Jack vertex operators and realization of Jack functions

We give an iterative method to realize general Jack functions from Jack functions of rectangular shapes. We first show some cases of Stanley's conjecture on positivity of the Littlewood-Richardson coefficients, and then use this method to give a new realization of Jack functions. We also show in general that vectors of products of Jack vertex operators form a basis of symmetric functions. In particular this gives a new proof of linear independence for the rectangular and marked rectangular Jack vertex operators. Thirdly a generalized Frobenius formula for Jack functions was given and was used to give new evaluation of Dyson integrals and even powers of Vandermonde determinant.Comment: Expanded versio

A90V TDP-43 variant results in the aberrant localization of TDP-43 in vitro

AbstractTAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein that was recently identified as the disease protein in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (FTLD-U) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Pathogenic TDP-43 gene (TARDBP) mutations have been identified in familial ALS kindreds, and here we report a TARDBP variant (A90V) in a FTLD/ALS patient with a family history of dementia. Significantly, A90V is located between the bipartite nuclear localization signal sequence of TDP-43 and the in vitro expression of TDP-43-A90V led to its sequestration with endogenous TDP-43 as insoluble cytoplasmic aggregates. Thus, A90V may be a genetic risk factor for FTLD/ALS because it predisposes nuclear TDP-43 to redistribute to the cytoplasm and form pathological aggregates

Draft Genome Sequence of Bacillus cereus LCR12, a Plant Growth–Promoting Rhizobacterium Isolated from a Heavy Metal–Contaminated Environment

Bacillus cereus LCR12 is a plant growth–promoting rhizobacterium, isolated from a heavy metal–contaminated environment. The 6.01-Mb annotated genome sequence provides the genetic basis for revealing its potential application to remediate contaminated soils in association with plants

Microorganisms in heavy metal bioremediation: strategies for applying microbial-community engineering to remediate soils

The remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils is essential as heavy metals persist and do not degrade in the environment. Remediating heavy-metal-contaminated soils requires metals to be mobilized for extraction whilst, at the same time, employing strategies to avoid mobilized metals leaching into ground-water or aquatic systems. Phytoextraction is a bioremediation strategy that extracts heavy metals from soils by sequestration in plant tissues and is currently the predominant bioremediation strategy investigated for remediating heavy-metal-contaminated soils. Although the efficiency of phytoextraction remains a limiting feature of the technology, there are numerous reports that soil microorganisms can improve rates of heavy metal extraction.This review highlights the unique challenges faced when remediating heavy-metal-contaminated soils as compared to static aquatic systems and suggests new strategies for using microorganisms to improve phytoextraction. We compare how microorganisms are used in soil bioremediation (i.e. phytoextraction) and water bioremediation processes, discussing how the engineering of microbial communities, used in water remediation, could be applied to phytoextraction. We briefly outline possible approaches for the engineering of soil communities to improve phytoextraction either by mobilizing metals in the rhizosphere of the plant or by promoting plant growth to increase the root-surface area available for uptake of heavy metals. We highlight the technological advances that make this research direction possible and how these technologies could be employed in future research

Draft Genome Sequence of Enterobacter ludwigii NCR3, a Heavy Metal–Resistant Rhizobacterium

We report here the draft genome of Enterobacter ludwigii NCR3, a Gram-negative bacterium isolated from the Carpobrotus rossii (Haw.) Schwantes rhizosphere. The analysis of the ~4.8-Mb draft genome shows that this strain harbors several genes associated with heavy metal resistance and plant growth–promoting activity, suggesting its potential application in microbe-assisted phytoremediation

Correlation between Disease Severity and the Intestinal Microbiome in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Infected Rhesus Macaques

Why some but not all individuals infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis develop disease is poorly understood. Previous studies have revealed an important influence of the microbiota on host resistance to infection with a number of different disease agents. Here, we investigated the possible role of the individual’s microbiome in impacting the outcome of M. tuberculosis infection in rhesus monkeys experimentally exposed to this important human pathogen. Although M. tuberculosis infection itself caused only minor alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota in these animals, we observed a significant correlation between an individual monkey’s microbiome and the severity of pulmonary disease. More importantly, this correlation between microbiota structure and disease outcome was evident even prior to infection. Taken together, our findings suggest that the composition of the microbiome may be a useful predictor of tuberculosis progression in infected individuals either directly because of the microbiome’s direct influence on host resistance or indirectly because of its association with other host factors that have this influence. This calls for exploration of the potential of the microbiota composition as a predictive biomarker through carefully designed prospective studies.The factors that determine host susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) are poorly defined. The microbiota has been identified as a key influence on the nutritional, metabolic, and immunological status of the host, although its role in the pathogenesis of TB is currently unclear. Here, we investigated the influence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure on the microbiome and conversely the impact of the intestinal microbiome on the outcome of M. tuberculosis exposure in a rhesus macaque model of tuberculosis. Animals were infected with different strains and doses of M. tuberculosis in three independent experiments, resulting in a range of disease severities. The compositions of the microbiotas were then assessed using a combination of 16S rRNA and metagenomic sequencing in fecal samples collected pre- and postinfection. Clustering analyses of the microbiota compositions revealed that alterations in the microbiome after M. tuberculosis infection were of much lower magnitude than the variability seen between individual monkeys. However, the microbiomes of macaques that developed severe disease were noticeably distinct from those of the animals with less severe disease as well as from each other. In particular, the bacterial families Lachnospiraceae and Clostridiaceae were enriched in monkeys that were more susceptible to infection, while numbers of Streptococcaceae were decreased. These findings in infected nonhuman primates reveal that certain baseline microbiome communities may strongly associate with the development of severe tuberculosis following infection and can be more important disease correlates than alterations to the microbiota following M. tuberculosis infection itself

Functional divergence of the duplicated AtKIN14a and AtKIN14b genes: critical roles in Arabidopsis meiosis and gametophyte development

Del sector edilicio, el área residencial continúa desarrollándose en forma no sustentable, siendo responsable de un alto porcentaje del consumo total de energéticos fósiles del país y contribuyendo al deterioro ambiental global por la emisión de gases de invernadero. Para volverlo sustentable, existe la necesidad de revisión de los diseños y las técnicas constructivas para lograr edificios energéticamente eficientes, proveyendo confort térmico a sus ocupantes, protegiendo de las características climatológicas extremas. En este estudio, se presenta los resultados del ahorro potencial de energía y la disminución de CO2, al sustituir un sistema de aire acondicionado, por un sistema de descarga de calor en muros, a una vivienda de interés social. Se describe el caso de estudio y el modelo analítico empleado para la simulación. Los resultados obtenidos permiten evaluar la potencialidad de implementación en relación al ahorro obtenido para distintos escenarios futuros de requerimientos energéticos de distintas áreas del país.The residential sector continues being developed in non sustainable form, being responsible for a high percentage of the total consumption of energy domestic fossils and contributing to the global environmental deterioration for the emission of hothouse gases. To return him sustainable, it exists the necessity of revision of the designs and the constructive techniques to achieve buildings energetically efficient, providing thermal comfort to their occupants, protecting of the extreme climatologically characteristics. In this study, it is presented the results of the potential saving of energy and the decrease of CO2, when substituting an air conditioning system, for a system of discharge of heat in walls, to a housing of social interest. It is described the case of study and the pattern analytic employee for the simulation. The obtained results allow to evaluate the implementation potentiality in relation to the obtained saving for different future scenarios of energy requirements of different domestic areas.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES