Explore the vast range of titles available.

1. Many ecological studies on the European badger Meles meles, as well as certain programmes to control bovine tuberculosis, would benefit from a greater understanding of the factors that influence the probability of capturing this animal in cage-traps. We therefore investigated some of the factors that could explain differences in trappability between three badger populations in England: the high-density protected populations of Wytham Woods and Woodchester Park, and the low-density culled population of North Nibley. 2. Trappability (the percentage of all individuals known alive that were actually captured) did not differ between sexes or adult age classes, but significant differences were found between cubs and adults, study areas, seasons and years, and various interactions between these variables. 3. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the culling of badgers in North Nibley may have resulted in a decrease of adult trappability in the following year. 4. Adult badgers at Wytham Woods and Woodchester Park were significantly more likely to be trapped zero times (`trap-shy') or all three times (`trap-happy') in 1996 than predicted by the estimated capture probabilities under the assumption of equal trappability. 5. Wytham Woods differed from the other study areas in that trappability of its badgers was positively related to their body weight and its adult badgers were more likely to be trapped than cubs. These differences could be a consequence of differences in trapping procedures that were followed at Wytham (no prebaiting and fewer traps per badger). 6. Trappability of badgers was not associated with social group size. Although it is difficult to determine precisely the movement and tuberculosis status of badgers based on mark-recapture data, our analyses did not suggest that either variable affected the likelihood of being trapped. 7. Studies that compare demographic, biometric and epidemiological parameters based on data collected from badgers captured at different times or places ought to account for the observed differences in trappability.

Some pathogenesis-related genes are expressed in fungi only when the pathogen is in the host, but the host signals that trigger these gene expressions have not been identified. Virulent Nectria haematococca infects pea plants and requires either pelA, which is induced by pectin, or pelD, which is induced only in planta. However, the host signal(s) that trigger pelD expression was unknown. Here we report the isolation of the host signals and identify homoserine and asparagine, two free amino acids found in uniquely high levels in pea seedlings, as the pelD-inducing signals. N. haematococca has evolved a mechanism to sense the host tissue environment by using the high levels of two free amino acids in this plant, thereby triggering the expression of pelD to assist the pathogenic process.

Surface signaling plays a major role in fungal infection. Topographical features of the plant surface and chemicals on the surface can trigger germination of fungal spores and differentiation of the germ tubes into appressoria. Ethylene, the fruit-ripening hormone, triggers germination of conidia, branching of hyphae, and multiple appressoria formation in Colletotrichum, thus allowing fungi to time their infection to coincide with ripening of the host. Genes uniquely expressed during appressoria formation induced by topography and surface chemicals have been isolated. Disruption of some of them has been shown to decrease virulence on the hosts. Penetration of the cuticle by the fungus is assisted by fungal cutinase secreted at the penetration structure of the fungus. Disruption of cutinase gene in Fusarium solani pisi drastically decreased its virulence. Small amounts of cutinase carried by spores of virulent pathogens, upon contact with plant surface, release small amounts of cutin monomers that trigger cutinase gene expression. The promoter elements involved in this process in F. solani pisi were identified, and transcription factors that bind these elements were cloned. One of them, cutinase transcription factor 1, expressed in Escherichia coli, is phosphorylated. Several protein kinases from F. solani pisi were cloned. The kinase involved in phosphorylation of specific transcription factors and the precise role of phosphorylation in regulating cutinase gene transcription remain to be elucidated.

Fusarium solani f sp pisi (Nectria haematococca) isolate 77-2-3 with one cutinase gone produced 10 to 20% of the cutinase produced by isolate T-8 that has multiple cutinase genes, whereas cutinase gene-disrupted mutant 77-102 of isolate 77-2-3 did not produce cutinase. On the surface of pea stem segments, lesion formation was most frequent and most severe with T-8, less frequent and less severe with 77-2-3, and much less frequent and much milder with the gene-disrupted mutant. Microscopic examination of the lesions caused by the mutant strongly suggested that it penetrated the host mostly via the stomata. In seedling assays, 77-2-3 caused severe lesions on every seedling and stunted growth, whereas the mutant showed very mild lesions on one-third of the seedlings with no stunting. Thus, cutinase gene disruption resulted in a significant decrease in the pathogenicity of F.s. pisi on pea

The past six years has seen rapid development in the use of the thermal imaging camera in the steel industry, and Unit Inspection Co was the first to recognise its value, having been introduced to the technology through its association with the petrochemical industry in the US. Its application to the steel industry was new, and the British Steel Corporation was to become a pioneer in applying this technology to on-line diagnosis of the condition of iron and steel process plant. The main advantage of thermal imaging over other temperature measuring techniques is that large areas can be scanned quickly to locate thermal irregularities. It is possible to detect temperature differences of 0.2 degree Celsius at and above the ambient temperature. The distance at which measurements can be made is limited by the spatial resolution of the camera and atmospheric absorption, but accurate temperature measurement can be made at distances of up to 100m.

Background: Dairy foods are nutrient dense and may be protective against long-term weight gain. Objective: We aimed to examine the longitudinal association between dairy consumption and annualized changes in weight and waist circumference (WC) in adults. Methods: Members of the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort who participated in the fifth through eighth study examinations (1991–2008) were included in these analyses (3440 participants with 11 683 observations). At each exam, dietary intake was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire, and weight and WC were assessed following standardized procedures. Repeated measures models were used for the longitudinal analyses of annualized weight and waist circumference changes, adjusting for time-varying or invariant covariates. Results: On average, participants gained weight and WC during follow-up. Dairy intake increased across exams. After adjusting for demographic and lifestyle factors (including diet quality), participants who consumed ⩾3 servings per day of total dairy had 0.10 kg (±0.04) smaller annualized increment of weight ( P trend =0.04) than those consuming <1 serving per day. Higher total dairy intake was also marginally associated with less WC gain ( P trend =0.05). Similarly, participants who consumed ⩾3 servings per week of yogurt had a 0.10 kg (±0.04) and 0.13 cm (±0.05) smaller annualized increment of weight ( P trend =0.03) and WC ( P trend =0.008) than those consuming <1 serving per week, respectively. Skim/low-fat milk, cheese, total high-fat or total low-fat dairy intake were not associated with long-term change in weight or WC. Conclusion: Further longitudinal and interventional studies are warranted to confirm the beneficial role of increasing total dairy and yogurt intake, as part of a healthy and calorie-balanced dietary pattern, in the long-term prevention of gain in weight and WC.

Elodie Ghedin, Benjamin Cowling and colleagues quantify the frequency at which variants of influenza virus were transmitted between individual hosts during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong. They find transmission of multiple variants between donor-recipient pairs and provide estimates of the number of viral particles that can infect and replicate within a host. Influenza A virus is characterized by high genetic diversity 1 , 2 , 3 . However, most of what is known about influenza evolution has come from consensus sequences sampled at the epidemiological scale 4 that only represent the dominant virus lineage within each infected host. Less is known about the extent of within-host virus diversity and what proportion of this diversity is transmitted between individuals 5 . To characterize virus variants that achieve sustainable transmission in new hosts, we examined within-host virus genetic diversity in household donor-recipient pairs from the first wave of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic when seasonal H3N2 was co-circulating. Although the same variants were found in multiple members of the community, the relative frequencies of variants fluctuated, with patterns of genetic variation more similar within than between households. We estimated the effective population size of influenza A virus across donor-recipient pairs to be approximately 100–200 contributing members, which enabled the transmission of multiple lineages, including antigenic variants.

The behavioral state of an animal can dynamically modulate visual processing. In flies, the behavioral state is known to alter the temporal tuning of neurons that carry visual motion information into the central brain. However, where this modulation occurs and how it tunes the properties of this neural circuit are not well understood. Here, we show that the behavioral state alters the baseline activity levels and the temporal tuning of the first directionally selective neuron in the ON motion pathway (T4) as well as its primary input neurons (Mi1, Tm3, Mi4, Mi9). These effects are especially prominent in the inhibitory neuron Mi4, and we show that central octopaminergic neurons provide input to Mi4 and increase its excitability. We further show that octopamine neurons are required for sustained behavioral responses to fast-moving, but not slow-moving, visual stimuli in walking flies. These results indicate that behavioral-state modulation acts directly on the inputs to the directionally selective neurons and supports efficient neural coding of motion stimuli.

Low dietary intakes of the n-3 long-chain PUFA (LCPUFA) EPA and DHA are thought to be associated with increased risk for a variety of adverse outcomes, including some psychiatric disorders. Evidence from observational and intervention studies for a role of n-3 LCPUFA in depression is mixed, with some support for a benefit of EPA and/or DHA in major depressive illness. The present study was a double-blind randomised controlled trial that evaluated the effects of EPA+DHA supplementation (1·5 g/d) on mood and cognitive function in mild to moderately depressed individuals. Of 218 participants who entered the trial, 190 completed the planned 12 weeks intervention. Compliance, confirmed by plasma fatty acid concentrations, was good, but there was no evidence of a difference between supplemented and placebo groups in the primary outcome – namely, the depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales at 12 weeks. Mean depression score was 8·4 for the EPA+DHA group and 9·6 for the placebo group, with an adjusted difference of − 1·0 (95 % CI − 2·8, 0·8; P = 0·27). Other measures of mood, mental health and cognitive function, including Beck Depression Inventory score and attentional bias toward threat words, were similarly little affected by the intervention. In conclusion, substantially increasing EPA+DHA intake for 3 months was found not to have beneficial or harmful effects on mood in mild to moderate depression. Adding the present result to a meta-analysis of previous relevant randomised controlled trial results confirmed an overall negligible benefit of n-3 LCPUFA supplementation for depressed mood.

Effective management of advanced cancer requires systemic treatment including small molecules that target unique features of aggressive tumor cells. At the same time, tumors are heterogeneous and current evidence suggests that a subpopulation of tumor cells, called tumor initiating or cancer stem cells, are responsible for metastatic dissemination, tumor relapse and possibly drug resistance. Classical apoptotic drugs are less effective against this critical subpopulation. In the course of generating a library of open-chain epothilones, we discovered a new class of small molecule anticancer agents that has no effect on tubulin but instead kills selected cancer cell lines by harnessing reactive oxygen species to induce ferroptosis. Interestingly, we find that drug sensitivity is highest in tumor cells with a mesenchymal phenotype. Furthermore, these compounds showed enhanced toxicity towards mesenchymal breast cancer populations with cancer stem cell properties in vitro . In summary, we have identified a new class of small molecule ferroptotic agents that warrant further investigation.