Norwegian Sea Herring Stock Discrimination phase I (NORDISI)

There is growing concern among fishermen about the migration of North Sea herring into the Norwegian Sea. The Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association therefore commissioned IMARES to develop a technique to monitor possible catches of North Sea herring in the Norwegian Sea. This technique will use morphometric (shape) differences in herring to distinguish between Norwegian Sea spawning herring and North Sea herring. The results show that the model is able to distinguish Norwegian spring spawning herring from North Sea autumn or winter spawning herring. Overall we can conclude that even though we still have to overcome some methodological problems we are confident that this research constitutes a first step towards developing a technique to monitor catches of herring from the Norwegian Sea for Norwegian Spring spawning or other herring

Association between slaughter practices and the distribution of Salmonella, ESBL/AMPC-producing Escherichia coli and hygiene indicator bacteria on pig carcasses after slaughter

Pigs are well-known asymptomatic carriers of foodborne pathogens, which may contaminate pork carcasses during slaughter. Several pig body parts (e.g. the oral cavity, the palatine tonsils and the gastro-intestinal tract) are natural reservoirs of bacteria, including important human pathogens such as Salmonella. The contamination level of a pig carcass is generally expressed as one value for the whole carcass. However, contamination levels may vary between different carcass areas

Effect of pluck set removal techniques during slaughter on pig carcass contamination with hygiene indicator bacteria, ESBL/AMPC-producing E. coli, Salmonella and Yersinia enterocolitica

Pigs are asymptomatic carriers of pathogenic and antibiotic resistant bacteria, which may contaminate pig carcasses during slaughter. Especially opening the oral cavity during pluck set (i.e. lungs, heart, liver, and tongue) removal is a potential risk for spreading bacteria over the carcass

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae model reveals in vivo functional impairment of the Ogden syndrome N-Terminal Acetyltransferase NAA10 Ser37Pro Mutant

N-terminal acetylation (Nt-acetylation) occurs on the majority of eukaryotic proteins and is catalyzed by N-terminal acetyltransferases (NATs). Nt-acetylation is increasingly recognized as a vital modification with functional implications ranging from protein degradation to protein localization. Although early genetic studies in yeast demonstrated that NAT-deletion strains displayed a variety of phenotypes, only recently, the first human genetic disorder caused by a mutation in a NAT gene was reported; boys diagnosed with the X-linked Ogden syndrome harbor a p. Ser37Pro (S37P) mutation in the gene encoding Naa10, the catalytic subunit of the NatA complex, and suffer from global developmental delays and lethality during infancy. Here, we describe a Saccharomyces cerevisiae model developed by introducing the human wild-type or mutant NatA complex into yeast lacking NatA (NatA-Delta). The wild-type human NatA complex phenotypically complemented the NatA-Delta strain, whereas only a partial rescue was observed for the Ogden mutant NatA complex suggesting that hNaa10 S37P is only partially functional in vivo. Immunoprecipitation experiments revealed a reduced subunit complexation for the mutant hNatA S37P next to a reduced in vitro catalytic activity. We performed quantitative Nt-acetylome analyses on a control yeast strain (yNatA), a yeast NatA deletion strain (yNatA-Delta), a yeast NatA deletion strain expressing wild-type human NatA (hNatA), and a yeast NatA deletion strain expressing mutant human NatA (hNatA S37P). Interestingly, a generally reduced degree of Nt-acetylation was observed among a large group of NatA substrates in the yeast expressing mutant hNatA as compared with yeast expressing wild-type hNatA. Combined, these data provide strong support for the functional impairment of hNaa10 S37P in vivo and suggest that reduced Nt-acetylation of one or more target substrates contributes to the pathogenesis of the Ogden syndrome. Comparative analysis between human and yeast NatA also provided new insights into the co-evolution of the NatA complexes and their substrates. For instance, (Met-) Ala-N termini are more prevalent in the human proteome as compared with the yeast proteome, and hNatA displays a preference toward these N termini as compared with yNatA

Chromospheric evaporation and phase mixing of Alfvén waves in coronal loops

This work has received support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (Consolidated Grant ST/K000950/1), the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 647214) and the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence scheme, project number 262622.Context. Phase mixing of Alfvén waves has been studied extensively as a possible coronal heating mechanism but without the full thermodynamic consequences considered self-consistently. It has been argued that in some cases, the thermodynamic feedback of the heating could substantially affect the transverse density gradient and even inhibit the phase mixing process. Aims. In this paper, for the first time, we use magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with the appropriate thermodynamical terms included to quantify the evaporation following heating by phase mixing of Alfvén waves in a coronal loop and the effect of this evaporation on the transverse density profile. Methods. The numerical simulations were performed using the Lagrangian Remap code Lare2D. We set up a 2D loop model consisting of a field-aligned thermodynamic equilibrium and a cross-field (background) heating profile. A continuous, sinusoidal, high-frequency Alfvén wave driver was implemented. As the Alfvén waves propagate along the field, they undergo phase mixing due to the cross-field density gradient in the coronal part of the loop. We investigated the presence of field-aligned flows, heating from the dissipation of the phase-mixed Alfvén waves, and the subsequent evaporation from the lower atmosphere. Results. We find that phase mixing of Alfvén waves leads to modest heating in the shell regions of the loop and evaporation of chromospheric material into the corona with upflows of the order of only 5–20 m s−1. Although the evaporation leads to a mass increase in the shell regions of the loop, the effect on the density gradient and, hence, on the phase mixing process, is insignificant. Conclusions. This paper self-consistently investigates the effect of chromospheric evaporation on the cross-field density gradient and the phase mixing process in a coronal loop. We found that the effects in our particular setup (small amplitude, high frequency waves) are too small to significantly change the density gradient.PostprintPeer reviewe

Dimensional Reduction in Non-Supersymmetric Theories

It is shown that regularisation by dimensional reduction is a viable alternative to dimensional regularisation in non-supersymmetric theories.Comment: 13 pages, phyzzx, LTH 32

High mannose-specific lectin Msl mediates key interactions of the vaginal Lactobacillus plantarum isolate CMPG5300

To characterize the interaction potential of the human vaginal isolate Lactobacillus plantarum CMPG5300, its genome was mined for genes encoding lectin-like proteins. cmpg5300.05_29 was identified as the gene encoding a putative mannose-binding lectin. Phenotypic analysis of a gene knock-out mutant of cmpg5300.05_29 showed that expression of this gene is important for auto-aggregation, adhesion to the vaginal epithelial cells, biofilm formation and binding to mannosylated glycans. Purification of the predicted lectin domain of Cmpg5300.05_29 and characterization of its sugar binding capacity confirmed the specificity of the lectin for high-mannose glycans. Therefore, we renamed Cmpg5300.05_29 as a mannose-specific lectin (Msl). The purified lectin domain of Msl could efficiently bind to HIV-1 glycoprotein gp120 and Candida albicans, and showed an inhibitory activity against biofilm formation of uropathogenic Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium. Thus, using a combination of molecular lectin characterization and functional assays, we could show that lectin-sugar interactions play a key role in host and pathogen interactions of a prototype isolate of the vaginal Lactobacillus microbiota

Vis in de Voordelta: nulmetingen 2007 in het kader van de aanleg van de Tweede Maasvlakte

Dit is de rapportage van de aanvullende, tweede nulmeting van vis in het kader van het monitoring- en evaluatie programma dat moet leiden tot bijstelling van het compensatie programma voor de geplande aanleg van de Tweede Maasvlakte. Het Project Mainportontwikkeling Rotterdam (PMR) heeft onder andere als doel een oplossing te bieden voor het (dreigende) ruimtetekort in de Rotterdamse haven. Onderdeel van dit project is de aanleg van nieuw havengebied in de Voordelta, de Tweede Maasvlakte. De bijbehorende natuurcompensatie is een wettelijke verplichting op grond van de Europese Vogel- en Habitatrichtlijn (RIKZ 2004). Om de circa 1000 hectare landaanwinning volgens Europese richtlijnen voldoende te compenseren, is voorgesteld een zeereservaat in de Voordelta in te stellen. Op basis van de verwachte verbetering van de natuur in het reservaat, wordt momenteel uitgegaan van een reservaat dat tien keer zo groot is (30.000 ha) als het stuk zee dat door de landaanwinning verloren zal gaan. Om na te gaan of de effecten van de landaanwinning (Tweede Maasvlakte, MVII) tijdig en afdoende worden gecompenseerd door de natuurcompensatiemaatregelen moet een monitoring- en evaluatieprogramma worden uitgevoerd. De uitkomsten van dit programma kunnen aanleiding geven tot een eventuele bijstelling van het compensatieprogramma