Bleaching of sol-gel glass film with embedded gold nanoparticles by thermal poling

Gold clusters embedded in glass are expected to be hard to dissolve in the form of ions since gold is essentially a nonreactive metal. In spite of that, bleaching of Au-doped nanocomposite sol-gel glass film on a soda-lime glass substrate is demonstrated in which electric-field thermal poling is employed to effectively dissolve randomly distributed gold nanoparticles (15 nm in diameter) embedded in a low conductivity sol-gel glass film with a volume filling factor as small as 2.3%. The surface plasmon absorption band at 520 nm is suppressed in the region covered by the anodic electrode. The phenomenon is explained by the ionization of the gold nanoparticles and the redistribution of gold ions in the glass matrix due to the action of the extremely high electrostatic field locally developed during poling

Genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the Philippines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the Philippines, malaria morbidity and mortality have decreased since the 1990s by effective malaria control. Several epidemiological surveys have been performed in the country, but the characteristics of the <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>populations are not yet fully understood. In this study, the genetic structure of <it>P. falciparum </it>populations in the Philippines was examined.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Population genetic analyses based on polymorphisms of 10 microsatellite loci of the parasite were conducted on 92 isolates from three provinces (Kalinga, Palawan, and Davao del Norte) with different malaria endemicity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The levels of genetic diversity and the effective population sizes of <it>P. falciparum </it>in the Philippines were similar to those reported in the mainland of Southeast Asia or South America. In the low malaria transmission area (Kalinga), there was a low level of genetic diversity and a strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) when the single-clone haplotype (SCH) was used in the multilocus LD analysis, while in the high malaria transmission areas (Palawan and Davao del Norte), there was a high level of genetic diversity and a weak LD when SCH was used in the multilocus LD analysis. On the other hand, when the unique haplotypes were used in the multilocus LD analysis, no significant LD was observed in the Kalinga and the Palawan populations. The Kalinga and the Palawan populations were, therefore, estimated to have an epidemic population structure. The three populations were moderately differentiated from each other.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In each area, the level of genetic diversity correlates with the local malaria endemicity. These findings confirm that population genetic analyses using microsatellite loci are a useful tool for evaluating malaria endemicity.</p

Field Evaluation of Recombinant Antigen ELISA in Detecting Zoonotic Schistosome Infection Among Water Buffaloes in Endemic Municipalities in the Philippines

In this study, we investigated the use of recombinant antigens thioredoxin peroxidase-1 (rSjTPx-1) and tandem repeat rSj1TR in evaluating the antibody positivity rates of Schistosoma japonicum infection among water buffaloes from four endemic areas in the Philippines, two municipalities with high endemicity (Calatrava, Negros Occidental and Catarman, Northern Samar) and two municipalities nearing elimination with no cases of human schistosomiasis (Talibon and Trinidad, Bohol). These recombinant antigen ELISA assays were compared with other diagnostic tests including SEA-ELISA, FECT, and fecal-based PCR. Results showed that rSj1TR-ELISA has the highest agreement with PCR in all study areas. Furthermore, significant positivity rates among water buffaloes were seen in Talibon and Trinidad, indicating that water buffaloes are maintaining the schistosome parasites in transmission areas even in the absence of human infection. Hence, serological assay using a more sensitive and specific rSj1TR-ELISA can be used for animal surveillance to prevent emergence and re-emergence of human schistosomiasis

The maximum of the local time of a diffusion process in a drifted Brownian potential

We consider a one-dimensional diffusion process $X$ in a $(-\kappa/2)$-drifted Brownian potential for $\kappa\neq 0$. We are interested in the maximum of its local time, and study its almost sure asymptotic behaviour, which is proved to be different from the behaviour of the maximum local time of the transient random walk in random environment. We also obtain the convergence in law of the maximum local time of $X$ under the annealed law after suitable renormalization when $\kappa \geq 1$. Moreover, we characterize all the upper and lower classes for the hitting times of $X$, in the sense of Paul L\'evy, and provide laws of the iterated logarithm for the diffusion $X$ itself. To this aim, we use annealed technics.Comment: 38 pages, new version, merged with hal-00013040 (arXiv:math/0511053), with some additional result

Identification of Proteins Targeted by the Thioredoxin Superfamily in Plasmodium falciparum

The malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum possesses a functional thioredoxin and glutathione system comprising the dithiol-containing redox proteins thioredoxin (Trx) and glutaredoxin (Grx), as well as plasmoredoxin (Plrx), which is exclusively found in Plasmodium species. All three proteins belong to the thioredoxin superfamily and share a conserved Cys-X-X-Cys motif at the active site. Only a few of their target proteins, which are likely to be involved in redox reactions, are currently known. The aim of the present study was to extend our knowledge of the Trx-, Grx-, and Plrx-interactome in Plasmodium. Based on the reaction mechanism, we generated active site mutants of Trx and Grx lacking the resolving cysteine residue. These mutants were bound to affinity columns to trap target proteins from P. falciparum cell extracts after formation of intermolecular disulfide bonds. Covalently linked proteins were eluted with dithiothreitol and analyzed by mass spectrometry. For Trx and Grx, we were able to isolate 17 putatively redox-regulated proteins each. Furthermore, the approach was successfully established for Plrx, leading to the identification of 21 potential target proteins. In addition to confirming known interaction partners, we captured potential target proteins involved in various processes including protein biosynthesis, energy metabolism, and signal transduction. The identification of three enzymes involved in S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) metabolism furthermore suggests that redox control is required to balance the metabolic fluxes of SAM between methyl-group transfer reactions and polyamine synthesis. To substantiate our data, the binding of the redoxins to S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase and ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) were verified using BIAcore surface plasmon resonance. In enzymatic assays, Trx was furthermore shown to enhance the activity of OAT. Our approach led to the discovery of several putatively redox-regulated proteins, thereby contributing to our understanding of the redox interactome in malarial parasites

Emergence of new types of Theileria orientalis in Australian cattle and possible cause of theileriosis outbreaks

Theileria parasites cause a benign infection of cattle in parts of Australia where they are endemic, but have, in recent years, been suspected of being responsible for a number of outbreaks of disease in cattle near the coast of New South Wales. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the species of Theileria in cattle on six farms in New South Wales where disease outbreaks have occurred, and compare with Theileria from three disease-free farms in Queensland that is endemic for Theileria. Special reference was made to sub-typing of T. orientalis by type-specific PCR and sequencing of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene, and sequence analysis of the gene encoding a polymorphic merozoite/piroplasm surface protein (MPSP) that may be under immune selection. Nucleotide sequencing of SSU rRNA and MPSP genes revealed the presence of four Theileria genotypes: T. orientalis (buffeli), T. orientalis (ikeda), T. orientalis (chitose) and T. orientalis type 4 (MPSP) or type C (SSU rRNA). The majority of animals showed mixed infections while a few showed single infection. When MPSP nucleotide sequences were translated into amino acids, base transition did not change amino acid composition of the protein product, suggesting possible silent polymorphism. The occurrence of ikeda and type 4 (type C) previously not reported to occur and silent mutation is thought to have enhanced parasite evasion of the host immune response causing the outbreak

Bacteria associated with the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus collected in Portugal

Abstract: In this study, we report on the bacterial community associated with the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus from symptomatic pine wilted trees, as well as from long-term preserved B. xylophilus laboratory collection specimens, emphasizing the close bacteria-nematode associations that may contribute to pine wilt disease development