Dating the “red beds” of the Eastern Moroccan High Plateaus: Evidence from late Late Cretaceous charophytes and dinosaur eggshells

A new locality in the poorly known “red beds” of Tendrara (High Plateaus, Morocco) has yielded four charophytes species (Feistiella anluensis, Lamprothamnium stipitatum, Peckisphaera portezueloensis, Platychara caudata) and dinosaur eggshells (Pseudomegaloolithus atlasi). These red beds, which overly the Cenomanian-Turonian marine deposits, generally assigned to “Senonian” based on geometric position, are directly dated by these fossils: the charophytes species and dinosaur oospecies association indicates a Campano-Maastrichtian or Maastrichtian age for these calm floodplain deposits.     

Slow relaxation of the magnetization in high-nuclearity Ln-complexes

By the surface modification strategy, a novel high-nuclearity lanthanide complex with a discrete structure, Er₂₆I(μ₃-OH)₂₀(μ₃-O)₆(NO₃)₉(IN)₃₃(OH)₃(H₂O)₃₃ (noted Er₂₆, HIN = isonicotinic acid), has been prepared under hydrothermal conditions. The magnetic properties of Er₂₆ and two analogue dysprosium assemblies Dy₃₀I(μ₃-OH)₂₄(μ₃-O)₆(NO₃)₉(IN)₄₁(OH)₃(H₂O)₃₈ (noted Dy₂₆-I) and Dy₂₆I(μ₃-OH)₂₀(μ₃-O)₆(NO₃)₉(IN)_31.25(OH)_4.75(H₂O)_41.75 (noted Dy₂₆-II) have been studied. The results show that the slow relaxation of the magnetization is newly found in Dy₂₆-I constructed from {Dy₂₆} and {Dy₄} cluster units. The {Dy₄} units in Dy₂₆-I, the relative orientation of the complex or the inter-molecular interactions between {Dy₂₆} cores might play an important role in the origin of this magnetic behavior.     

Maurocalcine and peptide A stabilize distinct subconductance states of ryanodine receptor type 1, revealing a proportional gating mechanism

Maurocalcine (MCa) isolated from Scorpio maurus palmatus venom shares 82% sequence identity with imperatoxin A. Both scorpion toxins are putative mimics of the II-III loop peptide (termed peptide A (pA)) of alpha(1s)-dihydropyridine receptor and are thought to act at a common site on ryanodine receptor type 1 (RyR1) important for skeletal muscle EC coupling. The relationship between the actions of synthetic MCa (sMCa) and pA on RyR1 were examined. sMCa released Ca(2+) from SR vesicles (EC(50) = 17.5 nm) in a manner inhibited by micromolar ryanodine or ruthenium red. pA (0.5-40 microm) failed to induce SR Ca(2+) release. Rather, pA enhanced Ca(2+) loading into SR and fully inhibited Ca(2+)-, caffeine-, and sMCa-induced Ca(2+) release. The two peptides modified single channel gating behavior in distinct ways. With Cs(+)-carrying current, 10 nm to 1 microm sMCa induced long lived subconductances having 48% of the characteristic full open state and occasional transitions to 29% at either positive or negative holding potentials. In contrast, pA stabilized long lived channel closures with occasional burst transitions to 65% (s1) and 86% (s2) of the full conductance. The actions of pA and sMCa were observed in tandem. sMCa stabilized additional subconductance states proportional to pA-induced subconductances (i.e. 43% of pA-modified s1 and s2 substates), revealing a proportional gating mechanism. [(3)H]Ryanodine binding and surface plasmon resonance analyses indicated that the peptides did not interact by simple competition for a single class of mutually exclusive sites on RyR1 to produce proportional gating. The actions of sMCa were also observed with ryanodine-modified channels and channels deficient in immunophilin 12-kDa FK506-binding protein. These results provide evidence that sMCa and pA stabilize distinct RyR1 channel states through distinct mechanisms that allosterically stabilize gating states having proportional conductance.     

Perception of Antiretroviral Generic Medicines: One-Day Survey of HIV-Infected Patients and Their Physicians in France

BackgroundIn the interest of cost effectiveness, switching antiretroviral brand name medications to generics is recommended in France since 2013. The study objective was to evaluate the perception of generics per se and antiretroviral generics in HIV-infected patients and their hospital physiciansConclusionsAcceptability of antiretroviral generics in this French population was mostly dictated by the patient’s and physician’s knowledge and use of generics overall. It should be improved with an efficient information of both patients and physicians.     

Uptake of Home-Based HIV Testing,Linkage to Care,and Community Attitudes about ART in Rural KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa: Descriptive Results from the First Phase of the ANRS 12249 TasP Cluster-Randomised Trial

BackgroundThe 2015 WHO recommendation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all immediately following HIV diagnosis is partially based on the anticipated impact on HIV incidence in the surrounding population. We investigated this approach in a cluster-randomised trial in a high HIV prevalence setting in rural KwaZulu-Natal. We present findings from the first phase of the trial and report on uptake of home-based HIV testing, linkage to care, uptake of ART, and community attitudes about ART.ConclusionsHome-based HIV testing was well received in this rural population, although men were less easily contactable at home; immediate ART was acceptable, with good viral suppression and retention. However, only about half of HIV-positive people accessed care within 6 mo of being identified, with nearly two-thirds accessing care by 12 mo. The observed delay in linkage to care would limit the individual and public health ART benefits of universal testing and treatment in this population.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT01509508","term_id":"NCT01509508"}}NCT01509508     

Characterization of Six Leuconostoc fallax Bacteriophages Isolated from an Industrial Sauerkraut Fermentation

Six bacteriophages active against Leuconostoc fallax strains were isolated from industrial sauerkraut fermentation brines. These phages were characterized as to host range, morphology, structural proteins, and genome fingerprint. They were exclusively lytic against the species L. fallax and had different host ranges among the strains of this species tested. Morphologically, three of the phages were assigned to the family Siphoviridae, and the three others were assigned to the family Myoviridae. Major capsid proteins detected by electrophoresis were distinct for each of the two morphotypes. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting showed that all six phages were genetically distinct. These results revealed for the first time the existence of bacteriophages that are active against L. fallax and confirmed the presence and diversity of bacteriophages in a sauerkraut fermentation. Since a variety of L. fallax strains have been shown to be present in sauerkraut fermentation, bacteriophages active against L. fallax are likely to contribute to the microbial ecology of sauerkraut fermentation and could be responsible for some of the variability observed in this type of fermentation.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis can counterbalance the negative influence of the exotic tree species Eucalyptus camaldulensis on the structure and functioning of soil microbial communities in a sahelian soil

The hypothesis of the present study was that bacterial communities would differentiate under Eucalyptus camaldulensis and that an enhancement of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) density would minimize this exotic plant species effect. Treatments consisted of control plants, preplanting fertilizer application and AM inoculation. After 4 months of culture in autoclaved soil, E. camaldulensis seedlings were either harvested for growth measurement or transferred into containers filled with the same soil but not sterilized. Other containers were kept without E. camaldulensis seedlings. After 12 months, effects of fertilizer amendment and AM inoculation were measured on the growth of Eucalyptus seedlings and on soil microbial communities. The results clearly show that this plant species significantly modified the soil bacterial community. Both community structure (assessed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles) and function (assessed by substrate-induced respiration responses including soil catabolic evenness) were significantly affected. Such changes in the bacterial structure and function were accompanied by disturbances in the composition of the herbaceous plant species layer. These results highlight the role of AM symbiosis in the processes involved in soil bio-functioning and plant coexistence and in afforestation programmes with exotic tree species that target preservation of native plant diversity.     

Immunomodulation by maternal autoantibodies of the fetal serotoninergic 5-HT<Subscript>4</Subscript>receptor and its consequences in early BALB/c mouse embryonic development

Background  

The presence of functional 5-HT₄ receptors in human and its involvement in neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) have prompted us to study the receptor expression and role during embryogenesis. Earlier we managed to demonstrate that female BALB/c mice immunized against the second extracellular loop (SEL) of the 5-HT₄ receptor gave birth to pups with heart block. To explain this phenomenon we investigated the expression of 5-HT₄ receptors during mouse embryogenesis. At the same time we looked whether the consequence of 5-HT₄ receptor immunomodulation observed earlier is in relation to receptor expression.     

Advances in CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering: lessons learned from RNA interference

The discovery that the machinery of the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 bacterial immune system can be re-purposed to easily create deletions, insertions and replacements in the mammalian genome has revolutionized the field of genome engineering and re-invigorated the field of gene therapy. Many parallels have been drawn between the newly discovered CRISPR-Cas9 system and the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway in terms of their utility for understanding and interrogating gene function in mammalian cells. Given this similarity, the CRISPR-Cas9 field stands to benefit immensely from lessons learned during the development of RNAi technology. We examine how the history of RNAi can inform today''s challenges in CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering such as efficiency, specificity, high-throughput screening and delivery for in vivo and therapeutic applications.