effects of habitat amount on species occurrence in both time periods. For grassland and heathland, which had undergone severe losses over the study period, we found the expected positive relationship in the 2010s, but the relationship was negative for these habitats in the 1930s. We explored possible reasons for this result. Total perimeter-to-area ratio (TPAR) showed positive effects in the 1930s for grassland and heathland, suggesting effects of habitat configuration, specifically edge. However, TPAR was highly correlated with habitat amount so this finding is speculative. One possible explanation for the relationships with habitat amount, and the change between the two periods could be the quality of the surrounding matrix. In the 1930s, the landscape was less intensified and was dominated by semi-natural habitats, whereas by the 2010s much had been converted to arable and intensive grasslands. We speculate that species could likely utilise the matrix to a greater degree in the 1930s compared with the 2010s when the matrix was more hostile, thereby decreasing the importance of habitat amount in the 1930s compared with the 2010s. These findings have important implications for conservation, as they show the importance of context (i.e. matrix quality) in determining the relationship between habitat amount and biodiversity

Demonstrating the Potential of Using Bio-Based Sustainable Polyester Blends for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

YesHealthcare applications are known to have a considerable environmental impact and the use of bio-based polymers has emerged as a powerful approach to reduce the carbon footprint in the sector. This research aims to explore the suitability of using a new sustainable polyester blend (Floreon™) as a scaffold directed to aid in musculoskeletal applications. Musculoskeletal problems arise from a wide range of diseases and injuries related to bones and joints. Specifically, bone injuries may result from trauma, cancer, or long-term infections and they are currently considered a major global problem in both developed and developing countries. In this work we have manufactured a series of 3D-printed constructs from a novel biopolymer blend using fused deposition modelling (FDM), and we have modified these materials using a bioceramic (wollastonite, 15% w/w). We have evaluated their performance in vitro using human dermal fibroblasts and rat mesenchymal stromal cells. The new sustainable blend is biocompatible, showing no differences in cell metabolic activity when compared to PLA controls for periods 1-18 days. FloreonTM blend has proven to be a promising material to be used in bone tissue regeneration as it shows an impact strength in the same range of that shown by native bone (just under 10 kJ/m2) and supports an improvement in osteogenic activity when modified with wollastonite.We would like to acknowledge the Medical Research Council in the UK (MRC) for funding this research throughout a MRC Proximity to Discovery award (P2D) with grant number MC_PC_16084. We would also like to acknowledge CONACYT for funding DH RamosRodriguez’s work

Attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years caused by infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the EU and the European Economic Area in 2015: a population-level modelling analysis

Background: Infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria are threatening modern health care. However, estimating their incidence, complications, and attributable mortality is challenging. We aimed to estimate the burden of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria of public health concern in countries of the EU and European Economic Area (EEA) in 2015, measured in number of cases, attributable deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Methods: We estimated the incidence of infections with 16 antibiotic resistance–bacterium combinations from European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) 2015 data that was country-corrected for population coverage. We multiplied the number of bloodstream infections (BSIs) by a conversion factor derived from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control point prevalence survey of health-care-associated infections in European acute care hospitals in 2011–12 to estimate the number of non-BSIs. We developed disease outcome models for five types of infection on the basis of systematic reviews of the literature. Findings: From EARS-Net data collected between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2015, we estimated 671 689 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 583 148–763 966) infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, of which 63·5% (426 277 of 671 689) were associated with health care. These infections accounted for an estimated 33 110 (28 480–38 430) attributable deaths and 874 541 (768 837–989 068) DALYs. The burden for the EU and EEA was highest in infants (aged <1 year) and people aged 65 years or older, had increased since 2007, and was highest in Italy and Greece. Interpretation: Our results present the health burden of five types of infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria expressed, for the first time, in DALYs. The estimated burden of infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the EU and EEA is substantial compared with that of other infectious diseases, and has increased since 2007. Our burden estimates provide useful information for public health decision-makers prioritising interventions for infectious diseases

Sub-Femto- g Free Fall for Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatories: LISA Pathfinder Results

We report the first results of the LISA Pathfinder in-flight experiment. The results demonstrate that two free-falling reference test masses, such as those needed for a space-based gravitational wave observatory like LISA, can be put in free fall with a relative acceleration noise with a square root of the power spectral density of 5.2±0.1  fm s−2/Hz, or (0.54±0.01)×10−15  g/Hz, with g the standard gravity, for frequencies between 0.7 and 20 mHz. This value is lower than the LISA Pathfinder requirement by more than a factor 5 and within a factor 1.25 of the requirement for the LISA mission, and is compatible with Brownian noise from viscous damping due to the residual gas surrounding the test masses. Above 60 mHz the acceleration noise is dominated by interferometer displacement readout noise at a level of (34.8±0.3)  fm/Hz, about 2 orders of magnitude better than requirements. At f≤0.5  mHz we observe a low-frequency tail that stays below 12  fm s−2/Hz down to 0.1 mHz. This performance would allow for a space-based gravitational wave observatory with a sensitivity close to what was originally foreseen for LISA.CNES 1316634/CNRS 103747UnivEarthS Labex program/ANR-10-LABX-0023UnivEarthS Labex program/ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02DLRFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy/FKZ 50OQ0501Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy/FKZ 50OQ1601Agenzia Spaziale ItalianaInstituto Nazionale di Fisica NucleareAYA2010-15709 (MICINN)ESP2013-47637-P (MINECO)ESP2015-67234-P (MINECO)Fundacion General CSICSwiss Space Office (SSO)Swiss National Science FoundationUnited Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA)University of GlasgowUniversity of BirminghamImperial CollegeScottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA)U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA

The Role of Histone Methylation and H2A.Z Occupancy during Rapid Activation of Ethylene Responsive Genes

Ethylene signaling pathway leads to rapid gene activation by two hierarchies of transcription factors with EIN3/EIL proteins as primary ones and ERF proteins as secondary ones. The role of chromatin modifications during the rapid gene activation is not known. In this work we studied trimethylated histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and lysine 27 (H3K27me3), two opposite histone methylation marks for gene activity, during the induction course of three ethylene-responsive genes (ERF1, AtERF14 and ChiB). We found that the three genes displayed different histone modification profiles before induction. After induction, H3K4me3 was increased in the 5′ region and the gene body of ERF1, while H3K27me3 was decreased in the promoter of AtERF14. But the modification changes were later than the gene activation. Analysis of other rapidly inducible ERF genes confirmed the observation. In addition, histone H2A.Z occupancy on the three genes and the association of the H3K27me3-binding protein LHP1 with AtERF14 and ChiB were not affected by the inductive signal. However, the mutation of genes encoding H2A.Z and LHP1 attenuated and enhanced respectively the induction of target genes and altered H3K4me3. These results indicate that the induction of ethylene-responsive genes does not require immediate modulation of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 and dissociation of LHP1 and H2A.Z from the targets, and suggest that the chromatin structure of the genes before induction is committed for transcriptional activation and that H3K4me3 is not required for ethylene-responsive gene activation, but may serve as a mark for gene activity

Tuberculosis associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing and non-Beijing genotypes: a clinical and immunological comparison

BACKGROUND: The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype is biologically different from other genotypes. We aimed to clinically and immunologically compare human tuberculosis caused by Beijing and non-Beijing strains. METHODS: Pulmonary tuberculosis patients were prospectively enrolled and grouped by their M. tuberculosis genotypes. The clinical features, plasma cytokine levels, and cytokine gene expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were compared between the patients in Beijing and non-Beijing groups. RESULTS: Patients in the Beijing group were characterized by significantly lower frequency of fever (odds ratio, 0.12, p = 0.008) and pulmonary cavitation (odds ratio, 0.2, p = 0.049). Night sweats were also significantly less frequent by univariate analysis, and the duration of cough prior to diagnosis was longer in Beijing compared to non-Beijing groups (medians, 60 versus 30 days, p = 0.048). The plasma and gene expression levels of interferon (IFN) γ and interleukin (IL)-18 were similar in the two groups. However, patients in the non-Beijing group had significantly increased IL-4 gene expression (p = 0.018) and lower IFN-γ : IL-4 cDNA copy number ratios (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Patients with tuberculosis caused by Beijing strains appear to be less symptomatic than those who have disease caused by other strains. Th1 immune responses are similar in patients infected with Beijing and non-Beijing strains, but non-Beijing strains activate more Th2 immune responses compared with Beijing strains, as evidenced by increased IL-4 expression