Genome characterization and population genetic structure of the zoonotic pathogen, streptococcus canis

Background - Streptococcus canis is an important opportunistic pathogen of dogs and cats that can also infect a wide range of additional mammals including cows where it can cause mastitis. It is also an emerging human pathogen. Results - Here we provide characterization of the first genome sequence for this species, strain FSL S3-227 (milk isolate from a cow with an intra-mammary infection). A diverse array of putative virulence factors was encoded by the S. canis FSL S3-227 genome. Approximately 75% of these gene sequences were homologous to known Streptococcal virulence factors involved in invasion, evasion, and colonization. Present in the genome are multiple potentially mobile genetic elements (MGEs) [plasmid, phage, integrative conjugative element (ICE)] and comparison to other species provided convincing evidence for lateral gene transfer (LGT) between S. canis and two additional bovine mastitis causing pathogens (Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. dysgalactiae), with this transfer possibly contributing to host adaptation. Population structure among isolates obtained from Europe and USA [bovine = 56, canine = 26, and feline = 1] was explored. Ribotyping of all isolates and multi locus sequence typing (MLST) of a subset of the isolates (n = 45) detected significant differentiation between bovine and canine isolates (Fisher exact test: P = 0.0000 [ribotypes], P = 0.0030 [sequence types]), suggesting possible host adaptation of some genotypes. Concurrently, the ancestral clonal complex (54% of isolates) occurred in many tissue types, all hosts, and all geographic locations suggesting the possibility of a wide and diverse niche. Conclusion - This study provides evidence highlighting the importance of LGT in the evolution of the bacteria S. canis, specifically, its possible role in host adaptation and acquisition of virulence factors. Furthermore, recent LGT detected between S. canis and human bacteria (Streptococcus urinalis) is cause for concern, as it highlights the possibility for continued acquisition of human virulence factors for this emerging zoonotic pathogen

Pair densities at contact in the quantum electron gas

The value of the pair distribution function g(r) at contact (r = 0) in a quantum electron gas is determined by the scattering events between pairs of electrons with antiparallel spins. The theoretical results for g(0) as a function of the coupling strength r_s in the paramagnetic electron gas in dimensionality D=2 and 3, that have been obtained from the solution of the two-body scattering problem with a variety of effective scattering potentials embodying many-body effects, are compared with the results of many-body calculations in the ladder approximation and with quantum Monte Carlo data.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Competing effects of Mn and Y doping on the low-energy excitations and phase diagram of La1−y_{1-y}Yy_{y}Fe1−x_{1-x}Mnx_xAsO0.89_{0.89}F0.11_{0.11} iron-based superconductors

Muon Spin Rotation ($\mu$SR) and $^{19}$F Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurements were performed to investigate the effect of Mn for Fe substitutions in La$_{1-y}$Y$_{y}$Fe$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$AsO$_{0.89}$F$_{0.11}$ superconductors. While for $y = 0$ a very low critical concentration of Mn ($x = 0.2$%) is needed to quench superconductivity, as $y$ increases the negative chemical pressure introduced by Y for La substitution stabilizes superconductivity and for $y= 20$% it is suppressed at Mn contents an order of magnitude larger. A magnetic phase arises once superconductivity is suppressed both for $y$=0 and for $y= 20$%. Low-energy spin fluctuations give rise to a peak in $^{19}$F NMR $1/T_1$ with an onset well above the superconducting transition temperature and whose magnitude increases with $x$. Also the static magnetic correlations probed by $^{19}$F NMR linewidth measurements show a marked increase with Mn content. The disruption of superconductivity and the onset of the magnetic ground-state are discussed in the light of the proximity of LaFeAsO$_{0.89}$F$_{0.11}$ to a quantum critical point.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Pair-distribution functions of the two-dimensional electron gas

Based on its known exact properties and a new set of extensive fixed-node reptation quantum Monte Carlo simulations (both with and without backflow correlations, which in this case turn out to yield negligible improvements), we propose a new analytical representation of (i) the spin-summed pair-distribution function and (ii) the spin-resolved potential energy of the ideal two-dimensional interacting electron gas for a wide range of electron densities and spin polarization, plus (iii) the spin-resolved pair-distribution function of the unpolarized gas. These formulae provide an accurate reference for quantities previously not available in analytic form, and may be relevant to semiconductor heterostructures, metal-insulator transitions and quantum dots both directly, in terms of phase diagram and spin susceptibility, and indirectly, as key ingredients for the construction of new two-dimensional spin density functionals, beyond the local approximation.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures; misprints correcte

Effects of Fiber Alignment and Coculture with Endothelial Cells on Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Impact statement This work demonstrates an effective method of enhancing osteogenesis of mesenchymal stromal cells on electrospun scaffolds through coculturing with endothelial cells. Furthermore, we provide the optimized conditions for cocultures on electrospun fibrous scaffolds and engineered bone tissues with oriented topography on aligned fibers. This study demonstrates promising findings for growing oriented tissue-engineered cocultures with significant increase in osteogenesis over monoculture conditions.Vascularization is a critical process during bone regeneration. The lack of vascular networks leads to insufficient oxygen and nutrients supply, which compromises the survival of regenerated bone. One strategy for improving the survival and osteogenesis of tissue-engineered bone grafts involves the coculture of endothelial cells (ECs) with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Moreover, bone regeneration is especially challenging due to its unique structural properties with aligned topographical cues, with which stem cells can interact. Inspired by the aligned fibrillar nanostructures in human cancellous bone, we fabricated polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun fibers with aligned and random morphology, cocultured human MSCs with human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs), and finally investigated how these two factors modulate osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs (hMSCs). After optimizing cell ratio, a hMSCs/HUVECs ratio (90:10) was considered to be the best combination for osteogenic differentiation. Coculture results showed that hMSCs and HUVECs adhered to and proliferated well on both scaffolds. The aligned structure of PCL fibers strongly influenced the morphology and orientation of hMSCs and HUVECs; however, fiber alignment was observed to not affect alkaline phosphate (ALP) activity or mineralization of hMSCs compared with random scaffolds. More importantly, cocultured cells on both random and aligned scaffolds had significantly higher ALP activities than monoculture groups, which indicated that coculture with HUVECs provided a larger relative contribution to the osteogenesis of hMSCs compared with fiber alignment. Taken together, we conclude that coculture of hMSCs with ECs is an effective strategy to promote osteogenesis on electrospun scaffolds, and aligned fibers could be introduced to regenerate bone tissues with oriented topography without significant deleterious effects on hMSCs differentiation. This study shows the ability to grow oriented tissue-engineered cocultures with significant increases in osteogenesis over monoculture conditions.</p

Analytical expressions for the charge-charge local-field factor and the exchange-correlation kernel of a two-dimensional electron gas

We present an analytical expression for the static many-body local field factor $G_{+}(q)$ of a homogeneous two-dimensional electron gas, which reproduces Diffusion Monte Carlo data and embodies the exact asymptotic behaviors at both small and large wave number $q$. This allows us to also provide a closed-form expression for the exchange and correlation kernel $K_{xc}(r)$, which represents a key input for density functional studies of inhomogeneous systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Experimental and numerical analyses of a masonry arch under base impulse excitation

Considering the long-lasting history of the masonry arch theory, the investigation of its dynamic behavior is a relatively recent issue, which is mostly focused on the analytical formulation of the SDOF four-link rigid block mechanism. With the aim of better understanding the seismic response of vaulted masonry structures, the present study is focused on the performance of a scaled arch assembled by dry-joint 3D printed voussoirs. Due to the susceptibility of rigid bodies to base impulse excitation, the tests accounted for a set of windowed sine impulses that allowed computing a failure curve in the frequency-amplitude domain. In order to track the in-plane motion of selected points, a feature tracking based measuring technique was employed. The results have been compared with a finite element model with voussoirs assumed infinitely rigid and friction interface elements, showing an appreciable match. Eventually, the outcomes of impulse base motion tests available in literature were examined, highlighting the differences in terms of failure mechanisms and seismic capacity.(undefined