Viunalikeviruses are environmentally common agents of horizontal gene transfer in pathogens and biocontrol bacteria.

Bacteriophages have been used as natural biocontrol and therapeutic agents, but also as biotechnological tools for bacterial engineering. We showed recently that the transducing bacteriophage ϕMAM1 is a ViI-like phage and a member of the new genus, 'Viunalikevirus'. Here, we show that four additional ViI-like phages and three new environmentally isolated viunalikeviruses, all infecting plant and human pathogens, are very efficient generalised transducers capable of transducing chromosomal markers at frequencies of up to 10(-4) transductants per plaque-forming unit. We also demonstrate the interstrain transduction of plasmids and chromosomal markers, including genes involved in anabolism, genes for virulence and genes encoding secondary metabolites involved in biocontrol. We propose that all viunalikeviruses are likely to perform efficient horizontal gene transfer. Viunalikeviruses therefore represent useful agents for functional genomics and bacterial engineering, and for chemical and synthetic biology studies, but could be viewed as inappropriate choices for phage therapy.This research was supported by the EU Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development (FP7- PEOPLE-2011-IEF) grant number 298003.This is the version of record of the article "Viunalikeviruses are environmentally common agents of horizontal gene transfer in pathogens and biocontrol bacteria" published in ISME Journal on August 2104 under the NPG Open Access option. The published version of record is available on the journal website at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.15

Well-being through learning: a systematic review of learning interventions in the workplace and their impact on well-being

The view that learning is central to well-being is widely held and the workplace is an important setting in which learning takes place. Evaluations of the effectiveness of well-being interventions in work settings are commonplace, but to date, there has been no systematic review of the effectiveness of learning interventions with regard to their impact on well-being. The review synthesizes evidence from 41 intervention studies, and although no studies report a negative impact on well-being, 14 show no effect on well-being, with 27 studies having a positive impact. We classify the studies according to the primary purpose of the learning intervention: to develop personal resources for well-being through learning; to develop professional capabilities through learning; to develop leadership skills through learning; and to improve organizational effectiveness through organizational-level learning. Although there is an abundance of workplace learning interventions, few are evaluated from a well-being perspective despite the commonly held assumption that learning yields positive emotional and psychological outcomes. The evidence indicates an important gap in our evaluation of and design of workplace learning interventions and their impact on well-being, beyond those focusing on personal resources. This raises important theoretical and practical challenges concerning the relationship between learning and well-being in the context of professional capability enhancement, leadership capability and organizational learning

A Shigella boydii bacteriophage which resembles Salmonella phage ViI

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lytic bacteriophages have been applied successfully to control the growth of various foodborne pathogens. Sequencing of their genomes is considered as an important preliminary step to ensure their safety prior to food applications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lytic bacteriophage, ΦSboM-AG3, targets the important foodborne pathogen, <it>Shigella</it>. It is morphologically similar to phage ViI of <it>Salmonella enterica </it>serovar Typhi and a series of phages of <it>Acinetobacter calcoaceticus </it>and <it>Rhizobium meliloti</it>. The complete genome of ΦSboM-AG3 was determined to be 158 kb and was terminally redundant and circularly permuted. Two hundred and sixteen open reading frames (ORFs) were identified and annotated, most of which displayed homology to proteins of <it>Salmonella </it>phage ViI. The genome also included four genes specifying tRNAs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first time that a Vi-specific phage for <it>Shigella </it>has been described. There is no evidence for the presence of virulence and lysogeny-associated genes. In conclusion, the genome analysis of ΦSboM-AG3 indicates that this phage can be safely used for biocontrol purposes.</p

Strategic green infrastructure planning in Germany and the UK: a transnational evaluation of the evolution of urban greening policy and practice

The evolution of Green Infrastructure (GI) planning has varied dramatically between nations. Although a grounded set of principles are recognized globally, there is increasing variance in how these are implemented at a national and sub-national level. To investigate this the following paper presents an evaluation of how green infrastructure has been planned for in England and Germany illustrating how national policy structures facilitate variance in application. Adopting an evaluative framework linked to the identification of GI, its development and monitoring/ feedback the paper questions the impacts on delivery of intersecting factors including terminology, spatial distribution and functionality on effective GI investment. This process reviews how changing policy structures have influenced the framing of green infrastructure policy, and subsequent impact this has on the delivery of green infrastructure projects

Integrating Academic and Everyday Learning Through Technology: Issues and Challenges for Researchers, Policy Makers and Practitioners

This paper builds on work undertaken over a number of years by a group of international researchers with an interest in the potential of connecting academic and everyday practices and knowledge. Drawing extensively on literature and our own work, we first discuss the challenges around defining informal learning, concluding that learning is multidimensional and has varying combinations of formal and informal attributes. We then highlight the potential of technology for integrating formal and informal learning attributes and briefly provide some exemplars of good practice. We then discuss in depth the challenges and issues of this approach to supporting learning from the perspective of pedagogy, research, policy and technology. We also provide some recommendations of how these issues may be addressed. We argue that for the learner, integration of formal and informal learning attributes should be an empowering process, enabling the learner to be self-directed, creative and innovative, taking learning to a deeper level. Given the complexity of the learning ecosystem, this demands support from the teacher but also awareness and understanding from others such as parents, family, friends and community members. We present a conceptual model of such an ecosystem to help develop further discussions within and between communities of researchers, policy makers and practitioners

High Power Performances of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs On Sapphire Substrate At F=4GHz

The high potential at microwave frequencies of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on sapphire substrate for power application has been demonstrated in this paper. An output power density close to 5W/mm has been measured on a 2x25x0.5µm² HEMT on sapphire substrate. This result is very interesting because the devices have not been passivated. At present time, it is the best power result in Europe on this substrate