The UK risk assessment scheme for all non-native species

1. A pest risk assessment scheme, adapted from the EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation) scheme, was developed to assess the risks posed to UK species, habitats and ecosystems by non-native taxa. 2. The scheme provides a structured framework for evaluating the potential for non-native organisms, whether intentional or unintentional introductions, to enter, establish, spread and cause significant impacts in all or part of the UK. Specialist modules permit the relative importance of entry pathways, the vulnerability of receptors and the consequences of policies to be assessed and appropriate risk management options to be selected. Spreadsheets for summarising the level of risk and uncertainty, invasive attributes and economic impact were created. In addition, new methods for quantifying economic impact and summarising risk and uncertainty were explored. 3. Although designed for the UK, the scheme can readily be applied elsewhere

Putative ammonia-oxidizing Crenarchaeota in suboxic waters of the Black Sea : a basin-wide ecological study using 16S ribosomal and functional genes and membrane lipids

Author Posting. © Blackwell, 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Blackwell for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Environmental Microbiology 9 (2007): 1001-1016, doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01227.x.Within the upper 400 m at western, central, and eastern stations in the world’s largest stratified basin, the Black Sea, we studied the qualitative and quantitative distribution of putative nitrifying Archaea based on their genetic markers (16S rDNA, amoA encoding for the alfa-subunit of archaeal ammonia monooxygenase), and crenarchaeol, the specific glycerol diphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) of pelagic Crenarchaeota within the Group I.1a. Marine Crenarchaeota were the most abundant Archaea (up to 98% of the total archaeal 16S rDNA copies) in the suboxic layers with oxygen levels as low as 1 μM including layers where previously anammox bacteria were described (Kuypers et al., 2003). Different marine crenarchaeotal phylotypes (both 16S rDNA and amoA) were found at the upper part of the suboxic zone as compared to the base of the suboxic zone and the upper 15-30 m of the anoxic waters with prevailing sulfide concentrations of up to 30 μM. Crenarchaeol concentrations were higher in the sulfidic chemocline as compared to the suboxic zone. These results indicate an abundance of putative nitrifying Archaea at very low oxygen levels within the Black Sea and might form an important source of nitrite for the anammox reaction.This work was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (VENI Innovational Research Grant nr. 813.13.001 to MJLC), an U. S. National Science Foundation grant OCE0117824 to SGW and the Spinoza award to JSSD, which we greatly acknowledge

Results of the First Coincident Observations by Two Laser-Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors

We report an upper bound on the strain amplitude of gravitational wave bursts in a waveband from around 800Hz to 1.25kHz. In an effective coincident observing period of 62 hours, the prototype laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors of the University of Glasgow and Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, have set a limit of 4.9E-16, averaging over wave polarizations and incident directions. This is roughly a factor of 2 worse than the theoretical best limit that the detectors could have set, the excess being due to unmodelled non-Gaussian noise. The experiment has demonstrated the viability of the kind of observations planned for the large-scale interferometers that should be on-line in a few years time.Comment: 11 pages, 2 postscript figure

Application of Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis to Determine γ-ray-induced Double-strand Breaks in Yeast Chromosomal Molecules

The frequency of DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) was determined in yeast cells exposed to γ-rays under anoxic conditions. Genomic DNA of treated cells was separated by pulsed field gel electrophoresis, and two different approaches for the evaluation of the gels were employed: (1) The DNA mass distribution profile obtained by electrophoresis was compared to computed profiles, and the number of DSB per unit length was then derived in terms of a fitting procedure; (2) hybridization of selected chromosomes was performed, and a comparison of the hybridization signals in treated and untreated samples was then used to derive the frequency of dsb

Metal-insulator transition and charge ordering in the extended Hubbard model at one-quarter filling

We study with exact diagonalization the zero temperature properties of the quarter-filled extended Hubbard model on a square lattice. We find that increasing the ratio of the intersite Coulomb repulsion, $V$, to the band width drives the system from a metal to a charge ordered insulator. The evolution of the optical conductivity spectrum with increasing $V$ is compared to the observed optical conductivity of several layered molecular crystals with the theta and beta'' crystal structures.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

ADAMTS13 regulation of VWF multimer distribution in severe COVID‐19

Background Consistent with fulminant endothelial cell activation, elevated plasma von Willebrand factor (VWF) antigen levels have been reported in patients with COVID-19. The multimeric size and function of VWF are normally regulated through A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease with ThrombSpondin Motif type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS-13)--mediated proteolysis. Objectives This study investigated the hypothesis that ADAMTS-13 regulation of VWF multimer distribution may be impaired in severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection contributing to the observed microvascular thrombosis. Patients and Methods Patients with COVID-19 (n = 23) were recruited from the Beaumont Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Dublin. Plasma VWF antigen, multimer distribution, ADAMTS-13 activity, and known inhibitors thereof were assessed. Results We observed markedly increased VWF collagen-binding activity in patients with severe COVID-19 compared to controls (median 509.1 versus 94.3 IU/dl). Conversely, plasma ADAMTS-13 activity was significantly reduced (median 68.2 IU/dl). In keeping with an increase in VWF:ADAMTS-13 ratio, abnormalities in VWF multimer distribution were common in patients with COVID-19, with reductions in high molecular weight VWF multimers. Terminal sialylation regulates VWF susceptibility to proteolysis by ADAMTS-13 and other proteases. We observed that both N- and O-linked sialylation were altered in severe COVID-19. Furthermore, plasma levels of the ADAMTS-13 inhibitors interleukin-6, thrombospondin-1, and platelet factor 4 were significantly elevated. Conclusions These findings support the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 is associated with profound quantitative and qualitative increases in plasma VWF levels, and a multifactorial down-regulation in ADAMTS-13 function. Further studies will be required to determine whether therapeutic interventions to correct ADAMTS-13-VWF multimer dysfunction may be useful in COVID-microvascular thrombosis and angiopathy

Medium-term fluvial island evolution in a disturbed gravel-bed river (Piave River, Northeastern Italian Alps)

River islands are defined as discrete areas of woodland vegetation surrounded by either water-filled channels or exposed gravel. They exhibit some stability and are not submerged during bank-full flows. The aim of the study is to analyze the dynamics of established, building, and pioneer islands in a 30-km-long reach of the gravel-bed Piave River, which has suffered from intense and multiple human impacts. Plan-form changes of river features since 1960 were analyzed using aerial photographs, and a LiDAR was used to derive the maximum, minimum and mean elevation of island surfaces, and maximum and mean height of their vegetation. The results suggest that established islands lie at a higher elevation than building and pioneer islands, and have a thicker layer of fine sediments deposited on their surface after big floods. After the exceptional flood in 1966 (RI>200 years) there was a moderate increase in island numbers and extension, followed by a further increase from 1991, due to a succession of flood events in 1993 and 2002 with RI>10 years, as well as a change in the human management relating to the control of gravel-mining activities. The narrowing trend (1960-1999) of the morphological plan form certainly enhanced the chance of islands becoming established and this explains the reduction of the active channel, the increase in established islands and reduction of pioneer islands

The European TeleCheck-AF project on remote app-based management of atrial fibrillation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Centre and patient experiences

Aims: TeleCheck-AF is a multicentre international project initiated to maintain care delivery for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) during COVID-19 through teleconsultations supported by an on-demand photoplethysmography-based heart rate and rhythm monitoring app (FibriCheck® ). We describe the characteristics, inclusion rates and experiences from participating centres according the TeleCheck-AF infrastructure as well as characteristics and experiences from recruited patients.Methods: Three surveys exploring centre characteristics (n=25), centre experiences (n=23) and patient experiences (n=826) were completed. Self-reported patient characteristics were obtained from the app.Results: Most centres were academic (64%) and specialized public cardiology/district hospitals (36%). Majority of centres had AF outpatient clinics (64%) and only 36% had AF ablation clinics. The time required to start patient inclusion and total number of included patients in the project was comparable for centres experienced (56%) or inexperienced in mHealth use. Within 28 weeks, 1930 AF patients were recruited, mainly for remote AF control (31% of patients) and AF ablation follow-up (42%). Average inclusion rate was highest during the lockdown restrictions and reached a steady state at a lower level after easing the restrictions (188 vs 52 weekly recruited patients). Majority (>80%) of the centres reported no problems during the implementation of the TeleCheck-AF approach. Recruited patients (median age 64 [55-71], 62% male) agreed that the FibriCheck® app was easy to use (94%).Conclusions: Despite different health care settings and mHealth experiences, the TeleCheck-AF approach could be set up within an extremely short time and easily used in different European centres during COVID-19

The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector during 2011 data taking

The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the 2011 data taking period is described. During 2011 the LHC provided proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and heavy ion collisions with a 2.76 TeV per nucleon–nucleon collision energy. The ATLAS trigger is a three level system designed to reduce the rate of events from the 40 MHz nominal maximum bunch crossing rate to the approximate 400 Hz which can be written to offline storage. The ATLAS jet trigger is the primary means for the online selection of events containing jets. Events are accepted by the trigger if they contain one or more jets above some transverse energy threshold. During 2011 data taking the jet trigger was fully efficient for jets with transverse energy above 25 GeV for triggers seeded randomly at Level 1. For triggers which require a jet to be identified at each of the three trigger levels, full efficiency is reached for offline jets with transverse energy above 60 GeV. Jets reconstructed in the final trigger level and corresponding to offline jets with transverse energy greater than 60 GeV, are reconstructed with a resolution in transverse energy with respect to offline jets, of better than 4 % in the central region and better than 2.5 % in the forward direction