Sensitive Commercial NASBA Assay for the Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Clinical Specimen

The aim of the study was to evaluate the usability of three diagnostic procedures for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus in clinical samples. Therefore, the FDA cleared CE marked NOW® RSV ELISA, the NucliSENS® EasyQ RSV A+B NASBA, and a literature based inhouse RT-PCR protocol were compared for their relative sensitivities. Thereby, NASBA turned out to be the most sensitive method with a total number of 80 RSV positive samples out of a cohort of 251 nasopharyngeal washings from patients suffering from clinical symptoms, followed by the inhouse RT-PCR (62/251) and ELISA (52/251). Thus, NASBA may serve as a rapid and highly sensitive alternative for RSV diagnostics

Exceptional river gorge formation from unexceptional floods

An understanding of rates and mechanisms of incision and knickpoint retreat in bedrock rivers is fundamental to perceptions of landscape response to external drivers, yet only sparse field data are available. Here we present eye witness accounts and quantitative surveys of rapid, amphitheatre-headed gorge formation in unweathered granite from the overtopping of a rock-cut dam spillway by small-moderate floods (~100–1,500 m3 s−1). The amount of erosion demonstrates no relationship with flood magnitude or bedload availability. Instead, structural pattern of the bedrock through faults and joints appears to be the primary control on landscape change. These discontinuities facilitate rapid erosion (>270 m headward retreat; ~100 m incision; and ~160 m widening over 6 years) principally through fluvial plucking and block topple. The example demonstrates the potential for extremely rapid transient bedrock erosion even when rocks are mechanically strong and flood discharges are moderate. These observations are relevant to perceived models of gorge formation and knickpoint retreat

Is Evolution of Blind Mole Rats Determined by Climate Oscillations?

The concept of climate variability facilitating adaptive radiation supported by the ‘‘Court Jester’’ hypothesis is disputed by the ‘‘Red Queen’’ one, but the prevalence of one or the other might be scale-dependent. We report on a detailed, comprehensive phylo-geographic study on the ,4 kb mtDNA sequence in underground blind mole rats of the family Spalacidae (or subfamily Spalacinae) from the East Mediterranean steppes. Our study aimed at testing the presence of periodicities in branching patterns on a constructed phylogenetic tree and at searching for congruence between branching events, tectonic history and paleoclimates. In contrast to the strong support for the majority of the branching events on the tree, the absence of support in a few instances indicates that network-like evolution could exist in spalacids. In our tree, robust support was given, in concordance with paleontological data, for the separation of spalacids from muroid rodents during the first half of the Miocene when open, grass-dominated habitats were established. Marine barriers formed between Anatolia and the Balkans could have facilitated the separation of the lineage ‘‘Spalax’’ from the lineage ‘‘Nannospalax’’ and of the clade ‘‘leucodon’’ from the clade ‘‘xanthodon’’. The separation of the clade ‘‘ehrenbergi’’ occurred during the late stages of the tectonically induced uplift of the Anatolian high plateaus and mountains, whereas the separation of the clade ‘‘vasvarii’’ took place when the rapidly uplifting Taurus mountain range prevented the Mediterranean rainfalls from reaching the Central Anatolian Plateau. The separation of Spalax antiquus and S. graecus occurred when the southeastern Carpathians were uplifted. Despite the role played by tectonic events, branching events that show periodicity corresponding to 400-kyr and 100-kyr eccentricity bands illuminate the important role of orbital fluctuations on adaptive radiation in spalacids. At the given scale, our results supports the ‘‘Court Jester’’ hypothesis over the ‘‘Red Queen’’ one

Easternmost Mediterranean evidence of the Zanclean flooding event and subsequent surface uplift: Adana Basin, southern Turkey

""\\"According to the literature, the Adana Basin, at the easternmost part of the Mediterranean. Basin in southern Turkey, records the Pliocene stage with shallow-marine to fluvial deposits.. Our micropalaeontological analysis of samples from the Adana Basin reveal Late Lago–Mare. biofacies with Paratethyan ostracod assemblages pertaining to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi. zone. Grey clays rich in planktonic foraminifera lie above the Lago–Mare deposits. Within the. grey clays, the continuous occurrence of the calcareous nannofossil Reticulofenestra zancleana. and the base of the Reticulofenestra pseudoumbilicus paracme points to an Early Zanclean age. (5.332–5.199 Ma). Both ostracod and benthic foraminifera indicate epibathyal and bathyal. environments. 87Sr\\\\\\\/86Sr measurements on planktonic and benthic foraminifera fall below the. mean global ocean value for the Early Zanclean, indicating potentially insufficient mixing of. low 87Sr\\\\\\\/86Sr Mediterranean brackish ‘Lago–Mare’ water with the global ocean in the earliest. Pliocene. We utilize the ages and palaeodepths of the marine sediments together with their modern. elevations to determine uplift rates of the Adana Basin of 0.06 to 0.13 mm a21 since 5.2–5.3 Ma. (total uplift of 350–650 m) from surface data, and 0.02–0.13 mm a21 since c. 1.8 Ma (total uplift. of 30–230 m) from subsurface data.. Supplementary material: Microphotographs of foraminifers, ostracods, and calcareous nannofossils,. plots of the calcareous nannofossil frequencies, occurrence of foraminifers and ostracods in. the study sections, results of Sr isotopic analysis, and a complete list of fossils are available at. www.geolsoc.org.uk\\\\\\\/SUP18535.\\""

Significant increase in relief of the European Alps during mid-Pleistocene glaciations

International audienceSome of Earth's greatest relief occurs where glacial processes act on mountain topography1, 2. This dramatic landscape is thought to be an imprint of Pleistocene glaciations3, 4. However, whether the net effect of glacial erosion on mountains is to increase5, 6, 7 or decrease8, 9, 10 relief remains disputed. It has been suggested that in the European Alps, the onset of widespread glaciation since the mid-Pleistocene climate transition11 led to the growth of large, long-lived and strongly erosive alpine glaciers12, 13 that profoundly influenced topography14. Here we use 4He/3He thermochronometry15 and thermal-kinematic models to show that the Rhône Valley in Switzerland deepened by about 1-1.5 km over the past one million years. Our results indicate that while the valley was incised and back-cut, high-altitude areas were preserved from erosion. We find an approximately two-fold increase in both local topographic relief and valley concavity, which occurred around the time of the mid-Pleistocene transition. Our results support the proposed link12, 13, 14 between the onset of efficient glacial erosion in the European Alps and the transition to longer, colder glacial periods at the middle of the Pleistocene epoch