Mycobacterium bovis: A model pathogen at the interface of livestock, wildlife, and humans

Complex and dynamic interactions involving domestic animals, wildlife, and humans create environments favorable to the emergence of new diseases, or reemergence of diseases in new host species. Today, reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of tuberculosis in animals, and sometimes humans, exist in a range of countries and wild animal populations. Free-ranging populations of white-tailed deer in the US, brushtail possum in New Zealand, badger in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and wild boar in Spain exemplify established reservoirs of M. bovis. Establishment of these reservoirs is the result of factors such as spillover from livestock, translocation of wildlife, supplemental feeding of wildlife, and wildlife population densities beyond normal habitat carrying capacities. As many countries attempt to eradicate M. bovis from livestock, efforts are impeded by spillback from wildlife reservoirs. It will not be possible to eradicate this important zoonosis from livestock unless transmission between wildlife and domestic animals is halted. Such an endeavor will require a collaborative effort between agricultural, wildlife, environmental, and political interests.Peer Reviewe

Feasibility Study of Lense-Thirring Precession in LS I +61303

Very recent analysis of the radio spectral index and high energy observations have shown that the two-peak accretion/ejection microquasar model applies for LSI+61303. The fast variations of the position angle observed with MERLIN and confirmed by consecutive VLBA images must therefore be explained in the context of the microquasar scenario. We calculate what could be the precessional period for the accretion disk in LSI+61303 under tidal forces of the Be star (P_{tidal-forces}) or under the effect of frame dragging produced by the rotation of the compact object (P_{Lense-Thirring}). P_{tidal-forces}$is more than one year. P_{Lense-Thirring} depends on the truncated radius of the accretion disk,$R_{tr}$. We determined R_{tr}=300 r_g for observed QPO at 2 Hz. This value is much above the few$r_g$, where the Bardeen-Petterson effect should align the midplane of the disk. For this truncated radius of the accretion disk P_{Lense-Thirring} for a slow rotator results in a few days. Therefore, Lense-Thirring precession induced by a slowly rotating compact object could be compatible with the daily variations of the ejecta angle observed in LSI+61303.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Long-Term Flux Monitoring of LSI +61 303 at 2.25 and 8.3 GHz

LSI +61 303 is an exotic binary system consisting of a ~10 Msun B star and a compact object which is probably a neutron star. The system is associated with the interesting radio source GT0236+610 that exhibits bright radio outbursts with a period of 26.5 days. We report the results of continuous daily radio interferometric observations of GT0236+610 at 2.25 and 8.3 GHz from 1994 January to 1996 February. The observations cover 25 complete (and 3 partial) cycles with multiple observations each day. We detect substantial cycle-to-cycle variability of the radio emission characterized by a rapid onset of the radio flares followed by a more gradual decrease of the emission. We detect a systematic change of the radio spectral index alpha which typically becomes larger than zero at the onset of the radio outbursts. This behavior is suggestive of expansion of material initially optically thick to radio frequencies, indicating either that synchrotron or inverse Compton cooling are important or that the free-free optical depth to the source is rapidly changing. After two years of observations, we see only weak evidence for the proposed 4-year periodic modulation in the peak flux of the outbursts. We observe a secular trend in the outburst phases according the the best published ephemeris. This trend indicates either orbital period evolution, or a drift in outburst orbital phase in response to some other change in the system.Comment: 23 pages, LaTex, 7 figures, to appear in ApJ, v491, Dec 10th issue, for associated info and preprints see http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/paulr/lsi.htm

Produksi Jamur Tiram Putih (Pleurotus Ostreatus) Pada Media Tambahan Molase Dengan Dosis Yang Berbeda

Jamur tiram putih disebut juga dengan jamur kayu karena jamur tersebut tumbuh pada media kayu lapuk. Jamur tiram putih banyak digemari masyarakat karena selain memiliki cita rasa yang enak juga memiliki banyak manfaat bagi tubuh. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui adanya pengaruh molase dengan dosis berbeda pada produktivitas jamur tiram putih. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap satu faktorial yaitu pemberian molase dengan empat taraf konsentrasi 0 %, 7,5 %, 14,5 % dan 22 % / baglog dan dilakukan tiga ulangan. Untuk pengujian hipotesis dengan anova satu jalan (One Way Anova), hasil pengujian hipotesis pada pemenuhan miseliumdiperoleh nilai probabilitas 0,001 < 0.05 H0 ditolak artinya antara ke empat perlakuan tidak sama atau berbeda nyata maka dilakukan Pos Hok Test uji lanjut Anova dengan uji LSD. Berat buah jamur tiram putih panen I diperoleh nilai probabilitas 0,021 < 0.05 H0 ditolak artinya antara ke empat perlakuan tidak sama atau berbeda nyata nyata maka dilakukan Pos Hok Test uji lanjut Anova dengan uji LSD, sedangkan pada parameter yang lain diperoleh kesimpulan H0 diterima artinya tidak terdapat perbedaan antara ke empat perlakuan. Hasil penelitian pada pengamatan pemenuhan miseliumdiperoleh perlakuan yang memberikan pengaruh paling baik yaitu M1 (7,5 % molase/ baglog) dengan rata-rata pemenuhan miselium16,3 hari dan perlakuan yang memberikan pengaruh kurang baik yaitu M0 atau kontrol dengan rata-rata 27,7 hari. Pada jumlah total tubuh buah jamur diperoleh perlakuan yang memberikan pengaruh paling baik yaitu M3 (22 % molase/ baglog) dengan rata-rata 11,5 buah dan perlakuan yang memberikan pengaruh kurang baik yaitu M0 (kontrol) dengan rata-rata 9 buah. Pada berat buah jamur tiram putih perlakuan yang memberikan pengaruh paling baik yaitu M3 (22 % molase/ baglog) dengan rata-rata 78,2 g dan perlakuan yang memberikan pengaruh kurang baik yaitu M0 dengan rata-rata 48,85 g. Dari hasil tersebut diperoleh kesimpulan M1 dosis molase paling rendah (7,5%) berpengaruh pada pemenuhan miselium dan M3 dosis molase paling tinggi (22 %) berpengaruh pada jumlah tubuh buah dan berat buah jamur

Deep Chandra observations of TeV binaries I: LSI +61 303

We report on a 95ks Chandra observation of the TeV emitting High Mass X-ray Binary LSI +61 303, using the ACIS-S camera in Continuos Clocking mode to search for a possible X-ray pulsar in this system. The observation was performed while the compact object was passing from phase 0.94 to 0.98 in its orbit around the Be companion star (hence close to the apastron passage). We did not find any periodic or quasi-periodic signal (at this orbital phase) in a frequency range of 0.005-175 Hz. We derived an average pulsed fraction 3 sigma upper limit for the presence of a periodic signal of ~10% (although this limit is strongly dependent on the frequency and the energy band), the deepest limit ever reached for this object. Furthermore, the source appears highly variable in flux and spectrum even in this very small orbital phase range, in particular we detect two flares, lasting thousands of seconds, with a very hard X-ray spectrum with respect to the average source spectral distribution. The X-ray pulsed fraction limits we derived are lower than the pulsed fraction of any isolated rotational-powered pulsar, in particular having a TeV counterpart. In this scenario most of the X-ray emission of LSI +61 303 should necessarily come from the interwind or inner-pulsar wind zone shock rather than from the magnetosphere of the putative pulsar. Furthermore, we did not find evidence for the previously suggested extended X-ray emission (abridged).Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, MNRAS in pres

Bovine Tuberculosis and the Establishment of an Eradication Program in the United States: Role of Veterinarians

The significance of the identification of Mycobacterium bovis as a zoonotic pathogen in 1882 was not initially recognized. After years of research by veterinarians, and other scientists, the importance of M. bovis as a pathogen and the public health ramifications, were appreciated. Veterinarians played pivotal roles in the creation of improved meat and milk inspection, diagnosis of M. bovis infected cattle, and in time, a bovine tuberculosis eradication program that would impact every cattle producer in the country. After overcoming many challenges, the 93-year-long program has decreased disease prevalence from 5% to <0.001%. Today, years of hard work by practitioners, researchers and regulatory officials alike, have yielded a program with a net benefit of almost $160 million per year

Gemini/GMOS Imaging of Globular Cluster Systems in Five Early-type Galaxies

This paper presents deep high quality photometry of globular cluster (GC) systems belonging to five early-type galaxies covering a range of mass and environment. Photometric data were obtained with the Gemini North and Gemini South telescopes in the filter passbands g', r', and i'. The combination of these filters with good seeing conditions allows an excellent separation between GC candidates and unresolved field objects. Bimodal GC colour distributions are found in all five galaxies. Most of the GC systems appear bimodal even in the (g' -r') vs (r' -i') plane. A population of resolved/marginally resolved GC and Ultra Compact Dwarf candidates was found in all the galaxies. A search for the so-called "blue tilt" in the colour-magnitude diagrams reveals that NGC 4649 clearly shows that phenomenon although no conclusive evidence was found for the other galaxies in the sample. This "blue tilt" translates into a mass-metallicity relation given by Z \propto M^0.28\pm0.03 . This dependence was found using a new empirical (g' -i') vs [Z/H] relation which relies on an homogeneous sample of GC colours and metallicities. This paper also explores the radial trends in both colour and surface density for the blue (metal-poor) and red (metal-rich) GC subpopulations. As usual, the red GCs show a steeper radial distribution than the blue ones. Evidence of galactocentric colour gradients is found in some of the GC systems, being more significant for the two S0 galaxies in the sample. Red GC subpopulations show similar colours and gradients to the galaxy halo stars in their inner region. A GC mean colour-galaxy luminosity relation, consistent with [Z/H] \propto L_B ^0.26\pm0.08, is present for the red GCs. An estimate of the total GC populations and specific frequency SN values is presented for NGC 3115, NGC 3379, NGC 3923 and NGC 4649.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures and 9 tables. Tables A1 and A2 will be published in full online only. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Breakpoint mapping and haplotype analysis of translocation t(1;12)(q43;q21.1) in two apparently independent families with vascular phenotypes

Background The risk of serious congenital anomaly for de novo balanced translocations is estimated to be at least 6%. We identified two apparently independent families with a balanced t(1;12)(q43;q21.1) as an outcome of a ''Systematic Survey of Balanced Chromosomal Rearrangements in Finns. ''In the first family, carriers (n=6) manifest with learning problems in childhood, and later with unexplained neurological symptoms (chronic headache, balance problems, tremor, fatigue) and cerebral infarctions in their 50s. In the second family, two carriers suffer from tetralogy of Fallot, one from transient ischemic attack and one from migraine. The translocation cosegregates with these vascular phenotypes and neurological symptoms. Methods and Results We narrowed down the breakpoint regions using mate pair sequencing. We observed conserved haplotypes around the breakpoints, pointing out that this translocation has arisen only once. The chromosome 1 breakpoint truncates a CHRM3 processed transcript, and is flanked by the 5 end of CHRM3 and the 3 end of RYR2. TRHDE, KCNC2, and ATXN7L3B flank the chromosome 12 breakpoint. Conclusions This study demonstrates a balanced t(1;12)(q43;q21.1) with conserved haplotypes on the derived chromosomes. The translocation seems to result in vascular phenotype, with or without neurological symptoms, in at least two families. We suggest that the translocation influences the positional expression of CHRM3, RYR2,TRHDE, KCNC2, and/or ATXN7L3B.Peer reviewe

Entangled-State Cycles of Atomic Collective-Spin States

We study quantum trajectories of collective atomic spin states of $N$ effective two-level atoms driven with laser and cavity fields. We show that interesting ``entangled-state cycles'' arise probabilistically when the (Raman) transition rates between the two atomic levels are set equal. For odd (even) $N$, there are $(N+1)/2$ ($N/2$) possible cycles. During each cycle the $N$-qubit state switches, with each cavity photon emission, between the states $(|N/2,m>\pm |N/2,-m>)/\sqrt{2}$, where $|N/2,m>$ is a Dicke state in a rotated collective basis. The quantum number $m$ ($>0$), which distinguishes the particular cycle, is determined by the photon counting record and varies randomly from one trajectory to the next. For even $N$ it is also possible, under the same conditions, to prepare probabilistically (but in steady state) the Dicke state $|N/2,0>$, i.e., an $N$-qubit state with $N/2$ excitations, which is of particular interest in the context of multipartite entanglement.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure