The roles of endolithic fungi in bioerosion and disease in marine ecosystems. II. Potential facultatively parasitic anamorphic ascomycetes can cause disease in corals and molluscs

Anamorphic ascomycetes have been implicated as causative agents of diseases in tissues and skeletons of hard corals, in tissues of soft corals (sea fans) and in tissues and shells of molluscs. Opportunist marine fungal pathogens, such as Aspergillus sydowii, are important components of marine mycoplankton and are ubiquitous in the open oceans, intertidal zones and marine sediments. These fungi can cause infection in or at least can be associated with animals which live in these ecosystems. A. sydowii can produce toxins which inhibit photosynthesis in and the growth of coral zooxanthellae. The prevalence of many documented infections has increased in frequency and severity in recent decades with the changing impacts of physical and chemical factors, such as temperature, acidity and eutrophication. Changes in these factors are thought to cause significant loss of biodiversity in marine ecosystems on a global scale in general, and especially in coral reefs and shallow bays

Ecological implications of a flower size/number trade-off in tropical forest trees

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org

The differential effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on executive components: shifting, inhibition, updating and access to semantic memory

Rationale/Objectives Recent theoretical models suggest that the central executive may not be a unified structure. The present study explored the nature of central executive deficits in ecstasy users. Methods In study 1, 27 ecstasy users and 34 non-users were assessed using tasks to tap memory updating (computation span; letter updating) and access to long-term memory (a semantic fluency test and the Chicago Word Fluency Test). In study 2, 51 ecstasy users and 42 non-users completed tasks that assess mental set switching (number/letter and plus/minus) and inhibition (random letter generation). Results MANOVA revealed that ecstasy users performed worse on both tasks used to assess memory updating and on tasks to assess access to long-term memory (C- and S-letter fluency). However, notwithstanding the significant ecstasy group-related effects, indices of cocaine and cannabis use were also significantly correlated with most of the executive measures. Unexpectedly, in study 2, ecstasy users performed significantly better on the inhibition task, producing more letters than non-users. No group differences were observed on the switching tasks. Correlations between indices of ecstasy use and number of letters produced were significant. Conclusions The present study provides further support for ecstasy/polydrug-related deficits in memory updating and in access to long-term memory. The surplus evident on the inhibition task should be treated with some caution, as this was limited to a single measure and has not been supported by our previous work

Kinetics of the hydrogen abstraction ·C2H5 + alkane → C2H6 + alkyl reaction class: an application of the reaction class transition state theory

This paper presents an application of the reaction class transition state theory (RC-TST) to predict thermal rate constants for hydrogen abstraction reactions at alkane by the C2H5 radical on-the-fly. The linear energy relationship (LER), developed for acyclic alkanes, was also proven to hold for cyclic alkanes. We have derived all RCTST parameters from rate constants of 19 representative reactions, coupling with LER and the barrier height grouping (BHG) approach. Both the RC-TST/LER, where only reaction energy is needed, and the RC-TST/BHG, where no other information is needed, can predict rate constants for any reaction in this reaction class with satisfactory accuracy for combustion modeling. Our analysis indicates that less than 50% systematic errors on the average exist in the predicted rate constants using either the RC-TST/LER or RC-TST/BHG method, while in comparison with explicit rate calculations, the differences are within a factor of 2 on the average. The results also show that the RC-TST method is not sensitive to the choice of density functional theory used

Meta-analysis of the detection of plant pigment concentrations using hyperspectral remotely sensed data

Passive optical hyperspectral remote sensing of plant pigments offers potential for understanding plant ecophysiological processes across a range of spatial scales. Following a number of decades of research in this field, this paper undertakes a systematic meta-analysis of 85 articles to determine whether passive optical hyperspectral remote sensing techniques are sufficiently well developed to quantify individual plant pigments, which operational solutions are available for wider plant science and the areas which now require greater focus. The findings indicate that predictive relationships are strong for all pigments at the leaf scale but these decrease and become more variable across pigment types at the canopy and landscape scales. At leaf scale it is clear that specific sets of optimal wavelengths can be recommended for operational methodologies: total chlorophyll and chlorophyll a quantification is based on reflectance in the green (550–560nm) and red edge (680–750nm) regions; chlorophyll b on the red, (630–660nm), red edge (670–710nm) and the near-infrared (800–810nm); carotenoids on the 500–580nm region; and anthocyanins on the green (550–560nm), red edge (700–710nm) and near-infrared (780–790nm). For total chlorophyll the optimal wavelengths are valid across canopy and landscape scales and there is some evidence that the same applies for chlorophyll a

Land Law, Property Ideologies and the British-Irish relationship

English and Irish land law are deeply influenced by the historical context of the British-Irish relationship, yet property scholarship comparing the two jurisdictions is surprisingly rare. The current Brexit negotiations provide a timely reminder of the strategic importance of property and trade relations between the two countries; and of their related-but-different legal cultures. In this article we examine how the property cultures of England and Ireland were shaped by the politics and practices of land tenure, by competing economic and property ideologies, and by the influence of both on national identity and statehood in both jurisdictions. The article reveals the role of local contexts and events in shaping land reform, and demonstrates the fertile potential of the comparative frame to contextualise each jurisdiction’s doctrines and practices. As domestic land law systems are drawn together in the context of emerging EU jurisdiction over areas like mortgage credit, each jurisdiction’s underpinning ideological commitments have important implications for the ease – or not – of attempts to harmonize member state practices. We explain the alignments and divergences between domestic underpinnings of Irish and English law, and reflect on the implications of our findings for contemporary property problems in the context of evolving economic and political relationships between the UK and Ireland

Parasite fate and involvement of infected cells in the induction of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses to Toxoplasma gondii

During infection with the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the presentation of parasite-derived antigens to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is essential for long-term resistance to this pathogen. Fundamental questions remain regarding the roles of phagocytosis and active invasion in the events that lead to the processing and presentation of parasite antigens. To understand the most proximal events in this process, an attenuated non-replicating strain of T. gondii (the cpsII strain) was combined with a cytometry-based approach to distinguish active invasion from phagocytic uptake. In vivo studies revealed that T. gondii disproportionately infected dendritic cells and macrophages, and that infected dendritic cells and macrophages displayed an activated phenotype characterized by enhanced levels of CD86 compared to cells that had phagocytosed the parasite, thus suggesting a role for these cells in priming naïve T cells. Indeed, dendritic cells were required for optimal CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, and the phagocytosis of heat-killed or invasion-blocked parasites was not sufficient to induce T cell responses. Rather, the selective transfer of cpsII-infected dendritic cells or macrophages (but not those that had phagocytosed the parasite) to naïve mice potently induced CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, and conferred protection against challenge with virulent T. gondii. Collectively, these results point toward a critical role for actively infected host cells in initiating T. gondii-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses

Effects of immunomodulatory drugs on depressive symptoms: A mega-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials in inflammatory disorders.

Activation of the innate immune system is commonly associated with depression. Immunomodulatory drugs may have efficacy for depressive symptoms that are co-morbidly associated with inflammatory disorders. We report a large-scale re-analysis by standardized procedures (mega-analysis) of patient-level data combined from 18 randomized clinical trials conducted by Janssen or GlaxoSmithKline for one of nine disorders (N = 10,743 participants). Core depressive symptoms (low mood, anhedonia) were measured by the Short Form Survey (SF-36) or the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and participants were stratified into high (N = 1921) versus low-depressive strata based on baseline ratings. Placebo-controlled change from baseline after 4-16 weeks of treatment was estimated by the standardized mean difference (SMD) over all trials and for each subgroup of trials targeting one of 7 mechanisms (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12/23, CD20, COX2, BLγS, p38/MAPK14). Patients in the high depressive stratum showed modest but significant effects on core depressive symptoms (SMD = 0.29, 95% CI [0.12-0.45]) and related SF-36 measures of mental health and vitality. Anti-IL-6 antibodies (SMD = 0.8, 95% CI [0.20-1.41]) and an anti-IL-12/23 antibody (SMD = 0.48, 95% CI [0.26-0.70]) had larger effects on depressive symptoms than other drug classes. Adjustments for physical health outcome marginally attenuated the average treatment effect on depressive symptoms (SMD = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.06-0.35), but more strongly attenuated effects on mental health and vitality. Effects of anti-IL-12/23 remained significant and anti-IL-6 antibodies became a trend after controlling for physical response to treatment. Novel immune-therapeutics can produce antidepressant effects in depressed patients with primary inflammatory disorders that are not entirely explained by treatment-related changes in physical health.MR