Zoonoses under our noses.

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.One Health is an effective approach for the management of zoonotic disease in humans, animals and environments. Examples of the management of bacterial zoonoses in Europe and across the globe demonstrate that One Health approaches of international surveillance, information-sharing and appropriate intervention methods are required to successfully prevent and control disease outbreaks in both endemic and non-endemic regions. Additionally, a One Health approach enables effective preparation and response to bioterrorism threats.A.R.C. is supported by a BBSRC iCASE Studentship in partnership with the University of Exeter and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Grand no.BB/M016404/1). S.R. is supported by the BBSRC grant number BB/N001591/1

The Mechanical Behavior of a 25Cr Super Duplex Stainless Steel at Elevated Temperature

Peer reviewedPostprin

Targeting of MuLV Gag to the plasma membrane is mediated by PI(4,5)P2 and PhosphatidylSerine

Oral presentationInternational audienceMembrane targeting by the modern human immunodeficiency viruses is dependent on the plasma membrane-located phospholipid PI(4,5)P2. In order to determine if evolutionarily distant retroviruses are targeted by a similar mechanism, we generated mutant Gag constructs in the matrix (MA) domain of the Murine Leukemia Virus (MuLV) and examined their binding to membrane models and phenotypes in cell culture. Mutations in the MA polybasic region altered Gag localization, membrane binding and virion production. In addition, we show that MA binds with good affinity to all the phosphatidylinositol phosphates but displays a strong specificity for PI(4,5)P2 only if enhanced by phophatidylserine. Virus production was strongly impaired by PI(4,5)P2 depletion under 5ptaseIV overexpression. Our results suggest that the N-terminal polybasic region of MA is essential for Gag targeting to the plasma membrane and Gag cellular trafficking. The binding of the MA domain to PI(4,5)P2 appears to be a conserved feature among retroviruses, despite the fact that the MuLV-MA domain is structurally different from that of HIV-1 and -2 and lacks a readily identifiable PI(4,5)P2 binding cleft

Incidence and costs of injuries to children and adults in the United States

Background: Injuries are a leading cause of death and acquired disability, and result in significant medical spending. Prior estimates of injury-related cost have been limited by older data, for certain population, or specific mechanisms. Findings: This study estimated the incidence of hospital-treated nonfatal injuries in the United States (US) in 2013 and the related comprehensive costs. Injury-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations were identified using 2013 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data. Models estimated the costs of medical spending and lost future work due to injuries in 2013 U.S. dollars. A total of 31,038,072 nonfatal injury-related hospitalizations and ED visits were identified, representing 9.8 per 100 people. Hospital-treated nonfatal injuries cost an estimated $1.853 trillion, including$168 billion in medical spending, $223 billion in work losses, and$1.461 trillion in quality of life losses. Conclusions: Approximately one in 10 individuals in the US is treated in the hospital for injury each year, with high corresponding costs. These data support priority-setting to reduce the injury burden in the US

The Minimal Solution to the mu/B_mu Problem in Gauge Mediation

We provide a minimal solution to the mu/B_mu problem in the gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking by introducing a Standard Model singlet filed S with a mass around the messenger scale which couples to the Higgs and messenger fields. This singlet is nearly supersymmetric and acquires a relatively small Vacuum Expectation Value (VEV) from its radiatively generated tadpole term. Consequently, both mu and B_mu parameters receive the tree-level and one-loop contributions, which are comparable due to the small S VEV. Because there exists a proper cancellation in such two kinds of contributions to B_mu, we can have a viable Higgs sector for electroweak symmetry breaking.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, version published on JHE

Using Mitochondrial and Nuclear Sequence Data for Disentangling Population Structure in Complex Pest Species: A Case Study with Dermanyssus gallinae

Among global changes induced by human activities, association of breakdown of geographical barriers and impoverishered biodiversity of agroecosystems may have a strong evolutionary impact on pest species. As a consequence of trade networks' expansion, secondary contacts between incipient species, if hybrid incompatibility is not yet reached, may result in hybrid swarms, even more when empty niches are available as usual in crop fields and farms. By providing important sources of genetic novelty for organisms to adapt in changing environments, hybridization may be strongly involved in the emergence of invasive populations

A Complete Model of Low-Scale Gauge Mediation

Recent signs of a Standard Model-like Higgs at 125 GeV point towards large A-terms in the MSSM. This presents special challenges for gauge mediation, which by itself predicts vanishing A-terms at the messenger scale. In this paper, we review the general problems that arise when extending gauge mediation to achieve large A-terms, and the mechanisms that exist to overcome them. Using these mechanisms, we construct weakly-coupled models of low-scale gauge mediation with extended Higgs-messenger couplings that generate large A-terms at the messenger scale and viable mu/B_mu-terms. Our models are simple, economical, and complete realizations of supersymmetry at the weak scale.Comment: 33 pages; v2: refs added, minor change

Effect of the topical administration of corticosteroids and tuberculin pre-sensitisation on the diagnosis of tuberculosis in goats

Background: Caprine tuberculosis (TB) is a zoonosis caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Caprine TB control and eradication programmes have traditionally been based on intradermal tuberculin tests and slaughterhouse surveillance. However, this strategy has limitations in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Different factors may affect the performance of the TB diagnostic tests used in goats and, subsequently, the detection of TB-infected animals. In the present study, the effect of two of the factors that may affect the performance of the techniques used to diagnose TB in goats, the topical administration of corticosteroids and a recent pre-sensitisation with tuberculin, was analysed. Methods: The animals (n = 151) were distributed into three groups: (1) a group topically treated with corticosteroids 48 h after intradermal tuberculin tests (n = 53); (2) a group pre-sensitised with bovine and avian purified protein derivatives (PPDs) 3 days before the intradermal tuberculin test used for TB diagnosis (n = 48); and (3) a control group (n = 50). All the animals were tested using single and comparative intradermal tuberculin (SIT and CIT, respectively) tests, an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) and a P22 ELISA. Results: The number of SIT test reactors was significantly lower in the group treated with corticosteroids when compared to the pre-sensitised (p 0.05). No significant effect was observed on IGRA and P22 ELISA due to corticosteroids administration. Nevertheless, a previous PPD injection affected the IGRA performance in some groups. Conclusions: The application of topical corticosteroid 24 h before reading the SIT and CIT tests can reduce the increase in skin fold thickness and subsequently significantly decrease the number of positive reactors. Corticosteroids used can be detected in hair samples. A previous pre-sensitisation with bovine and avian PPDs does not lead to a significant reduction in the number of intradermal tests reactors. These results are valuable in order to improve diagnosis of caprine TB and detect fraudulent activities in the context of eradication programs.This study was funded by the “Analysis of the long-term caprine tuberculosis eradication process and development of diagnostic tests and control measures for its improvement (GoaTBfree-UCM)” Project (PID2019-105155RB-C31, Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain. JO was supported by an FPU contract-fellowship (Formación de Profesorado Universitario) from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (FPU18/05197).S