The study of karstic aquifers by geodetic measurements in Bus de la Genziana station – Cansiglio plateau (Northeastern Italy)

We propose an interdisciplinary study of karstic aquifers using tiltmeters and GPS observations. The study region is located in northeastern Italy, in the seismic area of the Cansiglio Plateau. The Zöllner type Marussi tiltmeters are installed in a natural cavity (Bus de la Genziana) that is part of an interesting karstic area of particular hydrogeologic importance. The Livenza river forms from a number of springs at the foothills of the karstic massif and flows throughthe Friuli-Veneto plain into the Adriatic Sea. Comparing the tiltmeter signal recorded at the Genziana station withthe local pluviometrical series and the hydrometric series of the Livenza river, a clear correlation is recognized. Moreover, the data of a permanent GPS station located on the southern slopes of the Cansiglio Massif (CANV) show also a clear correspondence withthe water runoff. Here we present the hydrologic induced deformations as observed by tiltmeter and GPS. After heavy rain events we record rapid deformations bothby tiltmeters and GPS corresponding to the rainfall duration. In the following days a slow geodetic motion recovers the accumulated deformation witha distinctive pattern bothin tilt and GPS data, whichcorrelates withthe runoff of the karstic aquifer. The purpose of this researchis to open a new multidisciplinary frontier between geodetic and karstic systems studies to improve the knowledge of the underground fluid flow circulation in karstic areas. Furthermore a better characterization of the hydrologic effects on GPS and tilt observations will have the benefit that these signals can be corrected when the focus of the study is to recover the tectonic deformation

Maximum likelihood estimates of pairwise rearrangement distances

Accurate estimation of evolutionary distances between taxa is important for many phylogenetic reconstruction methods. In the case of bacteria, distances can be estimated using a range of different evolutionary models, from single nucleotide polymorphisms to large-scale genome rearrangements. In the case of sequence evolution models (such as the Jukes-Cantor model and associated metric) have been used to correct pairwise distances. Similar correction methods for genome rearrangement processes are required to improve inference. Current attempts at correction fall into 3 categories: Empirical computational studies, Bayesian/MCMC approaches, and combinatorial approaches. Here we introduce a maximum likelihood estimator for the inversion distance between a pair of genomes, using the group-theoretic approach to modelling inversions introduced recently. This MLE functions as a corrected distance: in particular, we show that because of the way sequences of inversions interact with each other, it is quite possible for minimal distance and MLE distance to differently order the distances of two genomes from a third. This has obvious implications for the use of minimal distance in phylogeny reconstruction. The work also tackles the above problem allowing free rotation of the genome. Generally a frame of reference is locked, and all computation made accordingly. This work incorporates the action of the dihedral group so that distance estimates are free from any a priori frame of reference.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures. To appear in the Journal of Theoretical Biolog

Conjugative IncF and IncI1 plasmids with tet(A) and class 1 integron conferring multidrug resistance in F18+ porcine enterotoxigenic E. coli

Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) bacteria are frequently causing watery diarrhea in newborn and weaned pigs. Plasmids carrying genes of different enterotoxins and fimbrial adhesins and plasmids conferring antimicrobial resistance are of prime importance in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of ETEC. Recently, the significance of the porcine ETEC plasmid pTC was revealed, carrying tetracycline resistance gene tet(B) with enterotoxin genes. In contrast the role of tet(A) plasmids in transferring resistance of porcine ETEC is less understood. Objective of the present study was to provide comparative analysis of antimicrobial resistance and virulence gene profiles of porcine post-weaning enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) strains representing pork producing areas in Central-Europe and in the USA with special attention on plasmids carrying the tet(A) gene. Antimicrobial resistance phenotype and genotype of 87 porcine ETEC strains isolated from cases of post-weaning diarrhea in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and the Midwest USA was determined by disk diffusion and by PCR. Central-European Strains carrying tet(A) or tet(B) were further subjected to molecular characterization of their tet plasmids. Results indicated that >90% of the ETEC strains shared a common multidrug resistant (MDR) pattern of sulfamethoxazole (91%), tetracycline (84%) and streptomycin (80%) resistance. Tetracyclin resistance was most frequently determined by the tet(B) gene (38%), while tet(A) was identified in 26% of all isolates with wide ranges for both tet gene types between some countries and with class 1 integrons and resistance genes co-transferred by conjugation. The virulence gene profiles included enterotoxin genes (lt, sta and/or stb), as well as adhesin genes (k88/f4, f18). Characterization of two representative tet(A) plasmids of porcine F18+ ETEC from Central-Europe revealed, that the IncF plasmid (pES11732) of the Czech strain (~120 kb) carried tet(A) in association with catA1 for chloramphenicol resistance. The IncI1 plasmid (pES2172) of the Hungarian strain (~138 kb) carried tet(A) gene and a class 1 integron with an unusual variable region of 2,735 bp composed by two gene cassettes: estX-aadA1 encoding for streptothricin-spectinomycin/streptomycin resistance exemplifying simultaneous recruitment, assembly and transfer of multidrug resistance genes by tet(A) plasmid of porcine ETEC. By this we provided the first description of IncF and IncI1 type plasmids of F18+ porcine enterotoxigenic E. coli responsible for co-transfer of the tet(A) gene with multidrug resistance. Additionally the unusual determinant estX, encoding for streptothricin resistane was first reported here in porcine enterotoxigenic E. coli

The emerging and diverse roles of Src-like adaptor proteins in health and disease

Although Src-like adaptor proteins (SLAP-1 and SLAP-2) were mainly studied in lymphocytes, where they act as negative regulators and provide fine control of receptor signaling, recently, several other functions of these proteins were discovered. In addition to the well-characterized immunoregulatory functions, SLAP proteins appear to have an essential role in the pathogenesis of type I hypersensitivity, osteoporosis, and numerous malignant diseases. Both adaptor proteins are expressed in a wide variety of tissues, where they have mostly inhibitory effects on multiple intracellular signaling pathways. In this review, we summarize the diverse effects of SLAP proteins

A családi élettel, párkapcsolattal való elégedettség és a munka-magánélet egyensúly összefüggései a gyermekes nők életében

Bevezetés: A munka és a családi élet két központi területe az emberek életének (Makra et. al., 2012). Feltételeztük, hogy a gyermekek száma és életkora negatív hatással van a munka-magánélet egyensúlyra. A munkába- és a családba való bevonódás között valószínűsíthetően negatív irányú a kapcsolat. Továbbá, a harmonikus partneri kapcsolat, magasabb mértékű munkahelyi elégedettséget- és családi életbe való bevonódást eredményez, melyet a gyermekek magasabb száma is pozitív irányba befolyásolhat. Módszer: Jelen elemzésnél 231 fős mintán vizsgáltuk a családi élettel, párkapcsolattal való elégedettség és a munka-magánélet egyensúly összefüggéseit dolgozó, gyermekes anyáknál. Eredmények: A munka-család konfliktus, a gyermekek száma és életkora között csak tendenciaszintű, valamint a várttal ellentétes összefüggés mutatkozott meg. A munkába- és a családba való bevonódás tekintetében kölcsönös, negatív kapcsolat igazolódott be; továbbá a családba való bevonódásra a gyermekek száma is negatívan hat. A munkával- és a párkapcsolattal való elégedettség között nem volt szignifikáns kapcsolat. Következtetés: A munka-magánélet egyensúlyra való törekvés kulcsfontosságú a családi élettel, párkapcsolattal való elégedettség fenntartásának tekintetében is