Histological response of soda-lime glass-ceramic bactericidal rods implanted in the jaws of beagle dogs

Bacterial and fungal infections remain a major clinical challenge. Implant infections very often require complicated revision procedures that are troublesome to patients and costly to the healthcare system. Innovative approaches to tackle infections are urgently needed. We investigated the histological response of novel free P2O5 glass-ceramic rods implanted in the jaws of beagle dogs. Due to the particular percolated morphology of this glass-ceramic, the dissolution of the rods in the animal body environment and the immature bone formation during the fourth months of implantation maintained the integrity of the glass-ceramic rod. No clinical signs of inflammation took place in any of the beagle dogs during the four months of implantation. This new glass-ceramic biomaterial with inherent bactericidal and fungicidal properties can be considered as an appealing candidate for bone tissue engineeringThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) under the projects MAT2012-38645. A.P. Tomsia work was supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH/NIDCR) Grant No. 1R01DE015633S

Conserved presence of G-quadruplex forming sequences in the Long Terminal Repeat Promoter of Lentiviruses

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are secondary structures of nucleic acids that epigenetically regulate cellular processes. In the human immunodeficiency lentivirus 1 (HIV-1), dynamic G4s are located in the unique viral LTR promoter. Folding of HIV-1 LTR G4s inhibits viral transcription; stabilization by G4 ligands intensifies this effect. Cellular proteins modulate viral transcription by inducing/unfolding LTR G4s. We here expanded our investigation on the presence of LTR G4s to all lentiviruses. G4s in the 5'-LTR U3 region were completely conserved in primate lentiviruses. A G4 was also present in a cattle-infecting lentivirus. All other non-primate lentiviruses displayed hints of less stable G4s. In primate lentiviruses, the possibility to fold into G4s was highly conserved among strains. LTR G4 sequences were very similar among phylogenetically related primate viruses, while they increasingly differed in viruses that diverged early from a common ancestor. A strong correlation between primate lentivirus LTR G4s and Sp1/NF\u3baB binding sites was found. All LTR G4s folded: their complexity was assessed by polymerase stop assay. Our data support a role of the lentiviruses 5'-LTR G4 region as control centre of viral transcription, where folding/unfolding of G4s and multiple recruitment of factors based on both sequence and structure may take place

Detecting impacts of invasive non-native sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, within invaded and non-invaded rivers.

In aquatic ecosystems, impacts by invasive introduced fish can be likened to press disturbances that persistently influence communities. This study examined invasion disturbances by determining the relationship between non-native sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus and aquatic macroinvertebrates in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A Multiple Before–After Control–Impact (MBACI) experimental design was used to examine macroinvertebrate communities within two rivers: one with catfish and another one without catfish. Within the invaded river, macroinvertebrates showed little response to catfish presence, whereas predator exclusion appeared to benefit community structure. This suggests that the macroinvertebrate community within the invaded river was adapted to predation impact because of the dominance of resilient taxa, such as Hirudinea, Oligochaeta and Chironomidae that were abundant in the Impact treatment relative to the Control treatment. High macroinvertebrate diversity and richness that was observed in the Control treatment, which excluded the predator, relative to the Impact treatment suggests predator avoidance behaviour within the invaded river. By comparison, within the uninvaded river, catfish introduction into the Impact treatment plots indicated negative effects on macroinvertebrate community that was reflected by decrease in diversity, richness and biomass. A community level impact was also reflected in the multivariate analysis that indicated more variation in macroinvertebrate composition within the Impact treatment relative to the Control in the uninvaded river. Catfish impact within the uninvaded river suggests the dominance of vulnerable taxa, such as odonates that were less abundant in the Impact treatment plots after catfish introduction. From a disturbance perspective, this study revealed different macroinvertebrate responses to catfish impact, and suggests that within invaded habitats, macroinvertebrates were less responsive to catfish presence, whereas catfish introduction within uninvaded habitats demonstrated invasion impact that was shown by a decrease in the abundance of vulnerable taxa. The occurrence of non-native sharptooth catfish within many Eastern Cape rivers is a concern because of its predation impact and potential to influence trophic interrelationships, and efforts should be taken to protect uninvaded rivers, and, where possible, eradicate the invader

Anwendungskonzepte fuer die rechnergestuetzte integrierte Produktion Entwicklung und Transfer fuer die Auftragsabwicklung bei einem Schwermaschinenhersteller in den neuen Bundeslaendern (SKET). Abschlussbericht

Available from TIB Hannover: F94B0820+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Void growth in copper during high temperature power law creep

International audienceGrowth of grain boundary voids during high-temperature power-law creep of metals is usually approximated as the growth of a hole in a nonlinearly viscous solid. Using synchrotron tomography, we show that the functional form of the continuum law is valid but that the real growth rates in copper are higher than the prediction of the viscous model by a factor of about 40. Submicrometer resolution tomography showing faceted void shapes as well as the large scatter of individual growth rates suggest that local dislocation glide has significative contribution to void growth

Insights on the European Fault-Source Model (EFSM20) as input to the 2020 update of the European Seismic Hazard Model (ESHM20)

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2020, 4-8 May 2020The H2020 Project SERA (WP25-JRA3; http://www.sera-eu.org) is committed to updating and extending the 2013 European Seismic Hazard Model (ESHM13; Woessner et al., 2015, Bull. Earthquake Eng.) to form the basis of the next revision of the European seismic design code (CEN-EC8). Following the probabilistic framework established for ESHM13, the 2020 update (ESHM20) requires a continent-wide seismogenic model based on input from earthquake catalogs, tectonic information, and active faulting. The development of the European Fault-Source Model (EFSM20) fulfills the requirements related to active faulting. EFSM20 has two main categories of seismogenic faults: crustal faults and subduction systems. Crustal faults are meant to provide the hazard model with seismicity rates in a variety of tectonic contexts, including onshore and offshore active plate margins and plate interiors. Subduction systems are meant to provide the hazard model with both slab interface and intraslab seismicity rates. The model covers an area that encompasses a buffer of 300 km around all target European countries (except for Overseas Countries and Territories, OTCs), and a maximum of 300 km depth for slabs. The compilation of EFSM20 relies heavily on publicly available datasets and voluntarily contributed datasets spanning large regions, as well as solicited local contributions in specific areas of interest. The current status of the EFSM20 compilation includes 1,256 records of crustal faults for a total length of ~92,906 km and four subduction systems, namely the Gibraltar Arc, Calabrian Arc, Hellenic Arc, and Cyprus Arc. In this contribution, we present the curation of the main datasets and their associated information, the criteria for the prioritization and harmonization across the region, and the main strategy for transferring the earthquake fault-source input to the hazard modelers. The final version of EFSM20 will be made available through standard web services published in the EFEHR (http://www.efehr.org) and EPOS (https://www.seismofaults.eu) platforms adopting FAIR data principlesThe SERA project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.730900Peer reviewe