Identification, analysis, and linkage mapping of expressed sequence tags from the Australian sheep blowfly

Background: The Australian sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a destructive pest of the sheep, a model organism for insecticide resistance research, and a valuable tool for medical and forensic professionals. However, genomic information on L. cuprina is still sparse.Results: We report here the construction of an embryonic and 2 larval cDNA libraries for L. cuprina. A total of 29,816 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were obtained and assembled into 7,464 unique clusters. The sequence collection captures a great diversity of genes, including those related to insecticide resistance (e.g., 12 cytochrome P450s, 2 glutathione S transferases, and 6 esterases). Compared to Drosophila melanogaster, codon preference is different in 13 of the 18 amino acids encoded by redundant codons, reflecting the lower overall GC content in L. cuprina. In addition, we demonstrated that the ESTs could be converted into informative gene markers by capitalizing on the known gene structures in the model organism D. melanogaster. We successfully assigned 41 genes to their respective chromosomes in L. cuprina. The relative locations of these loci revealed high but incomplete chromosomal synteny between L. cuprina and D. melanogaster.Conclusions: Our results represent the first major transcriptomic undertaking in L. cuprina. These new genetic resources could be useful for the blowfly and insect research community

The uptake of selenium by perennial ryegrass in soils of different organic matter contents receiving sheep excreta

Background and Aims The intake of selenium, an essential element for animals and humans, in ruminants is largely determined by selenium concentration in ingested forages, which take up selenium mainly from soil. Ruminant excreta is a common source of organic fertilizer, which provides both nutrients and organic matter. This study aims to unentangle the unclear effect of applying different types of ruminant excreta in soils of different organic matter contents on selenium uptake by forage. Methods Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) was grown in soils of different organic matter contents. Urine and/or feces collected from sheep fed with organic or inorganic mineral supplements, including selenium, were applied to the soils. The selenium in the collected samples were analyzed using ICP-MS. The associated biogeochemical reactions were scrutinized by wet chemistry. Results The application of urine and/or feces resulted in either the same or lower selenium concentrations in perennial ryegrass. The excreta type did not affect total selenium accumulation in grass grown in low organic matter soil, whereas in high organic matter soil, feces resulted in significantly lower total selenium accumulation than urine, which was attributed to a possible interaction of selenium sorption in soil and microbial reduction of Se. Conclusion This one-time excreta application did not increase, but further decrease in some treatments, selenium concentration and accumulation in the perennial ryegrass. Consequently, to increase ruminant selenium intake, supplementing selenium directly to animals is more recommended than applying animal manure to soil, which might drive selenium reduction and decrease selenium uptake by grass

an experimental investigation into the operation of an electrically heated tobacco system

Abstract An experimental investigation of the thermal processes taking place in the tobacco substrate of a recently developed multicomponent electrically heated tobacco product (EHTP) that is part of an electrically heated tobacco system (EHTS – also referred to as the Tobacco Heating System 2.2) was carried out. Temperature profiles in the tobacco substrate of the EHTP were characterized using thermocouples positioned at different distances from the heater surface. The average maximum temperature of the tobacco measured 0.2 mm from the heater's surface wa

Study of ATLAS sensitivity to FCNC top decays

The ATLAS experiment sensitivity to top quark Flavour Changing Neutral Current (FCNC) decays was studied at LHC using ttbar events. While one of the top quarks is expected to follow the dominant Standard Model decay t->bW, the other decays through a FCNC channel, i.e. t-> Z u(c), t-> gamma u(c) or t-> g u(c). Different types of analyses, applied to each FCNC decay mode, were compared. The FCNC branching ratio sensitivity (assuming a 5sigma signal significance) and 95% confidence level limits on the branching ratios (in the hypothesis of signal absence) were obtained

Addressing social issues in a universal HIV test and treat intervention trial (ANRS 12249 TasP) in South Africa: methods for appraisal

Background: The Universal HIV Test and Treat (UTT) strategy represents a challenge for science, but is also a challenge for individuals and societies. Are repeated offers of provider-initiated HIV testing and immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) socially-acceptable and can these become normalized over time? Can UTT be implemented without potentially adding to individual and community stigma, or threatening individual rights? What are the social, cultural and economic implications of UTT for households and communities? And can UTT be implemented within capacity constraints and other threats to the overall provision of HIV services? The answers to these research questions will be critical for routine implementation of UTT strategies. Methods/design: A social science research programme is nested within the ANRS 12249 Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) cluster-randomised trial in rural South Africa. The programme aims to inform understanding of the (i) social, economic and environmental factors affecting uptake of services at each step of the continuum of HIV prevention, treatment and care and (ii) the causal impacts of the TasP intervention package on social and economic factors at the individual, household, community and health system level. We describe a multidisciplinary, multi-level, mixed-method research protocol that includes individual, household, community and clinic surveys, and combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Discussion: The UTT strategy is changing the overall approach to HIV prevention, treatment and care, and substantial social consequences may be anticipated, such as changes in social representations of HIV transmission, prevention, HIV testing and ART use, as well as changes in individual perceptions and behaviours in terms of uptake and frequency of HIV testing and ART initiation at high CD4. Triangulation of social science studies within the ANRS 12249 TasP trial will provide comprehensive insights into the acceptability and feasibility of the TasP intervention package at individual, community, patient and health system level, to complement the trial's clinical and epidemiological outcomes. It will also increase understanding of the causal impacts of UTT on social and economic outcomes, which will be critical for the long-term sustainability and routine UTT implementation. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01509508; South African Trial Register: DOH-27-0512-3974

Morphologies of z~0.7 AGN host galaxies in CANDELS : no trend of merger incidence with AGN luminosity

PS would like to acknowledge funding through grant ASI I/005/11/0. DKoo would like to acknowledge funding through grant NSF AST-0808133. SJ acknowledges financial support from the EC through an ERC grant StG-257720.The processes that trigger active galactic nuclei (AGN) remain poorly understood. While lower luminosity AGN may be triggered by minor disturbances to the host galaxy, stronger disturbances are likely required to trigger luminous AGN. Major wet mergers of galaxies are ideal environments for AGN triggering since they provide large gas supplies and galaxy scale torques. There is however little observational evidence for a strong connection between AGN and major mergers. We analyse the morphological properties of AGN host galaxies as a function of AGN and host galaxy luminosity and compare them to a carefully matched sample of control galaxies. AGN are X-ray selected in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 0.8 and have luminosities 41 ≲ log (LX [erg s−1]) ≲ 44.5. ‘Fake AGN’ are simulated in the control galaxies by adding point sources with the magnitude of the matched AGN. We find that AGN host and control galaxies have comparable asymmetries, Sérsic indices and ellipticities at rest frame ∼950 nm. AGN host galaxies show neither higher average asymmetries nor higher fractions of very disturbed objects. There is no increase in the prevalence of merger signatures with AGN luminosity. At 95 per cent confidence we find that major mergers are responsible for <6 per cent of all AGN in our sample as well as <40 per cent of the highest luminosity AGN (log  (LX [erg s−1]) ∼ 43.5). Major mergers therefore either play only a very minor role in the triggering of AGN in the luminosity range studied or time delays are too long for merger features to remain visible.PostprintPeer reviewe

Construction of a generalised farm typology to aid selection, targeting and scaling of on farm research

Farm typologies are often used to reduce the complexity in categorising diverse farming systems, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The resulting typologies can then be used in multiple ways including designing efficient sampling schemes that capture the diversity in smallholder farms, prescribing the selection of certain farm types to which interventions can be targeted or upscaled, or to give context into derived relationships. However, the construction of farm typologies consists of many subjective decisions that are not always obvious or evident to the end-user. By developing a generalized framework for constructing farm typologies, we clarify where these subjective decisions are and quantify the impact they have on the resulting typologies. Further, this framework has been encapsulated in the open source RShiny App: TypologyGenerator to enable users to focus on the decisions and not the underlying implementation

The effect of soil type on yield and micronutrient content of pasture species

The use of multispecies swards on livestock farms is growing due to the wide range of benefits they bring, such as improved biomass yield and animal performance. Preferential uptake of micronutrients by some plant species means the inclusion of legumes and forbs in grass-dominated pasture swards could improve micronutrient provision to livestock via careful species selection. However, although soil properties affect plant micronutrient concentrations, it is unknown whether choosing ‘best-performing’ species, in terms of their micronutrient content, needs to be soil-specific or whether the recommendations can be more generic. To address this question, we carried out an experiment with 15 common grass, forb and legume species grown on four soils for five weeks in a controlled environment. The soils were chosen to have contrasting properties such as texture, organic matter content and micronutrient concentrations. The effect of soil pH was tested on two soils (pH 5.4 and 7.4) chosen to minimise other confounding variables. Yield was significantly affected by soil properties and there was a significant interaction with botanical group but not species within a botanical group (grass, forb or legume). There were differences between botanical groups and between species in both their micronutrient concentrations and total uptake. Micronutrient herbage concentrations often, but not always, reflected soil micronutrient concentrations. There were soil-botanical group interactions for micronutrient concentration and uptake by plants, but the interaction between plant species (within a botanical group) and soil was significant only for forbs, and predominantly occurred when considering micronutrient uptake rather than concentration. Generally, plants had higher yields and micronutrient contents at pH 5.4 than 7.4. Forbs tended to have higher concentrations of micronutrients than other botanical groups and the effect of soil on micronutrient uptake was only significant for forbs

Bad bosses and self-verification: the moderating role of core self-evaluations with trust in workplace management

Who responds most strongly to supervisor social undermining? Building on self-verification theory (Swann, 1983, 1987), we theorize that employees with positive views of the self (i.e., higher core self-evaluations [CSEs]) who also maintain higher trust in workplace management are more likely to experience heightened stress and turnover intentions when undermined. We argue that this subset of employees (high CSE, high trust) are more likely to feel misunderstood when undermined by their supervisor and that this lack of self-verification partially explains their stronger responses to supervisor undermining. We find initial support for the first part of our model in a study of 259 healthcare workers in the United States and replicate and extend our findings in the second study of 330 employees in the United Kingdom. Our results suggest that the employees Human Resources often wishes to attract and retain—employees with high CSE and high trust in workplace management—react most strongly to supervisor social undermining