Mucus Sugar Content Shapes the Bacterial Community Structure in Thermally Stressed Acropora muricata

It has been proposed that the chemical composition of a coral’s mucus can influence the associated bacterial community. However, information on this topic is rare, and non-existent for corals that are under thermal stress. This study therefore compared the carbohydrate composition of mucus in the coral Acropora muricata when subjected to increasing thermal stress from 26°C to 31°C, and determined whether this composition correlated with any changes in the bacterial community. Results showed that, at lower temperatures, the main components of mucus were N-acetyl glucosamine and C6 sugars, but these constituted a significantly lower proportion of the mucus in thermally-stressed corals. The change in the mucus composition coincided with a shift from a γ-Proteobacteria- to a Verrucomicrobiae- and α-Proteobacteria-dominated community in the coral mucus. Bacteria in the class Cyanobacteria also started to become prominent in the mucus when the coral was thermally stressed. The increase in the relative abundance of the Verrucomicrobiae at higher temperature was strongly associated with a change in the proportion of fucose, glucose and mannose in the mucus. Increase in the relative abundance of α-Proteobacteria were associated with GalNAc and glucose, while the drop in relative abundance of γ-Proteobacteria at high temperature coincided with changes in fucose and mannose. Cyanobacteria were highly associated with arabinose and xylose. Changes in mucus composition and the bacterial community in the mucus layer occurred at 29°C, which were prior to visual signs of coral bleaching at 31°C. A compositional change in the coral mucus, induced by thermal stress could therefore be a key factor leading to a shift in the associated bacterial community. This, in turn, has the potential to impact the physiological function of the coral holobiont

Towards controlling activity of a peptide asparaginyl ligase (PAL) by lumazine synthetase compartmentalization

Peptide asparaginyl ligases (PALs) hold significant potential in protein bioconjugation due to their excellent kinetic properties and broad substrate compatibility. However, realizing their full potential in biocatalytic applications requires precise control of their activity. Inspired by nature, we aimed to compartmentalize a representative PAL, OaAEP1-C247A, within protein containers to create artificial organelles with substrate sorting capability. Two encapsulation approaches were explored using engineered lumazine synthases (AaLS). The initial strategy involved tagging the PAL with a super-positively charged GFP(+36) for encapsulation into the super-negatively charged AaLS-13 variant, but it resulted in undesired truncation of the enzyme. The second approach involved genetic fusion of the OaAEP1-C247A with a circularly permutated AaLS variant (cpAaLS) and its co-production with AaLS-13, which successfully enabled compartmentalization of the PAL within a patch-work protein cage. Although the caged PAL retained its activity, it was significantly reduced compared to the free enzyme (~30-40-fold), likely caused by issues related to OaAEP1-C247A stability and folding. Nevertheless, these findings demonstrated feasibility of the AaLS encapsulation approach and encourages further optimization in the design of peptide-ligating artificial organelle in E. coli, aiming for a more effective and stable system for protein modifications

Use of an asparaginyl endopeptidase for chemo-enzymatic peptide and protein labeling

Asparaginyl endopeptidases (AEPs) are ideal for peptide and protein labeling. However, because of the reaction reversibility, a large excess of labels or backbone modified substrates are needed. In turn, simple and cheap reagents can be used to label N-terminal cysteine, but its availability inherently limits the potential applications. Aiming to address these issues, we have created a chemo-enzymatic labeling system that exploits the substrate promiscuity of AEP with the facile chemical reaction between N-terminal cysteine and 2-formyl phenylboronic acid (FPBA). In this approach, AEP is used to ligate polypeptides with a Asn–Cys–Leu recognition sequence with counterparts possessing an N-terminal Gly–Leu. Instead of being a labeling reagent, the commercially available FPBA serves as a scavenger converting the byproduct Cys–Leu into an inert thiazolidine derivative. This consequently drives the AEP labeling reaction forward to product formation with a lower ratio of label to protein substrate. By carefully screening the reaction conditions for optimal compatibility and minimal hydrolysis, conversion to the ligated product in the model reaction resulted in excellent yields. The versatility of this AEP-ligation/FPBA-coupling system was further demonstrated by site-specifically labeling the N- or C-termini of various proteins

Quantum Transduction of Telecommunications-band Single Photons from a Quantum Dot by Frequency Upconversion

The ability to transduce non-classical states of light from one wavelength to another is a requirement for integrating disparate quantum systems that take advantage of telecommunications-band photons for optical fiber transmission of quantum information and near-visible, stationary systems for manipulation and storage. In addition, transducing a single-photon source at 1.3 {\mu}m to visible wavelengths for detection would be integral to linear optical quantum computation due to the challenges of detection in the near-infrared. Recently, transduction at single-photon power levels has been accomplished through frequency upconversion, but it has yet to be demonstrated for a true single-photon source. Here, we transduce the triggered single-photon emission of a semiconductor quantum dot at 1.3 {\mu}m to 710 nm with a total detection (internal conversion) efficiency of 21% (75%). We demonstrate that the 710 nm signal maintains the quantum character of the 1.3 {\mu}m signal, yielding a photon anti-bunched second-order intensity correlation, g^(2)(t), that shows the optical field is composed of single photons with g^(2)(0) = 0.165 < 0.5.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Evaluating the use of the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q) to estimate IQ in children with low intellectual ability

In situations where completing a full intellectual assessment is not possible or desirable the clinician or researcher may require an alternative means of accurately estimating intellectual functioning. There has been limited research in the use of proxy IQ measures in children with an intellectual disability or low IQ. The present study aimed to provide a means of converting total scores from a screening tool (the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire: CAIDS-Q) to an estimated IQ. A series of linear regression analyses were conducted on data from 428 children and young people referred to clinical services, where FSIQ was predicted from CAIDS-Q total scores. Analyses were conducted for three age groups between ages 6 and 18 years. The study presents a conversion table for converting CAIDS-Q total scores to estimates of FSIQ, with corresponding 95% prediction intervals to allow the clinician or researcher to estimate FSIQ scores from CAIDS-Q total scores. It is emphasised that, while this conversion may offer a quick means of estimating intellectual functioning in children with a below average IQ, it should be used with caution, especially in children aged between 6 and 8 years old

Is the tetraneutron a bound dineutron-dineutron molecule?

In light of a new experiment which claims a positive identification, we discuss the possible existence of the tetraneutron. We explore a novel model based on a dineutron-dineutron molecule. We show that this model is not able to explain the tetraneutron as a bound state, in agreement with other theoretical models already discussed in the literature.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, J. Phys. G, in pres

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force Consensus Proposal: Outcome of therapeutic interventions in canine and feline epilepsy

Common criteria for the diagnosis of drug resistance and the assessment of outcome are needed urgently as a prerequisite for standardized evaluation and reporting of individual therapeutic responses in canine epilepsy. Thus, we provide a proposal for the definition of drug resistance and partial therapeutic success in canine patients with epilepsy. This consensus statement also suggests a list of factors and aspects of outcome, which should be considered in addition to the impact on seizures. Moreover, these expert recommendations discuss criteria which determine the validity and informative value of a therapeutic trial in an individual patient and also suggest the application of individual outcome criteria. Agreement on common guidelines does not only render a basis for future optimization of individual patient management, but is also a presupposition for the design and implementation of clinical studies with highly standardized inclusion and exclusion criteria. Respective standardization will improve the comparability of findings from different studies and renders an improved basis for multicenter studies. Therefore, this proposal provides an in-depth discussion of the implications of outcome criteria for clinical studies. In particular ethical aspects and the different options for study design and application of individual patient-centered outcome criteria are considered

System-Size Independence of Directed Flow Measured at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

We measure directed flow (ν_1) for charged particles in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at √S_(NN)=200 and 62.4 GeV, as a function of pseudorapidity (η), transverse momentum (p_t), and collision centrality, based on data from the STAR experiment. We find that the directed flow depends on the incident energy but, contrary to all available model implementations, not on the size of the colliding system at a given centrality. We extend the validity of the limiting fragmentation concept to ν_1 in different collision systems, and investigate possible explanations for the observed sign change in ν_1(p_t)

Spin alignment measurements of the K∗0(892)K^{*0}(892) and ϕ(1020)\phi(1020) vector mesons at RHIC

We present the first spin alignment measurements for the $K^{*0}(892)$ and $\phi(1020)$ vector mesons produced at mid-rapidity with transverse momenta up to 5 GeV/c at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV at RHIC. The diagonal spin density matrix elements with respect to the reaction plane in Au+Au collisions are $\rho_{00}$ = 0.32 $\pm$ 0.04 (stat) $\pm$ 0.09 (syst) for the $K^{*0}$ ($0.8<p_T<5.0$ GeV/c) and $\rho_{00}$ = 0.34 $\pm$ 0.02 (stat) $\pm$ 0.03 (syst) for the $\phi$ ($0.4<p_T<5.0$ GeV/c), and are constant with transverse momentum and collision centrality. The data are consistent with the unpolarized expectation of 1/3 and thus no evidence is found for the transfer of the orbital angular momentum of the colliding system to the vector meson spins. Spin alignments for $K^{*0}$ and $\phi$ in Au+Au collisions were also measured with respect to the particle's production plane. The $\phi$ result, $\rho_{00}$ = 0.41 $\pm$ 0.02 (stat) $\pm$ 0.04 (syst), is consistent with that in p+p collisions, $\rho_{00}$ = 0.39 $\pm$ 0.03 (stat) $\pm$ 0.06 (syst), also measured in this work. The measurements thus constrain the possible size of polarization phenomena in the production dynamics of vector mesons.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. fig.1 updated; one more reference added, one typo corrected, published in PRC.77.06190

Orthorhombic distortion on Li intercalation in anatase

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