Pulque is a culturally important 4,000-year-old traditional Mexican fermented drink. Pulque is produced by adding fresh aguamiel (agave sap) to mature pulque, resulting in a mixture of microbial communities and chemical compositions. We performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing of five stages of pulque fermentation to characterize organismal and functional diversity. We identified 6 genera (Acinetobacter, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Saccharomyces and Zymomonas) and 10 species (Acinetobacter boissieri, Acinetobacter nectaris, Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus piscium, Lactococcus plantarum, Leuconostoc citreum, Leuconostoc gelidum, Zymomonas mobilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that were present ≥ 1% in at least one stage of pulque fermentation. The abundance of genera and species changed during fermentation and was associated with a decrease in sucrose and increases in ethanol and lactic acid, suggesting that resource competition shapes organismal diversity. We also predicted functional profiles, based on organismal gene content, for each fermentation stage and identified an abundance of genes associated with the biosynthesis of folate, an essential B-vitamin. Additionally, we investigated the evolutionary relationships of S. cerevisiae and Z. mobilis, two of the major microbial species found in pulque. For S. cerevisiae, we used a metagenomics assembly approach to identify S. cerevisiae scaffolds from pulque, and performed phylogenetic analysis of these sequences along with a collection of 158 S. cerevisiae strains. This analysis suggests that S. cerevisiae from pulque is most closely related to Asian strains isolated from sake and bioethanol. Lastly, we isolated and sequenced the whole-genomes of three strains of Z. mobilis from pulque and compared their relationship to seven previously sequenced isolates. Our results suggest pulque strains may represent a distinct lineage of Z. mobilis.We investigate the restriction of animal movements as a method to control the spread of bluetongue, an infectious disease of livestock that is becoming increasingly prevalent due to the onset of climate change. We derive control policies for the UK that minimise the number of infected farms during an outbreak using Bayesian optimisation and a simulation-based model of BT. Two cases are presented first, where the region of introduction is randomly selected from England and Wales to find a generalised strategy. This "national" model is shown to be just as effective at subduing the spread of bluetongue as the current strategy of the UK government. Our proposed controls are simpler to implement, affect fewer farms in the process and, in so doing, minimise the potential economic implications. Second, we consider policies that are tailored to the specific region in which the first infection was detected. Seven different regions in the UK were explored and improvements in efficiency from the use of specialised policies presented. As a consequence of the increasing temperatures associated with climate change, efficient control measures for vector-borne diseases such as this are expected to become increasingly important. Our work demonstrates the potential value of using Bayesian optimisation in developing cost-effective disease management strategies.In this paper, a circular hybrid plasmonic waveguide-fed nano-antenna (CHPWFNA) has been introduced for operating at the standard telecommunication wavelength of 1,550 nm. For the first time, the dispersion relation of a circular hybrid plasmonic waveguide as the feed line of the proposed nano-antenna has been derived, analytically. To verify the accuracy of the analytical solution, two numerical techniques of finite element method (FEM) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method have been used. Numerical results are well-matched with the theoretical ones. The characteristics of the CHPWFNA have been studied by two mentioned methods. The obtained realized gains (directivities) by the FDTD and FEM simulations are 9.03 dB (9.38 dBi) and 10.00 dB (10.32 dBi), respectively, at 1,550 nm wavelength. For on-chip point-to-point wireless link performance, the obtained quality factor by the FDTD method (FEM) is 63.97 (100). The obtained radiation characteristics and link performance reveal that at 1,550 nm, the proposed antenna has the best performance. Besides, the frequency bandwidth of the antenna (185-200 THz) covers the low-loss optical frequency range. Also, paying attention to the laser eye safety is so important. Consequently, the wavelength of 1,550 nm has been chosen as the target wavelength. Moreover, the array configuration has been studied and the directivity and realized gain have been obtained based on the array factor theory and numerical methods, which are agree with each other. The attained realized gain by the FDTD method (FEM) for the considered single row array, at 1,550 nm, is 11.20 dB (11.30 dB). There is a little difference between the numerical results due to the total mesh size, the grid size refinement and the relative error of the numerical methods convergence. Finally, as one of the most important challenges in fabrication is the gold surface quality, we have studied the effect of gold surface roughness and its pentagonal cross section on the antenna performance.The presence of genetically modified organisms (GMO) is commonly assessed using real-time PCR methods targeting the most common transgenic elements found in GMOs.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Decitabine.html  Once the presence of GM material has been established using these screening methods, GMOs are further identified using a battery of real-time PCR methods, each being specific of one GM event and usually targeting the junction of the plant genome and of the transgenic DNA insert. If, using these specific methods, no GMO could be identified, the presence of an unauthorized GMO is suspected. In this context, the aim of this work was to develop a fast and simple method to obtain the sequence of the transgene and of its junction with plant DNA, with the presence of a screening sequence as only prior knowledge. An unauthorized GM petunia, recently found on the French market, was used as template during the development of this new molecular tool. The innovative proposed protocol is based on the circularization of fragmented DNA followed by the amplification of the transgene and of its flanking regions using long-range inverse PCR.