The global flood protection savings provided by coral reefs

Coral reefs can provide significant coastal protection benefits to people and property. Here we show that the annual expected damages from flooding would double, and costs from frequent storms would triple without reefs. For 100-year storm events, flood damages would increase by 91% to $US 272 billion without reefs. The countries with the most to gain from reef management are Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, and Cuba; annual expected flood savings exceed$400?M for each of these nations. Sea-level rise will increase flood risk, but substantial impacts could happen from reef loss alone without better near-term management. We provide a global, process-based valuation of an ecosystem service across an entire marine biome at (sub)national levels. These spatially explicit benefits inform critical risk and environmental management decisions, and the expected benefits can be directly considered by governments (e.g., national accounts, recovery plans) and businesses (e.g., insurance).We gratefully acknowledge support from the World Bank Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystems (WAVES) Program, the Lyda Hill Foundation, Science for Nature and People Partnership, Lloyd’s Tercentenary Research Foundation, a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to MWB, the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (BIA2014-59718- R)

Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis versus bacteremia strains: Subtle genetic differences at stake

AbstractInfective endocarditis (IE)(1) is a severe condition complicating 10–25% of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Although host-related IE risk factors have been identified, the involvement of bacterial features in IE complication is still unclear. We characterized strictly defined IE and bacteremia isolates and searched for discriminant features. S. aureus isolates causing community-acquired, definite native-valve IE (n=72) and bacteremia (n=54) were collected prospectively as part of a French multicenter cohort. Phenotypic traits previously reported or hypothesized to be involved in staphylococcal IE pathogenesis were tested. In parallel, the genotypic profiles of all isolates, obtained by microarray, were analyzed by discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC)(2). No significant difference was observed between IE and bacteremia strains, regarding either phenotypic or genotypic univariate analyses. However, the multivariate statistical tool DAPC, applied on microarray data, segregated IE and bacteremia isolates: IE isolates were correctly reassigned as such in 80.6% of the cases (C-statistic 0.83, P<0.001). The performance of this model was confirmed with an independent French collection IE and bacteremia isolates (78.8% reassignment, C-statistic 0.65, P<0.01). Finally, a simple linear discriminant function based on a subset of 8 genetic markers retained valuable performance both in study collection (86.1%, P<0.001) and in the independent validation collection (81.8%, P<0.01). We here show that community-acquired IE and bacteremia S. aureus isolates are genetically distinct based on subtle combinations of genetic markers. This finding provides the proof of concept that bacterial characteristics may contribute to the occurrence of IE in patients with S. aureus bacteremia

Le complexe gingivo-stomatite lymphoplasmocytaire du chat

Le complexe gingivo-stomatite lymphoplasmocytaire du chat se caractérise cliniquement par une inflammation chronique parfois sévère de la gencive et de la muqueuse alvéolaire ou des plis palatoglosses. Comme son nom le sous-entend, les lésions sont caractérisées par un infiltrat cellulaire dense composé de plasmocytes et de lymphocytes. Les mécanismes étiopathogéniques précis sont encore inconnus. Il s'agit vraisemblablement d'un mode de réaction particulier de l'organisme à une stimulation antigénique chronique d'origine bactérienne ou virale. Les traitements médicaux (antibiotiques et anti-inflammatoires) ne permettent qu'une rémission des symptômes mais pas une guérison. Un traitement chirurgical comprenant de nombreuses extractions dentaires est nécessaire. La récente mise sur le marché vétérinaire européen de l'interféron oméga recombinant semble prometteuse.MAISONS-ALFORT-Ecole Vétérin (940462302) / SudocSudocFranceF

Optical conductivity of high- T c cuprate thin films deposited by multi-target laser ablation

International audienceSuperconducting cuprate thin films were grown upon MgO single crystals by alternating laser pulses in controlled sequences upon an insulating MCuO2 target (M = Ca, Sr) and a YBa2 Cu3 O7-delta (YBCO) target. The infrared conductivity of the series of films obtained by this multi-target laser ablation technique is deduced from the analysis of infrared reflectivity. The method of fitting by a `double-damping' Drude model is emphasized and applied to cuprate thin films in a situation in which current Kramers-Kronig analysis is hardly applicable. The agreement of experiment and model is found to be as good as for other conducting oxides investigated previously, including those without transition-metal elements. The concentration dependence of the infrared conductivity profile is discussed

2009 A(H1N1) seroconversion rates and risk factors among the general population in Vientiane Capital, Laos.

To assess 2009 A(H1N1) seroconversion rates and their determinants within an unvaccinated population in Vientiane Capital, Laos.CoPanFlu Laos, a general population cohort of 807 households and 4,072 participants was established in March 2010. Sociodemographic data, epidemiological data, and capillary blood samples were collected from all the household members in March, and again in October 2010, in order to assess the level of antibodies to 2009 A(H1N1) with the haemagglutination inhibition assay. 2009 A(H1N1) seroconversion was defined as a fourfold or greater increase in titre between inclusion and follow-up. Determinants for pandemic influenza infection were studied using the generalized estimating equations model, taking household clustering into account.Between March and November 2010, 3,524 paired sera were tested. Prior to the pandemic, our cohort was almost completely vaccine-naive for seasonal influenza. The overall seroconversion rate among nonvaccinated individuals (n = 2,810) was 14.3% (95%CI [13.0, 15.6]), with the highest rate for participants under 20 yo (19.8%, 95%CI [17.4, 22.4]) and the lowest rate for participants over 60 yo (6.5%, 95%CI [3.7, 10.4]). Participants with lower baseline titres had significantly higher infection rates, with a dose-effect relationship. Odds ratios (ORs) ranged from 76.5 (95%CI [27.1, 215.8]), for those with a titre at inclusion of 1∶10, to 8.1 (95%CI [3.3, 20.4]), for those with a titre of 1∶40. Having another household member with a titre ≥1∶80 was associated with a higher likelihood of immunity (OR = 3.3, 95%CI [2.8, 3.9]).The determinants and age distribution for seroconversion within a vaccine-naive population were similar to those found in developed countries. This pandemic was characterized by strong epidemiological determinants, regardless of geographical zone and level of development. Moreover, we detected pre-existing cross-reacting antibodies in participants over 60 yo, which could not have originated from former multiple vaccination as has been suggested elsewhere

Determinants of seroconversion between March 2010 and October 2010 in nonvaccinated participants.

<p>Generalized estimating equation multivariate model taking the cluster effect into account. *Size of the household included in the model as a discrete variable.</p