ANTIMICROBIAL EFFECT OF VANCOMYCIN ELECTRO-TRANSFERRED WATER AGAINST METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS VARIANT

Background: There is a number of alternative and complementary therapeutics that are unproven or have not been properly tested. For past twenty years, the transfer of bio-energetic information has been recognized as a novel scientific approach capable of contributing to improved therapy in the management of several diseases through the so-called bio-resonance therapy (BRT). Although BRT was discovered in the late 1980s, it is still poorly studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of water samples transferred with electronic information of vancomycin, a well known drug against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), by using a BRT device on bacterial cultures. Material and Methods: MRSA cultures were treated with vancomycin electro-transferred water samples, vancomycin (4.0 and 8.0 µg/mL), sham electro-transferred (water to water) and non-transferred water samples (medium alone). Growth inhibition was evaluated in liquid and solid culture medium, spectrophotometrically and by CFU determination respectively. Results: The obtained data showed that by transferring vancomycin (4.0 and 8.0 µg/mL) information to water samples, the growth of cultured MRSA was significantly (p< 0.05) inhibited (up to 35%), compared with those cultures treated with electro-transferred water to water or cultured in medium alone (0% growth inhibition). Conclusion: This in vitro study suggests that water samples that are electronically transferred with vibration sustained information of vancomycin are capable of inhibiting growth of axenically cultured methicillin resistant S. aureus

Comparison of the vascular exotic flora in continental islands: Sardinia (Italy) and Balearic Islands (Spain)

[EN] This paper provides a comparison of the vascular exotic flora of Sardinia and that of the Balearic Islands, both territories belonging to the Western Mediterranean biogeographic subregion. The study has recorded 531 exotic taxa in Sardinia (18.8% of the total flora) while 360(19%) in the Balearic Islands; 10 are new to Sardinia (3 of which for Italy) and 29 to the Balearic Islands. The alien flora of Sardinia is included in 99 families; Fabaceae is the richest (49 taxa), followed by Poaceae (33) and Asteraceae (31) while in the Balearic Islands in 90 families, with a predominance of Fabaceae (32), Asteraceae (31) and Poaceae (27). The comparison of the biological spectra reveals that in Sardinia phanerophytes are the most represented in Sardinia and therophytes in the Balearic Islands. A detailed analysis shows that most of the exotic taxa (246) are shared by both territories with a clear dominance of neophytes rather than archaeophytes. A study of the geographical origin shows supremacy of the American element over the Mediterranean. The majority of introduced exotic taxa are a result of intentional human introductions (76% SA, 77% BL), mainly for ornamental use (43% SA, 45% BL). The most occupied habitats are the semi-natural, agricultural and synanthropic for both territories, but attending to invasive plants, coastal habitats in Sardinia and wetlands in the Balearic Islands are the most sensitive. A part of the work deals with the causes of fragility and low resilience of the different habitats.[ES] Se presenta un estudio comparativo de la flora vascular exótica de Cerdeña y de las Baleares, dos sistemas insulares pertenecientes a la subregión biogeográfica Mediterránea Occidental. En Cerdeña se han contabilizado 531 táxones exóticos (18,8% del total de su flora), mientras que en las Baleares 360 (19%), siendo 10 citas nuevas para Cerdeña (3 de las cuales para Italia) y 29 para Baleares. La flora exótica de Cerdeña está incluida en 99 familias, y Fabaceae es la más rica (49 táxones), seguida por Poaceae (33) y Asteraceae (31), frente a 90 familias para las Baleares, con predominio de Fabaceae (32), Asteraceae (31) y Poaceae (27). Se han encontrado diferencias respecto a los tipos biológicos, con un predominio de los fanerófitos en Cerdeña y de los terófitos en las Baleares. Un análisis detallado muestra que buena parte de estos táxones (246) son compartidos por ambos territorios, así como una dominancia de los neófitos frente a los arqueófitos. Respecto al origen geográfico, ambos territorios presentan una preeminencia del elemento americano sobre el mediterráneo. En referencia a las vías de introducción, la mayor parte de los táxones ha sido introducida por parte del hombre de forma intencionada (76% SA, 77% BL) en particular para uso ornamental (43% SA, 45% BL). Los hábitats más afectados son los seminaturales, agrícolas y sinantrópicos en ambos territorios, aunque atendiendo a la flora invasora, son los litorales los más sensibles en Cerdeña y los humedales en Baleares. Una parte del trabajo aborda las causas de la fragilidad y baja resiliencia de los diferentes hábitats.Podda, L.; Fraga Arguimbau, P.; Mayoral García-Berlanga, O.; Mascia, F.; Bacchetta, G. (2010). Comparación de la flora exótica vascular en sistemas de islas continentales: Cerdeña (Italia) y Baleares (España). Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid. 67(2):157-176. doi:10.3989/ajbm.2251S157176672Mack, R. N., Simberloff, D., Mark Lonsdale, W., Evans, H., Clout, M., & Bazzaz, F. A. (2000). BIOTIC INVASIONS: CAUSES, EPIDEMIOLOGY, GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES, AND CONTROL. Ecological Applications, 10(3), 689-710. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0689:bicegc]2.0.co;2Madon*, O., & Médail, F. (1997). Plant Ecology, 129(2), 189-199. doi:10.1023/a:1009759730000Mansion, G., Rosenbaum, G., Schoenenberger, N., Bacchetta, G., Rosselló, J. A., & Conti, E. (2008). Phylogenetic Analysis Informed by Geological History Supports Multiple, Sequential Invasions of the Mediterranean Basin by the Angiosperm Family Araceae. Systematic Biology, 57(2), 269-285. doi:10.1080/10635150802044029MILBAU, A., & STOUT, J. C. (2008). Factors Associated with Alien Plants Transitioning from Casual, to Naturalized, to Invasive. Conservation Biology, 22(2), 308-317. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00877.xO’Dowd, D. J., Green, P. T., & Lake, P. S. (2003). Invasional «meltdown» on an oceanic island. Ecology Letters, 6(9), 812-817. doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00512.xOlesen, J. M., Eskildsen, L. I., & Venkatasamy, S. (2002). Invasion of pollination networks on oceanic islands: importance of invader complexes and endemic super generalists. Diversity Distributions, 8(3), 181-192. doi:10.1046/j.1472-4642.2002.00148.xPauchard, A., Cavieres, L. A., & Bustamante, R. O. (2004). Comparing alien plant invasions among regions with similar climates: where to from here? Diversity and Distributions, 10(5-6), 371-375. doi:10.1111/j.1366-9516.2004.00116.xPyšek, P., Richardson, D. M., Rejmánek, M., Webster, G. L., Williamson, M., & Kirschner, J. (2004). Alien plants in checklists and floras: towards better communication between taxonomists and ecologists. TAXON, 53(1), 131-143. doi:10.2307/4135498Randall, J. M., Morse, L. E., Benton, N., Hiebert, R., Lu, S., & Killeffer, T. (2008). The Invasive Species Assessment Protocol: A Tool for Creating Regional and National Lists of Invasive Nonnative Plants that Negatively Impact Biodiversity. Invasive Plant Science and Management, 1(1), 36-49. doi:10.1614/ipsm-07-020.1REASER, J. K., MEYERSON, L. A., CRONK, Q., DE POORTER, M., ELDREGE, L. G., GREEN, E., … VAIUTU, L. (2007). Ecological and socioeconomic impacts of invasive alien species in island ecosystems. Environmental Conservation, 34(2), 98-111. doi:10.1017/s0376892907003815REICHARD, S. H., & WHITE, P. (2001). Horticulture as a Pathway of Invasive Plant Introductions in the United States. BioScience, 51(2), 103. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0103:haapoi]2.0.co;2Richardson, D. M., & Pyšek, P. (2006). Plant invasions: merging the concepts of species invasiveness and community invasibility. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 30(3), 409-431. doi:10.1191/0309133306pp490prRichardson, D. M., Pysek, P., Rejmanek, M., Barbour, M. G., Panetta, F. D., & West, C. J. (2000). Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity Distributions, 6(2), 93-107. doi:10.1046/j.1472-4642.2000.00083.xRosenbaum, G., Lister, G. S., & Duboz, C. (2002). Reconstruction of the tectonic evolution of the western Mediterranean since the Oligocene. Journal of the Virtual Explorer, 08. doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2002.00053Sanz-Elorza, M., Mateo, R. G., & Bernardo, F. G. (2008). The historical role of agriculture and gardening in the introduction of alien plants in the western Mediterranean. Plant Ecology, 202(2), 247-256. doi:10.1007/s11258-008-9474-2Schippers, P., van Groenendael, J. M., Vleeshouwers, L. M., & Hunt, R. (2001). Herbaceous plant strategies in disturbed habitats. Oikos, 95(2), 198-210. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.950202.xSchnitzler, A., Hale, B. W., & Alsum, E. M. (2007). Examining native and exotic species diversity in European riparian forests. Biological Conservation, 138(1-2), 146-156. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.04.010Speranza, F., Villa, I. M., Sagnotti, L., Florindo, F., Cosentino, D., Cipollari, P., & Mattei, M. (2002). Age of the Corsica–Sardinia rotation and Liguro–Provençal Basin spreading: new paleomagnetic and Ar/Ar evidence. Tectonophysics, 347(4), 231-251. doi:10.1016/s0040-1951(02)00031-8Suehs, C. M., Affre, L., & Médail, F. (2003). Invasion dynamics of two alien Carpobrotus (Aizoaceae) taxa on a Mediterranean island: I. Genetic diversity and introgression. Heredity, 92(1), 31-40. doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800374Towns, D. R., & Ballantine, W. J. (1993). Conservation and restoration of New Zealand Island ecosystems. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 8(12), 452-457. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(93)90009-eVila, M., Tessier, M., Suehs, C. M., Brundu, G., Carta, L., Galanidis, A., … Hulme, P. E. (2006). Local and regional assessments of the impacts of plant invaders on vegetation structure and soil properties of Mediterranean islands. Journal of Biogeography, 33(5), 853-861. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01430.xVITOUSEK, P. M., WALKER, L. R., WHITEAKER, L. D., MUELLER-DOMBOIS, D., & MATSON, P. A. (1987). Biological Invasion by Myrica faya Alters Ecosystem Development in Hawaii. Science, 238(4828), 802-804. doi:10.1126/science.238.4828.802Wittenberg, R., & Cock, M. J. W. (Eds.). (2001). Invasive alien species: a toolkit of best prevention and management practices. doi:10.1079/9780851995694.000

A reference time scale for Site U1385 (Shackleton Site) on the SW Iberian Margin

Variations in sediment color contain very strong precession signals at Site U1385, and the amplitude modulation of these cycles provides a powerful tool for developing an orbitally-tuned age model. We tuned the U1385 record by correlating peaks in L* to the local summer insolation maxima at 37°N. The benthic δ18O record of Site U1385, when placed on the tuned age model, generally agrees with other time scales within their respective chronologic uncertainties. The age model is transferred to down-core data to produce a continuous time series of log(Ca/Ti) that reflect relative changes of biogenic carbonate and detrital sediment. Biogenic carbonate increases during interglacial and interstadial climate states and decreases during glacial and stadial periods. Much of the variance in the log(Ca/Ti) is explained by a linear combination of orbital frequencies (precession, tilt and eccentricity), whereas the residual signal reflects suborbital climate variability. The strong correlation between suborbital log(Ca/Ti) variability and Greenland temperature over the last glacial cycle at Site U1385 suggests that this signal can be used as a proxy for millennial-scale climate variability over the past 1.5 Ma. Millennial climate variability, as expressed by log(Ca/Ti) at Site U1385, was a persistent feature of glacial climates over the past 1.5 Ma, including glacial periods of the early Pleistocene (‘41-kyr world’) when boundary conditions differed significantly from those of the late Pleistocene (‘100-kyr world’). Suborbital variability was suppressed during interglacial stages and enhanced during glacial periods, especially when benthic δ18O surpassed ~ 3.3–3.5‰. Each glacial inception was marked by appearance of strong millennial variability and each deglaciation was preceded by a terminal stadial event. Suborbital variability may be a symptomatic feature of glacial climate or, alternatively, may play a more active role in the inception and/or termination of glacial cycles

K0S and Λ production in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−−√=2.76 TeV

The ALICE measurement of K0S and Λ production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=2.76  TeV is presented. The transverse momentum (pT) spectra are shown for several collision centrality intervals and in the pT range from 0.4  GeV/c (0.6  GeV/c for Λ) to 12  GeV/c. The pT dependence of the Λ/K0S ratios exhibits maxima in the vicinity of 3  GeV/c, and the positions of the maxima shift towards higher pT with increasing collision centrality. The magnitude of these maxima increases by almost a factor of three between most peripheral and most central Pb-Pb collisions. This baryon excess at intermediate pT is not observed in pp interactions at s√=0.9  TeV and at s√=7  TeV. Qualitatively, the baryon enhancement in heavy-ion collisions is expected from radial flow. However, the measured pT spectra above 2  GeV/c progressively decouple from hydrodynamical-model calculations. For higher values of pT, models that incorporate the influence of the medium on the fragmentation and hadronization processes describe qualitatively the pT dependence of the Λ/K0S ratio

Amino acid substitutions within HLA-B*27- restricted T cell epitopes prevent recognition by hepatitis delta virus-specific CD8+ T cells

Virus-specific CD8 T cell response seems to play a significant role in the outcome of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection. However, the HDV-specific T cell epitope repertoire and mechanisms of CD8 T cell failure in HDV infection have been poorly characterized. We therefore aimed to characterize HDV-specific CD8 T cell epitopes and the impacts of viral mutations on immune escape. In this study, we predicted peptide epitopes binding the most frequent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types and assessed their HLA binding capacities. These epitopes were characterized in HDV-infected patients by intracellular gamma interferon (IFN-γ) staining. Sequence analysis of large hepatitis delta antigen (L-HDAg) and HLA typing were performed in 104 patients. The impacts of substitutions within epitopes on the CD8 T cell response were evaluated experimentally and by in silico studies. We identified two HLA-B*27-restricted CD8 T cell epitopes within L-HDAg. These novel epitopes are located in a relatively conserved region of L-HDAg. However, we detected molecular footprints within the epitopes in HLA-B*27-positive patients with chronic HDV infections. The variant peptides were not cross-recognized in HLA-B*27-positive patients with resolved HDV infections, indicating that the substitutions represent viral escape mutations. Molecular modeling of HLA-B*27 complexes with the L-HDAg epitope and its potential viral escape mutations indicated that the structural and electrostatic properties of the bound peptides differ considerably at the T cell receptor interface, which provides a possible molecular explanation for the escape mechanism. This viral escape from the HLA-B*27-restricted CD8 T cell response correlates with a chronic outcome of hepatitis D infection. T cell failure resulting from immune escape may contribute to the high chronicity rate in HDV infection. © 2018 American Society for Microbiology

phi-Meson production at forward rapidity in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV and in pp collisions at root s=2.76 TeV

The first study of phi-meson production in p-Pb collisions at forward and backward rapidity, at a nucleonnucleon centre-of-mass energy root s(NN)= 5.02 TeV, has been performed with the ALICE apparatus at the LHC. The phi-mesons have been identified in the dimuon decay channel in the transverse momentum (p(T)) range 1 <p(T) <7GeV/c, both in the p-going (2.03 <y <3.53) and the Pb-going (-4.46 <y <-2.96) directions - where ystands for the rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass - the integrated luminosity amounting to 5.01 +/- 0.19nb(-1) and 5.81 +/- 0.20nb(-1), respectively, for the two data samples. Differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity are presented. The forward-backward ratio for f-meson production is measured for 2.96Peer reviewe

Measurement of transverse energy at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

We report the transverse energy (ET) measured with ALICE at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV as a function of centrality. The transverse energy was measured using identified single-particle tracks. The measurement was cross checked using the electromagnetic calorimeters and the transverse momentum distributions of identified particles previously reported by ALICE. The results are compared to theoretical models as well as to results from other experiments. The mean ET per unit pseudorapidity (eta), , in 0%-5% central collisions is 1737 +/- 6(stat.) +/- 97(sys.) GeV. We find a similar centrality dependence of the shape of as a function of the number of participating nucleons to that seen at lower energies. The growth in at the LHC energies exceeds extrapolations of low-energy data. We observe a nearly linear scaling of with the number of quark participants. With the canonical assumption of a 1 fm/c formation time, we estimate that the energy density in 0%-5% central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV is 12.3 +/- 1.0 GeV/fm(3) and that the energy density at the most central 80 fm(2) of the collision is at least 21.5 +/- 1.7 GeV/fm(3). This is roughly 2.3 times that observed in 0%-5% central Au-Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV.Peer reviewe

Measurement of D-s(+) product ion and nuclear modification factor in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV

Peer reviewe