Community-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Switzerland

Two case-control studies evaluated the prevalence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) carriage at hospital admission and characteristics of patients with CA-MRSA. Among 14,253 patients, CA-MRSA prevalence was 0.9/1,000 admissions. Although 5 CA-MRSA isolates contained Panton-Valentine leukocidin, only 1 patient had a previous skin infection. No easily modifiable risk factor for CA-MRSA was identified

The Global 2000-2020 Land Cover and Land Use Change Dataset Derived From the Landsat Archive: First Results

Recent advances in Landsat archive data processing and characterization enhanced our capacity to map land cover and land use globally with higher precision, temporal frequency, and thematic detail. Here, we present the first results from a project aimed at annual multidecadal land monitoring providing critical information for tracking global progress towards sustainable development. The global 30-m spatial resolution dataset quantifies changes in forest extent and height, cropland, built-up lands, surface water, and perennial snow and ice extent from the year 2000 to 2020. Landsat Analysis Ready Data served as an input for land cover and use mapping. Each thematic product was independently derived using locally and regionally calibrated machine learning tools. Thematic maps validation using a statistical sample of reference data confirmed their high accuracy (user’s and producer’s accuracies above 85% for all land cover and land use themes, except for built-up lands). Our results revealed dramatic changes in global land cover and land use over the past 20 years. The bitemporal dataset is publicly available and serves as a first input for the global land monitoring system

Transcriptional Mutagenesis Induced by 8-Oxoguanine in Mammalian Cells

Most of the somatic cells of adult metazoans, including mammals, do not undergo continuous cycles of replication. Instead, they are quiescent and devote most of their metabolic activity to gene expression. The mutagenic consequences of exposure to DNA–damaging agents are well documented, but less is known about the impact of DNA lesions on transcription. To investigate this impact, we developed a luciferase-based expression system. This system consists of two types of construct composed of a DNA template containing an 8-oxoguanine, paired either with a thymine or a cytosine, placed at defined positions along the transcribed strand of the reporter gene. Analyses of luciferase gene expression from the two types of construct showed that efficient but error-prone transcriptional bypass of 8-oxoguanine occurred in vivo, and that this lesion was not repaired by the transcription-coupled repair machinery in mammalian cells. The analysis of luciferase activity expressed from 8OG:T-containing constructs indicated that the magnitude of erroneous transcription events involving 8-oxoguanine depended on the sequence contexts surrounding the lesion. Additionally, sequencing of the transcript population expressed from these constructs showed that RNA polymerase II mostly inserted an adenine opposite to 8-oxoguanine. Analysis of luciferase expression from 8OG:C-containing constructs showed that the generated aberrant mRNAs led to the production of mutant proteins with the potential to induce a long-term phenotypical change. These findings reveal that erroneous transcription over DNA lesions may induce phenotypical changes with the potential to alter the fate of non-replicating cells

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least 4 m. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the 6.5 m James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 yr, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit