Strongyle faecal egg counts in Swiss horses: A retrospective analysis after the introduction of a selective treatment strategy.

The standard parasite management of horses based on regular anthelmintic treatments, now practiced for decades has resulted in a worrying expansion of resistant helminth populations, which may considerably impair control on the farm level. The aim of the present study was to obtain a retrospective (year 2010 - 2016) nationwide analysis of faecal egg count (FEC) data from the Swiss adult horse population, related to horse age and geographic region. Thirteen labs provided a total of 16,387 FEC data of horses aged four to 39 years (average: 13.

Strains Induce Transcriptional and Morphological Changes and Reduce Root Colonization of spp.

Phytopathogenic Verticillia cause Verticillium wilt on numerous economically important crops. Plant infection begins at the roots, where the fungus is confronted with rhizosphere inhabiting bacteria. The effects of different fluorescent pseudomonads, including some known biocontrol agents of other plant pathogens, on fungal growth of the haploid and/or the amphidiploid were compared on pectin-rich medium, in microfluidic interaction channels, allowing visualization of single hyphae, or on roots.

A comparison of SNS internal and external antenna source performance with and without cesium.

Experiments comparing an internal and an external antenna H source at the Spallation Neutron Source with and without cesium revealed key performance differences which provide insight to the source physics and will guide the development of an RF H source at the ISIS Neutron Source. RF power sweeps were taken for each of these cases, for which the total charge, electron to H ratio, and H extracted per kW are all studied and plotted. At around 40 kW and typical hydrogen flow and cooling parameters, cesiated sources output 35 mA square beam pulses where uncesiated sources output 15 mA.

Upgrading the LANSCE accelerator with a SNS RF-driven H ion source.

The LANSCE accelerator is currently powered by a filament-driven, biased converter-type H ion source that operates at 10%, the highest plasma duty factor for this type of source, using only ∼2.2 SCCM of H. The ion source needs to be replaced every 4 weeks, which takes up to 4 days.

Installation and commissioning of the ion source systems for the new spallation neutron source 2.5 MeV injector.

The U.S. Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is a state-of-the-art neutron scattering facility delivering the world's most intense pulsed neutron beams to a wide array of instruments, which are used to conduct investigations in many fields of engineering, physics, chemistry, material science, and biology.

Bacteria-induced production of the antibacterial sesquiterpene lagopodin B in Coprinopsis cinerea.

Fungi defend their ecological niche against antagonists by producing antibiosis molecules. Some of these molecules are only produced upon confrontation with the antagonist. The basidiomycete Coprinopsis cinerea induces the expression of the sesquiterpene synthase-encoding gene cop6 and its two neighboring genes coding for cytochrome P450 monooxygenases in response to bacteria.

Induction of antibacterial proteins and peptides in the coprophilous mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea in response to bacteria.

Bacteria are the main nutritional competitors of saprophytic fungi during colonization of their ecological niches. This competition involves the mutual secretion of antimicrobials that kill or inhibit the growth of the competitor. Over the last years it has been demonstrated that fungi respond to the presence of bacteria with changes of their transcriptome, but the significance of these changes with respect to competition for nutrients is not clear as functional proof of the antibacterial activity of the induced gene products is often lacking.

Record productions establish RF-driven sources as the standard for generating high-duty-factor, high-current H beams for accelerators (Winner of the ICIS 2017 Brightness Award).

The Spallation Neutron Source operates reliably at 1.2 MW and will gradually ramp to 1.4 MW.

Coprinopsis cinerea intracellular lactonases hydrolyze quorum sensing molecules of Gram-negative bacteria.

Biofilm formation on fungal hyphae and production of antifungal molecules are strategies of bacteria in their competition with fungi for nutrients. Since these strategies are often coordinated and under control of quorum sensing by the bacteria, interference with this bacterial communication system can be used as a counter-strategy by the fungi in this competition. Hydrolysis of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (HSL), a quorum sensing molecule used by Gram-negative bacteria, by fungal cultures has been demonstrated.

The status of the SNS external antenna ion source and spare RFQ test facility.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory operates the Spallation Neutron Source, consisting of a H(-) ion source, a 1 GeV linac and an accumulator ring. The accumulated <1 μs-long, ∼35 A beam pulses are extracted from the ring at 60 Hz and directed onto a liquid Hg target. Spalled neutrons are directed to ∼20 world class instruments.

Characterization of the CW starter plasma RF matching network for operating the SNS H⁻ ion source with lower H₂ flows.

The Spallation Neutron Source H(-) ion source is operated with a pulsed 2-MHz RF (50-60 kW) to produce the 1-ms long, ∼50 mA H(-) beams at 60 Hz. A continuous low power (∼300 W) 13.56-MHz RF plasma, which is initially ignited with a H2 pressure bump, serves as starter plasma for the pulsed high power 2-MHz RF discharges.

Recent performance of and plasma outage studies with the SNS H⁻ source.

Spallation Neutron Source ramps to higher power levels that can be sustained with high availability. The goal is 1.4 MW despite a compromised radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ), which requires higher radio frequency power than design levels to approach the nominal beam transmission.

Saddle antenna radio frequency ion sources.

Existing RF ion sources for accelerators have specific efficiencies for H(+) and H(-) ion generation ∼3-5 mA/cm(2) kW, where about 50 kW of RF power is typically needed for 50 mA beam current production. The Saddle Antenna (SA) surface plasma source (SPS) described here was developed to improve H(-) ion production efficiency, reliability, and availability. In SA RF ion source, the efficiency of positive ion generation in the plasma has been improved to 200 mA/cm(2) kW.

Strain-Specific Interactions of Listeria monocytogenes with the Autophagy System in Host Cells.

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterial pathogen that can replicate in the cytosol of host cells. These bacteria undergo actin-based motility in the cytosol via expression of ActA, which recruits host actin-regulatory proteins to the bacterial surface. L.

Probing bacterial-fungal interactions at the single cell level.

Interactions between fungi and prokaryotes are abundant in many ecological systems. A wide variety of biomolecules regulate such interactions and many of them have found medicinal or biotechnological applications. However, studying a fungal-bacterial system at a cellular level is technically challenging.

Recent performance of the SNS H(-) ion source and low-energy beam transport system.

Recent measurements of the H(-) beam current show that SNS is injecting about 55 mA into the RFQ compared to ∼45 mA in 2010. Since 2010, the H(-) beam exiting the RFQ dropped from ∼40 mA to ∼34 mA, which is sufficient for 1 MW of beam power. To minimize the impact of the RFQ degradation, the service cycle of the best performing source was extended to 6 weeks.

Improvements to the internal and external antenna H(-) ion sources at the Spallation Neutron Source.

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), a large scale neutron production facility, routinely operates with 30-40 mA peak current in the linac. Recent measurements have shown that our RF-driven internal antenna, Cs-enhanced, multi-cusp ion sources injects ∼55 mA of H(-) beam current (∼1 ms, 60 Hz) at 65-kV into a Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator through a closely coupled electrostatic Low-Energy Beam Transport system. Over the last several years a decrease in RFQ transmission and issues with internal antennas has stimulated source development at the SNS both for the internal and external antenna ion sources.

Plasma emission spectroscopy for operating and developing the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) H(-) ion sources.

A RF-driven, Cs-enhanced H(-) ion source feeds the SNS accelerator with a high current (typically >50 mA), ∼1.0 ms pulsed beam at 60 Hz. To achieve the persistent high current beam for several weeks long service cycles, each newly installed ion source undergoes a rigorous conditioning and cesiation processes.

Improving efficiency of negative ion production in ion source with saddle antenna.

Extraction of negative ions from a saddle antenna radio-frequency surface plasma source is considered. Several versions of new plasma generators with different antennas and magnetic field configurations were tested in the smal Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source Test Stand. The efficiency of positive ion generation in plasma has been improved to 200 mA/cm(2) kW from 2.

Radiographic diagnosis and differentiation of an aggressive angiomyxoma in a male patient.

Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare soft-tissue tumor which usually occurs in female patients of reproductive age. Its occurrence in men is even more unusual and as illustrated in this case the difference between pathology suggested by a physical examination and its actual extent can be quite striking. We present a case report of an 81-year-old man with the typical MRI appearances of a pelvic aggressive angiomyxoma, describe imaging and histopathologic features of this rarely seen locally infiltrative neoplasm and also discuss therapeutic options for patients with an aggressive angiomyxoma.

The genetic basis of cadmium resistance of Burkholderia cenocepacia.

Burkholderia species are highly resistant to heavy metals (HMs), yet their resistance mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study we screened 5000 mini-Tn5 transposon insertion mutants of Burkholderia cenocepacia H111 for loss of cadmium tolerance. Of the four genes identified three affected outer membrane biogenesis and integrity or DNA repair.

Correlations between severity of clinical signs and histopathological changes in 60 dogs with spinal cord injury associated with acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease.

The outcome of spinal surgery in dogs with absent voluntary motor function and nociception following intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation is highly variable, which likely attests to differences in the severity of spinal cord damage. This retrospective study evaluated the extent to which neurological signs correlated with histologically detected spinal cord damage in 60 dogs that were euthanased because of thoracolumbar IVD herniation. Clinical neurological grades correlated significantly with the extent of white matter damage (P<0.

Tumor-associated macrophages subvert T-cell function and correlate with reduced survival in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Although malignant cells can be recognized and controlled by the immune system, in patients with clinically apparent cancer immunosurveillance has failed. To better understand local immunoregulatory processes that impact on cancer progression, we correlated intratumoral immunological profiles with the survival of patients affected by primary clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). A retrospective analysis of 54 primary ccRCC samples for 31 different immune response-related transcripts, revealed a negative correlation of CD68 (a marker of tumor-associated macrophages, TAMs) and FOXP3 (a marker of regulatory T cells, Tregs) with survival.

Low-energy beam transport studies supporting the spallation neutron source 1-MW beam operation.

The H(-) injector consisting of a cesium enhanced RF-driven ion source and a 2-lens electrostatic low-energy beam transport (LEBT) system supports the spallation neutron source 1 MW beam operation with ∼38 mA beam current in the linac at 60 Hz with a pulse length of up to ∼1.0 ms. In this work, two important issues associated with the low-energy beam transport are discussed: (1) inconsistent dependence of the post-radio frequency quadrupole accelerator beam current on the ion source tilt angle and (2) high power beam losses on the LEBT electrodes under some off-nominal conditions compromising their reliability.

Producing persistent, high-current, high-duty-factor H- beams for routine 1 MW operation of Spallation Neutron Source (invited).

Since 2009, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) has been producing neutrons with ion beam powers near 1 MW, which requires the extraction of ∼50 mA H(-) ions from the ion source with a ∼5% duty factor. The 50 mA are achieved after an initial dose of ∼3 mg of Cs and heating the Cs collar to ∼170 °C. The 50 mA normally persist for the entire 4-week source service cycles.