1,072 research outputs found
A Magnified View: The Impact of Arts Integration in the ELA and Social Studies Classroom
This qualitative research study explores the impact of arts integration in the ELA and social studies classroom. Through interdisciplinary lessons that weave music, theater, visual art, and movement with ELA and social studies content; this research explores the result of arts integration in the classroom. The fourth grade student participants in this study have contributed their ideas, understanding and reflections of the interdisciplinary ELA and social studies lessons through a collection of work samples, surveys, and interviews. Although the New York State Common Core State Standards have created a shift in content priorities and objectives for teachers, this study examines the impact on student learning through thoughtful arts integration
Rapid antagonistic coevolution in an emerging pathogen and its vertebrate host
This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Host-pathogen coevolution is assumed to play a key role in eco-evolutionary processes, including epidemiological dynamics and the evolution of sexual reproduction [1-4]. Despite this, direct evidence for host-pathogen coevolution is exceptional [5-7], particularly in vertebrate hosts. Indeed, although vertebrate hosts have been shown to evolve in response to pathogens or vice versa [8-12], there is little evidence for the necessary reciprocal changes in the success of both antagonists over time [13]. Here, we generate a time-shift experiment to demonstrate adaptive, reciprocal changes in North American house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) and their bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum [14-16]. Our experimental design is made possible by the existence of disease-exposed and unexposed finch populations, which were known to exhibit equivalent responses to experimental inoculation until the recent spread of genetic resistance in the former [14, 17]. While inoculation with pathogen isolates from epidemic outbreak caused comparable sub-lethal eye-swelling in hosts from exposed (hereafter adapted) and unexposed (hereafter ancestral) populations, inoculation with isolates sampled after the spread of resistance were threefold more likely to cause lethal symptoms in hosts from ancestral populations. Similarly, the probability that pathogens successfully established an infection in the primary host and, before inducing death, transmitted to an uninfected sentinel was highest when recent isolates were inoculated in hosts from ancestral populations and lowest when early isolates were inoculated in hosts from adapted populations. Our results demonstrate antagonistic host-pathogen coevolution, with hosts and pathogens displaying increased resistance and virulence in response to each other over time.This research was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council standard grant to
C.B. (NE/M00256X)
Contrasting evolution of virulence and replication rate in an emerging bacterial pathogen
This is the final version. Available on open access from the National Academy of Sciences via the DOI in this recordData deposition: Data reported in this paper have been deposited in Dryad Digital Repository (doi:10.5061/dryad.km3109k).Host resistance through immune clearance is predicted to favor pathogens that are able to transmit faster and are hence more virulent. Increasing pathogen virulence is, in turn, typically assumed to be mediated by increasing replication rates. However, experiments designed to test how pathogen virulence and replication rates evolve in response to increasing host resistance, as well as the relationship between the two, are rare and lacking for naturally evolving host–pathogen interactions. We inoculated 55 isolates of Mycoplasma gallisepticum, collected over 20 y from outbreak, into house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) from disease-unexposed populations, which have not evolved protective immunity to M. gallisepticum. We show using 3 different metrics of virulence (body mass loss, symptom severity, and putative mortality rate) that virulence has increased linearly over >150,000 bacterial generations since outbreak (1994 to 2015). By contrast, while replication rates increased from outbreak to the initial spread of resistance (1994 to 2004), no further increases have occurred subsequently (2007 to 2015). Finally, as a consequence, we found that any potential mediating effect of replication rate on virulence evolution was restricted to the period when host resistance was initially increasing in the population. Taken together, our results show that pathogen virulence and replication rates can evolve independently, particularly after the initial spread of host resistance. We hypothesize that the evolution of pathogen virulence can be driven primarily by processes such as immune manipulation after resistance spreads in host populations.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC
Utilisation d'ions lithium pour l'analyse des surfaces et des couches minces
Dans la tendance actuelle à utiliser des ions plus lourds que les particules α en rétrodiffusion élastique (domaine d'énergie de l'ordre du MeV), l'emploi d'ions lithium apparaît constituer une amélioration notable des caractéristiques essentielles de la méthode. Ceci est particulièrement vrai en ce qui concerne la résolution en profondeur, avec le maintien de la résolution des détecteurs, pour ce type d'ions. Nous présentons ici, en même temps qu'une étude comparative des performances analytiques des ions Li et d'autres particules, quelques applications en montrant l'intérêt dans l'étude des surfaces et des couches minces. Parmi les applications les plus caractéristiques, citons, pour des échantillons épais, l'étude simultanée de la composition des couches d'oxydation anodique formées à la surface d'aluminium et du comportement de l'impureté majeure du bain de formation. Dans les études de couches minces, outre la détermination précise de la stoechiométrie des couches diélectriques AlN, SiO, Al2O3, des effets d'implantation pourront être étudiés, comme l'oxygène dans les couches SiO
Possible fabrication techniques and welding specifications for the external cylinder of the CMS coil
The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is one of the experiments, which are being designed in the framework of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN. The design field of the CMS magnet is 4 T, the magnetic length is 12.5 m and the free aperture is 6 m in diameter. This is achieved with a 4 layer and 5 module superconducting Al- stabilized coil energized at a nominal current of 20 kA at 4.5 K. In the CMS coil the structural function is ensured, unlike in other existing Al-stabilized thin solenoids, both by the Al-alloy reinforced conductor and the external cylinder. The calculated stress level in the cylinder at operating conditions is particularly severe. In this paper the different possible fabrication techniques are assessed and compared and a possible welding specification for this component is given. (9 refs)
Predation on migrating eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) from the Western Mediterranean
Nineteen female silver European eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) were tagged with satellite tags and released in the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean during the migration seasons 2013 and 2015. Sixteen tags transmitted data: five in the Atlantic Ocean, and eleven in the Mediterranean. Of those, 50% of migrating eels were consumed by marine mammals in each year, all in the Mediterranean. The diving behaviour recorded by the tags after the eels were consumed indicated that the most likely predators were deep diving toothed whales. Measurements of the acoustic target strength of the tag showed a negligible effect on the detectability by whale biosonar. Overall, the observed predation rate was similar to that reported for eels escaping into the Atlantic. However, unlike eels in the Atlantic, which are most vulnerable to predators in the first week of escapement as they traverse the continental shelf and before they reach the refuge of the deep ocean, eels escaping from the Mediterranean were predated in deep water, months after release, likely as a consequence of their migration within a relatively narrow and deep corridor in the Alboran Sea. This emphasises the challenge of accounting for natural mortality in management plans for the long-term recovery of the European eel
The moderate drift towards less tetracycline-susceptible isolates of contagious agalactia causative agents might result from different molecular mechanisms.
©2018. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This document is the Accepted version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Veterinary Microbiology. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2018.05.001Contagious agalactia is a mycoplasmosis that affects small ruminants, is associated with
loss of milk production and high morbidity rates, and is highly deleterious to dairy
industries. The etiological agents are four mycoplasma (sub)species, of which the
relative importance depends on the countries and the animal host. Tetracyclines are non 23 expensive, broad-spectrum antimicrobials and are often used to control mastitis in dairy
herds. However, the in vitro efficiency of tetracyclines against each of the etiological
agents of contagious agalactia has been poorly assessed.
The aims of this study were i) to compare the tetracycline susceptibilities of various
field isolates, belonging to different mycoplasma (sub)species and subtypes, collected
over the years from different clinical contexts in France or Spain, and ii) to investigate
the molecular mechanisms behind the decreased susceptibility of some isolates to
tetracyclines.
The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of tetracyclines were determined in
vitro on a set of 120 isolates. Statistical analyses were run to define the significance of
any observed differences in MICs distribution. As mutations in the genes encoding the
ttracycline targets (rrs loci) are most often associated with increased tetracycline MICs
in animal mycoplasmas, these genes were sequenced.
The loss of susceptibility to tetracyclines after year 2010 is not significant and recent
MICs are higher in M. agalactiae, especially isolates from ovine mastitis cases, than in
other etiological agents of contagious agalactia. The observed increases in MICs were
not always associated with mutations in the rrs alleles which suggests the existence of
other resistance mechanisms yet to be decipher
Integration of formal fault analysis in ASSERT: Case studies and lessons learnt
International audienceThe ASSERT European Integrated Project (Automated proof-based System and Software Engineering for Real-Time systems; EC FP6, IST-004033) has investigated, elaborated and experimented advanced methods based on the AltaRica language and support tool OCAS for architecture and fault approach propagation description analysis, and integrated in the complete ASSERT process. The paper describes lessons learnt from three case studies: safety critical spacecraft, autonomous deep exploration spacecraft, and civil aircraft
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Pharmacological therapies in post stroke recovery: Recommendations for future clinical trials
Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability in adults and is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Early reperfusion and neuroprotection techniques have been the focus of much effort with the aim of very acute treatment of the stroke. Targeting different mechanisms, pharmacological therapies have the potential to reduce disability in a large fraction of patients who survive the acute stroke. The brain's capacity to reorganize after stroke through plasticity mechanisms can be modulated by pharmacological agents. A number of therapeutic interventions are under study, including small molecules, growth factors, and monoclonal antibodies. Recently it has been shown that the SSRI fluoxetine improved motor deficit in patients with ischaemic stroke and hemiplegia which appeared to be independent of the presence of depression. In this context, it is of major importance to support innovative research in order to promote the emergence of new pharmacological treatments targeting neurological recovery after stroke, as opposed to acute de-occlusion and neuroprotection. This paper is the work of a group of 14 scientists with aim of (1) addressing key areas of the basic and clinical aspects of human brain plasticity after stroke and potential pharmacological targets for recovery, (2) asking questions about the most appropriate characteristics of clinical trials testing drugs in post stroke recovery and (3) proposing recommendations for future clinical trials. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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