Evidence from field measurements and satellite imaging of impact of Earth rotation on Lake Iseo chemistry

During an initial field survey in 2012, we observed an unexpected asymmetry of dissolved oxygen distribution between the western and eastern side in northern Lake Iseo. Motivated by this apparent anomaly, we conducted a detailed field investigation, and we used a physical model of the northern part of the lake to understand the in- fluences that might affect the distribution of material in the northern section of the lake. These investigations sug- gested that the Earth's rotation has significant influence on the inflow of the lake's two main tributaries. In order to further crosscheck the validity of these results, we conducted a careful analysis at a synoptic scale using images acquired during thermally unstratified periods by Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites. We retrieved and post- processed a large set of images, providing conclusive evidence of the role exerted by the Earth's rotation on pol- lutant transport in Lake Iseo and of the greater environmental vulnerability of the north-west shore of this lake, where important settlements are located. Our study confirms the necessity for three-dimensional hydrodynamic models including Coriolis effect in order to effectively predict local impacts of inflows on nearshore water quality of medium-sized elongated lakes of similar scale to Lake Iseo

Detecting the shape of anisotropic gold nanoparticles in dispersion with single particle extinction and scattering

The shape and size of nanoparticles are important parameters affecting the biodistribution, bioactivity, and toxicity. The high-throughput characterisation of nanoparticle shape in the dispersion is a fundamental prerequisite for realistic in vitro and in vivo evaluation, however, with routinely available bench-top optical characterisation techniques, it remains a challenging task. Herein, we demonstrate the efficacy of Single Particle Extinction and Scattering (SPES) technique for the in situ detection of the shape of nanoparticles in dispersion, applied to a small library of anisotropic gold particles, with potential developments of in-line detection. The use of SPES paves the way to the routine quantitative analysis of nanoparticles dispersed in biologically relevant fluids, which is of importance for the nanosafety assessment and any in vitro and in vivo administration of nanomaterials

Inkjet printed 2D-crystal based strain gauges on paper

We present an investigation of inkjet printed strain gauges based on two-dimensional (2D) materials. The technology leverages water-based and biocompatible inks to fabricate strain measurement devices on flexible substrates such as paper. We demonstrate that the device performance and sensitivity are strongly dependent on the printing parameter (i.e., drop-spacing, number of printing passes, etc.). We show that values of the Gauge Factor up to 125 can be obtained, with large sensitivity (>20) even when small strains (0.3) are applied. Furthermore, we provide preliminary examples of heterostructure-based strain sensors, enabled by the inkjet printing technology

Late universe dynamics with scale-independent linear couplings in the dark sector

We explore the dynamics of cosmological models with two coupled dark components with energy densities $\rho_A$ and $\rho_B$. We assume that the coupling is of the form $Q=Hq(\rho_A,\rho_B)$, so that the dynamics of the two components turns out to be scale independent, i.e. does not depend explicitly on the Hubble scalar $H$. With this assumption, we focus on the general linear coupling $q=q_o+q_A\rho_A+q_B\rho_B$, which may be seen as arising from any $q(\rho_A,\rho_B)$ at late time and leads in general to an effective cosmological constant. In the second part of the paper we consider observational constraints on the form of the coupling from SN Ia data, assuming that one of the components is cold dark matter. We find that the constant part of the coupling function is unconstrained by SN Ia data and, among typical linear coupling functions, the one proportional to the dark energy density $\rho_{A}$ is preferred in the strong coupling regime, $|q_{A}|>1$. While phantom models favor a positive coupling function, in non-phantom models, not only a negative coupling function is allowed, but the uncoupled sub-case falls at the border of the likelihood.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, considerable changes to the tex

A Snu114-GTP-Prp8 module forms a relay station for efficient splicing in yeast

The single G protein of the spliceosome, Snu114, has been proposed to facilitate splicing as a molecular motor or as a regulatory G protein. However, available structures of spliceosomal complexes show Snu114 in the same GTP-bound state, and presently no Snu114 GTPase-regulatory protein is known. We determined a crystal structure of Snu114 with a Snu114-binding region of the Prp8 protein, in which Snu114 again adopts the same GTP-bound conformation seen in spliceosomes. Snu114 and the Snu114-Prp8 complex co-purified with endogenous GTP. Snu114 exhibited weak, intrinsic GTPase activity that was abolished by the Prp8 Snu114-binding region. Exchange of GTP-contacting residues in Snu114, or of Prp8 residues lining the Snu114 GTP-binding pocket, led to temperature-sensitive yeast growth and affected the same set of splicing events in vivo. Consistent with dynamic Snu114-mediated protein interactions during splicing, our results suggest that the Snu114-GTP-Prp8 module serves as a relay station during spliceosome activation and disassembly, but that GTPase activity may be dispensable for splicing

Cyclin D1 Restrains Oncogene-Induced Autophagy by Regulating the AMPK-LKB1 Signaling Axis.

Autophagy activated after DNA damage or other stresses mitigates cellular damage by removing damaged proteins, lipids, and organelles. Activation of the master metabolic kinase AMPK enhances autophagy. Here we report that cyclin D1 restrains autophagy by modulating the activation of AMPK. In cell models of human breast cancer or in a cyclin D1-deficient model, we observed a cyclin D1-mediated reduction in AMPK activation. Mechanistic investigations showed that cyclin D1 inhibited mitochondrial function, promoted glycolysis, and reduced activation of AMPK (pT172), possibly through a mechanism that involves cyclin D1-Cdk4/Cdk6 phosphorylation of LKB1. Our findings suggest how AMPK activation by cyclin D1 may couple cell proliferation to energy homeostasis

Measurement of the 70Ge(n,γ) cross section up to 300 keV at the CERN n_TOF facility

Neutron capture data on intermediate mass nuclei are of key importance to nucleosynthesis in the weak component of the slow neutron capture processes, which occurs in massive stars. The (n,γ) cross section on 70Ge, which is mainly produced in the s process, was measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN. Resonance capture kernels were determined up to 40 keV neutron energy and average cross sections up to 300 keV. Stellar cross sections were calculated from kT =5 keV tokT =100 keV and are in very good agreement with a previous measurement by Walter and Beer (1985) and recent evaluations. Average cross sectionsareinagreementwithWalterandBeer(1985)overmostoftheneutronenergyrangecovered,whilethey aresystematicallysmallerforneutronenergiesabove150keV.Wehavecalculatedisotopicabundancesproduced in s-process environments in a 25 solar mass star for two initial metallicities (below solar and close to solar). While the low metallicity model reproduces best the solar system germanium isotopic abundances, the close to solar model shows a good global match to solar system abundances in the range of mass numbers A=60–80.Austrian Science Fund J3503Adolf Messer Foundation ST/M006085/1European Research Council ERC2015-StGCroatian Science Foundation IP-2018-01-857

The impact of the competence quorum sensing system on Streptococcus pneumoniae biofilms varies depending on the experimental model

Background: Different models for biofilm in Streptococcus pneumoniae have been described in literature. To permit comparison of experimental data, we characterised the impact of the pneumococcal quorum-sensing competence system on biofilm formation in three models. For this scope, we used two microtiter and one continuous culture biofilm system. Results: In both microtiter models the competence system influences stability and structure of biofilm in the late attachment phase and synthetic competence stimulating peptide (CSP) restored wild type phenotypes in the comC mutants unable to produce the peptide. Early attachment of single cells to well bottoms was found for both systems to be competence independent, while later phases, including microcolony formation correlated to an intact competence system. The continuous culture biofilm model was not affected by mutations in the competence locus, but deletion of capsule had a significant impact in this model. Conclusions: Since biofilm remains a largely uncharacterised multi-parameter phenotype it appears to be advisable to exploit more than one model in order to draw conclusion of possible relevance of specific genotypes on pneumococcal physiology.Claudia Trappetti, Luciana Gualdi, Lorenzo Di Meola, Prashant Jain, Cindy C Korir, Paul Edmonds, Francesco Iannelli, Susanna Ricci, Gianni Pozzi and Marco R Oggion