Description:
Springtails and mites are the most abundant and species rich micro arthropods in the Antarctic and species tend to be short-range endemics. It was thought that the Springtail (Collembola), Friesea grisea (Schäffer) was an exception. It was described briefly nearly 150 years ago from South Georgia and has not been redescribed from the type locality since. However, published localities include the South Shetland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula, Enderby Land, Marguerite Bay and South and North Victoria Land suggesting that it is unusually widespread. Recent sequence data have indicated that some Antarctic populations could be putative species but individuals were allegedly morphologically identical. No sequence data were available for South Georgian specimens. These results suggested that a new examination of the South Georgian species’ morphology was needed in order to resolve the anomalous biogeographic patterns. I here redescribe F. grisea from South Georgia and show that it has subtle morphological characters that distinguish it from Antarctic individuals allowing it to be unambiguously distinguished from all known Antarctic populations. Consequently, Friesea antarctica is taken out of synonymy with F. grisea. These results emphasise the endemism of Antarctic faunas and allows more targeted conservation planning, especially for short-range endemic species located in likely refugia during glacial periods. Descriptions of putative species from the Continental populations are currently in progress. A new Friesea species from South Georgia, F. fantaba, is also described here. The genus Friesea is now the most species-rich genus of terrestrial arthropods in both the Antarctic and subantarctic and includes twelve species.
Generation of a Novel Bacteriophage Library displaying scFv antibody fragments from the natural Buffalo host to identify antigens from adult Schistosoma japonicum for diagnostic development
Description:
Controversy surrounds the green credentials of hydroelectricity because of the potentially large emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from associated reservoirs. However, limited and patchy data particularly for China is constraining the current global assessment of GHG releases from hydroelectric reservoirs. This study provides the first evaluation of the CO
Description:
The rates of carbon bio-sequestration within silica phytoliths of the leaf litter of 10 economically important bamboo species indicates that (a) there is considerable variation in the content of carbon occluded within the phytoliths (PhytOC) of the leaves between different bamboo species, (b) this variation does not appear to be directly related to the quantity of silica in the plant but rather the efficiency of carbon encapsulation by the silica. The PhytOC content of the species under the experimental conditions ranged from 1.6% to 4% of the leaf silica weight. The potential phytolith carbon bio-sequestration rates in the leaf-litter component for the bamboos ranged up to 0.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO
Safety and immunogenicity of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in a high-risk population : A randomized controlled trial of 10-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Papua New Guinean infants
Description:
Background. There are little data on the immunogenicity of PCV10 and PCV13 in the same high-risk population. Methods. PCV10 and PCV13 were studied head-to-head in a randomized controlled trial in Papua New Guinea in which 262 infants received 3 doses of PCV10 or PCV13 at 1, 2, and 3 months of age. Serotype-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations, and pneumococcal and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) carriage were assessed prevaccination and at 4 and 9 months of age. Infants were followed up for safety until 9 months of age. Results. One month after the third dose of PCV10 or PCV13, 80% of infants had IgG concentrations ≥0.35µg/mL for vaccine serotypes, and 6 months postvaccination IgG concentrations ≥0.35 µg/mL were maintained for 8/10 shared PCV serotypes in > 75% of children vaccinated with either PCV10 or PCV13. Children carried a total of 65 different pneumococcal serotypes (plus nonserotypeable). At 4 months of age, 92% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85–96) of children vaccinated with PCV10 and 81% (95% CI 72–88) vaccinated with PCV13 were pneumococcal carriers (P = .023), whereas no differences were seen at 9 months of age, or for NTHi carriage. Both vaccines were well tolerated and not associated with serious adverse events. Conclusions. Infant vaccination with 3 doses of PCV10 or PCV13 is safe and immunogenic in a highly endemic setting; however, to significantly reduce pneumococcal disease in these settings, PCVs with broader serotype coverage and potency to reduce pneumococcal carriage are needed. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT01619462.
Description:
Background. There are little data on the immunogenicity of PCV10 and PCV13 in the same high-risk population. Methods. PCV10 and PCV13 were studied head-to-head in a randomized controlled trial in Papua New Guinea in which 262 infants received 3 doses of PCV10 or PCV13 at 1, 2, and 3 months of age. Serotype-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations, and pneumococcal and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) carriage were assessed prevaccination and at 4 and 9 months of age. Infants were followed up for safety until 9 months of age. Results. One month after the third dose of PCV10 or PCV13, 80% of infants had IgG concentrations ≥0.35µg/mL for vaccine serotypes, and 6 months postvaccination IgG concentrations ≥0.35 µg/mL were maintained for 8/10 shared PCV serotypes in > 75% of children vaccinated with either PCV10 or PCV13. Children carried a total of 65 different pneumococcal serotypes (plus nonserotypeable). At 4 months of age, 92% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85–96) of children vaccinated with PCV10 and 81% (95% CI 72–88) vaccinated with PCV13 were pneumococcal carriers (P = .023), whereas no differences were seen at 9 months of age, or for NTHi carriage. Both vaccines were well tolerated and not associated with serious adverse events. Conclusions. Infant vaccination with 3 doses of PCV10 or PCV13 is safe and immunogenic in a highly endemic setting; however, to significantly reduce pneumococcal disease in these settings, PCVs with broader serotype coverage and potency to reduce pneumococcal carriage are needed. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT01619462.
Description:
To clarify species diversity of Tolypella (Characeae, Charophyceae) and the relationship between Tolypella and other genera in Characeae, sequence data from the nuclear ribosomal operon were assembled for 18 individuals of Tolypella. These represented nine named species and two potentially new species from Australia, as well as 13 other taxa of Characeae. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on ribosomal gene sequences (18S, 5.8S and 28S) for Characeae and on ribosomal gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences (ribosomal genes þ ITS1 þ ITS2) for Tolypella. Analyses were also performed on the ribosomal gene and ITS sequences combined with plastid gene sequences (atpB, psbC and rbcL). Ribosomal gene sequences alone were conservative and their phylogenetic analyses resulted in topologies similar to a previously published plastid gene-based study but with less support and resolution. In contrast, ITS sequences showed greater variability and their addition resulted in greater resolution among some species relationships of Tolypella. The addition of plastid sequences also resulted in greater support and increased resolution in some lineages but not all.